Giving and Taking

Giving and Taking

The team experienced their first challenge with heat and sleep. There were a couple of power outages during the night and the fans turned off. The moment they turned off, the students woke up and groaned. The boys out on the patio experienced their first thundering rain on the tin roof. We woke up to a delicious breakfast and were set for our first shopping adventure. 

To get to the town we rode the rickshaws, usually only holding 3 people, one including 5 people.

 At the stores we were immediately flocked by the clerks and the women were taken to pick materials for their saris and the men for their outfits. The girls were sat at a counter where the clerks pulled out at least 100 fabrics for us to view. We feel bad for the people who have to put them back. All of the girls are very happy with their beautiful saris. They are looking forward to wearing them. 

The guys were shown the different types of dhotis (wrap around skirts/pants). After that they were brought to find the long fancy shirts. The boys are looking forward to sporting their new threads. The shopping wasn't over yet, the team chose to search for some Indian styled shirts and skirts. 

We went to a department store where, once again, the clerks overwhelmed us. Many shirts were pulled and only a few were chosen. Some of the girls got cute wrap around skirts. Everyone found some new clothes to bring home.

After an exhausting shopping trip, everyone came back to a yummy lunch prepared by Lal and Kuber. After our filling lunch we got down to business to prepare our skit for the schools. After some thought process we decided on dancing to Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepson and the Cha Cha Slide. We will post that at a later date.

Starting our first work with the clinic, we unloaded our donations. Ms. Lali was overjoyed by the sewing supplies we brought and Daisy is grateful for the medical supplies. It was great to finally unload our bags and see how the clinic filled up.

We were all sweating after unloading and were hoping for a break, but Daisy and something else in mind. She wanted to take us on a hike. None of us were very excited about sweating up a storm. However, the hike was beautiful through her garden. Her garden is filled with crazy wildlife. We made it to the top and then heading back down, but our walk wasn't over yet.

As a group we hit the streets. We walked around the neighborhood and were greeted by many smiling and excited families. They would smile and wave and call to their friends and family to come check out the white people. It was fun to hear them practice their English with us and would giggle when ever we replied. The young boys enjoyed following either by bike or walking. The boys taught us some Malayalam words including "pucha" which means cat. 

Along our walk Hunter showed us the quarry next to Daisy's property. Some crazy American from Chicago bought the property to cut out the sandstone to sell. It was amazing to see such a huge portion of the hill completely missing. Daisy bought her plot so this would be prevented from happening by the same man.

After a long day of sweat we are ready to shower and hit the hay. Love Maya and Jenn. Maya: Hi Eleanor.