Tomorrow night, we fly home.  We've been super busy and a little worn out, so I'm going to bed now instead of giving a detailed blog.  I promise a detailed entry of the last few days written mid-air, so check for a fantastic post on Sunday or Monday.  Thanks for coming with me on this journey!

So, I missed getting to go visit the nuns this morning, because, well, Indian food finally got to be too much for me.  Without any of the spectacular details, I'll end by saying that I feel a lot better after sleeping and medicating. Though I'm pretty sure I'm only eating white rice from now until Sunday.  It just seems like a good idea.

Here's to a much less exciting adventure tomorrow!

Today was sort of a light day, which was nice considering I didn't sleep well last night.  Other people staying in our hotel rang the doorbell EARLY in the morning and talked so loud while we were trying to sleep.  It seemed to last hours, but probably not quite that long.  Things just seem more horrible when you're tired.  On top of that, I'm still feeling kind of gross, so all that added up to a short night's sleep.  Luckily, we were able to sleep in, so I made up for some of the missed rest.

Today at work, Mickey had the students plan and teach routes, and we were really just there to observe and refine their teaching.  It was really, really neat to see some of the pay off from all our work.  Almost all of the students have really taken our strategies and ideas to heart, and they are really excited about implementing them.

Tomorrow, we are going to a school and home for blind children run by some nuns.  They came to our little tactile graphics seminar and left a card, so we are going to visit them.  We don't really know what they do at their school or how closely it approximates best practices in the US, but we are going to try to make some impact in a morning-long visit.

Here's one last image I can't get out of my head.  Today, as we were waiting on all the O&M students to return to our spot, a woman and her son approached us.  She walked near us, so I figured she was about to beg for money.  Then, I saw her motion toward her son, who was probably about four years old, and he reached out his hand in the beggar's pose, hand outstretched with the palm up and finger's curled in.  I can't get the desperation of the image out of my head.  This woman was teaching her son how to beg, how to make his living.  We ignored them, as our Indian friends did, but the woman and her son didn't go away.  They just stood there, too close to me for my comfort.  I tried to continue my conversation with Lauren, but we weren't able to concentrate as the woman started motioning toward her mouth, pantomiming eating.  Asking for food.  Eventually, they gave up and moved on, but images like that, well, they stick with you. 

Blackout last night, so no blog.  Some highlights:

• Our bathroom flooded again.
• We bought more beautiful art but had to ride in an auto at rush hour.
• I crossed the street under blindfold.
• I got some homework done!

More tonight...

Lauren and I celebrated Sunday with more shopping and resting.  It's amazing how tired we can be without working.  I'm sticking to my theory that this place is just absolutely and totally overwhelming.  Everything we see or do requires extra processing power that we wouldn't need at home.  Today, for example, Lauren and I were in the department store near the apartment for another clothes-trying-on adventure.  We went right after the store opened at 11, hoping it wouldn't be too busy.  Wrong.  It was as busy at opening as I have ever seen a mall at home.  (Please note that I make a point never to shop with the crazy people on Black Friday or other such events, so my view is a bit skewed.)  Still, this place was BUSY.  We went to the dressing rooms, and the attendant started pointing and talking to us in Kannada or some kind of English we don't speak, clearly telling us something that we could not decipher.  Turns out, she was telling us another dressing room was open around the corner, but we were at a total loss to communicate.  Things like that wear a girl out.

And...  And, if you want to walk anywhere (and we walk almost everywhere), you've got to either walk in the road and be alert for cars/buses/bikes/cows that might run you over, or you've got to pick your way down sidewalk.  I wish I had a good picture of the craziness, but I don't.  Most of the sidewalks, or "footpaths" here, are really just concrete slabs laid over the sewer.  If a slab breaks or slides into the sewer, it isn't replaced or repaired, it is just left there, so this leaves gaping holes sometimes several feet across and about a foot or three deep.  Sooo.... Needless to say, you really have to watch your feet and surroundings when traveling, but you have to weigh that against looking confident and knowledgeable about where you are walking so as too look less like a target.  Plus, tree branches can be pretty low hanging, and quite often, cables/power lines hang very low or are just laying on the ground.  I just said all that to say that everything here requires a little extra effort for me to participate in because it is so different from what I'm accustomed to, and I think I am finally starting to feel the extra effort accumulate.

When I tell you all that this city is polluted and a kind of gross, I'm not exaggerating.  I've woken up/lived with a pretty sore throat for the last four or so days.  At first, I was sure that I was getting a cold or something.  No big deal, just annoying.  Since it hasn't turned into anything, I'm pretty positive that all the nasty air is killing my sinuses and throat.  I tried so hard with to avoid the value judgments, but you can actually see the pollution in the air and the garbage in the streets.  Other people think the pollution is an issue too.  All the autos were on strike on Friday because the government issued new, "greener" autos to replace the old smoke churning ones. The strike had more to do with the fact that the government required the use of these new autos without providing a way for people living hand to mouth to buy them, but I digress.  Bottom line: this many people in this tiny space equals some differences in waste management and air quality.

On another, similarly gross note, this afternoon, we were reminded that it is indeed monsoon season.  It rained a lot very quickly, and though we were inside for the worst of it, our bathroom floor reminded us of what was going on outside.  The drain in the floor backed up again, and this time, there was lots of black stuff in the water.  I don't even want to begin the conjecture as to what it was.  I mean, I was raised with a temperamental septic system, but this is something else!

After reading what I've written so far, you all must think, "Gosh, she's really ready to come home," and if you thought that, you'd be partially right.   I am totally in love with the work we are doing here, but it is a challenge sometimes living in a world where so many things are done so differently.  I am ready to soon return to a world where I understand the ins and outs and I can function a little more effortlessly.  Do I want to go home right now?  Nope.  Not at all.  Do I want to go home on Sunday?  Yeah, I think I'll be ready then.  Until the next adventure at least.  ;-)

You though I was done, didn't you?  Not quite.  I'm about to get real serious, so hold on tight.  Lately, I've been well, almost convicted to notice and feel what the people around me are dealing with.  Daily, we are in this mass of people: people going to work; people selling food on the street; people loitering; people begging.  It's too easy to just keep moving forward along my way and miss these souls.  I really shouldn't be able to fake ignore a woman moving from car to car, begging for food, holding her half naked baby.  And when that same woman puts her hand on my leg three times, asking for food, I shouldn't be able to stand it.  I was moved, sure, but, I did stand it, and I don't know quite what to make of the fact that I didn't break down crying and run off to find her food.  I don't suppose I'm making much sense, but there it is.  I can make excuses all day long.  Perhaps I should be like this to preserve my safety.  Maybe.  But, maybe not.  Maybe this woman's being pimped out, or maybe she's just putting on a show to get money.  That's not for me to decide.  Something awful put her in the position she's in, whatever that position is, and I should feel for her as a child of God.  I'm trying my best to see everyone, but sometimes, it's too much.  It's just too much.  Not to get all Jesus-y on you, but I would covet your prayers this last week as I try to figure out what to make of all these people here and how best to see each and everyone.

