Category Archives: India

In EVERY city in Tamil Nadu there was just way too much to ever include in this blog, or any presentation we could ever give!  We’ve been home for 2 weeks now and I’m still telling my friends and family new stories and remembering things I hadn’t thought of!  It all still seems like an amazing dream to me!!  I keep being asked what my favorite part of the trip was…what was my favorite city…favorite activity…and the truth is I could NEVER pick a favorite.  I’m not even sure I could put it into a top ten list!  Every day was so incredible and so different from the last that every single day was my favorite day! Never in my life did I think I would ever experience what I did in India.  The people could not have welcomed us with more open arms and more hospitality!  I have missed each and every one of the new friends I made in India and am so excited about being involved in Rotary now that I am back home!

I know that was a question on a lot of Rotarians minds……….will you join Rotary?  I can’t speak for any of the guys (simply because I don’t know the answer) but for me, the paper work has already begun!!  Rotary has indeed changed the lives of millions across this planet and it has changed the life of this 26-year-old living in po-dunk Paris Texas!!

I can not thank each Rotarian involved enough for what you have done for us!!  Keep doing what your doing, its working!!!

And thank you all for following our blog during this spectacular journey of “Team India”!!!

-Kari Daniel

So this post is a little past due…but here we go :)

Team India made it back home safe and sound on Wednesday February 3rd!  After an exhausting trip we were all happy to be home but already missing all our new friends that we meet all the way from Hosur to Delhi!

Our last stop for the Rotary portion of our trip was Pondicherry!  On our way to Pondicherry we stopped for a Repulic Day (Feb 1st) Celebration!

Several different schools from the area were there for one large celebration and each school had its own performance.  Just like all the other dance performances we had seen before, this one blew us away!  The talent that every child has in India is just incredible, and the costumes were awesome!!

Republic Day Dancer

After the celebration we went for lunch with the district collector for the area and meet some of the Freedom Fighters!  These are the men and women who peacefully “fought” with Ghandi!

Team India w/Freedom Fighters

Our fist day in Pondicherry we went to a wedding for a Rotarian’s son.  It was real interesting for all of us to be able to sit and watch all the traditions that take place during a traditional Indian wedding.  They will start the day before and go through the  night….we were only there for the morning portion of the ceremony.

The Bride & Groom

After the wedding we visited a place called Auroville……which was one of the many Highlights of the trip for me!!  Its a village in which 55 countries are represented and they live a VERY eco-friendly lifestyles, which was a HUGE attraction for me!!  Cars (for the most part) are not allowed in most areas of Auroville so we were able to walk without worrying about traffic and surrounded by trees!  The shops they in the village were full of products that were made by the people living in Auroville and a lot of it was made with natural products (leaves, clay & recycled stuff)!  Since our shop sales all eco-friendly and handmade products this was obviously,in my eyes, absolutely incredible!!  At the center of Auroville is a Golden dome called the Matrimandir, which is a symbol of the Divine’s answer to man’s inspiration for perfection.  Nantha, one of the Incoming India Team members, was the perfect guide for us that day since he had lived in Auroville for 2 or 3 years!

Team India at the Matrimandir

We also got to do a lot of shopping in Pondicherry, and the shopping was INCREDDIBLE!!!  Being the only girl there the guys had to put up with my shopping…and I did a lot!  Clothes for me and my family back home….suvinors and bangles…oh the bangles……..  If there were bangles close by everyone knew I was going to stop and check ‘em out!  Even our host began joking with me when we saw bangles…..I could have filled up an entire suitcase with those things!!!!  But Enough about shopping………

One day, during our Pondi visit, we traveled to an outlaying city are participate in a Global Warming Walk a college was doing!  I wish I could remember how far the walk was but I’m not really sure…  We had a great time and enjoyed the time outside to just walk and interact with the students.  I even got to do a few round-offs down the street :-)

Kari & Paul w/Global Warming Students & Banner

The same day we visited an Aids Facility that cared for young children that are HIV positive.  Each of us were able to interact and play with the children during our visit!  The priest at the facility is originally from France and one of the ladies working with the children is originally form Texas! The children at the facility were amazing!! They were so excited to show us the boats they were making on their beds (they tucked their sheets into the top bunk to make a little hammock like swing on the bottom bunk) and started interacting with us immediately!! I got to hold and briefly play with a baby girl that was just learning to walk, Matthew took pictures with one boy, Paul played cards with a few, and James taught a group the “hook ‘em horns” sign!

Paul and the boys from the Aids Facility

James & the Boys "Hook 'em Horns!!"

We all walked away with yet another amazing memory!!

