Let's call those HOGS!

Come on all you razorback fans, let's stand up and CALL THOSE HOGS!!!

The most precocious child in the world

Today was an interesting day. We visited a village. Originally I thought we were going to a village where a medical clinic was being held and that we would talk with the villagers about their everyday lives. Not so much. It was still very interesting. Early this morning we picked up our guides from the NGO (non-government organization). They took us to the village where we were greeted by what seemed like an entire village. They gave us each a rose as we got off of the bus. We then went to go sit under a tent for a welcoming ceremony. Bandwidth permitting I may be able to upload some video of this. The whole thing was in another language, and I didn't have a full understanding of what was going on. Nevertheless it was another situation where we felt like celebrities. Later on the bus Vikas told us that they do that so that people (women in particular) can get medical care. Generally if a woman is sick in a village and she has chores she is expected to stay home and do chores, not go to the medical camp. By adding the ceremony they can ensure that more people will come. They found 10 women that needed to be hospitalized before we left. After the ceremony we walked around the village. We were escorted by a woman from the NGO. We were able to ask a lot of questions. She answered a lot of them, or translated answers directly from the villagers. The village was really a lot bigger than I thought it would be - 400 homes, 1800 residents. On average each household has a cell phone and many also have computers and satellite television. It's wild. The children there were wonderful. They were so excited to see us and wanted to take pictures. I even have a video of them running in a race with Jason. After our tour we sat down again under the tent and drank coconut water directly from coconuts. It's really good. I don't know how to explain the taste, it's like water, but sweet, but then not..

We went to another village after this. We went to a house where they take care of mentally challenged people and orphaned children or single parent children who have given them up. We saw the most precocious child I have ever seen in my life. I have a lot of videos of him as well as others singing, saying their alphabets, and counting. Again, bandwidth permitting I will put some of them up. After that we came back to our apartments set our bags down and set off for a free evening and shopping.

We split into groups and rode in auto rickshaws to downtown Bangalore to Kaveri Emporium. They sell things that are not really available in North India where we'll be for the rest of the trip, so needed to get some things now. I haven't really bought much up until this point. I got several things, I won't be posting about them here because I'd hate to ruin any one's belated Christmas gift. Just know, we had a very good time shopping. We had dinner at KFC. I don't think I've ever been so happy to eat at KFC. It's probably the best meal I've had since I've been here. I had a 3 piece chicken strip meal. The strips were different from home - spicy like everything else around here, but they were good. We rode back to the apartments in another auto rickshaw. I plan on copying over pictures and videos from today and then going to bed. Tomorrow we head to the orphanage. I'm really looking forward to it based on today's experiences.

Catching up...We don't have Internet everywhere we go. Here is what has happened so far.

12/20/2008-12/21/2008

We finally arrived in Delhi. The flight was long, the food was worse than awful. When we were about to land the pilot said that there were fires below, but not to be alarmed because the plane was not on fire. I finally badgered the guy next to me into telling me what the fires were for. Apparently the poverty stricken masses in Delhi build fires in 50 degree weather to keep warm. Customs was surprisingly quick but baggage claim was an absolute nightmare. We got to our apartments around 2 am. I was starving, luckily we got a welcome package of food. I promptly ate the classic lays chips thinking that was something I knew. Wrong, the chips had curry on them. Not bad, but terribly surprising. We turned right around and left at 6:15 am to go to Bangalore.

12/22/2008

We took Kingfisher airlines to Bangalore. The stewardesses were all HOT. They wear red uniforms, short skirt, jacket, and white shirt, also matching sensible red shoes. The dishes were real, but again the food was awful. The airport was odd, we took our bags through security first, then checked in. Then we went through a behind the curtain security check for women. The thing I found most interesting though was that the planes all pretty much load from the tarmac. Because planes leave from that airport approximately every 15 minutes, they load buses and drive you out to the plane. Seems convoluted, but it's entirely more efficient than what we're currently doing in American airports. We arrived in Bangalore after a 5 hour plane ride. We then took about a 30 minute bus ride to the Chalet apartments where we were staying. All of the girls stayed in 1 apartment. It's really nice and even has a housekeeper. We went out to dinner at an Indian place around 8. This seemed late, but it was early by Indian standards. The place really started to fill up as we were leaving.

