Back to School :)

Placid Vidya Vihar Secondary School

Hey, it's Amber and Sam, here with another update of our wonderful journey in India. We began our day bright and early because we needed to catch our motor-rickshaws to Placid Vidya Vihar Secondary School. After the best ride to school ever, we attended a beginning of the day assembly, kind of like community meeting to the power of ten. We were treated like celebrities, gave out several awards, and held out our hands during several prayers/national anthems, unsure of precisely how to act. Then, Hunter gave a speech that brought to mind Martin Luther King Jr. Needless to say, it was exhausting, and that was before we even met the students we would shadow for the rest of the day.

We were each paired with a different student in "plus one" or eleventh grade. All the "plus two" or twelfth graders were sitting exams, so we didn't get to shadow them. All the students that we shadowed were really nice and welcoming. The school that we went to visit has students in eleventh and twelfth grade who choose a "track" or kind of like a college major. Their tracks were commerce and sciences, so once students complete tenth grade, they are glued to one major source of study. Most of us shadowed students in the sciences track, but Annie and Sam shadowed commerce students. Throughout the day we attended seven classes, each about 45 minutes long. Each class stays in one room, with teachers changing rooms instead of the students.

We were struck by the similarities between Riverdale and their school. They enjoy going to movies, surfing the internet, and hanging out with their friends, just like us. However, there was a large percentage of students boarded at the school, which limited their freedom to use technology. We visited the school during their revision time, because their exams are coming up in December. Most of the teachers read from a textbook, and the students copied down what they said.

Along with sitting in on their classes, we were also invited to the front of the class to tell everyone about ourselves, and most of the kids were really intent on hearing us sing. Sam performed a beautiful rendition of "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. Larissa and I (Amber) sang the Riverdale Fight Song, which I'm not sure was totally grasped by the students. We talked to them about our school, where we came from, and the differences between Kerala and Oregon. The kids in younger grades were quite infatuated with us, and made it their mission to get all eleven Riverdale students to autograph their notebooks.

We also got lunch at Placid Vidya Vihar, and had quite the interesting sandwich experience. The sandwich consisted of: a layer of white bread, crustless; a layer of butter, followed by a layer of jelly, bookmarked by a triangle of bread. Seems typical, right? This is where things get interesting. Beneath the innocuous layers of jelly sandwich lurked a chicken curry sandwich. Sam's reaction: surprised, but he ate the whole thing. You may be wondering how this sandwich came to be, so we will tell you the tale. Daisy had asked that Lal make half of the sandwiches peanut butter and jelly, and half of the sandwiches chicken, because she didn't know what we preferred. This was lost in translation though, and Lal created the masterpiece that we dubbed the "Indian Thanksgiving Sandwich."

After lunch, we continued with studies until 3:20, when we went back to the principal's office where we got apple juice and talked about the differences and similarities between Riverdale and Placid Vidya Vihar.

We went home after a long day of school and ate Lal's famous french fries. It was a great ending to the school day.

We're having a great time and we girls are getting fitted for our sari's tomorrow, so that should be exciting.
Love to our families and friends.
- Amber and Sam :)

Beach Bummin' in Kerala!

Hey there blog fans! It's Annie and Kaytee here fillin' you in on our Indian adventures.

Today was our second full day in Kerala. It began with a 7:00 AM yoga lesson in the clinic's library. It was a little cramped and Karl had some trouble due to his 6'6" frame. After yoga we had a delicious breakfast of noodles and, for those of us missing the tastes of home, oatmeal. Kaytee and Ellie had brown sugar oatmeal and Annie munched on some Dinosaur oatmeal (there are magic hatching dino eggs!).

After B-Fast, we loaded into the rickshaws and visited the colony where the previous group built the well. It was great to see how much improvement the well had brought to the community. They were all very happy to see us, and they were still thanking us for the hard work put into the well. The kids were adorable, and loved posing or playing with our cameras.

Next we headed back to the house for some R&R and had a tasty lunch. Unfortunately, we also had to say goodbye to Karl and Jennifer Shulz. None of us were too happy about their departure but they had "lives to get back to" apparently.