Kari Daniel

Nagapattinam Rotary Meeting

Paul's Vocational Day, a meeting with a district manager of the government bank

These past few days in Nagapattinam have been amazing, we’ve seen a lot but at a nice steady pace where we were able to enjoy some free time a bit too. This is the first beachfront city we have stayed in and the beaches here are beautiful, one interesting thing though is that you can see cows freely roaming the beach. John and I were fortunate enough to stay in a home that was a quarter mile from the beach; I could see it from the window in my room.  Everyday that I have stayed here I have woken up early and walked on the beach at sunrise, this morning I met a fisherman who told me he got back from Singapore a few months ago, where he worked for 4 years in a plant nursery, he let me take a photo of him with his uncle’s boat. My first morning walk was with VGR or Major, a really nice man that has made sure our trip was a success and comfortable, he is the GSE team leader going to Texas, we also ate at his home tonight, it was great. Another time we went to the beach, Kari and I decided to be brave and go for a camel ride, it was very interesting and a bit painful, for the both of us, bamboo isn’t real comfortable we discovered, haha!

Fishermen with their colorful boat

Kari and I riding a camel on the beach

An Indian girl showing us a traditional Indian dance.

Our first day here we visited a school where they put on a huge welcoming event for us along with several performances by the students. After they were done they had us each go into separate classrooms full of students to interact with them for about a half hour, we all completely enjoyed that. My students asked me a lot about my feelings and thoughts about India, one girl stood up and asked me what’s my favorite thing about India, I told her that it would definitely have to be the people, and it really is, I have been so impressed with the friendliness and hospitality of India, actually we found out that one of the mottos in India is, “guests are like gods,” and they truly live up to that motto.

A group of students showing us the more modern Bollywood style dance

The Catholic Basilica of Nagapattinam

Nagapattinam is also known as the holy city because there are three major worship centers here from each of the major religions in India,Hinduism, Catholicism/Christianity, and Muslim. We visited the major cathedral and the major mosque, which is the second largest in India after the one in the Taj Mahal. It was a first time for all of us, the Muslim priest was a Rotarian who guided us through the mosque, it was very interesting and new for us and we completely enjoyed it. A young Indian man named Mani who we call Money, has been such a great help guiding us around the city and taking care of us.  He also took Kari and I to yoga classes, at 5 in the morning! They were great though!

We learned that this city was hit hard by the tsunami in Dec 2004, over 4,000 people died, mainly people from the small fisherman villages that were located on shore. My host father was at the beach with his three children and seven of his in-laws, who had never seen the beach before, when the tsunami hit, he told us the painful story with tears in his eyes as he described what it was like to lose all three of his children at once, along with all his in-laws. He told us because of lack of communication and facilities he brought his three children to the cemetery and buried them himself. It was a story unlike I’ve ever heard but he said his faith in Jesus and God gave him hope to carry on, and now God has blessed him and his wife with two more children of their own and they have adopted 20 children who have lost their parents in the tsunami and take care of them all at their home. It has been such a pleasure for John and I to get to know these children, they are all so beautiful, and it’s going to be hard to leave them all.

Some of the children that have lost their parents in the tsunami that my host parents care for

- Matthew T Rader

We’ve been so busy it has been hard to keep up with the blog….sorry for the break in blogging. :-)

In the past few days we visited another temple, an old Danish Fort, the beach, a Saree manufacturing unit, and more schools!
We were at another mental challenged school a few days ago that is sponsored by Rotary.  It amazes me every time I see something new that  Rotary has done!  Those children probably wouldn’t have had anywhere else to go if it had not been for Rotary!

We got to see a man hand looming a Saree at the manufacturing place.  It was actually out of his home that he was working!  He even let each of us throw the thread once……….hopefully he didn’t have to go back and fix it!!!  They said it takes about 7 days for him to finish one Saree!!!

On our last evening with our host families we were actually able to get some rest and spend the evening getting to know each other!!  It was a very enjoyable evening for me!! My home had 2 daughters in the 8th and 10th standard and that I got to spend time looking at pictures with!  They showed me pictures of them growing up and their parents wedding and I showed them pictures of my family and Paris.  We even watched a news clip of the 1982 tornado that hit Paris on youtube!  Then we had a photo session and the oldest daughter did the henna artwork on my hand!

In the morning we left for our next city where I am staying with the District Governor of this Rotary District, Governor Gopi.  After we arrived we all got a little bit of rest and refreshed our selves for our next Rotary meeting!  We had a blast…..they were recognizing work that the Rotarians had done at the district conference and were poking fun at each other!  Even though we didn’t understand a word that they were saying, they were speaking in Tamil, we all still had a great time!!  Not really sure what all they have in store for us for the next couple of days but I am sure it will be a blast no matter what it is!

Since I am having to use my host’s computer I do not have my pictures on here to post….I will get Matthew to get on and post some later after I talk to him this afternoon….

