Himalayan Gap offers a ten-week Fall core program that includes Hindi language lessons, yoga lessons, Indian classical dance and music lessons, Thangka painting lessons, and volunteering opportunities. During the last week of the program, students spend a week traveling in Bhutan. Before heading home after the trek to the base-camp of Mt. Everest, students visit the Taj Mahal and other historical sites in Delhi and Agra.test

Hindi

Hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in South Asia and is the national language of India. Although it is predominantly a North Indian language, people throughout the subcontinent speak it as a second or third language.

At Himalayan Gap, we believe that to learn the Hindi language, it is very important to understand the culture of North India that is behind it. We therefore offer yoga, Indian classical music, and community service opportunities alongside the Hindi program. While yoga and Indian classical music will help you understand the rich cultural heritage that India is gifted with, volunteering in the villages allows you to partake in the life led by more than 70% of the Indian population.

The weekend activities, that include exploring a Buddhist monastery and a Tibetan refugee camp, can further enhance your comprehension of Indian religions and the cultural significance of the various different communities that inhabit the region.

Each evening students have the option of enjoying a Hindi movie or documentary with a native speaker to further enhance their comprehension of Indian culture and Hindi.

For students who are interested in pursuing a more intensive Hindi language program, we offer an extra four-week long Hindi program before the beginning of the core program. Please contact us at himalayangap@gmail.com if you are interested.

Yoga

Students will have the option of receiving yoga instruction each morning. A yoga guru will conduct classes, weather permitting, in an open-air space overlooking the beautiful mountainside. This yoga program will include asanas (postures), pranayam (breathing) and non-denominational meditation. Practicing yoga tones the body and makes it more flexible. Very often, even with regular exercise, one can miss out on stretching muscles important for relaxing the mind and body.

Our yoga curriculum has been especially designed to meet the needs of college students. The yoga gurus have tailored the course to focus on pranayam and asanas that are stress-relieving and will help cope with the pressure that often builds up in college students. If students want one-to-one instruction for specific needs, independent sessions can be arranged at no extra cost.

Volunteering Opportunities

Himalayan Gap is one of the few programs that stresses upon a strong link between volunteer work and language study. Once students start learning the local language, they are able to communicate with the local people. This makes them especially effective in their volunteering endeavors. For example, when students teach English and Math at a local village school, they are able to connect with the kids at a whole new level if they can speak their native language. The impact the act of service has on both, the volunteer and the receiver, is much more significant when the two parties are able to communicate. Likewise, students interested in perfecting their language skills have the opportunity to practice what they learn in the classroom.

There are several ongoing projects in conjunction with local NGOs (non-government organizations). Students can get involved with one or several of the following projects that have been initiated in neighboring villages: organic and sustainable agriculture, women empowerment work, teaching English or health education, and HIV/AIDS awareness programs.

Students are also welcome to introduce their own ideas and spend time implementing it in the local community.

Thangka painting

Thangka paintings are religious Buddhist paintings that adorn walls of almost every Buddhist monastery. They usually consist of a picture panel, which is made of embroidered silk or cotton, mounted with a textile. Owing to the medium of paintings, Thangkas serve as scrolls that can be rolled up and transported with relative ease. The subject of the paintings ranges from traditional depictions of Buddha’s life, deities, and myths, to personal interpretations of Buddhism used by individual practitioners for meditation. Often serving a didactic purpose in monasteries, Thangkas first became popular among monks who carried them from one monastery to another to spread the enlightened teachings of Buddhism.

To allow students to artistically explore the rich culture and tradition of Buddhism, Himalayan Gap offers Thankga painting lessons with a monk, who has been teaching this centuries-old art in the local Buddhist monastery for several years. Students will learn how to paint on silk and cotton sheets with water-soluble paints made of mineral, herbal, and organic pigments. The usual process of creating a Thankga consists of combining traditional motifs with personal understanding of the statutes of Buddhism.

Traveling off the beaten path – Bhutan

After spending more than two months in the pristine surroundings of Kalimpong, students spend the last week traveling to Bhutan, a small country nestled in the eastern Himalayas between India and China.

Bhutan is a unique country for many reasons. Unlike many other countries in the Indian subcontinent, Bhutan was ruled by an absolute monarchy until 2008 when the first democratically elected government was instated. Since the country was founded by a Buddhist monk, the state-religion of Buddhism symbolizes more than just a religion; it represents Bhutan’s historical and cultural roots in establishing a unique identity as a country. Having been cut off from most of the world until the 1960s, Bhutan has managed to preserve its native traditions, culture, and natural environment from the homogenizing trends of globalization. Many academics consider Bhutan to have one of the highest Gross National Happiness index, if not a consistently growing GDP. Its majestic mountains, intricate monasteries, scrumptious food delights, and extensive flora and fauna, allow visitors to partake of a culture and environment long lost in many other parts of the world.

Setting

Kalimpong

Kalimpong, is a bustling bazaar town that sprawls along a ridge overlooking the roaring Teesta River and the Kanchanjunga, the third highest mountain in the world (after Mount Everest and K2). Located near the town of Darjeeling, at an average altitude of 4000 feet, here you can shop in the bazaar, hike through the dense forests of golden oak trees, raft in the nearby Teesta, or enjoy Tibetan dumplings while watching a beautiful sunset over the gorgeous Kanchanjunga range.

Accommodations, Food, Laundry & Housekeeping

We have planned the living facilities for our students with a family-like atmosphere. The comfortable shared accommodation (two or three students to a room) will have a common room with free Wi fi internet, newspapers, selected periodicals and a television. Laundry and housekeeping will be carried out by the resident staff twice a week.

Three meals of local and Western cuisine will be served in a common dining area. We ensure that every meal is healthy, hygienic and sumptuous.

There will be staff present on the premises 24 hours a day to ensure that all your needs are met.

Price