Providence Rotary - International Service

After a sad goodbye to our friends from two Palampur clubs, we headed off to Pathankot, leaving the state of Himachal and entering the state of Punjab once again. Rotarian hosts from multiple Pathankot ("Pa-TAN-coat") clubs took us out for a fascinating VIP tour and lunch at Ravi Sadan Dam and Shahpur Kandi Fort. "Punjab" means "five rivers," and the Ravi River is one of the five. P.J. and Joy are pictured left above, where three states are visible (Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and "J&K"--Jammu & Kashmir).

We were so fortunate to be among the few who are able to see how the dam works. It was finished in 2001 and is one of the largest (if not actually the largest) dam built to generate hydro-electric power in all of Asia. It took 15 years and 15,000 laborers to build it, partially because of an 1988 accident caused by the worst flooding in centuries. A beautiful memorial commemorates the 126 workers who lost their lives during that tragic accident.

Right, after settling in with our host families, we enjoyed our Rotary meeting with the Pathankot Midtown club. At the podium is Rtn. Anil Vasudeva, who led a Group Study Exchange team to Brazil and spoke that night about the history and importance of the GSE program. Seated, from left to right, are Asst. Gov. Rtn. Raman Metha, Rtn. Wendy Marcus, Pres. Rtn. Rajesh Joshi and Sec. Rtn. Sandeep Verma.

For Anna, the day began by visiting with the Handa family she stayed with for two lovely days. Their multi-apartment household is made up of a grandmother and three of her adult sons, their wives, and the two children each couple has--from a fifth-grader down to a twenty-two-day-old baby. All are now Anna's friends for life! Pictured left above are Kiatty and Kavita giving Anna a parantha lesson.

Before meeting up with the others, Anna continued her own morning with hosts from the Pathankot Greater Club. In the right photo, she visited a school they have adopted and gave pencils to each of the children.

Poor P.J. is not in this photo with the others because he had a fall that morning and now has a hairline fracture in upper, outer arm. Thanks to the wonderful care of the Rotarian hosts, though, he is doing well and made it through his examination and x-rays in half the time it would have taken in the U.S. After finishing at the hospital, he headed home to rest while the others had a very nice afternoon courtesy of the Pathankot Greater club and the administration, staff, and students at Kshatriya College of Education, seen above.

Before heading back into Pathankot from the college, we visited a temple dedicated to Shiva and Parvati, left photo. As our hosts explained, the two stones seen here merge together every February 20th, the holiday of Shivrati. There were lots of people visiting the temple because of the upcoming holiday.

And here, right, are Wendy and Joy with Asst. Gov. Rtn. Metha, Sec. Rtn. Bobby Handa, and Rtn. Sanjeev Kataria.

And, left above, a photo of Anna outside the temple with Pres. Rtn. Sukhdeep Singh Ahuja.

We finished our evening with a very enjoyable dinner meeting of Rotary Club Pathankot, right above. It was fun to see all of the members who had celebrated recent anniversaries being recognized with their wives. We were the ones chosen to formally give them their gifts from the club! When asked if we would share a song, Wendy and Anna did an impromptu performance of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and received laughter and applause. The three members seated here are Sec. Rtn. Ashneel Makkar, Pres. Rtn. Rakesh Khosla, and Rtn. Wendy Marcus.

Left, after another delicious breakfast hosted by President Jain, we set out on the road and enjoyed beautiful views of the Beas River and the Himalayas all the way.

Right, we stopped for a noontime tea at the Tata Motors dealership of Assistant Governor Rtn. Suresh Behal. He's the one on the left in this photo, taken while P.J. considered buying a Tata truck to take home with him. (Editor's Note: Did he have a plan for moving the steering wheel to the other side?)

We stopped in the town of Bir, near Palampur, for a wonderful lunch break hosted by Arvind Sharma, who will be coming to District 7950 in March and April on the exchange. Bir, where Arvind's veterinary clinic is located, is well-known for paragliding. We passed a few lovely hours at the Colonel's Retreat and Resort, where many people coming to Bir stay. We also met Rtn. Y.S. Bakshi. Left photo above has Joy and Mrs. Grewal next to a tea garden where we saw our first mongooses (mongeese?!?)

