Friday 31 August 2012
Tuesday 28 August 2012
Our First Trip out of Town - Neemrana
Finally, we were able to get out of Delhi and see some more of India. Our destination was Fort Neemrana (http://fort-palace.neemranahotels.com/history), a fortress built in 1464 and recently turned into a hotel. We learned many things on our first trip out of town: India roads are not conducive to naps, distance cannot be used to calculate ETA (I'm not sure there is a way to be accurate with this), and one never knows what's going to walk in front, or up to, one's vehicle. Being monsoon season, the water was only one of the obstacles to getting to this beautiful structure.
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| Ready to go!!! |
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| We saw tons of cattle but this guy was taking his herd across the street. |
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| This guy was underpaid. 50 Rupees per picture |
Once we arrived in Neemrama Village, which is in Rajasthan, we decided to walk the last kilometer instead of wait for a car. Amazingly, despite the uphill walk on a post-rain Indian village street, not one of the 6 girls complained. There were also a few noteworthy sights along the way.
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| On our way... |
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| All the girls who were wearing flip-flops legs looked like this to some extent. I'd say 10% mud and 90% cow crap |
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| Moooooooooo |
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| Peacock. Saw a male flying later in the day - beautiful! |
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| Camel Parking Only |
The pictures of the fort do not do it justice. It’s amazing. Every room is different; every turn reveals something new. The views were spectacular and the railings were, well, way to low for comfort with the kids running around. Thankfully, they were all careful and we had an accident-free vacation.
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| A leisurely swim during the monsoon |
All week leading up to the trip Hana complained, “It’s not fair I’m not old enough to zipline.” She took one look at the zipline and said, “oh that, no way.” Quinn and Drew had a blast while Liv hung back at the fort with the young ones.
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| The Zip Crew |
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| My principal almost took me out right after this pic was snapped |
Loved the percussion at the show the hotel put on. This guy was pretty great, too!
The First Few Weeks (August 20th)
The first few weeks in Delhi have been fantastic. The girls have made some amazing friends and are settled in. Liv and I have been working hard so we have not spent as much time exploring the city as we would have liked. Needless to say, life is wonderful. The school is fantastic and, when we’ve had time, the explorations have been fun. The girls have been on an elephant, seen countless monkeys (which they’re petrified of), been in crazy traffic, seen pigs/cows/etc walking the roads witnessed poverty at a level they (or we) have never seen before, and it’s only been a few weeks. As a family, we have gone to several markets and walks around the neighborhood. The school provided us with a tour of Delhi where we stopped at the Salt March Statue, the President’s Palace (Rashtrapati Bhavan), India Gate, Jantar Mantar (Giant Astrological Structures), and Gurudwara (famous Sikh Temple). We also drove by Red Fort and Old Fort, and Old Delhi, all of which we plan on visiting soon. Our last stop was the the Gandhi Memorial where, I believe, he was put to rest and is memorialized with an eternal flame. Liv and I have followed that up the next week with a 3-mile sweaty walk to the place where Gandhi was assassinated and is memorialized with his last steps.
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| You never know what you’re going to see on the streets of Delhi: horses, cows, pigs, beggars, motorcycles with multiple passengers (including sleeping babies). I should always have a camera ready. |
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| Salt March Memorial |
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| Quinn and Hana with friend Kate Jantar Mantar \ |
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| The Girls at the Gandhi Memorial (Eternal Flame - not where he was assassinated) |
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| The girls love having a pool they can use all the time and just a short walk away |
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| Not sure if it is a Delhi phenomenon, but we’ve already been to two rug parties in our short time here. The rugs are pieces of art |
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| These folks visiting Delhi from who-knows-where spent 5 minutes taking pictures with Liv. We have a feeling this won’t be the last time the blondes are used as props |
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| We love Beena's Cooking!!! |
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| The View from outside Drew's room at the High School |
Some pictures from the memorial where Gandhi was assassinated ....
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| Where Gandhi was shot |
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| Gandhi's Last Step |
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| Where Gandhi started his last walk |
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| Now, this is a prayer I can get behind |
Welcome Rice (July 24th)
When we got off the airplane the school greeted us with beautiful leis and large vans to take all 20 new staff to their new homes. When we arrived at our apartment on campus we had the most wonderful welcome sign made out of colored rice and our name on the door written in Hindi…How cool!
Our apartment is nice but we are definitely looking forward to our shipments arriving to make it more of a home.
We ventured out to a market today to get a few basic food items and the girls were happy to find “Lucky Charms”.
On the way the girls spotted their first cow in the road and they screamed with delight!
We are already immersed in the heat, the smells, the sounds, and the culture. Wow…
The school is under major construction for the next 2 weeks so we are side stepping bags of sand and bricks and concreted, but we can tell that it is a wonderful place. Beautiful sculptures, pathways, and boulders are everywhere.
Most importantly, the girls are having fun with 2 other families that have girls the same age and Drew and I are meeting some amazing teachers.
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| One of the numerous beautiful pieces of art on our campus |
The movers are here! (July 13th)
Movers are finally here. We are ready to get all this stuff out of the house; it’s been looking like an episode of Hoarders. Only 9 more days until we leave. Kids have been rather anxious and so have we, but we can relax now the moving part is done.
Work Visas are ... (June 20th)
Work Visas are in but this packing is a colossal pain in the butt. Less than 5 weeks to go until we take off for our adventure.
First Post - May 26 2012
Less than two month to go. July 22nd is coming up fast. The house looks like a bomb hit it but packing will get done. Two more weeks of school and then it’s full time India prep! Now, only if the work visas would go through…
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