Children Rising: May 2008

Ten days on . . .

We are pretty much all moved in and getting our routines down, which consist of waking up with the sun at about 6:00, going over to the school and hostels, and going to bed either when we are tired or the bedroom cools down a little. The electricity comes and goes during the day and night. A good night has our bedroom air conditioner on most of the time. On a bad night the electricity goes out and stays out. Difficult to sleep well with 105 and humidity, but we get by.

Vickie is now the hostel director, meaning she oversees everything having to do with the children's residential living quarters, including the house mothers and cleaning staff, family groups, sanitation, food procurement, storage and preparation; laundry, and evening homework time. Thankfully, this is mostly organized with routines in place, but there is always more to do. The former director became a little lax in her medications and safety precautions and contracted malaria, so home to America she went.

I am finishing up my teacher training schedule for the week of May 26-31 in preparation for school to begin on June 2. We are still looking for two teachers and not having much luck so far. Kaladevi, my school secretary whom we call Swathi, taught 1st grade in the past, so she might be pressed into service. We are also ready to purchase the first full sets of texts and materials the school has ever had. Last year the teachers just lectured out of sample copies provided by a local publisher.

More photo updates:

Harvesting peanuts on the campus farm.

Vickie using the cell phone hot spot on our roof to send an email, in the shade of a mango tree. We use Airtel India: "Fewer bars in more places."

Our favorite night out. Our driver takes us to a roadside stand for purota and omelets. Purota is a coiled flat bread-yummy. Most eating places use banana leaves for plates--supposedly the cleanest thing to use, and certainly easy to clean up.

Settling in

We arrived safe and sound in Chennai and stayed overnight in the Marriott (partners with Rising Star). The next day we were off for the two-hour drive to the Rising Star campus. We are settled in to our bungalow and mostly unpacked and organized. We started right in with a tour of the school and now Vickie and Katie Etherington (volunteer from BYU) are organizing the small library and Gordon is preparing for teacher training that begins May 26. In between we are going to and fro trying to register with the local police and the district Foreign Registration Office. We really enjoyed church yesterday at the branch in Chennai. They have a very nice rented facility with great air conditioning (very important). Here are some scenes from our first few days:

Kala, our school secretary, and one of the RSO vehicles.

Never thought I would see peanuts stored in a school room. This is part of the harvest from the campus farm. Don't worry, we'll move them before school starts.

Looking toward our house from the roof of the school.

Catching up on laundry.

Enroute - Krabi

Our last stop in Thailand was a beach bungalow on Railay Bay near Krabi (gra-BEE). We flew in to Phuket, the area devastated by the tsunami that killed so many European tourists. The area is now totally rebuilt. A two-hour van ride through beautiful countryside got us to Krabi, and then a 15-minute voyage on a long-tailed boat brought us to our beach resort. We spent two days exploring, playing in the surf, eating, and relaxing.

The scenery is just unbelievable. The huge limestone mountains are covered with vegetation and jut up like teeth around the area. The sand was soft and comfortable to walk on. Vickie had fun playing in the surf while Gordon waded along the edge. It was cloudy most of the time, but that just reduced the amount of sunscreen we needed. Next stop - India!

Long-tail boats--so called because the propeller and steering shaft extends 10 or 12 feet beyond the end of the boat. These were the taxis to our beach.

All aboard our water taxi to Railay Bay

A morning stroll along the beach is good for the soul.

One of many views during our exploration of the beach.

Enroute - Chiang Mai

We spent two nights in Chiang Mai. The first afternoon we settled into our boutique hotel and walked around to see the night vendors. On Saturday we spent the day in the mountains of northern Thailand, near the border with Myanmar. We visited an elephant conservation and training facility. We watched elephants bathe in the river, perform tricks, like painting pictures, and work tasks, trekked through the jungle on an elephant, and returned to the facility by ox cart. We then floated down the river on a bamboo raft to our waiting car. On the return trip we visited a monkey rehabilitation and training facility and beautiful orchid gardens. What an array of new experiences!

Sunday started with sacrament meeting in the Chiang Mai Branch (with headphones and translation for us non-Thai speakers--thanks elders!), and then we were off on our flight to the beaches of Krabi in southern Thailand. Watch for our sun and sea Krabi blog.

Crossing the river to begin our trek.

Through the jungle.

"Punting on the Thames." Very relaxing, amazing scenery

A blossom among beautiful orchids!

Gathering with the saints in Chiang Mai--a wonderful and friendly branch.

Enroute - Bangkok

Gordon and Vickie, along with fellow travelers Sylvia Finlayson and Linda Watkins, arrived safely in Bangkok for the first day of a multi-day tour of Thailand enroute to India. We spent the day sightseeing. This photo shows Vickie in the Buddhist Marble Temple, near the Royal Palace.