Some of us did homework or just chatted before we left for the beach at 3:00. It was about a 45 minute drive to the beautiful Indian Ocean. They're starting to build more attractions so that more tourists will come to the beach, and if we come back in two years it could look completely different. But for now, we were pretty much the only non-Indian people there. The water was very warm and the temperature was perfect, but we couldn't go swimming because of riptides. The Indian men could go swimming in their speedos, but the women had to wade in their saris. After a long walk on the beach and receiving a lot of attention (due to our glowing white skin), we settled down in the sand to eat some banana fritters. We even stayed on the beach to watch the sunset before packing back in the bus and heading off to the house.

We had another break and then had a tasty dinner of naan and curry. Even though naan is a mostly Northern Indian dish, Lal (one of the cooks) was nice enough to find us some in town. After dinner, we were sitting in various rooms when we began hearing the melodious strains of a beautiful instrument. We followed the sound, and discovered some Indian kids singing-- to the sound of Mr. Palma's saxophone! He would play a tune for them and then they'd repeat it (looking and sounding absolutely adorable). At one point Mr.Palma even got Dana to sing along with them. Speaking of singing, when we were at the beach, Kaytee, Dana, and Ellie sang the national anthem in a trio while the sun set in the background. Absolutely magical.

The final highlight of our day occured just a few moments ago: we asked Lal (who doesn't speak very much English) to open the library for us. He nodded, and returned with a can opener. The best way to describe this- as Daisy would say- is "lost in translation." It was hilarious. Lal, like everyone, is adorable. I (Annie) would adopt them all if only I could.

Well that's all for now, blog fans!
Thanks to Shauna Flanigan, Mrs. Reid, and Zoe Huston for responding- keep up the good work!
XOXO Gossip Annie and Kaytee

Kerala Day 1

Performance of local culture provided at the Daisy Hope home.

This morning everyone woke up from a nice, humid, sweaty sleep. We untangled bug nets and sleep cocoons and attempted to set them up on our beds. Annie and Dana were involved in an epic battle over bug nets. Annie was situated in a somewhat smaller bed that required a smaller bug net. However, Annie decided to bring the "Metropolis" sized bug net. After a long, heated debate over beds and bug nets, Annie convinced Dana to switch nets with her. But of course, Annie managed to get Dana's bug net pole caught in the ceiling fan and caused it to explode around the room. It was all in good fun, and ended up being just fine.

The top floor is occupied by 10 people. These 10 people all share one bathroom. Lines for this bathroom may take up to one hour, but everyone was able to take a shower eventually.

Downstairs, Dana was greeted by a lovely, three inch wide spider. Kaytee explained to Dana that she had showered perfectly fine with this wonderful creature, but that definitely was not going to work for Dana. She decided to kill the spider, going against her own wishes (and the Hindu beliefs). Upstairs, Larissa found a praying mantis and was frightened, but kept from killing it.

We scampered downstairs to be greeted with hot cups of steaming tea with sugar, milk, and spices, prepared by Lal who had just milked the cow that morning. We also enjoyed handmade rice noodles with sugar and coconut. There was a warm vegetable stew, and a tasteful omelet. Every morning we also have fresh bananas and pineapple.

After breakfast we walked to the library located down the hill from the house. We were welcomed by around 32 excited, beautiful children (grades K-10). They cheered for us when they noticed the 750 pounds of new books on their shelves. We went around the room giving introductions. After that the children performed songs for us and we sang Old McDonald, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, I'm a Little Tea Pot, and a trio of the Star Spangled Banner. Mr. and Mrs. Schulz were given garlands of jasmine and locally handmade, engraved boxes of spices and bindi dust. We took pictures of the kids and they loved seeing themselves on the camera. It got a little bit crazy when the kids got hold of our cameras and filled up our memory cards.

Next, we embarked on a journey to the center of the town to buy formal wear (saris and lungis). We piled three people into tuk tuks (small motorized rickshaws). One of the drivers was related to three of the children at the library. We all arrived at the "Nordstrom" of Kerala, and overwhelmed them with 11 students trying to explain what designs and colors they wanted their saris to be made from. After all the women picked out their saris they went upstairs to continue to shop. We bought numerous clothes. First, they had to pull our hundreds of colors and designs, creating three feet piles of clothes. However, no one had a bigger pile than Mrs. Keeton. Mrs. Keeton cleaned out this store and bought many unique local shirts. We piled into the tuk tuks with our purchases and went home for another wonderful meal.

