On Their Way Home!

Mrs. Bilodeau reported at 4:53 am our time--The first leg of our journey is done. We are waiting for our flight. Looks like we will return on time. Everyone is safe and well.
KLM #641 arrives JFK 3:55 pm from Amsterdam for CGS. 

December 14, 2016 Blog from Ms. Bilodeau

Today we worked on our project at a workspace cafe in Defence Colony.  It was a very excellent two hours of working through the project. Students were really focused and they have come away with a plan which they will execute upon return. The rest of the day was spent shopping in Khan Market and Layout Nagar. They bought many clothes, got henna, and shopped for gifts. We are waiting for a bus to go to dinner.

December 12 Blog from Amelia and Jessica

We started this morning with another traditional Indian breakfast. It was a steamed dosa with an amazing coconut curry on top. As I bit into it, my mouth felt the sting of a peppercorn that exploded into a million spicy pieces. Although I cried a little inside, I was satiated by the Indian flavors. As these flavors woke my senses up, I was ready to take on the day.

            Our first stop of the day was an old Dutch palace. The palace contained Indian murals and artifacts. It was so cool to see traditional Hindu stories depicted in a Dutch style building. The whole time we were walking around, we could hear drumming outside. When we exited the building we saw a group of Indian guys doing a traditional song and dance. 

            The next place we visited was a synagogue. I never thought I would see a Jewish temple in the middle of India, but this trip just keeps surprising me. Inside, the synagogue was filled with glass lanterns of all different colors hanging all over the place. I found out later they were from Belgium. The floor was Chinese tiles with a Portuguese design. It was so interesting to see the blend of cultures and religion in one religious site. Directly outside the synagogue there were so many vendors trying to sell goods to the tourists. Someone made the point later how strange it was that people were trying to make a profit off of the tourists going into religious places. Although it was different than the U.S. we took advantage of this opportunity and bought a bunch of souvenirs. 

            After our shopping needs were fulfilled, we went to another religious site, this time a Christian church. While we were there we got to witness a choir singing. It was an amazing opportunity that made many people feel at home and sparked great discussions about our churches at home. 

            Our sightseeing was followed by another amazing Indian meal. We had different types of bread with curries and dal. Another amazing meal fulfilled us to go see the fishing nets of Kerala. We watched the locals going about their daily business. Sadly the water was too high for us to see the nets in use, but it was still so cool to see something so traditional being used in a city that is rapidly changing. It was also a great place to take some super cute pictures. Tes and I thought we could quickly sneak in a picture in one particularly beautiful spot, which turned into an impromptu photo shoot for the whole group.

            We headed back to the hotel for a chill night. A big group of us went up to the pool which was a great way to kick back and relax after so much sightseeing. I felt that the quick dip in the pool helped rejuvenate me for our first big project meeting of the trip. We discussed some of the things we had observed so far and how we wanted to use this information. Another amazing dinner and chats at our hotel were an amazing way to end the day. 

December 16, 2016 Post from Kaileigh

Today we woke up at 2 AM and half-conscientiously began the journey to Delhi. After canoeing from our guest homes to the mainland, we found that a palm tree had fallen and was blocking the road. But this didn't stop us; we were soon on the bus and on our way to the airport. 

After a three hour flight, we walked out into the crisp Delhi air. One thing that took us by surprise was how grey the sky was. At first it seemed like a dark foggy day, but then we found out that it was from the pollution in the city. 

After the hassle of finding our luggage, we got onto the bus. For what felt like days, we slowly crept through the traffic - being passed by bicyclists and even pedestrians - and finally arrived at our destination two hours later:  the Madison Hotel. On the first floor is the restaurant where we ate a delicious North Indian lunch and on the second and third floors are our rooms. After settling in, we headed off to the Baha'i Lotus Temple.

We came in through the gates and walked down a path leading to the temple. All around us were beautiful flowers and people from all around the world. But the most amazing sight was the temple itself. It's no surprise that it took six years to build because its architecture is so elaborate and unique. It's made of stone and shaped like a lotus flower. Surrounding it are four pools. Once inside, we sat down on benches and silently looked around at the interior. We learned that The Baha'i religion was founded in the 19th century and has one area of worship in each of the continents. The Baha' I number is 9 because it is the largest digit and because it includes all nine major religions.

