15 hour train rides and more

We made it to Jodphur....after a 15 hour train ride. Wow, that was long. Luckily (?) I was sick and had taken something that put me to sleep for nearly half the trip. The students are amazing--real troupers. They don't complain at all and just take whatever we throw at them. It really has made this a great trip.

We visited Agra and saw the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and Fatepur Sikri...it was a nice intro into the history and culture of India. We are now in Jodphur and just completed our first field visit. We went out with Pratham, an environmental NGO that works in the urban slums. It was quite an experience to visit their schools/libraries in the slums and meet all the kids and families. They were all really excited to see us (their first foreign visitors). We got some great photos and learned alot about their work in literacy training and health education. They have a great staff who showed us around.

Tomorrow we are off to visit Gravis, an NGO that works with the mineworkers of Rajasthan. Then we are doing service projects at two schools.

So far so good. We all have head colds, but nobody is too sick and everyone has a great attitude. We are staying at the very neat mandore guesthouse, which has beautiful grounds and a wonderful staff.

Namaste!
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