We had some down time and wrote in our journals. Around three o'clock, we watched make-up artists paint masks on the faces of the men for the traditional Kathakali (story dance). It is an ancient Kerala art form that is slowly fading away through the generations. The men manipulate their eyes, mouths, cheeks, arms, legs, and hands for precise movements that tell a story. We had dinner with Dr. Sashi and his daughters, Meeda (junior) and Needa (8th grade). We engaged in conversations about the differences between Kerala school life and Riverdale school life. For instance, they study 6-8 hours a day and wake up early to continue their studies. They don't date or sit near boys, and do not have any after school activities. We had another tasty meal and went to bed for a better night sleep.

Namaste, Dana and Larissa.

Arrival In Kerala!!!

Packing the donated library books in the

front lobby of Riverdale High School.

Hello from Kerala it's Ellie and Annie!

Today we traveled from Jaipur to Kerala, India. After waking up around 6:30 am and battling Chinese tourists for the elevator, we hopped on our bus to the Jaipur airport. Upon arrival we were all surprised to see that the airport was brand new. Also, a friend of a friend of a Riverdale parent knew a Jet Air pilot, so we got quite the special treatment--they escorted us throughout our connecting flights (Jaipur to Mumbai to Cochi), and we each got two seats to ourselves, pens and matching hats. The Jet Air airline was very pleasant. Natalie got very excited over the petite waterbottles and the bright blue airsick bags. Upon arrival from cooler Jaipur to steamy Mumbai, we were hit with the heat waves and humidity while getting off of the plane. It was cool and kind of disturbing when we flew into Mumbai because we saw HUGE slums covering large amounts of land. It was kind of like a scene from Slumdog Millionare for those who have seen the movie. Finally we arrived at the Cochi airport. All of our bags had to be loaded and tied down to the top of a van (30 bags is a hassle to travel with, apparently) and loaded into a separate car. We were told by the driver it would be a two hour drive to Hope Charities, where we are staying, and Karl told us to expect three hours. However, our ride ended up being an unexpected 3+ hours. The bumpy and start and stop motions of the car, as well as the heat, took its toll on some of our stomachs. When we finally reached the house we were greeted by Daisy and Mrs. Laly, who performed a common Hindu greeting ritual to the group (we all got red bindis!). The house is incredible. Once we arrived we got fresh lemon juice and pineapple-absolutely delicious. Later, we also got home-made french fries. The ketchup here is surprisingly good as well. After assembling into our rooms and setting up our bug nets, we lugged our 15, 50 pound bags of books to the library at the clinic and organized all of the books by reading level. It was a very sweaty journey but it's rewarding to see all these books in the library.

P.S: Kerala is very jungle-y with lots of palm, rubber and coconut trees. We also saw the backwaters while driving to Hope Charities. People drive on the left side of the road here and they pass each other by beeping their horns and swerving around. It is also significantly cleaner than the larger cities like Delhi. Well, that's all for now! We all arrived safe and in one piece. Annie says hi to her "family and friends" and Ellie says hello to Dad and Lucie--Hope you are having a blast in Hawaii! (p.s. Ellis, we miss you if you are reading this!)

Thanksgiving India

Riding elephants to the Amber Fort.

Happy Thanksgiving from India! This is Shannon. Last night was quite the adventure. After a quick stroll around Jaipur, we had dinner at an Indiana Indian restaurant. They even had an American and Indiana state flag. Needless to say, I was amused. On a very Indian note, complementary music and dancing was provided. There were three dancing ladies who were very traditional, and we all joined in and were...less traditional.

And then they put pots of fire on their heads, which is when we made our dancing exit.

We also received proof of just how small the world really is; at this particular small restaurant in Jaipur, India a woman approached us. It was former Riverdale parent, Mrs. Piper, mother of Severin Piper. She has been traveling India with her sister and coincidentally had just arrived in Jaipur the previous night. Small, small world.

Last night we stayed at the Fern Eco Hotel, the first night it was ever open. I feel spoiled.

This morning, after meeting up with our very cool guide, Raz, we treked over to see Old Jaipur and the Palace of the Winds, a cool facade overlooking the street. Then it was on to the Amber Fort for elephant rides! (Do not fear, faithful followers, Amber did take copious amounts of pictures.) The elephant rides were sooo cool. It was like they physically were transporting us into an ancient fairy tale. The sounds of peddlers, music, and elephants completed the dream. We explored the labyrinth-like fort, found some bats, and avoided the hawkers.

Then we saw the Floating Palace; it is literally a palace built on top of a lake.