Until tomorrow...

Just  a few awesome things from yesterday.  Yesterday afternoon, we were part of a birthday celebration, and we were served cake on sheets of brailled paper instead of paper towels or paper plates.  The second really awesome thing was seeing our teaching pay off.  We observed some of the O&M students teaching their students, and they did such an amazing job.  It was really fantastic.

This morning and afternoon, Lauren and I went shopping.  We started out at this place called Mother Earth, not too far from the hotel.  We found some really great things there.  I (big surprise) found some great children's books in English and other native languages.  They were beautifully illustrated, but they only cost 75-200 rupees.  That's $1.50 to $4.  At home, I'd be okay paying $8-12 for the same thing at home.  We wandered more through the store and then spent forever playing with all the beautiful pillow covers.  Here, they sell the covers without the inserts, so that makes it even easier for us to get them home.  I bought several beautiful covers, and I just LOVE them.  No one bothered us, so we spent a lot of time just enjoying ourselves making matches.

After some shopping, we headed to MG Road, the touristy part of town.  We found a McDonald's and had that adventure.  It was completely and absolutely packed.  In the two story place, we could only find a table that we had to share with two other people.  There was no beef on the menu - only chicken and various veggie concoctions.  Still, we just adored our chicken nuggets, fries, and cokes for 150ish rupees ($3).  The meal was nice and bland, but the honey mustard sauce was spicy, because well, this IS India.

After that, our lovely day got a little less lovely.  Being in a tourist area, we had to contend with all the beggars and pushy street vendors who shove their wares in your face.  You can say no and nod your head all day long, but they creepily follow you, saying "Madam, Madam."  At first, the beggars pull at my heart, because they don't always say anything and just hold out their hands, and maybe they have a half-naked baby with them, but when they touch me, it sets off the crazy in me.  It just gets to be more than I can handle.  On a different note, the sales people in these tourist shops are super pushy.  I can't really explain it, but they won't just let you browse.  They follow you around the store, and they want to show you things you don't really want.  You can't just sit back and think about what to buy because some sales person is breathing down your neck.  

After a while of that, we got tired of the crowds and the pushy people, and we decided to head home.  We did buy some cool things, and tomorrow, we are planning on doing a bit more shopping and a pile of homework.  Until then. 

Quick word again tonight.  I promise more tomorrow.  I have a theory as to why we are headed to bed at 9.  This place is exhausting and a overwhelming at times.  There's so much noise, so many people, so much of everything.  It's been great being here, but it will be nice to go home where there is quiet and room to move.

Tomorrow we are going shopping.  I promise a better story then.  Until then, good night! 

We are tired again tonight, so I'll just share a few observations I've been meaning to tell you all about.

• Here, married women wear toe rings, usually silver, and usually with multiple rings stacked together.  They also wear a gold necklace given to them on their wedding day.  The gold here is more yellow than the gold at home.  It has red coral and black beads with two gold charms, one given by the husband and one by the bride's mother.  
• Indian women love to adorn themselves, but they don't really wear much makeup.  Some wear garlands of jasmine that drape down their long braids.  Our neighborhood in Bangalore smells bad, so it's really nice to pass a woman on the street with jasmine in her hair.  Indian women also wear bindis as adornment.  You, know, the little red dot between the eyes?  That's all I ever thought a bindi was.  The thing is, bindis come in hundreds if not thousands of designs.  They come in different colors, shapes, and designs.  Some even have jewels.  Women change them like we would change our earrings, to match an outfit or a mood.  Some women don't wear them everyday, and others wear the same one everyday.   
• When Indians (South Indians, especially, I think) are following your line of thought or agreeing with you, they nod their head side to side.  It's almost as if their shoulders are playing ping pong with their heads.  The head just gently bobs from side to side.  However, on quick glance, I sometimes take this nod as a negative response when it really means the opposite.  They still nod and shake their heads "no," but this head bob is a pervasive way to say, "I'm following."
• Indians are incredibly hospitable people.  They remind me of home in that way.  Around lunch, everyone asks if we've eaten and if we've had enough.  Tomorrow, we are supposed to meet at one of the schools at 2:30, but we were told to come early so we could share in their simple lunch.  One thing, however, threw me in the beginning.  When they invite you in to their homes or work places, they say, "Come, come" and wave you inside with little warning.  When seating a guest, all you might hear is "sit, sit."  In our English, the more formal or gracious you are being, the more words you use.  So, you might say, "Please, would you possibly consider meeting my simple request?" instead of "Can you do this?" if you REALLY want it done.  Here, not so much.  I read that Indian languages don't have specific words for please but that there are reflexive endings to words that show politeness.  But, this gets lost in translation, so to the Western ear, Indians seem a bit abrupt and maybe a little rude.  They're just ushering you into their place so they can take care of you.  One of the things I've liked best about this trip was that we've been able to meet real people and get a chance to ask questions and laugh about our funny ways.  They've all been such gracious hosts and so patient with our different-ness.

That's enough for tonight. Goodnight all!

This morning we visited a student who lives in an orphanage.  I'm not even sure what to make of it yet, so I'll just give a few impressions.

• There were WAY more girls than boys at the orphanage.
• Most of the children were babies, with the exception of a few older children.  This is because most of the children get adopted as babies.  
• There were two rooms that had walls lined with baby cribs.  Totally lined. 
• There was a lovely little playground there, but the kids don't get to go outside every day.
• The lady who runs the orphanage was totally discouraged about how hard it is to get children adopted.  There don't seem to be a lack of parents, but rather, the bureaucracy makes adoption really hard.  Apparently the US has the toughest restrictions, and those compounded with the craziness in India, make adoption incredibly difficult.  

The little girl we visited has been adopted, but the process takes forever, so it will be a while before her parents can bring her home.  They've sent her some things, and I teared up a little bit when I read the sweet  message that they wrote to her on a ball they sent.  I also welled up when we first arrived, and I saw all the babies.  I just remember how anticipated and loved my niece Abi was before we even knew her, and I just wanted for all those babies to know that kind of love.  I'm being a ridiculous girl, but there it is; orphanages are sad, no matter how well kept the place or how well tended the children.