12/23/2008

Today we are headed to the Kabini River lodge. Yet another 5 hour ride, this time by bus. We stopped at McDonald's along the way. I tried to get a filet-o-fish (it was on the menu) but they didn't have any. so I got the McAloo Tiki burger instead. No good. We went to a temple on the way close to Mysore. We were accosted by vendors of fake bangles and sandlewood elephants. If I was feeling attention starved I can tell you I surely was not after that experience. As we arrived at the Kabini river lodge it was time for lunch (4 pm). After lunch we immediately went on a jeep safari. I got some great pictures of monkeys, a wild elephant and a bunch of deer. The coolest thing was that we actually saw a leopard. Problem was it was almost dark and then the wild elephant scared it back into the woods so no picture.

12/24/2008

Couldn't feel less like Christmas eve. It's 80 and beautiful. First thing in the morning we went on yet another safari. I had been told there would be an elephant safari, but somehow someone seems to have confused an elephant with a boat. No matter, I got some great pictures of a mama elephant and her baby boy. It was absolutely ridiculous. After this 3 hour boat safari we went on to Mysore to see more and spend the night. We saw the palace at Mysore. It was built by a very progressive king at the beginning of the 20th century. It actually has electricity and many other firsts for India as well as Asia. After this we visited yet another temple. Lots of monkeys and cows outside of it; wildlife runs loose around here. A monkey jumped on Melissa's back inside the temple - those suckers are smart. I also saw one steal a banana directly out someones pocket. We also stopped to see a sculpture of a bull that is carved entirely out of 1 piece of black granite. It was pretty cool. Lastly we went to a sound and light show at a beautiful garden that is next to a dam. It was crowded, oh so crowded. We ended up leaving before the sound and light show because the crowd was just overwhelming and everyone was tired. We stayed at the hotel Sandesh the Prince. It was awesome. They had a night club downstairs that we hit up after we got back. The staff had reserved a table for us, though it was hardly necessary considering when we showed up around 10 we were the only people there. We had an absolute blast. I think we entertained the local population with our dancing and overall loud obnoxiousness. We tried to leave a few times. We finally started to leave around 11 and then we were caught right outside the door by a native who begged us to come back in. He used the old line "one more dance for baby Jesus" and we were just forced to go back in the club. Who could say no to that?

12/25/2008

It's Christmas! Wow. This will definitely be a memorable Christmas, though it doesn't seem like Christmas at all. This morning we started out at the summer home of a prince. We didn't know it, but we soon found out that on Christmas Eve and Christmas day the Indian government subsidises school tours for some of the poor villages to go to these type of monuments. There was an overwhelming number of children everywhere we went. They were so interested in us as Americans. I've never felt more like a celebrity. No seriously. They wanted to be in our pictures and us in theirs. It was crazy. We left there are sought peace in the bird sanctuary. It was boring, though we did see some crocodiles. We finally made it back to Bangalore and the Chalet apartments where we stayed before. We settled in and then took off for church. We attended a service in English at St. Patrick's. We then went for some quick shopping on Brigade St. Riiiight...Nothing is quick there. It was so crowded and Vikas said it would only get worse. People celebrate Christmas here like we celebrate new year's. They go out and party. Considering more than half of them aren't Christian, I guess that's not all that surprising. We came back to the apartments after fighting the crowd and had a small get together with drinks and plum cakes.

Ok that's it so far. I'm going to try to upload some pictures, but I have waaaaay too many to really look through them and just post good ones, so it'll either be a lot of trash pictures or like 2 good ones because I'm tired. Keep your eyes peeled though!

Bored in the Chicago airport

We were in Chicago all day Saturday. We arrived at 9am and finally took off for Delhi around 11pm. There are only 4 gates that 777 planes can leave from, and ours was blocked by one going to Heathrow that had a mechanical error. Once they got that fixed, it had to be de-iced and by the time it took off they moved us to another gate. Then we had to be de-iced.

We spent almost 2 hours looking for the damn mood tunnel in O'Hare. Finally found it and then Mason walked on his hands down the moving sidewalk. The lady behind him got mad, wish I had gotten her on tape :)

Going to India

I'm going to India on Saturday. I'm planning on putting some of my adventures up here, and maybe some pictures....