Afterwards we went to the market to get our shopping out of the way. The first thing we did was go into the much anticipated sari fitting room and sat down in front of shelves filled to the brim with saris of every color you can think of. It was a bit overwhelming, with dozens of the employees shoving multiple saris in your face and giving you literally three seconds to decide whether or not you liked it. It took a while (sorry Jordan) but finally, we purchased 17 saris, collectively. Some other stores included the bangle, blouse, and bag shops. As we walked through the market, we were approached by young girls selling jewelry but we had to turn away. 

After hours of shopping and more traffic jams we went to "Have More" for dinner, where we had more Northern Indian food. And of course this included everyone's favorite: naan bread. We finished it off with fennel mouth fresheners, which have received some distaste from the group. 

Once we arrived back at the hotel, the majority of us went to sleep right away because tomorrow we're going to the Taj Mahal!

December 16, 2016 Blog from Carla

Sorry to say, none of the photos have come through -

Prior to coming to India, I decided to search for Kerala. Images came up, and I'd look at how beautiful they looked, but soon realized these images were filled with photoshop. It almost felt too good to be true. Also, Kerala felt different to what the media portrayed of India. When we think of India, we think of Northern India, so looking at the images online threw me off a little. 

Anyway, as I remember from a two hour drive from Tissa's Inn, I remember looking at the many green palm trees that paved the way for our trip here. Women walking in their saris, children drinking out of coconuts, canoes floating across rivers, and a vast land dedicated to growing rice crops, all things that are parts of what makes Kerala unique. So when we arrived, we soon decided to take a canoe to go across the river. The canoe was not small, but it wasn't large either. I wondered how we wouldn't drown by fitting all of our suitcases and around 20 people on it. Soon enough, our host told us, "Here in India, we fit up to 100 people here". From there, I felt a little better. So we crossed the river in around 5 minutes, and then arrived to where we were staying. Three beautiful white homes, with palm trees around, along with the sounds of native birds and certain insects following in harmony to its surroundings. It was quite amazing. 

We were soon given our rooms and told to tour around. Then, Ms. Bilodeau, Ms. Dardani, Jordan, and I decided to walk around the community using the free time we had. We walked around, taking pictures of ourselves, almost as if we were in a Bollywood photo shoot. 

So we continued walking, stopped, went the other way, and saw a little girl. She was in a white dress, barefoot, with a braid following her spine, and she was holding a small yellow balloon in her hand. 

Her sweet little smile intrigued us and we greeted her. We asked to take pictures of her because she was too cute. Since I have a fond love for small children, I decided to get a picture with her as well. I asked her if she could give me a high five, and we took the picture. 

When we were done, she handed me the yellow balloon she had in her palm. She said, "pencil".  I asked myself why she said pencil with her palm out showing me a yellow balloon. It soon made sense that she was asking for a trade. Her small, yellow balloon for a pencil.  It was a deal. I traded my only pencil in return for a small, yellow balloon that would soon deflate. One of the most memorable trades I have ever made. 

We continued walking and I asked myself why she wanted the pencil. Making assumptions, I thought about the possibility that she wanted it in order to have a pencil for the next day in school. To award her education, and continue learning. It made me think about how at such a young age, the  only thing she wanted was a pencil. After teaching in different countries, being asked for money, ice cream, and food, this time I was asked for a pencil. And after all we had seen, it wouldn't make sense to me she only wanted a pencil.  From that moment, it made me think about pencils. Pencils and Kerala. 

December 15, 2016 from Ms. Bilodeau

We left the Kerala backwaters early this morning at 3 a.m.!  We were met by a canoe that transported us to the mainland across the canal. We then had to walk awhile to meet our bus because a coconut tree had fallen overnight and blocked the road. We left Cochin at 6:45 a.m., and are now safely in our hotel in New Delhi. 

Post from 10-Dec-16

Today we were up bright and early.  We said goodbye to our guest house hosts after some tea and coffee at 6 am.  We met with an Indian man named Arjun, who was very knowledgeable on history and religion.  We walked through the oldest area in Bengaluru City in which Arjun told us its vast story.  He pointed out certain buildings that had been there for many years and what their purposes were.  In particular we saw many temples, nearly every block had its own.  All of them were dedicated to worshipping different deities.  One common type of temple had multiple stories and was built similar to that of a pyramid.  The outside of the temples had many figures which taught people the significance of the gods that were being worshipped there.  All of the colors on the temples were bring and bold, the temples were well taken care of and repainted annually.