If all that wasn't enough, teaching was hard again today.  The English differences made listening and learning hard.  I suppose it's making me better, but it's a bit aggravating in the meantime.  Because I can't really tell what's being said, I'm having to stand back and watch more, so I suppose that's a good thing since I really need to watch more and talk less.

Lauren and I are enjoying our evening in.  I did laundry in the bathtub, finished a bit of homework, and now we are eating noodles and watching America's Funniest Home Videos.  A night well spent, I would say.

Look, Ma, I'm in India.  Or Kansas.  You know, whatev. 

Another quick post tonight as I'm pretty beat, even though we got a late start.  This afternoon, we headed off to work.  I struggled with teaching today.  The words didn't come easily, and I seemed to really struggle with the language barrier.  It's crazy that we can use the same language and not understand each other.  I stepped back to observe, thinking my failing for words was a cue to stop talking so much, but even the critical listening didn't work well since I really couldn't understand the English/Kannada mix that was the language of instruction.  Well, tomorrow's another day.

After work, Lauren, Melissa, and I did some shopping.  Melissa had scoped out some places for us, and we had a really nice time browsing all these handmade crafts brought from all around India to these little shops.  This evening, I bought some great art, table linens, and some great jewelry - all of it gifts.  In these shops, everything is so beautiful and there is so much to see; it's hard to synthesize it all.  I suppose we'll have to go again!

I'm off to bed now.  Goodnight all.  Think of us tomorrow as we head to an orphanage to meet a student.

As promised, our weekend adventure all summed up.

With Mickey in Hyderabad, Melissa (and the kidlet), Lauren, and I got up super early on Saturday morning to head to Mysore and Bandipur.  We borrowed a driver and car from Mickey's friends.  Altogether, for the driver's service, meals, and gas for the car, we paid about 60 dollars.  It was quite the way to travel.  I never could quite grasp the relationship with the driver and the particulars of having a driver.  I mean, he wanted to open doors, carry bags, and run inside to check vacancies at hotels.  It was nice and all, but after spending my life doing those things myself, it was hard to get used to having someone there to do those things.  (Of course, with the exception of the "mans," Mama.)

We first stopped at a bird sanctuary along the road to Mysore.  They, like all the other places, charged a foreigner fee for entry that was way more expensive, like 300 versus 50 rupees than the Indian national fee.  So, $6 versus $1.  I guess the government really wants Indians to see their national treasures, and in the meantime, it likes to take advantage of the "rich" foreigners.  We decided to take the boat ride around this lake thing that was FULL of birds.  I was thinking a substantial sized boat that would leave at certain intervals.  I was SO wrong, but that usually happens when I assume anything here.  The boat ride was a row boat that departed as soon as there were enough people to fill it.  So, here we are, in God knows how deep water, looking at lovely birds, when several crocodiles swim towards us.  Now, some of you may not know this, but I was raised near the Okefenokee Swamp, and there are a lot of alligators there, but my fears of the gators were always allayed with the knowledge that crocodiles were much bigger (than gators) and oh, yes, they were much more aggressive than gators.  So, no need to worry about gators...  Then, there I was in a row boat in a lake in India with big huge crocodiles.  We were fine obviously, but I was not a fan of that part of the ride.

We made it to Mysore with all of our limbs intact.  There, we went to Mysore Palace.  I wish I remembered more of the story, but some royal people lived in this amazingly beautiful palace from the turn of the century until India stopped being British in 1947, I think.  I was amazingly beautiful.  There aren't any pictures from inside because they are crazy about that, but Lauren and Melissa got some from the outside.  Somewhere along the line, my camera went MIA, so, I have nothing to show for the trip, and I'm short one camera.  Still, I've got some interesting things to share.  So, number one, we had to take off our shoes to go in the palace. I was prepared to do this if we went to a temple, but not to go inside a pretty house.  I was totally and completely grossed out at the idea of not wearing my shoes inside.  I have become a complete germophobe here.  At home, I'm very whatever about germs, but here, I see the opportunity for typhoid and diptheria and cholera and yellow fever in every opportunity!  I didn't mind being barefoot, but I really minded being barefooted in a place where other people walk without shoes on the same streets that cows and dogs and people use as a bathroom.  I'm trying really hard not to think about it now.   Ugh!   Point two: we saw far more white people in two hours at the palace than we've see in two weeks in Bangalore.  Three: I used my first squatty potty.  I don't want to ever do it again.  And last, we were totally bombarded by incredibly aggressive vendors pushing their wares on our way into and out of the palace.  They called out to us and pushed their trinkets in our face.  It was terrible.  Also terrible is the number of beggars around the palace.  We've come across a few in Bangalore, but this was a whole new deal.  Many of these people were disabled in some way, so it pulled my heartstrings a bit more, but we had to keep walking by.  As we got in the car, one person kept knocking on the window with a hand out until we drove away.

So, after that, we headed to Bandipur, a national park, about an hour down the road.  We had no reservations, and I was oddly okay with it.  After trying several places, we ended up at an AMAZING hotel.  It was so beautiful and modern, it was easy to forget we were in a different country.  It was like something out of a travel magazine.  We stayed in a cottage for the night, had two meals, and a safari in the morning for about $120 each.  It was pretty expensive for India standards (and a little expensive for home standards), but it so worth it.  It was definitely the best food I've had in India so far.  They toned down the spice of the food, so we could actually taste it, and oh, for breakfast, they made us toast and omelets.  What a lovely change of pace from the weird stuff we get here.

We got up super early for safari, and we didn't really see any animals, but it was still pretty cool.  It was super cold, though.  Bandipur is up a little ways into the mountains, so the pashmina I brought for modesty turned out to be the best head cover/scarf I could hope for.  It was much colder than I expected.  I definitely didn't anticipate needing to wear more than long pants, a sweater, and scarf in India in July.

On our way back, we stopped and did some shopping in Mysore.  They are famous for sandalwood in Mysore, and they use it for all kinds of things.  The sandalwood is supposed to have some sort of mystical quality so they don't waste any of it; they even sell the sawdust.  They make soap from it, and it smells amazing.  I bought some of the soap, and a prize for my sister.  I won't reveal what I got, but it smells like sandalwood!

We got back super late from Mysore, the whole journey taking about 6 hours.  A lot of that time was spent sitting in traffic in Bangalore.  We were super tired but happy.

And now for something completely different...  Lauren and I taught Abhishek on our own this morning.  I think it went really well.  I liked watching and listening to Lauren teach.  It was nice to have someone who struggles with wording and pacing of a lesson just like I do sometimes.  It was nice to have a question about how to phrase something, look to Lauren, and see that she was just as unsure of the answer as me.  I think we made some progress him, helping him be more willing to explore.