Next stop was the actual Royal Palace. It wasn't as impressive as some of the other things because we only got to see a small portion due to the fact that the royal family actually lives there. But just outside of it was the observatory that blew my mind! Dang were those ancient Indians smart. It is home to the largest sundial that is correct within two seconds! Mind boggling, truly.

One of the highlights is the rickshaw ride we took. We wove treacherously, but expertly, through the streets. All of the people waved, I even got a high five, which is only topped by Ellie, who got flowers. We are total rockstars here.

We are now gathered for Thanksgiving dinner at India's very own Pizzahut. I am thankful, warm, and well fed.

Good luck topping this next year, mom and dad.

Shannon

Taj Mahal Edition

Bridges to India in front of Taj Mahal

Hey everyone, it's Sam, keeping you informed with the latest update of our travels!

Yesterday, we left New Delhi and took a six hour bus ride to Agra, where we visited the Taj Mahal. It was amazing to see the number of people that could fit into the Tuk Tuks that we narrowly missed crashing into on the highways. People were literally hanging off these doorless three wheeled vehicles. We saw at least twenty crammed into a few of them.

The Taj Mahal was everything we expected and more. It was a surreal experience standing mere feet away from one of the seven wonders of the world. We took enough pictures to keep a Ritz Camera outlet busy printing for hours. What was really suprising, though, is how having pale skin makes you an instant celebrity. The girls were extremely popular and dozens of young Indian men would gather around to take a photo with them.

The way back from the Taj was a gauntlet of the world's greatest souvenier hawkers, tracking down anything that could carry a rupee. Hunter and I looked like secret service agents, wearing matching white shirts and sunglasses. Ok, maybe secret service agents on vacation, but I think it was our intimidation factor that kept pickpockets at bay.

Also, just to reiterate, the Taj Mahal is a ridiculous structure. The feeling of sliding around bare foot on the marble floor of this tomb is incredible.

Natalie had another stair episode, but she seems to be improving with each passing day.

Haha, very funny, Sam. As you might have guessed, this is Natalie writing. But never fear, avid blog readers, my stair climbing exploits have been carefully documented for your entertainment.

In other news, we spent Wednesday morning exploring another magnificent piece of architecture, the Agra Fort. It is strange to be standing in a building so ancient and so masterfully constructed and at the same time surrounded by an ugly layer of contemporary smog. The fort's intricate craftmanship pairs oddly with Agra's pollution. We could see the Taj from a terrace--but barely. It speaks of a time when there were no bickering car horns or overpowering hordes of colorful people sweeping through the streets.

That, without a doubt, is my favorite part of being in India--the people, I mean. Watching them fly by on the bus to Jaipur is amazing. Their waves, their smiles, the contrasts from their lives to ours all inspire us to pull through jet lag and gross bathrooms. We are all in good spirits and taking it all in full force.

Love to my family and Cameron!

Day 1

Shannon and Hunter on their way to the hotel after arriving in Delhi.

So far we are having a blast. Today we woke up at 9 am after only 5 hours of sleep and had an amazing breakfast. The hotel had a wide variety of foods and even Larissa was pleased. After exploring the massive hotel for a bit we got on to the bus to start our tour.

First we went to the Jama Masjid Mosque. It is the largest mosque in India. All of the students paid 100 rupees (1USD-45Rupees) to go into the tallest tower at the mosque. We all had to make our way up the spiraling sets of stairs but once we got to the top it was worth it. From the top you can see huge hotels next to a mass of run down buildings and homes. It took us much longer to get down due to Natalie's fear of steep stairs.

Next we went to the spot where Ghandi was cremated. We saw the eternal flame and marble flat that represent the immortality of soul. They believe the soul never dies; it only changes form in reincarnation. While walking back to the bus being followed by an entourage of teenage men, an older fellow attempted to pick pocket Hunter's camera. Luckily, Hunter noticed. While we were on the bus weaving through tuk tuk's and bikes we saw the India Gate which resembles the Arc d'Triomphe in Pairs.

Then we went to Humayun's Tomb. It was built for Shah Jahan by his wife. The Taj Mahal was built to resemble it.

Then we went to the Bahai. It is a massive free standing building that resembles a lotus flower that is made of imported marble and has no beams holding it up.

We went to a famous carpet making company where they gave us free lunch and tea and tried to guilt trip us in to buying things.

