Thursday, January 1, 2009

Andrew in India

Hello!
Just to let you all know, Andrew has posted his first (but short) post on his India trip blog at http://indiaautism.blogspot.com/ . No pictures until Jan 5th, but check it out and watch his trip unfold! He's doing good work there with his friend Ram as they work together to help kids with autism by doing workshops and presentations using theatre and dramatic techniques to help teach them social skills and every day things we take for granted. He's in Bangalore right now, but will be headed to Madurai (where Ram is from) as well as Hyderabad in the next few days.
His phone conversations have had to be short (international calling card -- calling from a public phone in his hotel...) but he sounds good. At first, the culture shock was pretty intense, but after a day or so, he started getting used to the noises, smells, and overall cultural differences. It helps to have Ram--a native--taking him around and staying in the hotel with him. The one thing he did say was that the food was really amazing, and that the people he was meeting were kindred spirits. I'm so glad he's enjoying his time. It's always been my dream to go to India, so I'm soaking up anything he can tell me. He promised he is keeping a journal, so I'm excited to hear his thoughts and processing.
Here are a few pictures I found on the web that shows you a little of what it might look like in Bangalore. Andrew described downtown as "Times Square after a missle attack and a dust storm." :) Interesting...

Here is a picture of the outside of the Hotel Maurya where Andrew has been staying this week.
Here is a picture from one of the temples he visited, too! (If I got the right one...it was a rushed phone call and it's hard to remember the names of things when you've never heard or seen them before...) Iskcon Sri Radhakrishna Temple (Hare Krishna Consciousness Center).
He flies out of Bangalore at 8:30pm his time and he's off to Hyderabad. So, check out his blog now and watch for pictures after January 5th!

Check back here, too, for pictures of the kids soon...

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