We did some shopping, and I bought some kurtas. I guessed on sizing as trying on clothes was really frustrating.  You could only have four items at a time, and then the power went out, and the attendant didn't really speak any English, and my Kannada is no better.  I all worked out in the end, I suppose.  I am pretty happy with the kurtas.  I bought the short (read: hip length) Western style kurta, and I'm pretty excited to wear them with jeans.

We all had dinner tonight at our favorite Italian place.  I had American pizza at the Italian restaurant in India run by Koreans.  With all those degrees of separation, you'd think it would be bad.  Not so much.  It was weird, but it tasted pretty good.  Pizza Americano apparently contains chicken, cheese, and corn.  Yep.  Corn.  I've seen just about anything on a pizza back home, but never corn.  Well, there's a first for everything!

Until tomorrow!

 Inside the palace.

 Before our safari.

Elephants have prickly skin.  Who knew?

We are back in Bangalore after a really lovely weekend in Mysore and Bandipur.  We saw some cool places and animals, and we stayed in the most beautiful hotel ever.  We are exhausted, so I'll have to tell the story tomorrow.

We had the morning off here, and that was lovely.  We've been working so hard, it was nice to have a bit of a break.  This afternoon, in lieu of regular O&M class, Lauren and I held a meeting on tactile graphics.  We had several parents, a few teachers, and some nuns from a school for the blind.  It was quite a crowd - 15-20 people.  It went really well, I think.  Parents got to network and build relationships that will last after we leave.

After class, Shanthala took us to a place that sells handmade goods from areas around the state.  I bought quite a few presents that I'm very excited about!  Just to make every mother figure in my life who might be reading this feel better, I'll tell this story.  After the amazing shopping experience, Shanthala found us an auto willing to take us back on the meter.  She offered to go follow us home, but we told her we'd be fine on our own.  On our way back, we discovered how hungry we were, so we stopped for dinner before returning to the hotel.  We went to the Italian place again tonight, and I ate so much meat.  It was absolutely lovely.  Apparently, Shanthala called the hotel to check that we'd made it in, and when she found out we hadn't, she called around to all the Indians we know here, checking on us.  So, mom-types, we are well accounted for here.

There won't be another post until Monday night, most likely.  We've got the weekend off, so we are heading to a smaller town nearby called Mysore for some touristy fun.  There are supposed to be temples, elephants, and safaris.  I got a little crazy packing my bag, preparing for no water, toilet paper, or food.  In all likelihood, this tourist town is probably nicer, cleaner, and better prepared for us than Bangalore.

Stay tuned for the retelling of our sure to be amazing Mysore adventure!

Today, we went to the center where some of the O&M students work.  It acts as a sort of training center where the students live while they learn computer skills, braille, and spoken English.  I had a special love for the place because it is a Christian run organization, and they focus on training young adults from rural parts of India who probably haven't had equal access to services and resources.  The students at the center were pretty great travelers, but the staff members who had visual impairments were all dependent on others for mobility and many daily living skills.  So, we did our best to fix that.  I worked with one man who was very bright, and after three tries, he flawlessly executed the route.  It was nice to be able to prove to him that he can be independent.  After we leave, the people who we have been training will continue to train the staff at the center so they can continue to learn.

Once we got home, we dove into creating tactile graphics for our meeting tomorrow.  It's a little intimidating, telling people how they should do something, but so many of them already do a great job making graphics that I think we are going to spend a lot of our time just facilitating the sharing of ideas.  After the meeting, we are going this craft fair, market thing that Shanthala told us about.  I asked her where she found these super darling earrings she had on the other day, and then she offered to take us to this place.  I'm excited to see what amazing handmade things can be found.

For dinner, we found this absolutely amazing Italian place run by people who looked to be Koreans.  It was another rooftop restaurant, but this time, it was lovely.  The atmosphere was great, though it was almost chilly on the rooftop; it's been so windy today.  I had this chicken stuffed tortellini, and it tasted like Italian food.  It didn't taste like Indian food at all!!  It was so wonderfully lovely.  It was probably the most expensive place we've eaten so far, but still, for the whole meal, I paid 520 rupees ($10.40 ish), and that was with dessert, water, tax, tip, and food I wasn't afraid to eat.  So worth it!

One thing I'm not in love with about India is the need to wash my clothes in the bathroom sink.  I could send it out, but the turn around time is almost two days since things are air dried.  Really, I could do with out this part of the adventure.  It takes for-ev-er to wash and hang clothes to dry.  What ever did people do without washing machines?

This weekend, we are going to take a trip.  I'm really excited to see more of India.  In some ways, where we are feels just like any huge city; there are too many people.  But then, you see a cow roaming across the road and then you remember where you are.

I'm kind of bad at remembering to take pictures.  So, I'm going to be stealing Lauren's to share with you all.

 We see this little girl walk home from school every day.  She's so cute!

 Coconuts are kind of a big deal here.

This is a pretty common scene.

Quick post tonight.  Once again, my plans for full blog posts, homework, and sleep are foiled by the Indian custom of eating dinner late at night.  Tonight, we (Mickey, Melissa, Quin, Lauren, and I) all went over to Mickey and Melissa's friend Nandani's family's home tonight.  There was nice conversation with lovely people.  The best thing, though, was actually being able to taste the flavors of the food.  Nandani's mother toned down the spiciness of the food for us, and I was so grateful.  It was wonderful, and there was no rice in sight!  I also loved that I could understand everything they were saying.  It was nice to be speaking the same language.

Tomorrow, we are headed to another school for the blind, but I think this one is for older kids.  It will take us a hour and a half to get there, but we will still be in Bangalore.  This city is massive!  We've been able to use the car and driver from Enable India for longer rides, so that's been nice because I can't imagine taking an auto that far.  It would be awful!

All is well.  We are happy, healthy, and excited for a new day tomorrow!  I'll post more then.  Promise.

Today was quite a day.  I'm still synthesizing, so I'll do the dinner report before I hit the heavy stuff.

Tonight, we went to a Japanese restaurant on the top floor of a hotel.  It was a little patched together looking, but we wanted meat, so we stayed.  I'm pretty riced out, so I took a chance and ordered garlic steak with an egg roll.  Baha!  The egg roll cannot possibly be accurately described with words, but I'll try.  It was shaped like an egg roll, but the thing was pale and a little flat, and it tasted an awful lot like scrambled eggs.  Apparently, the Indian egg roll features a literal take on the term.  It appeared to be a thin layer of scrambled eggs that had been rolled up in the rough shape of an egg roll.  So, we ate a little of that and laughed a lot.  Then, I got my steak, and it's the best beef I've had in like...  9 days.  Really, though, it tasted pretty good to be found in a country where people aren't so used to cooking cow.  I mean, I'm not so good at cooking soy.