Even in one household, multiple religions could be followed by a single person   For example, Arjun told us "People may have a picture of their god hanging up besides another picture of a different god, and next to that a picture of Jesus."  We thought it was interesting that people had such freedom to worship any mix of religions they chose to follow.

After walking through the busy streets for a while and taking in the fast-paced urban communities, we stopped at a local restaurant for breakfast.  The restaurant specialized in making dosa, a fried crepe like bread filled with spicy potato.  It is eaten with your hands, but only your right hand.  In old tradition, your left hand was considered dirty because you cleaned with it, while keeping your right hand pristine.  This is also why you shake with your right hand and not your left.  The dosa is normally a breakfast food, but we also ate it for dinner yesterday.  Both dosas were good, but the local version was far better.

After our traditional breakfast, we headed out again to a flower market.  Before we saw the flower market, we passed by a lot of spice shops, all containing different spices and grains.  Arjun told us that the main spice used in spicy Indian cuisines was chili pepper, which was actually imported from South America.  India being a spice capital of the world, this was very interesting to learn.  Because Black Pepper is indigenous to India, before there was chili peppers, Indians often used Black Peppers to spice their food.  We learned that the Black Pepper used to be incredibly valuable and was known as Black Gold.  This was because when the Romans first discovered this pepper, they traded it for gold.

When we arrived at the flower market, we first noticed the large amount of color and business of the people.  We noticed that there were different ways in which the flowers were sold, one way was that the flowers were sold in long chains inside of large baskets.  These flowers were usually bought in bulk by merchants who wanted to sell them in their own shops outside of the flower market.  Then we saw many singular flowers that were in the process of being sewn into chains.  The third way we saw the flowers presented was in garlands.  These garlands were used in weddings in which the bride and groom gave each other one during the ceremony.  The selling of spices and flowers is so different from what we experience from street sellers.

After a very busy morning, our day was not over yet.  We drove to the airport to fly to Kerala, another state in India.  We thought it was interesting that in the security lines we were split by gender.  The flight was short and smooth, only 45 minutes.  We walked out of the airport into the hotter weather of nearly 90 degrees.  The scenery was very beautiful and consisted of many palm trees.  It will be hard to go back to the cold weather at home.

Our travels were not done yet.  Driving to our next hotel we got stuck in traffic.  Fortunately, there was beautiful scenery to look at along the way.  Our hotel is called Tissa's Inn, which is fortunately air conditioned.  We then had dinner just a half hour after getting there.  We had roti with coconut fish curry, vegetable sabzi curry, and Kerala chicken curry.  We also surprisingly had French fries and pasta as sides along with our meal.  Even though they tried to accommodate to our American taste, both dishes had an Indian twist.  As a group, we wrapped up our day by sharing our favorite pictures we had taken that day.

09/12/16 Post by Tes and Trinity

From Tes:  This morning (technically speaking, 5:30 am) I got a total of 5 1/2 hours of sleep!! Don’t worry Mom, I drank lots of water and I’m not dead…yet. All joking aside, today was extremely fun! First, we got to say goodbye to American food for good! Our homestay hosts cooked us eggs and make us toasted bread with jam and butter which were, for the record the worst part of the meal! The Indian food was 10,294,987 times better! We had a combination of soups, curries, bread, buns, and other traditional south Indian breakfast food. FUN FACT: Even their tea is spicy! They put black pepper, cinnamon and cloves in the chai tea, which of course, was amazing (apparently I am the only one between Trinity, Amelia, and I that actually liked it…actually l loved it). After breakfast we walked to Fabindia and here is Trinity to talk about it! 

From Trinity:  We arrived at Fabindia and the whole experience was really interesting. Directly after entering the heavily guarded entrance, jewelry and Indian-style clothing was seen all over the store. There was also a selection of spreads that you could put on bread and crackers. I didn’t realize that clothes and crackers made such a good combination! Maybe I can write to the owner of The Gap and suggest that all the stores sell chocolate peanut butter. They’re bound to have an increase in sales. It was a brief trip and money was a momentary issue. Everyone couldn’t use their beautiful, bright pink rupees! After we all finished shopping we took two buses to this town-like meditation area called “Art of Living”.  Before Tes gets into detail about that, I want to explain the bus ride. It was bumpy and chaotic. Every once in a while there would be stray cows and dogs. There were very few street signs and pavement markings to guide vehicle traffic, and it was interesting to see how defensive and aggressive our driver had to be. After about 5 near motorcycle/bike crashes, 4 (hundred [EXAGGERATION]) cows, 3 (hundred [NOT EXAGGERATION]) dogs, 2 people peeing on the side of the road, and 1 extraordinary shopping experience, we finally arrived to Art of Living. I think Tes really enjoyed it so here she is to talk about our experience!

