Jessica was attacked by a gaggle of monkeys!

Really it was the bag of fruit she was holding that was attacked and it wasn't so much a gaggle of monkeys as just one monkey. Still, it was terrifying. I've heard that the monkeys here in Vrindavan are particularly bad, or "naughty" as one woman described them. Everyone knows not to carry around plastic bags because the monkeys will take them and you have to be very careful with your glasses. They've figured out that glasses are very important to people so they steal them and if you're lucky will give them back if you have something to trade them. Naughty, naughty monkeys.

Other than this monkey incident, things have been going pretty smoothly. Like I said before, Jessica, Natalie and I are staying in a room near the temple where most of the activities occur. I might not have mentioned this, but from Oct 4-Nov 2 there is a pilgrimage that takes place in Vrindavan and Govardhan. As the website explains (http://www.purebhakti.com/parikrama.html) we "wind our way through these transcendental places," singing songs and hearing stories related to Krishna and Radha (his beloved).

My general schedule is as follows:
5:00 wake up
5:45 walk to the Temple for singing
6:00 Lectures from Guru Narayana (Gurudeva) and other high monks
7:00 breakfast in the Temple - the closest description would be rice mixed with soupy yellow lentils, some squash and spices
7:30 Parikram - Hundreds of people filling the streets, walking through the city to visit various temples and sites where Krishna performed pastimes. We all try to fit into small spaces to hear the monks describe the stories.
11:30 break
12:30 Lunch in the Temple- an amazing assortment of Indian delights. Rice, daal (lentils), sabji (a delicious conglomeration of various vegetables and spices), saag (spinach deliciousness), and sometimes sweets like rice pudding.
1:00 break
4:30 more singing. Quite delightful I must say. Hindi rolls off the tongue in a very special way.
5:30 more lectures from Gurudeva and other sannyasis (monks)
7:00 boisturous singing and dancing, which I have yet to particpate in
8:00 dinner, which I'll probably stop eating because it's so late by this time....
9:00 bed!

Two days ago was the first bus day where we load into 19 huge buses to drive to sites further outside of the city. We board the bus at 5am and get back around 5 or 6pm. It's a long day needless to say. I'm not sure exactly how many people are here, somewhere near a thousand I think. There are people from all over- China and Russia have a pretty significant presence. There are alot of people from the UK, the US, latin america. Apparently in the past few years more and more Bengali people have started to come during this month. I've heard from a lot of people that the pilgrimage used to be a bit more intimate. Now it's hard not to get a little steamed when dozens of Bengali men and women are shoving their way through tiny doorways in the hot heat. They are known for being quite pushy. When I'm not getting pushed and shoved, I enjoy the extra energy. Feeding this many people is a sight to be seen - I'll try to post some pictures in the coming days.

Of course there is much more to speak of the goings-on, but that's it for now. Hopefully the next post will have some visual aids.

Hare Krishna!

-Kayleigh