So, I was reveling in my beef victory when Melissa asked if it's okay for us to eat salad here in India since it is often washed with contaminated water, my immediate thought was, "Gosh, no!  Don't eat it."  Then, I looked down at my plate and found that I'd just finished off the lovely (raw) shredded cabbage that accompanied my beef.  Meal fail.  We'll see how that goes.  :(

So, now for the real stuff.  This morning, we went to a school for the blind here in Bangalore where two of the O&M students teach.  It was so different from any school I've ever seen at home.  It's clear the teachers there are having to make do with very little.  Lots of the children were without shoes or properly fitting clothes.  I just wanted to love on all the children and be their teacher.  A few times, I couldn't help myself, and I stopped to tell some of the girls how beautiful they were.  They don't understand English well yet, but hey, at 7 I didn't know Kannada.  Heck, at 24, I can't even pronounce words I've been immersed in for a week!

In the US, vision teachers generally work one-on-one with students, but here, the 200! kids were divided into classes of about 10-15.  Especially in the younger grades, children with severe visual impairments need so much direct instruction to build concepts.  The school just didn't have enough personnel to fully enrich these kids.

They did however, do some cool vocational training.  These kids learn traditional dance, box making with heavy machinery (yikes!), and cow milking.

We learned later in the day that low vision children are taught braille because neither large print nor magnifiers are widely available.  We asked further where people get braille, and we were told that it is really only available in textbooks.  So, all this time and energy is poured into teaching kids a literacy method that they will not be able to use to access information once they leave school.  If they have access to a slate and stylus, then they can create braille for themselves to read, but if not, they won't have a thing to read.  Without reading material, they won't be able to retain their skills, an after time, become illiterate.  The school has a tiny library with braille and print books, but it is not nearly large enough to serve the needs of the 200 kids.  We want to fix that.  We are thinking of talking with people at the school and trying to coordinate donations of braille books from the States to the school here in Bangalore.  It's just not fair that we have extra books just lying around at home when there are children who could read them here.  There is more to think about and sort out.  The high shipping costs are one consideration.  There's more thinking and planning and collaboration that will need to happen.  Today was just the gut-wrenching realization moment of how unequal access to education can be.

Speaking of, we noticed two big gaps at the school: girls and multi-disabled kids.  I'll address girls first, I suppose.  Of the 200 children, only about 35 were girls.  However, visual impairment occurs irrespective of gender, so its occurrence is spread equally among the genders.  There should have been roughly 100 girls and 100 boys at the school.  Later in the afternoon, we asked our Indian friends, and they gave some reasons.  First, parents are more reluctant to send a girl off to school than they are to send off a boy as boys are perceived as more capable of being so far from home.  There also seems to be more shame in having a blind girl than a blind boy, so parents are more likely to keep a blind girl at home but educate blind boys, and unfortunately, blind girls, all girls really, are more likely to be euthanized as babies.  In fact, families are not allowed to know the gender of the baby before he or she is born in order to reduce the number of aborted girls.  If families cannot support many children, they will surely first choose a boy, so girls have less of a chance in poor, uneducated families.  And blind girls, well, they seem to have little chance at all.  It's absolutely heart breaking.  No matter the reason, blind girls are not being offered the same chances for education.  I've never had to be indignant about issues concerning the rights of women, having grown up in a post affirmative action world, but the state of women in other parts of the world is not equal to that in the US.

If all that weren't enough for the day, we also noticed the distinct lack of students with additional disabilities.  Two children were pointed out to us as autistic, and though I didn't work with any of the kids, none of them seemed to have severe cognitive impairments.  So, where are these kids being educated if not in schools for the blind?  The answer is that they as a group, they don't seem to be educated.  They are being hidden at home for fear of the karmic shame they bring their families.  Many of them die as babies as the conditions that cause severe impairments often also cause infant mortality, and many of them are also euthanized, to save the family grief and shame.

So, what a note to finish up on, huh?  Maybe I should have finished up on the questionable dinner report, huh?    Btw, we're going back to the school, so I'm gonna get the chance to love on some kids.

How about some pictures?

 Isn't she just beautiful?

This little girl is the one deaf child in the blind school.  Go figure.  She kept smiling and waving to us all day like we were sharing a secret.  She's Lauren's new BFF.   

Lunch at the school.  That's okra, y'all! 

 Foot-high braille outside the school.

She's my favorite.  Hands down. 

Lauren's really good at this picture taking thing. 

Kids in India aren't taught to use the cane until 14 or 15, so introducing canes to young children is really pushing some boundaries. 

 This little man is lovin exploring with the cane.  

Not many words tonight.  We had a super busy, wonderful day.  I thought I'd let the pictures do the talking tonight.  PS - the good pictures were taken by Lauren.  

Mickey and Abisheik explore an auto.

Buying flowers from the street vendors.

 A colorfully dressed boy begging in the street.

I stepped in some nastiness.  I was told it was of the cow variety and that cow dung does not have all the nasty things other dung has.  Then, when our Indian friend examined the pile later, she informed me that it probably belonged to a dog.  YUCK!  Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Beautiful flowers from one of the vendors.  Each flower is 10 rupees (20 cents!). 

See, we really are in India! She has on a kurta and everything!

This just makes me smile.

Okay, so maybe just a few words.  After work, we rode with Shanthala, our Enable India liaison and all around awesome person, in an auto down to Staples to buy some materials for the tactile graphics workshop that we are going to hold on Friday.  Here, crafty kinds of things are sold in stationary stores, and here in India, Staples (yes, like the ones in America), sells stationary items as well as office supplies.  So, we bought puffy paint and textured paper at Staples.  On our way back during rush hour, Shanthala had a hard time hailing an auto driver who was willing to drive us home for the metered fare.  Because it was a short ride, just under a kilometer, it would only cost 17 rupees (25-ish cents).  She probably haggled with 5 or so drivers before she had us stand on the footpath (a sidewalk in America) while she hailed an auto in the road.  Without our whiteness, she was able to hail a driver for the metered fare and then wave us over to get in.   Earlier today, Melissa called the extra money that people expect from us a "skin tax."  I think that's a pretty fair assessment.  When prices aren't set in stone, like in an auto or at a street vendor, we always seem to be charged more than is fair.

So, I was going to tell you all about my amazing dinner tonight, but we got home and had an even better story to tell.  First, dinner.

