Rain Dance Link

So I have tried You Tube and the blog and neither will allow me to upload the movie of the kids' Rain Dance. It is on my Facebook page. You should be able to access even if we aren't friends yet. Here is the Link:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201621223320950&comment_id=6222103&offset=0&total_comments=1&notif_t=video_comment

It should be subtitled "Pure Joy" because it was the moment we went from being individuals to a group. AWESOME!!!

Rain Dance

When it rains in India it pours and we have to celebrate! As playtime ended it started to pour and James with Prometheus Spark, who is an amazing dancer on Broadway, taught us an impromptu dance. I'm having issues getting the video to load, but here are some pics to set the mood.

Dance down! 

Rain Circle with Claire, Natalie and Jenna 

Finale! 

The Cricket Match

Cricket is huge in India! I have watched the game and for the life of me can not figure out how it works. Today's game was the Marriott employees vs. the Rising Star boys. It was serious. The boys on the team had a swagger that you could tell they were so proud. They all wore their red house shirts and looked like a real team.  The kids were so excited about it and talked about it for the whole week. All of the girls wore their very best clothes. One of my favorite little girls, Anita, said she was wearing her birthday dress, even though it wasn't her birthday. It was so cute! Here are some pics from lunch time and the game.

This is after lunch with a bunch of girls. I love all their bright colors. 

I want to take this little cutie home with me. She is absolutely adorable.

This is Anita. She is taking a 'selfie' from behind me. She is so smart and her English is one of the best here. She is a special one!  PS I get beet red when I'm hot. It felt like it was about 105. 

This is during the cricket match. Far off in the distance, the Rising Star kids are up. They played really hard, but the Marriott men beat them by only two runs, 76-74. 

The Kids

All of the kids have snuck into our hearts in only two days. They are immediately open, curious, and loving. In Western society, we are so closed off from others. These kids are an amazing reminder of what relationships can be. I'm hoping to get photos of more activities, like the Life Dance and class time, but here are a few from play time.

This little girl (I'm so bad with names and the pronunciations are difficult) wanted to do a selfie.  She was better with my phone than I am. 

There are four or five girls who are really good at henna and they have been showing their artistry on our girls. This one, I think is on Jenna. 

One of our girls brought finger nail polish, which has been hit with all the villages we've visited. 

Natalie and Jenna having a little girl time during play time. 

Cricket is huge here. There were two cricket games and one soccer match during play time and it is serious. Tomorrow we have a game with the Marriott people vs. the kids. They are all psyched! 

More cricket. 

The girls love doing our hair. These two were "washing" and cutting Leslie's. Then they gave her a fetching style. :) 

I've had my hair done and as Riley and J'Amy can attest to, it should be called The House of Pain Hair Salon.  These kids have the strongest hands on the planet! 

First Day

Late Wednesday night, we finally arrived in Chennai to our final destination at Rising Star. The next morning was orientation day where we got settled and saw the campus for the first time. It looks exactly like the pictures! It's so nice and air conditioned and the school is within walking distance!

After playtime with the kindergarden age kids, we came home for a little then went back for more play time except with all the students. The kids are just as amazing as everyone said they were, even a little bit better! They are so sweet, loving and sometimes a little sassy. It was a bit overwhelming at first having five kids run up to you at the same time yelling "Auntie Auntie what is your name?" With names like Krishna, Sheba, Gatena, Vignesh, Musa, Sumitra and Nishanti their names were very hard to remember. Then we went to individual prayer time. We split into groups (I was with Natalie) and went to separate houses. The kids would start off by leading a prayer then it was up to us. The theme this week was hard work so Natalie and I racked our brains to come up with a story or at least something that related. We ended up playing Simon Says and a couple rounds of name games for a good half hour. Luckily James, a super cool Broadway performing, dance teaching New Yorker came in and saved us. We ended with a closing prayer, dinner and bedtime shortly afterwards.

Today was a little different. We split into our groups and went off on the daily tasks of either medical, construction or education. I had the privilege of being in the construction group with J'Amy, Claire and Nery. We painted one of the toilet sheds the previous group had built. It was hot but not unbearable, just very very sweaty. It went smoothly besides getting paint in my eye multiple times (thanks Nery). This experience was especially cool for me because we were in these villages walking alongside the people and cows and dogs that live there. We'd seen poor parts of cities earlier in Delhi,  but that was from the safety of our big, air conditioned bus. It wasn't so much culture shock for me, but culture acceptance? I just felt so open and normal to me, there wasn't any shock. We finished the day almost identically to Thursday except with a new house for prayer time and different food for dinner. 