I hope to be able to keep you all up to date but not sure how its going to be….we don’t get much time with our host and I would rather spend it with them instead of on the computer.  Especially since I have a 4+ year old in my host family this time that wants to play! :-)

Kari

Yesterday morning we loaded up in our trusty van once more and visited the Big Temple in Thanjvour.  We had an amazing guide with us Rotarian P Praksah Laising was raised in the area so he knew a lot about the temple and was able to tell us stories about the temple instead of just showing us around.

After spending time at the temple we went and visited an art museum.  Having visited many art museums in the states I found it interesting how low the security was.  These pieces date back to the 11^th century and I am sure are worth more than Degas’ paintings but there they were…just sitting there.  Most were in a glass case (that looked like it might fall apart) but some were just sitting out with a sign that said “Do Not Touch.”

After the gallery we loaded up in the van for our next city.  I’m not really sure how far we traveled since I slept but I think it was about a 2-hour drive.  Once we reached Kumbaonam we meet our host families and got settled.  Paul’s host mother had a baby the day before so there was a little bit of switching around.  We then visited a artisans’ workshop and a jewelry shop.

The view of the jewelry shop from outside was incredible!! The walls were COVERED with Huge Gold necklaces!!  A few of the salesmen and one of our host started to load me up with jewelry and the ending result totaled up to 30,000 US Dollars!!!  I would have loved to keep it all but unfortunately I have a feeling Joe wouldn’t have been to happy to get that bill….so I gave it back J

After a brief dinner at a hotel owned by another Rotarian we once again went our own ways to get a good nights rest in our host homes.

I am having problems getting pictures to load for some reason tonight so hopfully I will be able to get them up for you all to see tomorrow night :)

Kari Daniel

The past few days we have just been relaxing and taking a bit of a break. On Saturday we went to a poultry farm that housed thousands of chickens.  The conditions for the baby chicks wasn’t to bad since they had a little more room to move around but the hens were crammed into a small cage with a max of 5 in each cage.  After our visit to the farm we spent the rest of the day resting in a hotel in Namakkal.

Team India at the Poultry Farm

Sunday morning we headed out early in the morning and arrived at Hotel Parisutham for another 2 days of rest. We were greeted by a presidents of one of the 7 local clubs. After discussing our schedule we all went back to our rooms for some internet time and tv time.

Monday was just as relaxing….we all spent time being lazy, just chilling around the hotel until about 4pm when he went to see an artisan workshop. They showed us the process of making bronze sculptures. We were able able to make some small purchases of artwork done on old postcards, and I personally cant wait to get them in a frame!! ☺

Artist showing us the lost wax process

After the workshop we left for another Rotary meeting where we gave our presentation to about 40 Rotarians had dinner and headed back in for the evening. Today we are going to be seeing the Big Temple here in Thanjavur. It’s a temple that is over 1000 years old! After that we will heading out of Thanjavur and on to our next stop!

Kari

The past three days we have been celebrating a festival called Pongal, it gives thanks to their god for the things they receive, like a good harvest, animals and family. Through out these 3 days we saw some amazing things and participated is some amazing events.  Pongal is also a food here, they have two different kinds of it, a normal one and a sweet flavored one, I found both to be tasty. During the pongal festival they boil a pot of pongal and let it boil over signifying a full harvest and a good year. The women draw colorful designs call Kolam out of fine colorful sand on the streets and sidewalks in front of their homes for the festival

Kolam Artwork

Pot of Pongal boiling over

In Salem they brought us to a huge Hindu temple that was over 800 years old, it was so impressive how detailed their art was, they even had chains they carved from stones. They led us all around the temple teaching us about Hindu traditions and history. They also demonstrated an offering ceremony they do for their god.  They passed a plate around and had every one touch it and then tossed the food to the statue of their god while they chanted, it was very interesting to see.

800-year-old Temple

A solar eclipse also happened that afternoon which they all revered by closing the temple at the moment it was happening. Afterwards we were brought to a govt owned steel mill that never gives tours to people but made an exception for us because of the connections Rotary had with the plant. It was so cool watching the bright orange glowing slab of steel getting passed through rollers as they thinned it out more and more each time it passed through.

Mr. James who was the man that brought us around everywhere in Salem was an awesome and nice guy, he also brought us up into the mountains to a small town called Yearcud where there is a huge coffee plantation they grew on the mountain. We walk on trails that brought us out to a cliff that overlooked several mountains and valleys, it was so beautiful, we all were in all of the fantastic view.

We said our goodbyes to our wonderful host families and headed of to the town Namakkal where we witnessed a beautiful display of colors, music and dance. We were invited to stand next to the district collector to watch all the events. He was such a nice man. Everyone that passed by him showed him respect and obviously felt that he was a highly regarded individual. He taught me a bit about Tamil culture and making sure we all were comfortable.