It's a fancy modern restaurant, playing cosmopolitan music like the Black Eyed Peas, "My Humps," "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head," and MC Hammer's, "Can't Touch This."  So, we like giggling at their choice of music in this classy joint.  I can't remember the name of what I ordered, but it came, and it was magical.  I ate and ate until I thought I'd be sick.  It was supposed to be chicken and shrimp fried rice with chicken sate and some prawn something.  I wasn't sure what the prawn thing would be, but the rest of it sounded good enough, so I took a chance.

This is what was delivered to me for about $5.  It was all wonderfully palatable.  Those chip looking things to the left were the prawn things.  So, they were a sort of shrimp batter that had been deep fried.  It was really interesting.  I didn't hate it, but my mouth was confused for sure.  The rice tasted just like fried rice from home except it had that lasting bite that all south Indian food seems to have.  The fried egg was, well, a fried egg, and the chicken and peanut sauce were perfectly expected.  For dessert, I had chocolate mousse, and I wanted to cry it was so normal tasting. We've found that here, even if you order non-Indian food, it still tastes vaguely like Indian food.

These were Lauren's really yummy chicken enchiladas.  I've definitely had worse in the states.  Even though that's Mexican rice, it sure did taste like Indian rice.

So, we were super happy and warm, sitting in our restaurant.  Then, it started to pour, reminding us that it is monsoon season.  So, we got absolutely soaked, even with umbrellas, walking the half block from the restaurant.  The only problem with the rain here is that it makes all the nastiness that sits on the streets flow around your feet and through your sandals or shoes.  So, all the nasty animal (and people) poop that is in the streets gets run past your feet.  We were pretty grossed out by the time we made it to the room.  Once we got to the room, we found our bathroom like this...

In case you can't tell, that's about a half-inch of water all over our bathroom floor.  Since it rained so much, so fast, that the drain in our bathroom floor backed up sewage into our bathroom floor.  Nasty!  Our hotel dudes came and cleaned it, but I don't smell bleach, so we're about to go after it with some hand sanitizer.  I've cleaned much worse at camp, but I always had the aid of bleach.  We may have to take a trip to the store to find some!
    

Good news! Neither drinking the questionable water nor eating the grilled cheese sandwiches prepared by children who did not wash their hands before starting made us sick. Win for us!

Today's been nice and relaxing. We spent the morning watching Mickey teach O&M to his friend's teenaged sister. He taught her to cross the streets and walk in line with traffic. She's got some really nice skills. We stopped for ice cream, and on the way back, I took a stab at teaching. I talked too much at first, as is my habit. I just have a hard time drawing the line between giving too much information and not enough. By the end, I think I struck a balance. Still, it's hard having someone there watching you, even when that person is Mickey. Just a side note here: along our route, they were doing some sewer work, and for a whole block, the sewer was open, and the workers were shoveling out very dark matter into the street. More water ran from the piles down the street. I'm trying really hard not to place value judgments on the different experiences here, but that was pretty nasty.

Here's some more information supporting the case that the auto drivers like to take advantage of Americans. On the ride home, Mickey and I paid 100 rupees as a flat rate, and Lauren and Melissa paid 60 on the meter. Eh, well, it's just 80 cents. It doesn't make much difference to us, but I bet it does make a difference to his family.

This day's dinner report isn't terribly encouraging to my mother, but I'm good with it. Breakfast today was bread cooked in eggs. I didn't eat any – again, because I like to sleep more than I like to eat. Still, it looked palatable, so I'm thinking I could swing it in the future. We really worked through lunch, but I did snag some dry cereal before we left. We had tea earlier in the day, and that's my favorite thing about India. They serve tea with milk and sugar already mixed in. It's always perfectly wonderful tasting; it is served VERY hot, and it takes a lot of patience to wait for it to cool. I love tea time. When I made that comment earlier, I was told “Anytime is tea time in India.” So there you go; that fits well with the generous nature of the Indians we've met so far. So, now, we're back at the hotel, and we just finished pigging out on junk like Milk-Ma Vanilla Dew Cookies, Nutella, Mango Mischief Cookies, and Lay's American Style Cream and Onion Chips. That's right, cream and onion – no sour. Lauren and I are going to nap soon, and afterward, find some dinner and then get some school work done.

This is the only picture I took today. It was in front of a store that sells window treatments, including blinds. I think it's the best thing I've seen to describe our experiences here.

Later, y'all!

What a day! There is just too much for me to write about today; I'll try to cover the high points.

First off, we had laundry done for us.  It was $.30 a piece for wash, dry, press, and fold.  Press and fold was $.08 a piece.  Crazy, huh?

The morning started with teaching in the park. Today, I was working with a person who has low vision, so they weren't really confident about teaching. At the end of the lesson, that person gave me sighted guide across the big, busy street. He was super uncomfortable, but he was able to judge when it was safe to cross; he just didn't want to take another's life in his hands. Mickey was there the whole time, but when we both crossed the road safely, my guide felt incredible.

After lunch, we headed over to another organization, where lots of deaf and hard of hearing people are being trained for work. I really liked meeting the deaf people, and I think it was because they approached us in a different manner. On the streets, people stare openly, with pretty blank faces. They aren't mean about it, but their faces aren't really kind. The people there stared, but they smiled. That's really the first we've seen of strangers openly smiling. I'm guessing they know what it's like to be different in India?

Mickey was holding a meeting for the parents of some of the blind children served by Enable India. We did a cooking activity with the kids while the parents had adult conversation. We made grilled cheese, bananas, and Oreos, aka, an American meal. We (Lauren, Melissa, and I) had 10 kids from 2.5 to 15, so we had our hands full catering to the specific abilities of each child.

I think I got it easy. I took the two oldest – a 12 year old girl, and a 15 year old boy – into the kitchen to cook the grilled cheese sandwiches that the other kids prepared. I had a really nice time with both kids, and I really think I taught them both some good skills. The girl was already pretty familiar with being in the kitchen, but I was able to show her some new techniques, and the boy really had no idea how to do much of it. It seems his family does most everything for him, so teaching him how to turn on the burner, adjust the heat, find the trash can, and use tongs was a really good use of our time. By the end, he was doing the whole process himself. I was really proud! We did a lot of chatting while they cooked, and they were both really surprised to hear that I can live alone in the US and that men sometimes do the cooking. Both ideas seemed very foreign to them. Oh, and kids here call women like teachers auntie. I guess it sort of substitutes for ma'am. So, we were the three aunties today. According to my book, using my first name would be far too familiar and the last name too formal. So, auntie it is!

