Beach Visit

Today we spent a few hours on the beach with our host families. As you can see we spotted some crabs, and saw some fishermen picking up nets full of dried fish they had lying in the sun all day. It was a beautiful day to just relax and enjoy the sun, the wind, and the company. I was challenged to catch a crab for $10 but after seeing how fast those little buggers are I didn't even attempt, so shortly there after a fisherman came by and I was told that if caught a crab I owed him a $1.....of course he caught a crab, many crabs actually with his bare hands after digging deep down in the crab holes....I gladly paid him!

Dances of India

While on our travels we have been welcomed by many talented children, almost every city we have visited has shown us some amazing hospitality by inviting local children to share cultural dances with us. The videos take a bit to download so I will load them as I can. Every dance has a meaning and a story, much of the story is told through facial expressions and hand gestures (I know the facial gestures are diffucult to see with my amazing video skills, but believe me these young ladies are talented!).

Tow Oxen

On our voyage to an EMU farm we ran into a bit of trouble caused by the unseasonal down pour we received the day we arried in Bellary. No Greg's Towing avaliable in the middle of India so the next best thing was to call on the field worker and his oxen. We were so excited, this may have been the highlight of the trip. There are photos of us and some of the field workers also included. ENJOY! Call 1-800-tow-OXEN when you are stuck!

January 10th

On this day I started the day with my hostess kicking off National Polio Immunization day in Gulbarga, followed by a long day of conferences. Later that evening we all went to a orphanage in Gulbaraga that is home to 18 children. All of the children were brought here as babies and typically spend their lives here until they are done with school. The children all live together as brother and sister and there is one woman who stays there full time as the "mother". The children are welll cared for and attend very good private schools, the whole thing is funded by donations. AMAZING! The kids loved having us there....and sang for us, when we tried to do the same for them, they were not as impressed! hahaha...

January 9th

Here are some pictures of the GSE team in Gulbarga where the district conference was held. WE really enjoyed our time in Gulbarga, the city of flowers. Our hosts were amazing and took very good care of us. As you can see they also offered many cultural experiences for us. We we brought up on stage to dance with one of the performers during our evening entertainment! Good times! Many of our host families have dressed us up in Sari's celebrate the evening events!

Thursday January 8th

WE spent the morning in Richur walking through the slums with children from a "working school" ( which means children that have been taken out of the work force and sent to school), getting the word out for polio immunization day in India, which is January 10th. The children wore hats, masks, and had whistles letting everyone know abou the immunization day. It was a very touching day...we were able to meet many children and see how the poor class live. It is sad, the conditions that they are in. I can't imagine. The children were beyond excited to have their picture taken as well, it was just an honor for them to touch my hand,....they would run away with a huge smile on their face. I leave with a heavy heart, wishing I could do more..but where to begin? THis is one slum, in one city, in one country, in the WORLD! WOW!

Thursday January 7th

The final product of the hemp design that Upasana did for me!

All of us and our hosts were treated to an hour of yoga at a local studio! IT was great fun...

Lily's transportation to and from our early morning yoga session.

This is a great dish prepared by my host family it is call Poha and gold coins...they were totally vegan..and she was an AMAZING cook! I could eat her food all the time of this trip...however they were all very pushy when it comes to eating always wanting you to eat more and refilling your plate when you don't want anymore.

Here are photos from an old palace of sorts....there is a gentleman that still lives here but does not open it to the public at the moment, renovation is in the near future. As we went through the palace every time we turned around there were more and more men following us, i don't think they cared much about the palace, but more about the white women walking through it! AT one point I think we counted 42 men following us, that is counting our orginial 5 hosts! We are sooo popular here it is almost scary!

Here is a picture with my host family. Nimish is the father, Santosh is the mother and Upasana is the daughter...she is 13 and in the 8th grade.