Monday, May 24th, 2010. - Day 2.

7:30 PM. Bengaluru, India.

Today was the first true day of the environmental studies program. And quite the day it was. Over the course of breakfast, our last two participants arrived. Ready to take Bangalore by storm, the thirteen of us piled into a large van and off we went.

So we aren't disappointed when things inevitably fall through, Geeta tends not to share many plans with us; though it seems many of us prefer it that way. While we perhaps did not travel very far, it would seem like we traversed the city with our time spent weaving through multitudes of traffic.

Our first stop of the day was at Bangalore University. Originally an expansion of Mysore University, it eventually grew to be one of the largest on the subcontinent. We were taken to an outset of the university, an environmental studies centre, located on a protected area of forest. We heard an incredible lecture by Dr. Nagaraja covering much of India's environmental forest history. Next we ventured out into the heat and trekked various trails layed out in the forest. We were given a wealth of informatin: various native tree species, exotics, invasive pests, etc. They explained their processes of conservation and research including some innovative methods and experiments. They're doing some amazing work there. So much of India's flora has many applications. A few for drinks, many of which we tasted, and moved slowly as some Indian buffalo and their cattle egret companions weaved in and out of us. Wes stopped briefly to eat more seeds, photograph children playing in a lake, discuss water-harvesting and termite mounds and much more. The facility is remarkable and what's more, the staff is enormously passionate about their work.

Next came our lunch adventure. I should mention that on our way to the University outpost, we passed the Bangalore Parliament, the Red Court (supreme Court), and many temples. The architecture was truly impressive. Masive edificesa with a beautiful blend of Arabic, Greek, and British architecture. Truly impressive buildings. The route also yielded a chruch, mosque, and Hindu temple all in about one block, exhibiting India's immense religious diversity. Lunch's path however was much different. views of Bangalore's vast slums, mixed in with coconut and teak plantations, rock monoliths, a quarry on the side of the mountain,, and of course, people everywhere flew past us.

We arrived at a small cultural community and were served a very traditional Indian meal. Many of India's main staples laid out on a banana leaf as the monkeys (bonnet macaques) swarmed aroun the messy Americans like first baseman waiting for the steal. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves to the brim ith things I couldn't even begin to describe. An amazing cultural experience in itself, the food kept coming. And tasted incredible.

Finally we made our LONG trip back, stopping briefly at the big banyan tree, a massive showing of propagation. The tree grows tall and strong, drops vines from its branches which eventually take root and form new trunkes of the exact same tree. The tree has now expanded to close to 2.5-3 acres, with sprouts everywhere. Truly remarkable. I'm told there is a bigger one in Kolkata. After som more playing with monkeys, we dropped our guests (Geeta's contacts and our instructors) back at the University and returned home.

Exhausted, but desparate to catch up with our jet lag, we made an excursion for some coconut drinks and returned for a delicious snack of mangos and papayas.

~Wondering how anything could top Day 2...,
- David