Wednesday!

Today, the boys started off their morning bright and early with a drum lesson from the Tabla player who performed last night. He taught them a complicated drum beat that the boys have been working on mastering all day. Their drum skills have improved but are nowhere near as good as the professionals.

After breakfast, we all boarded the rickshaws for a very bumpy yet exciting ride to the colonies that previous Bridges to India trips have worked with. We got to see the outside of a beautiful little house worked on by the 2009 India trip. We weren't able to tour the inside of the house because the owners were out at the time, but we did get to walk around the colony for a bit and smile and wave at a few people who were out and about.

After seeing that colony, we boarded the rickshaws again and traveled to another nearby colony to see the well that was built by the 2007 India trip. Right next to the well is a daycare center which we got to peep our heads in for a second and when we did, a few kids started crying. That was a little awkward, so we left. We then walked down a long, somewhat slippery dirt road to the river where the well water comes from. In the river were two adorable cows getting a bath from their owner and four women washing clothes. A few minutes after we arrived at the river, we were greeted by about 10 excited children who seem to have heard of our presence. They all came running down the other side of the river to come take pictures with us. It was a fun time to interact with the kids of the colony.

We then returned to Daisy's house for a delicious lunch of fried fish and fried rice. Yum. After lunch we boarded the rickshaws yet again and went into Changanacherry for some shopping! We first stopped at a very crowded grocery store to buy tea and all sorts of Indian goodies! The boys ventured to a sports shop to buy some nice cricket bats and balls. The girls went to another clothing store, what a surprise, and bought many scarves! It was a lovely, yet brief shopping trip. Daisy then took us to get ice cream which was oh so tasty, for the most part. (Some words of wisdom for you all: if you ever travel to India, never buy a vanilla shake. They are green and frothy and disgusting.)

We then visited an ancient nearby Hindu temple that stuck very closely to its customs. First of all we had to remove our shoes to enter the gates. We also could only walk clockwise as we were touring the temple, which was a bit of an inconvenience, but we survived. While touring the temple, we saw many interesting creatures including a furry, thrashing, biting, stinging, prehistoric caterpillar, and a beautiful black elephant. The elephant was 46 years old, in the midst of her mid-life crisis, as elephants live up to around 85 years old! Wowza. We all got a chance to pet the elephant and get up close and personal with it which was pretty cool. Elephants have some weird lookin' skin. After visiting with the elephant for a bit, we entered the main section of the temple which brought yet another rule that the guys must remove their shirts in order to enter. We walked, clockwise, around the circular building, quietly passing the praying Hindus. The building was about 2000 years old and was preserved wonderfully.

After touring the temple we did some more shopping at a nearby outdoor mall. We then returned to Daisy's house for some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches made with WonderBread and American cheese! After dinner, the girls were painting their nails, and Torsten and Colin joyfully joined to get their beautiful little toenails painted. It was a very magical experience for both of them. And that concludes yet another eventful day in Kerala!

We love you all very much,

-Evy and Joey on behalf of the Bridges to India 2011 crew. peace.