The District Collector

Young Dancer at the Pongal Celebration

Matthew T Rader

We had an incredible vocational day, especially for me, because our first stop was a private bank called Karnataka Bank.  It’s a private bank, as opposed to a state or government run bank.  India has both private and state banks, so that was very interesting to me.  They also are very much in to saving money and buying gold for saving.  Indians on average save about 40% of their income per year.  Look like I can learn a thing or two over here!!

Karnataka Bank staff and GSE Team 5830

Next up was Kottai Mariyamman Polytechnic College and a great tour by the principal of the school.  They study mechanics, welding, and electronics.  Then we had the honor of watching a dance/talent show and getting to dance on stage!  Of course, we were not as good as the talent but we sure tried.  They kept us on stage to give awards to all the bright students in art and sports and other subjects.

Award ceremony at the polytechnic college

Up next: A chocolate factory.  We watched the production of caramel candy and how they form and pour it into shape then fill it with cream.  We each got to sample the goods and take a bit home with us!

Finally we visited the ABS Botanical Gardens where they keep rare and special plants that have homeopathic uses.  It’s like a plant sanctuary.  It was a great visit because we go to see some wild species of plant that we had never seen before.  The place was amazing!

Now we’re ready for the next three days of the Pongal celebration!  Stay tuned!

-Paul

What a day…We started off at 9am this morning by visiting a girls government run school that rotary has sponsored projects for.  When we first arrived at the school we stood and talked to some of the girls that were outside studying.  I was immediately surrounded by a large group of girls in 8^th standard (grade).  They all wanted to tell me their names, shake my hand, and tell me about what they were learning in school!  As we started to walk away from the first group of girls to tour the school one girl came up to me and asked for something I’ve never had anyone ask me for…my autograph! JWe sat in a room of 12 standard girls and let them ask us questions and take pictures.  Again I was asked for my autograph and the guys even joined in on this signing session!  Because of Rotary these girls now have clean bathrooms to us during the school day!  It was yet another amazing and inspirational trip!  After the school we toured a hospital, a bus station and a coffee factory. 

Kari is famous!

Class act

The process they go though to produce the coffee here locally amazed us all.  They start with the raw bean and finish with instant coffee.  James was especially impressed since they use much of the same equipment he has been looking at for the Pecan Company that Harper Corporate Services has started.  After the Coffee factory we took a short break to freshen up and then meet for dinner at a little Chinese Restaurant.  Yes, we had Chinese food, in India…and it was Amazing!!

The team at the coffee processing plant

Tomorrow we are going to be touring several facilities, including a Chocolate factory…and I can’t wait!!!

-Kari

Today was the second and the last day of Rotary District 2980’s district conference. After a great motivational speaker who is also an actor and a chairman of a big IT firm we all were called to the stage. After nice introduction John stepped up to the microphone, he looked out to the audience of about 3,000 people and told them a little about himself. They only gave us 10 minutes to do our presentation, for all of us, so each of us went up there one by one giving a brief 2 minute presentation about ourselves and thanked them all for the amazing hospitality the have provided us. I have never spoken to such a large group of people before, I was so nervous before I went up to the microphone but from what I heard from some of the Rotarians that were present we did a good job and they enjoyed it.

John with District Governor Gopi

 After we were done the outgoing GSE team that’s going to Texas also gave a brief introduction. After shaking lots of hands and posing for lots of photos we returned to our hotel and headed back to Salem. Roopali and Nallini both rode with us, we had some great conversations with them and learned a bit more about Indian culture through them. They have been such a great help on this trip and it was so cool getting to know them. Nallini had the idea to take us to a Hindu temple that she was familiar with. It was my first time in a Hindu temple, I found it very interesting, it was dedicated to their god called Krishna. The building it’s self was pretty modern looking from the outside, big and in a square shape. The inside was big and empty of furniture, along the walls on each side of the building were wooden carvings of their god or gods doing different things, the carvings were huge and very elaborate. Ahead was a stage and then another stage with a big chair and a huge statue of their god sitting in the chair. Some people there started chanting and playing some music, after about 15 minutes we thanked the caretakers of the temple and left.

Nallini wanted to take us to one of her stores, so she took us a mini-shopping plaza where she had a jewelry store, there she sold gold and silver jewelry that come in from all over India, it was very nice. Roopali wanted us to visit her house, so she brought us over to it. Her house was beautiful, with an art deco style living room, an amazing marble staircase and a terrace on top with a great view. We all socialized on her terrace for a while and then went out to eat dinner where we met up with the people that were hosting us for the evening. Tomorrow we have another day full of surprises planned for us that we can’t wait to experience.

-Matthew T. Rader