Right photo contains one of Anna's favorite things to check out while on the road: the highly decorated backs of trucks. As we've discovered, they really do want the cars and trucks behind them to blow their horns since rearview mirrors aren't always handy. A long or multi-beep horn can mean, "Caution, I'm passing you on the right!," while a single-beep or repeated horn means, "I'm coming along--watch out for me and move aside, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists." Horns (and using your dipper at night--a.k.a., dimming your brights) are especially important when coming around a curve in the mountains. And, needless to say, we've largely avoided the game of Frogger that crossing the street on foot would be. All joking aside, we've gotten used to having traffic on the opposite side of the road; to sharing a lane with cows, monkeys, and donkeys at times; and we're in the hands of very safe and good drivers!

By the way, Wendy says she'll keep you all posted when she finds the fifteen thumbs-out hitchhiking monkeys she's strategizing to bring home. She sends a shout-out to President Barry Fain and Membership Chairperson Pat Germani... and wonders what they'll think when she arrives back in Providence with a band of Rotary-pin-sporting monkeys ready to submit their applications! (Not to worry, they'll have their bios ready for the newsletter.)

Having arrived to a very nice dinner with Rotarians in Palampur the previous night, we awakened to one of the most beautiful views yet--all from where we were staying on Punjab Agricultural University's local campus. Not a bad place to study!

Then we set out with Pres. Rtn. Bipan Awasthi and Sec. Rtn. Jitandra Pal to see a number of very impressive projects. The first stop was at the famous Mela Mal Sood Rotary Eye Hospital, where patients are all seen just by paying what they can afford. Only five doctors are there now, and they work incredibly hard to see up to 400 patients a day. We received an excellent tour by Rtn. V.K. Sud, the secretary general of the hospital for the last 15 years. Left photo, Yulia is pictured in front of the hospital.

Our next stop was at a set of Palampur Rotary projects located on the same plot of land. First, we visited with Ms. Damini Mishra, pictured above right with Joy, who has run a school and home for 38 children with mental challenges since 2003.

Next, we visited a Palampur Rotary Foundation orphanage. Each child is supported for a year by a sponsor who pays 6,000 rupees ($120), with a total per-child cost of 10,000 rupees a year ($200). Left photo shows Pres. Rtn. Bipan Awasthi with Wendy and a few of the older children.

Our next visit to a Palampur project was the Rotary Industrial Training Institute, which runs one-year courses for 18-to-40-year-olds in computers, embroidery, and clothes-making in order to help them find employment. The school's staff is highly trained, and this photograph, left, shows one of the instructors with a traditional tablecloth her class made. A cloth like this would be used at a wedding.

Right, our next-to-last Palampur Rotary-supported project for the day was the Sambhaavnaa Institute. This new organization is similar to the Aspen Institute in that it brings together thinkers and doers from across India for workshops and issue-study. The husband and wife team who are managing the Institute were Indian electrical engineers living in Minnesota before they returned to India with their daughter. They are also working daily with local children in the schools and building a youth activity center. We found it interesting that the architect in charge of the Institute's building projects uses traditional, sustainable methods, including timing the construction of each building's foundation prior to the first rainy season so that the mud and rains fill in any gaps and harden during the dry season to make the structure stronger. Wendy compares some of the structures to those in Santa Fe. We passed a wonderful afternoon and lunch with them in their garden, and they are definitely among the many wonderful people we plan on keeping in touch with.

Our meeting with the Palampur Rotary Club in the evening represented the final project we saw that day. It was held in the "Rotary Bhawan," a community center that the club built for public use as well as their meetings. In this photograph, we are singing the U.S. national anthem, which we do at each club meeting after the national anthem of India (in ancient Sanskrit). From left to right are Sec. Rtn. Jitandra Pal, Rtn. I.S. Grewal, Wendy, Pres. Rtn. Awasthi, then Joy, Anna, Yulia, and P.J.

One last note about that night's meeting: we especially enjoyed a performance by Isha, the 13-year-old daughter of Rtn. Sunil Nagpal (hero of this blog because of he stepped in with much-needed I.T., wifi, and photography help). Isha has taught herself to play the guitar and sing accent-less American pop songs by using YouTube. She was great!