We took our first autorickshaw ride of about 3 miles for 32 rupees (roughly $0.64). Just google for a picture. It's a three-wheeled, open air, taxi. Apparently, the drivers like to rip off Americans and ask for more money or say the meter is broken, but today, we had our Indian friends do the haggling for us. Hence, the local rate. We drove through rush hour traffic, which is full of exhaust and TONS of people and vehicles. We were glad to be home; it's kind of a gross process.

Dinner: we went to a place with steak in the title, so it sounded promising. It was on the roof of the building with pretty nice views, and it's not far from our hotel. They had lots of American food. I ordered a burger, and it wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it wasn't awful. The burger was WAY overcooked, the fries were a bit raw, and the ketchup tasted funny, but at $3.20, who can complain? Also, we may have been served local water masquerading as bottled water, but we shall see.

Enough of that. Pictures!

The kitchen where we did our cooking lesson.

The location of our parent's meeting/cooking extravaganza.

The traffic at the intersection near our hotel.  That is the big fancy department/grocery store in the center of the video.  This should give you a good idea of how loud our world has been for the last week.

Pictures, finally!  However, the only reason they exist is because Lauren took them with my camera.

Today, there were lots of beggars out, because today is Friday, the Muslim sabbath.  Apparently, people feel more persuaded to give coming and going from the mosque.  There's a mosque near the Enable India office, and we can hear the prayers over the loudspeaker at 1 and 5.

Work was good again today.  Lauren and I are still pretty jet-lagged, but we caught the end of the staff Q&A session with the folks at Enable India.  I was struck by the number of questions they had about the sorts of services and technologies available in the US.  They asked about dogs, thinking many blind people in the US use them, but Mickey told them that only like 3% of the blind people at home use dogs; they just have good PR.  They also wanted to know about technology like the electronic cane that just isn't used much in the US.

Today, we've had several short blackouts.  In fact, we are sitting through one right now.  I've never been so grateful to have brought a flashlight in my life (thanks, KP!).  Earlier today, we were in the grocery store, and the lights went off for about 2 minutes on two different occasions.  No one even batted an eye.  They just kept on shopping.  Oh, and at the grocery store, eggs are sold sitting on shelves.  No refrigeration at all.  And... We went to buy cheese for our grilled cheese lesson tomorrow.  They had Kraft American singles, but they were 450 rupees ($9) for 16 slices.  We settled for the Indian "sliced cheese product," and they were only $5 for 24 slices.  We'll see how they taste.

The dinner report: Again, I slept through breakfast.  I've yet to have an Indian breakfast.  Maybe tomorrow.  For lunch, we had the same, but with some variation.  There was a different kind of rice; it was tinted green and looked really yummy.  It was yummy, but it burned my mouth so much!  Everything is soooo spicy.  For dinner, Lauren and I ventured out alone, and we went to a place recommended by Melissa.  It's just around the corner, and they had a really extensive menu, so I think we'll go back.  It was super nice inside, but the prices were pretty reasonable (entrees for 200-300 rupees or $4-6).  Oh, and they give 15% off for using American Express.  Woot!  We killed two liters of water, and it was chilled!  We can't have ice here, not that it's been offered, so we've been drinking everything room temperature.  They kept trying to push drinks and juice on us, but we were good with the water.  I'm a little leery of fruit juice.  Lauren had fish and chips, and I had chicken lasagna.  It was interesting; it was constructed like regular lasagna with what tasted like a vodka sauce, but with chicken (of course), and broccoli, zuccini, green beans, and carrots instead of layers of cheese.  It was nothing like regular lasagna, but it sure was a nice change of pace.  Nothing about that meal burned my mouth; it was wonderful!

Anyway.  On to the pictures...

Proof I'm actually teaching...

The park where we've been working every day.

Along our walk home.

Crossing the street.

Indian scaffolding. (that's wood lashed together, btw)

A cow on our corner. (That's my traditional, "this is awesome" pose.)

So, maybe the jet lag is over.  Maybe.  I slept about 10 hours last night, and it was a-mazing.  I was very grateful for a late start today.

Today, Mickey really delved into some technical O&M skills with the students, so it was nice to be a part of that.  This weekend, Mickey's holding a parent's meeting, and Lauren and I get to tend the kids.  I'm super excited.  We're going to do a cooking activity and make American food (grilled cheese, I think), so I think it will be awesome!  I might have to use some camp skills to entertain them.  Sweet.

Lauren and I had our first little adventure alone.  We walked back from Enable India without Mickey along our regular route.  I was a little nervous that we'd be bothered without a man walking with us, but we had no problem at all.  (This is also for my mom, btw.)  We can really walk like locals now, in the street, and crossing in the middle of the street, so I guess we looked like we knew what we were doing.  So, mama, I'm safe.  Promise.   

This afternoon, we went to a big department store just down the road.  The first few floors look just like an American mall, with cosmetics, clothes, shoes, and housewares.  We saw plenty of  Western clothes, but there were TONS of beautiful kutras (the long tunic tops) in beautiful colors and prints.  They were pretty reasonable at $5-10 dollars, so Lauren and I plan to go back for a few.  Since there is no shower curtain in the bathroom, we headed to housewares to find bathroom rugs.  We debated buying a shower curtain, but the tension rod itself was about 12 dollars, so we passed on that.  We noticed that some Indians think of lines differently than we do. There seemed to be a main line for the checkout in the department store like in the US.  Everyone stands in one line, and then you go to the next available cashier, but then several people passed us to make a new line at each cashier.  Some nice folks called us up so we could have our turn, so we were grateful.  

Upstairs from the department store, there is a grocery store.  We bought water and some snacks.  We might have bought more, but we couldn't find a basket.  We made our big ticket purchase - toilet paper - for 5 dollars for 4 tiny little rolls.  :(  Food is pretty cheap.  I bought a loaf of bread for $1, a bag of vanilla wafer like cookies for 75 cents, and a big jar of nutella for about $3.50. It seems like things you would have to buy in the states cost about what they would cost at home, but other things seem to be a lot cheaper.  American things like toilet paper and shower curtains are much more.  Oh, and Lauren bought Cheetos at $7.  Surprise at the checkout!

I know most of you don't, but my mama cares about whether I'm getting enough to eat, so I'm afraid that there will be daily meal summaries.  Sorry.  I slept through breakfast, and lunch was the same old stuff, but dinner was really yummy.  We went to a Punjabi restaurant, and I had butter chicken and naan, so it was nice and familiar.  Lauren and Mickey tried "Thums Up" soda (yes, thums, not thumbs), which is made by Coke.  It was a little gross, but not so bad, I guess.  I'll have to look for it at the world of Coke.  After dinner, we stopped for gellato, and at 74 rupees (about $1.50), it was a really nice deal.

