I'm a bit behind with my updates, so I'm catching up on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday today (Friday). Yesterday (Thursday) the sky was quite exquisite. The picture directly above is us walking to our yoga instructor's home.

First Day of Yoga

Tuesday was our first yoga class. It was canceled because we were late. :) I decided to just smell trees in the teacher's yard instead. (Noopur would like everyone to know that this tree has white leaves. They aren't flowers.) Yesterday was our first REAL yoga class. I wanted to puke in the bushes. Our instructor is very strict. After much deliberation, I went to class again today. It was a much better class. I think I'm getting a hang of this yoga thing.

New School Bus

Testing out a new bus for the schools...

Playtime

The little girl pictured directly above is named Mitali. I know I shouldn't have favorites, but I think she is the cutest thing ever! She's so protective and affectionate towards the other children, it's so heartwarming to watch. The other pictures are us during playtime. We got multiple offers for Chai and biscuits (all pretend of course).

Katie's Job

 
While Noopur and I are in the office working on design projects, Katie is down the street volunteering in a lab at PSI (People's Science Institute). PSI is a non-profit research and development organization. Note: The lab tech pictured here is in appropriate lab gear ;)

Kow and Katie!!!

"You don't kick a dog, you don't punch a cow for no reason and you don't drop kick babies." -Katie

Signage

Wednesday Noopur and I took photographs of existing signage out side the different schools for our latest project.

Home Sweet Home

Back home after a long day of playing with kids and getting bit by mosquitoes.

Latika Vihar

There is an evening program for kids with and without special needs. They can partake in different workshops such as pottery, basket weaving, drawing, painting, and soccer. Katie, Noopur and I got our first mosquito bites this evening. It was worth it though since we got to play with the children (unless we get malaria, then it's a different story :)

Our First Design Meeting

Tuesday was our first design meeting. It's really wonderful because all the people at Latika Roy Foundation think so highly of design and designers. They were prepared with LONG lists of projects for us to work on. We have SO MUCH to do in the short time we are here. Lots of brochures, calendars, posters, banners, signage, bookmarks, cards, photographs, catalogs, bumper stickers, cover pages, and much much more. We're really excited to work on as much as we can.

International Calls

Look for the STD sign to make international calls. This one is just around the corner from where we are staying. It's on the side of this man's house, maybe it was his garage at one time. Let's just say that hours to make calls are quite limited.

Comments

Thanks for all the comments! Sorry I haven't responded. I hope to write to all of you soon! We just have limited time on the internet, so I spend most of my time updating the blog :) Hope everyone is well!!!

First Day of School

We had a chance to meet all the children yesterday. They are sweetest, most beautiful people!

Welcome

Real World Dehradun

This is the true story...of three strangers...picked to live in a house...work together, and have their lives taped...to find out what happens when people stop being polite...and start getting real...The Real World Dehradun.

Katie's interview on the drive to Dehradun

Drive continued...

LUNCH!

To our surprise India has rest stops! And really nice ones at that. They had cages with lots of birdies. There were also lots of plants and beautiful flowers. Here Noopur and Kate hold hands above the pond of fishies. Lunch was delicious. Noopur's aunt packed us a freshly made huge lunch box. We sat at one of the tables to eat. 2 guards came over and told us we couldn't eat there. We all pretended that we didn't understand so they just said nevermind and left us alone. There was a HUGE sign that read, "What ever food you bring from HOME you must eat at HOME!" Hee hee hee...

Drive to Dehradun

The drive from Delhi to Dehradun was quite scary. Normally on a 2 lane higway, there will be at least 4 lanes of traffic. Traffic consists of cars, large trucks, buses, people walking in the street, carts being pulled by bicyclists, carts pulled by animals, cows and dogs. People drive fast and all the cars are so close to one another. We were so happy once we made it to our destination.

Katie's Read

"What the heck is ball rotation? Who needs it? You do!" -Vic Braden

Mumbai Airport/Flight

Is the air supposed to be smokey?

Drive to the Airport, Mumbai

After an hour of sleep, we got up at 5am to make it to the airport in time. This is passing Queen's Necklace.

Moving on...

Tomorrow we leave early for the airport. We fly 2 hours to Delhi and then take a 8 hour (at least) taxi ride to Dehradun. See you in Dehradun!

Cricket

Last night Katie and I watched our first cricket match (on tv) while drinking Indian beer (Kingfisher) and eating fresh delicious Indian snacks. It's the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup and last night was the semi-finals. India won. So tomorrow it will be the finals, India vs. Pakistan. (minor [or major] note: some of the cricket players are pretty cute :) hee hee...)

Khandala Continued...Katie's Fall

"my finest hour" -katie renner

Khandala Continued...

More views of Khandala...A vendor selling cotton candy like substances, people swimming under a waterfall, a view from the top of one of the hills, me on the edge (well not really the edge, it doesn't actually drop off, it just looks that way, DON'T WORRY MOM AND DAD!) he he he he....

Day Trip from Mumbai

Today we took a day trip to Khandala. It's about a 2 hour drive from Mumbai (with traffic) high above sea level. It's perfect to visit during monsoon season because the vegetation is so beautifully green and lush and the temperature is not too hot. The picture above is our lunch stop at one of the newest resorts high up in the hills. Noopur and Katie spent the entire flight from Paris to Mumbai watching Bollywood movies (aka Dhoom 2--Katie's obsession at the moment, and that's an understatement). The two of them are acting out their own Bollywood movie.

Saturday Morning

Every morning Noopur's aunt and uncle go for a walk along the Queen's Necklace. We decided to tag along for an early morning jaunt. Noopur's uncle made Katie and I wear hats because the sun was out (see Dad...they're looking out for us :) It was such a nice morning and very refreshing!