Hello all. Here's an update on what we've been up to.
John has been very busy lately. He is working on the website for the Baha'i House of Worship (Lotus Temple) and is also helping the Baha'i National Center here. We've told them we'd stay here at least until the end of February. We're staying with a wonderful family here in Delhi. They are an American family with three kids who are here for six months for their mom (Jenny)'s job. The dad, Chris, is the person who got John involved in the computer stuff at the Baha'i National Center. They are great people and have very kindly allowed us to stay here with them like family. We feel very lucky.
I've been helping John and Chris out some as they have alot to do. I've also been getting involved with an orphanage in Delhi that is home to 35 kids who are HIV positive. They are really great kids and smart! The incredible thing is how they have made the "care home" as they call it into such a happy place. I taught my first children's class there on Thursday and hope to continue with that on a weekly basis. I'm also going to be helping another volunteer with teaching English classes there on Saturdays. At other times, I can just go there and spend time with the kids playing, reading, whatever.
It's been surprisingly difficult to find organizations who want volunteer help, so I was a bit discouraged for a while there, but I'm really happy that I found this place. I finally feel like I'm doing something meaningful.
Our families are coming to visit in two weeks and I am soooo excited. I haven't ever left Texas or my family for this long, so some family time is definitely in order. We're going to meet them all up in Rajkot.
Diwali is coming up. Tuesday I think. This means lots of colorful lights and decorations everywhere and exploding sounds (I'm assuming they are fireworks) outside our window. Stores are having sales and selling big baskets of nuts and sweets and stuff. It will be interesting to see how they celebrate Diwali in India.
Ok, that's all for now. Hope all three of our loyal readers are doing well! :)
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Photos of Rajasthan
Hey everyone, this is John. I just put up some photos highlighting our trip through Rajasthan. You can see the photos here. Hope you enjoy.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
udaipur
Hello friends,
John and I are in Udaipur right now. It is in Rajasthan - a city with many lakes and hills and palaces and temples and other pretty things like that. It is also full of tourists and shopkeepers trying to sell us things we don't want. So we are currently taking refuge inside an internet cafe.
We have been traveling around Rajasthan for the past week since we had a week before John's project in Delhi begins. We were in Jodhpur and will go to Jaipur tomorrow and then back to Delhi. Yesterday we saw our first elephant. It was surreal to see that huge creature making its way down the narrow street. John will post pics of it when we get to a comp that lets us do that.
Oh yeah, I didn't mention the coolest part of our trip so far. When we went to Jodhpur, our purpose in going was really to investigate a project there that we might be volunteering with. They have a school in a tiny little town outside of Jodhpur that we went to visit. We walked through the town during the day and saw the school and met the other volunteers who are working there. That evening, our host Govind, who started the school, took us to the home of his ancestors, a little bit away from the main part of the town. There, we were surrounded by fields and a few scattered houses. There was no electricity and few people around. His aunt cooked us a lovely dinner that we ate by candlelight, and we slept on the roof under the stars. Saw lots of shooting stars that night and woke up to people taking their goats out to the field to start their day's work. It was by far the best experience of our trip so far. Not sure if my description does it justice.
Ok, well that's all for now. We hope all is well with all of our friends reading back home and that you all have your power back and life is back to normal.
-sapana and john
John and I are in Udaipur right now. It is in Rajasthan - a city with many lakes and hills and palaces and temples and other pretty things like that. It is also full of tourists and shopkeepers trying to sell us things we don't want. So we are currently taking refuge inside an internet cafe.
We have been traveling around Rajasthan for the past week since we had a week before John's project in Delhi begins. We were in Jodhpur and will go to Jaipur tomorrow and then back to Delhi. Yesterday we saw our first elephant. It was surreal to see that huge creature making its way down the narrow street. John will post pics of it when we get to a comp that lets us do that.
Oh yeah, I didn't mention the coolest part of our trip so far. When we went to Jodhpur, our purpose in going was really to investigate a project there that we might be volunteering with. They have a school in a tiny little town outside of Jodhpur that we went to visit. We walked through the town during the day and saw the school and met the other volunteers who are working there. That evening, our host Govind, who started the school, took us to the home of his ancestors, a little bit away from the main part of the town. There, we were surrounded by fields and a few scattered houses. There was no electricity and few people around. His aunt cooked us a lovely dinner that we ate by candlelight, and we slept on the roof under the stars. Saw lots of shooting stars that night and woke up to people taking their goats out to the field to start their day's work. It was by far the best experience of our trip so far. Not sure if my description does it justice.
Ok, well that's all for now. We hope all is well with all of our friends reading back home and that you all have your power back and life is back to normal.
-sapana and john
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