First Full Day in Kerala

After finally arriving at Hope Clinic last night at around 7:15 pm (through windy, bumpy and narrow roads), we were welcomed into Daisy's house. We were "hello-ed" (a word created by Evy) by Ms. Laly who greeted us with a sincere smile and a red bindi for everyone. Once we unpacked our bags from the bus, we had a delicious dinner and relaxed in the house for an evening in.

Today we woke up at 7 for a nice walk around the property with Daisy, which included a tour of both the medical clinic and the women's center. We returned to the house for a yummy breakfast of bird nest noodles and egg curry. Finally we got to the highlight of the day: visiting the school!

Upon arriving, we immediately saw the excitement of the students. once we met with the principal we made our way over to the conference hall (much like our own Maverick room) to meet with students. A few members of the staff introduced us before Daisy told the story of founding the clinic. Next, students performed various traditional Indian dances. The glimpse we got of their lives was incredible. It was so unlike anything we had ever seen in the US or even in Bollywood movies. Following their performances it was our turn to show what our own lives are like Joey and Colin sang "I Can Tell That We Are Going To Be Friends" with Colin on guitar and both singing, Colin sang another song and played guitar, Amy, Anna, Carly and Evy sang "I'm Yours" and Amy concluded with "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." The kids seemed to enjoy everything, laughing and clapping enthusiastically. To end our visit we had a Q&A session. All RHS students went to the front of the room and took and asked questions from other students. Although the session was brief we all were able to take something from it.

After leaving the room, we were surprised by an additional performance. Six students that had swords and shields danced with the props, creating a martial-arts-type performance. After waving goodbye to all the students we walked home to the clinic.
When we got home we had lunch and hung around playing cards, reading and talking. Later in the afternoon we walked to the clinic and unpacked the books and sewing supplies. We've spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out, eating and planning our performances for the rest of the schools.

Love,
Anna and Nick