I honestly love everything I have seen so far in this country. I feel so blessed and fortunate for everything I have back in Park City, but these people seem perfectly happy with their stone houses and dirt streets. Their home is much different from ours, but that doesn't keep it from being a home. I could stay here forever! 

- Reilly Falter

*To answer some frequently asked questions by my friends and family: No, we don't shower in Western style showers, instead we get to fill a larger bucket with water and use a smaller bucket to pour it over ourselves. No, we don't have to wear saris everyday, instead we wear baggy pants and long, pretty shirts.. I can't remember the name right now. And finally, yes, we do have to squat to use the toilet.*

Random Agra Pictures

Shopping in Agra, the girls went Sari shopping. 

We are a curiosity in India and people come up to our group members all the time and ask to take pictures. These ladies were beautiful and had the most amazing Saris! 

At the end of the visit to the Taj, it was a downpour- monsoon style! 

Before the rains, Nataile Beal posed at the Lady Di bench. I think they are identical. 

There are three photos ops you must get, a Lady Di bench, a touching the top of the Taj and a jumping pose. Haha! 

Taj Mahal

We started the day at 5:00 am. It was drizzling and there was some discussion about whether or not we should go or wait until later.  We all thought we should just go for it because who knows if it will get better or worse later.  We had to transfer from our touring bus to a clean energy bus about two or three blocks away because they didn’t want the pollution harming the Taj worse than it already has.  

The beauty of the Taj is in its purpose, a tribute to the king's wife when she died, and the symmetry of the building. Amazing. 

There are two gates at either end of the Taj and then this one leads into the grounds itself. It is flanked by two entry gates on either end. Through this entrance is the Taj. 

Of course the most famous picture of the Taj is where you capture the reflection of the monument in the pools in front. Not bad for an I-phone... I will get more pics up later. We have playtime with the kids! 

Culture Shock

Park City is a bubble. Sheltered and protected.  I've lived there my entire life and never really known anything but the organization and calm that was there.  But coming across the globe to a country so full of people and chaos has opened my eyes!  We arrived in Delhi at 12:30 AM and just the drive to our hotel was chaos. Driving here, there are no lanes. You just go where you can and hope that people will yield to you.  The streets are full of life, exploding with it.  The markets are organized chaos, but more on the chaotic side.  The people here are kind and friendly and very, very plentiful.  Every where you look there are people.  Kids selling flowers, men selling magnets, women talking. I've never been any where so full of life! Coming here makes Park City seem like the smallest, plainest, most privileged place on the planet.

-J'Amy VanderVeur

Delhi Spice Market

My biggest concern coming into India  A few times, that septic smell comes up and is a little overpowering, but for the most part, the smells are exotic.  There is incense burning everywhere and the different scents pass from one vendor to the next.  In the spice market it was overpowering. Some of the chilies were so strong we all would cough just passing by their shop.   Everything was out in big bags full of chilies, nuts, every spice you could imagine. Sacks just full of them. And men everywhere were bartering and discussing. They seemed to have little interest in us. 

was the smell.

We went to a spice store and the guy told us about the healing powers of several different types of spice. We tasted cinnamon shards and turmeric and fennel mixed with mint to cleanse the palate.  In India, chefs use multiple spices and mixes to get just the right curry flavor. So far my favorites are the butter Chicken that is really more like a mild masala mix and something they call karma flavoring. The karma veggies were amazing! The selection of teas and chai were tempting. 

I love the compactness of the marketplace.  As Megan said, there is no personal bubble. Everyone is close.  The Muslims built this part of old Delhi and they did not believe in wastefulness.  There are small shops that two people can pass in with goods on either side.  Above the shops are more shops or peoples homes. If there is a small corner that could be built upon, they will squeeze it in.  Originally, the alleys in the market were built so small so that they could get the most from their space, but also so that the women, who were not allowed to go out, could talk to each other between homes.  The buildings are all colors, styles and in various states of functionality, most very old, some even from pre-colonial days.  

Frankfurt

Frankfurt!
It was a long flight over the pond, but we are in Frankfurt. It's 4:00 am in PC, but 12:00 pm here. The kids are getting snacks and doing a little power walking before our flight in an hour. We will blog when we get to Delhi.
Kelly

Safe and Sound!

Hi All,
I just wanted you to know that the kids have arrived safely, had fun riding bikes and traveling around Delhi and are on their way to the Taj Mahal tomorrow at sunrise. They don't have internet access where they are staying, but Maike said they are all taking lots of pictures. I am hoping they can start blogging tomorrow or Sunday! I can't wait to be in country and hear their stories.
Kelly