Today is a big day for all of our groups! Excitement and nerves fill the air as we make our way into the bus. Yesterday, we had our Magic Bus session with the kids and saw all our hard work in action as the children had fun, laughed, and learned. Today, we present our work and our findings to the community. We also planned a group activity where adults and children play one of the games we designed for our Magic Bus session: Blanket Ball! Since the game was such a success during our session, we thought it would be a fun activity to conclude our presentation.

As we set up in the temple, a group of community members begin to gather around. My group and I watched the Infrastructure group, and the Behavioural change group present their final projects. As I watch their presentations I am in awe, both groups clearly put such thought, research, and dedication into their final projects. Their thoughtful presentations and creative prototypes raise discussion, questions, and curiosity from the community members who have come to watch our presentations.

My group also presents our work. We run through how our Magic Bus session was organized, what it meant to achieve, and what we wanted the children to take away from our session. Some of the children from the community joined us as we sang the song we used for our Magic Bus session. Later, we played Blanket Ball with the community in the field, which turned out to be a success once more!

Once our day of presentations was done, we said our goodbyes to all the new people we had met. Today had been our last day in the community. Tired, but happy to have seen the final product of our work, we arrived back the guesthouse. The rest of the evening was finishing off any last bits of work, and packing for our travels plans for tomorrow. We ended our evening by having dinner as a group, while reflecting on our experiences and learning moments in India. We spent our dinner congratulating Sarah, Raksha, Arun, and all of us students for our hard work in this course!

On Saturday, we woke up in our hotel rooms after the previous day of traveling to Hampi. In the morning, we gathered in the hotel restaurant to have breakfast together. Once we were ready to go, we got on the bus and headed out to explore Hampi. This city is home to many important monuments from the times of ancient India.

Our day was filled with sightseeing, as we explored Hindu temples and ancient ruins. Many of the temples and monuments are found amongst grand rolling hills. Atop these hills, the Indian landscape alone was breathtaking. Lush greenery, mountains of rocks, and ancient ruins in the background were apart of the awe-inspiring view from these hills.

The temples and ruins themselves were incredible to look at. I noticed the details on these ancient walls. They were beautifully carved as if by a devoted artist. The wearing of time had only dulled their edges but they looked beautiful nonetheless. Detailed carvings were featured on columns, doors and gates; guardians to paths that led to the ancient temples. Our guide told us stories of these temples and monuments, giving us some insight into the history of India. Within the ruins we found monkeys, as well as an elephant!

After walking through the Virupaksha Temple, we set out to explore the nearby marketplace. As we walked through stores of handicrafts and antiques, we eventually settled down for lunch. We went to lunch at Mango Tree Restaurant; which was an experience in itself. We gathered together on the cushioned floor and ate Indian cuisine.

After lunch we were shown what I think was my favourite monument. The Lotus Mahal stood in the gleaming afternoon sun, as we carefully studied its intricate architecture. It had lovely doorways, with fine detail and carved patterns. By the end of the day, we had seen several magnificent monuments. After our full day of exploring, we ended our day by grabbing some dinner and calling it a night at the hotel.