Then we went to the Qutab Minar, which is the tallest free standing tower in India. There we also saw the ruins of 27 temples and the iron pillar that hasn't oxidized in 1600 years.

We went back to the hotel to find out the pool is 40 degrees. Sam and I jumped in anyway. Then we walked through the streets and went to the India Gate on our way to dinner. It was surrounded by tons of beggars and salesmen. Once we got to the restaurant everyone was starting to fall asleep. We got a wide variety of foods and ate family style. At the end of dinner Hunter bit in to a pepper by accident and started crying. It was quite the fiasco. Then we walked back to the hotel and everyone passed out.

Quinn, Sam, Larissa

Arrived in Delhi

Waiting in Airports

We arrived at the hotel in Delhi at around four thirty in the morning, and even though it was late we could see how gorgeous the hotel was. It is so beautifully decorated and the rooms are luxurious, with the softest bed and pillows in the world! We were all exhausted at that point, so we went to sleep around 5, and woke up for breakfast at 9. The breakfast was also great, with the best juices. Today we're on our way to the largest mosque in India, and a city tour around old and new Delhi.

Amber

The Departure - 5:30 AM, PDX

The team is in the air! Delhi tomorrow.

BRIDGES TO INDIA ITINERARY

SAT 11/21/09 PDX Departure for Trip Group of 15
SUN 11/22/09 FLYING
MON 11/23/09 Delhi Arrive at 2:00 AM
Tour of Delhi: Jama Masjid, Raj Ghat, Drive by Government Building and Gate
TUES 11/24/09 Delhi Depart to Agra
Tour: Little Taj, Agra Fort
WED 11/25/09 Agra
Tour: Taj Mahal
Depart for Jaipur - Evening
THUR 11/26/09 Jaipur
Tour: Elephant Ride at Amber City Fort, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Bassar
FRI 11/27/09 Jaipur to Cochin
SAT 11/28/09 - 12/09/09 Hope Charities
ESL Classes, School visits, Women’s Empowerment Center Construction, Library Book Donations
WED 12/9/09 – 12/11/09 Hope Charities Departure
Backwater Tour of Vembanad Lake; Mumbai flight on the 11th
SAT 12/12/09 – Mumbai to PDX

This is it!!!

A few reminders:

1. Passport!

2. Analogue to share with children (photos of where you're from, you in sports, at home, pets, family, holidays...)

3. email your short biography and photo to Daisy at daisychet@hotmail.com, NOW!

4. mail your thank you's including our blog web address

5. get a good night sleep on Friday

6. meet at the United ticket counter, 5:30am, SHARP! We need to book our seats together, and everyone needs to be there for us to proceed.

PACKING!

Packing books donated by friends and families of the Riverdale Community for the Hope Charities' ESL Library. Luggage check in the Maverick Room - making our lists and checking them twice! 7 days to go...

Packing Meeting Reminder

FINAL MEETING this

Saturday, Nov. 14th

4:00-6:00pm @ RHS Maverick room

Bring, completely packed:

1. Suitcase, packed

2. empty duffle for ESL books

3. carry on, packed

Remember, everything needs to be completely packed.

We will utilize the packing list for checking.

The more organized you are, the quicker the meeting.

Also, please send a photo and short biography, a few sentences or more, about yourself to Daisy daisychet@hotmail.com this week! She will be leaving for Kerala the same time as we leave for India, so you need to send it by Sunday, Nov. 15th at the latest.

Note to parents: All travelers have been registered with the US Embassy in New Delhi. For information in the case of an emergency, contact the embassy at newdelhi.usembass.gov.

The group is called "Bridges to India".

Book Drive & T-Shirt Sales Going on Now

Good news--the long sought-after Bridges to India t-shirts have arrived! Members of Bridges will be offering the t-shirts for sale in the high school front lobby for $15 each in the morning from 8:30-9. At the same booth, Bridges will also be accepting donations for a book drive that serves the library at Hope Charities's Clinic in Kerala, India; this is where the service learning component of the trip will be taking place. The donated books are intended for young kids that are learning to read, and are not necessarily proficient in English. Appropriate material for this age and ability level is very much appreciated!

For RHS student donors, for every two books brought in that student's name will get placed in a hat. At the end of the drive (the 11th) two names will be drawn to receive lunch (pizza, drinks, and dessert) the following Friday (the 13th). Please visit the booth to purchase t-shirts and contribute to the books going to India with us!