So, sobering moment of the day...  It's really done a number on my head, trying to wrap my brain around (that's for you, KP) this water thing.  So, the tap water isn't something we need to drink, and it's kind of a hassle to buy bottled water.  So, Lauren and I are using UV light pens to treat water, but we don't quite trust it yet.  For the first time, in a small way, I have felt a little anxious about my water needs.  I've never in my life not had easy access to all my needs.  It's not even a big deal, really.  There is bottled water everywhere, and we've got access to water treatment, but I got a small taste of what it might be like to do without.

That's enough for tonight.  I hereby resolve to take pictures tomorrow.  There, it has been blogged.  It shall be done!

Two more things...

We saw TWO white people today, so that was a nice change of pace.

And...... Lauren and I are trying our first non-bottled water.  We UV light treated local water, so say a little prayer.  

Jet-lag like woah

Today was really nice.  This morning, we got to see a blind child receive instruction in braille and O&M.  He was a super cool kid, and so funny!  Mickey did a little teaching, and it was amazing to see this really bright, but timid boy come alive when Mickey showed him that he could do some things on his own.  After that, we went to work with the future O&Mers.  We worked on two-point touch and becoming comfortable moving.

Then, we were reminded that it is indeed monsoon season.  It poured all afternoon and evening, and me without my umbrella.  We walked the mile back in the rain because we couldn't get an auto-rickshaw to stop for us until we were already soaked.  :(

So, this jet-lag thing is insane.  Last night, I stayed up at dinner so that I'd be able to fall asleep when it was time.  When I got home at midnight, I did fall asleep, but I woke up, miserable, at 4:30, and couldn't sleep again until 7.  So, I'm up to like 12 hours of sleep since Sunday morning.  Still, it's 12:30 on Thursday here, and I'm too awake to sleep.  I hear it passes in a few days.  Still, everything is so exciting and new that I'm still good to go, even though I'm sooooo tired.  It's India.  There's no time to be tired.  

I miss meat already way more than I thought I would.  I've not been that long without it, but I think knowing it isn't everywhere makes me want it more.  Many (maybe most?) south Indians are vegetarians.  Lunch for us tends to be rice and other spicy vegetable stews.  Tonight, we went to a restaurant that serves meat, and I LOVED it!  It was 500 rupees, which is really expensive for food here, but that's only about $10, so it was worth the splurge.  It was AMAZING!  It was an all-you-can eat type place, kind of like a Brazillian steakhouse, only they bring around all kinds of amazing appetizers, main dishes, and dessert.  We ate and ate until we were just about sick.  Lauren and I figured it was all good since we'd really just had rice for lunch and we were sure we'd walked it all off!

So, far, it's been amazing.  I'm still processing and struggling to put into words how this is different from our world.  Maybe I'll get there soon.  Hopefully blogging will help.

Well, I'm off to try to sleep.  We'll see how that goes!

Just Arrived...

  So, here I am, in Bangalore, India. I've had an absolutely slammed day. The day started, I guess, with landing in Bangalore at 4:30 am local time (that's 7pm Eastern). Then, it took a good solid hour to get through customs and get our bags. I'll tell you, waiting in a mob of 300 or so people waiting for your bags for 45 minutes is not what you want to do after traveling for 22 hours. After all that, we met Mickey and our driver for the ride into the city. We had a way to drive, so we were at the hotel at about 7 am.

Traffic is just a completely different beast here. There are lanes painted on the road, but no one follows them. Traffic moves fast and decisively. It's pretty impressive that there aren't lots of accidents what with the variety of vehicles, people, and animals in the street. People here walk in the street instead of on the sidewalk because the sidewalks are super dangerous. The streets I've seen so far are pretty nicely paved, but the sidewalks are insane. They are uneven, and often, there are sudden drop-offs of about 10-12 inches. Everyone walks in the streets. Everyone. It's just how things are done.

Speaking of the streets, we've been stared at a lot. I haven't felt unsafe at all, apart from the “oh my goodness, I'm in a big city feeling.” I think people are just genuinely curious. In fact, we are the only white people I've seen so far. Everyone else is Indian. I've seen a handful of people who look like they might be from southeast Asia, but other than that, we are the oddity.

The hotel is small. There are a four rooms downstairs and a few more upstairs. There's a sort of living/dining room between mine the rooms, so it's nice to have a bit of space to spread out. Our room has a nice little entryway, a main room with lots of closets, and a bathroom. The bathroom is a bit different. We have a regular toilet (yay!), tub and shower, but there is no shower curtain, so the whole bathroom gets wet when we shower. The mattresses are super hard, but we have an air conditioner AND a ceiling fan, so we will sleep well.

Two random notes... The weather is actually really nice. It's upper 70s low 80s. It is really humid, but when it's only 80, it's not so big a deal. So, I'm sweating, but I'm not dying. We had a nice little rain shower this afternoon, but it just lasted a few minutes, and it was cooler afterward. Number two: English is written everywhere; almost every sign has both Kannada and English, and some are exclusively English. Many of the people here speak English and one of many, many other local languages. In fact, I learned today, that though Hindi is the state language of India, in south India, more people speak English than Hindi. Interesting, no?

After checking in and taking a short nap, because well, I'm still on Eastern time, we headed to Enable India. There we had real Indian food for lunch. I was indeed spicy and vegetarian, but nothing I couldn't handle. Then, we headed off to a nearby park to work on sighted guide and diagonal technique. With Mickey leading the way, Lauren and I worked with the groups as they practiced the techniques and teaching how to use the techniques.

Almost all the future instructors know English, but at varying degrees, so that made my teaching both easier and harder. It was nice to be able to use words and not gestures, but I think there were times that I assumed they knew what I was talking about, and no one stopped me. I think I'll have to check in to be sure that I'm being understood. It's not only a knowing or not-knowing English thing, but there seems to be a different way of saying and phrasing things and our colloquialisms that they might not get.

As tired as I am, I really enjoyed teaching this afternoon. Before the trip, I was worried that I wouldn't be very good at the teaching O&M part, but I really think it's going to work out well. I'm really excited to keep teaching more. Tomorrow morning, we get to meet a real live blind kid, so that'll be fun. This is going to be a wonderful month, I think.

So I know this was a nice and lovely blog. I'm trying to stay up so I'll sleep tonight. I'm hoping all the rest are this nice and long, but if not, forgive my exhaustion.

Oh, and the internet connection seems to be good and reliable, so email or facebook is the best way to reach me.