From Tes:  The Art of Living is a sanctuary for worshiping the spiritual leader Sri Sri. The place was absolutely beautiful and was truly a sanctuary. To consolidate all of the cool things we saw and experienced, I will be writing this section of the blog post in chronological order. 

1. We were dropped off by our two buses and I personally got to experience for the second time, a little boy proudly peeing while holding eye contact with me (first was at the airport… in a distinctly marked women’s restroom!!) 
2. We watched dogs playing tag! 
3. We discussed what good henna looks like and what bad henna looks like and that yes… we will be able to get henna at the end of the trip! I will be coming home with sleeves of body ink Mom and Dad! 
4. We had an in-depth info session on Sri Sri and can proudly state that he stopped terrorism in the Middle East. Well, maybe not now but two years ago he took part in trying to bring peace to that part of the world. He believes that peace and love should unite the world and that anyone can join his community. He has won many honorable awards from multiple countries and his religion has millions of followers. However, he has not won most followers on twitter or FaceBook. Follow him @srisri and like his page on FaceBook!
5. MEDITATION!! Yes, we got to sleep for 15 minutes and were extremely happy about it. 
6. We visited a temple which was absolutely beautiful and truly reflected that anyone could join Sri Sri’s community. Inside the temple, carvings of the symbols of many religions were all over the pillars.

This was the first of the two temples we visited and Trinity is here to tell you about the second one:

From Trinity:   It was hard to determine whether or not we were at a Christmas tree lighting or truly at a Hindu Temple. Ms Bilodeau warned us that Indians are truly festive people for they have so many god and goddesses that everyday is a holiday and celebration! So, as you’ve probably already concluded Rajijudda temple was covered in red, white, blue, green and orange lights to celebrate their religion! Just like at the previous temple, we had to walk barefooted in it. However, I wouldn’t really consider it “inside.” The whole temple wasn’t actually a building, it was a maze of paths covered in trees leading to various Hindu statues. Of course us American students (said in a southern accent) we didn’t know what we were doing, so we followed our homestay host and other believers of Hinduism through the maze of praying with fire, rice and chanting. This was not the only new thing we had to embrace, we also had our picture taken (involuntarily) by a stranger who was really very nice, but who I’d rather not shake hands with (India Study Tour inside joke). Next was dinner narrated by Tes:

From Tes:   She walks into the lobby of what she thinks is a hotel. The elevator doors are open and, like a sheep, she follows the rest of the group to the elevator but her tour guide says to take the stairs, so she follows the group to the stairs. She gets to the top of the 5 cases of stairs wondering why she had to walk up the stairs when her tour guide took the elevator. She is still confused if she’s in a hotel, or an apartment building or if following her group into an unknown building was really a good idea, but turns left, while still following her group, and finds a restaurant! She and the rest of the group sit down at the table and are ready for their second Indian meal of the day! Thank gosh for elevator-taking tour guides because if it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t have known how to order her dinner, let alone how to read the menu. The appetizers come out and she is confused, “Is it bread? Is there something inside it?” Turns out it was pouri, a hallow, balloon-like traditional south indian appetizer. The waiter places two sauces on the table and she digs in! Everyone at the table was saying things like, “OO try this sauce,” and, “I like this one better,” or in Natalia’s case, “It kinda looked like puffy skin.” Next, came out her individual dosa! (Side step out of the story for a second: I would describe dosa but no description will do it justice because it was so darn amazing!!!!) Dinner was too good and she had to loosen her belt a little! She was dreading the 5 flight walk back down the hotel/apartment/AMAZING restaurant and then the walk back home. END STORY

Trinity and I can talk on behalf of the whole group that we are having so much fun, and India truly feels like home. We feel safe, well fed, well comforted when needed, and don’t miss our parents at all (JUST KIDDING!). We hope that the rest of the trip is just as fun as today was! Goodnight! 

Arrived Safely

Namaste!
We are on the bus to our hotel! Everyone is well. We will call home from the hotel.
Mrs. Bilodeau

Having Fun at JFK

And they're off...!

And they're off...!!