From Mandi, we traveled along the Beas river, crossing from the Dhauladhar range of the Himalayas into the Shivalik range. We arrived in Kullu at night and were greeted by a group of four Rotarians, including President Jain and Secretary Mehta from the Kullu club that was hosting us for the next day and a half. PJ and Secretary Mehta declared each other brothers with an impromptu hat-exchange ceremony, pictured above left.

Above right, we greeted a beautiful morning with a big, delicious breakfast at President Rtn. Pardeep Jain's house and then proceeded up to his rooftop terrace overlooking Kullu and the Beas River. From there, we hopped on the bus with our three Rotarian guides for the day and proceeded to Manali, a ski and winter-sports town.

Left photo, our first stop in Manali was at a temple dedicated to Hadimba, Pim's beloved in the Mahabarata. This beautiful temple, with Joy and PJ pictured in front, was built in 1553 A.D.

We took a brief break from traditional Indian food to have delicious wild trout and the pizza we had been craving. We all highly recommend "Johnson's" (Mr. Johnson married an Indian woman) for anyone visiting Manali. Then, we hopped back on the bus to see the beautiful Nagar castle on our way back to Kullu. Yulia is pictured, left above, in front of one of its historic walls.

We were in such good hands that day with Pratibha and her husband Rtn. Prem Kumar (both of whom had studied tourism in college), as well as our good buddy Gagan. We think they should run tours to Rhode Island from India, in fact, and they now have the perfect connections!

We enjoyed a lovely tea (complete with french fries and Indian pakoras) for the Rotarian Club of Kullu's meeting. Pictured left above is our team leader, Rtn. Wendy Marcus, in a traditional Himachal hat, exchanging club flags with President Jain.

Believe it or not, our lovely day in Kullu and Manali was still far from over. Before dinner (our fourth meal of the day), we went to see the beautiful Kullu shawls produced locally. Above right is Rtn. Anil Goel, who owns the shop that sells these beautiful shawls.

We were sad to leave MacLeod Gangh, Dharamshala, and all of our new friends behind, yet we were also excited to see all that still lay ahead. After driving for a few hours through the hills, we passed under 19th century arches and across the suspension bridge in Mandi that is named after Queen Victoria, then joined the Rotary Club of Mandi for a sunny lunch in the garden of the "Raj Mahal" hotel.

Left, after lunch, President Rtn. Nalin Kapoor and a number of the club's members gave us a walking tour of their beautiful town, one of the largest we had visited since leaving Ludhiana the week before. It was our first trip to an outdoor market, and we were all wide-eyed. The sights that we found so colorful and marvelous must seem quite ordinary to those who shop there every day ... a man dyeing fabrics in a boiling pot out in the open, for instance, or street vendors using wok-like pots to deep-fry a local delicacy--puffed bread filled with lentils. As seen in this photo, Anna also found a school uniform blazer just like her own Rotary version.

Right, while on the way upstairs to see a town-square view from the law office of one of our new Rotarian friends, we discovered a new treat: jalebi. (Note for our Providence friends: P.J. has had these at Not Just Snacks on Hope Street!). Batter is squeezed into boiling ghee in beautiful designs, then soaked in sugar water after cooking. Sugar-highs all around!

Left, on a rooftop terrace above the town square are President Rtn. Kapoor with his new Boston Red Sox cap, our GSE coordinator in India (and friend for life!) Rtn. I.S. Grewal, and our team leader Rtn. Wendy Marcus.

Right, we are traveling during election season, which has been so interesting to observe. Our first day in Punjab had been election day, so our Ludhiana hosts all had a dark dye on their left index finger to indicate they had voted. It clearly works well because two weeks later, we are still seeing a small mark left on some Punjabi friends' hands. Each state holds its election day on a different date to help with voting administration. No state's results will be announced until the beginning of March, once all voting is complete. This ensures that no state's results will influence another's. While in Mandi, we witnessed a garland-filled welcome for the Himachal Parliament's leader from the current opposition party, the Congress Party. In this photo, he is the one covered with garlands, of course.

As you can see, we are having the time of our lives. More coming soon, too. We'd like to send a special thanks to both District Governors--Gov. Bill Vangel and Gov. Sanjiv Sethi--for making this amazing exchange possible. We can't wait to welcome the team from District 3070 to our district as well!

NOTE: Some newly posted photos appear below the next image -- they arrived out of sequence due to communication difficulties.

Our day ended with good food and laughter. First, we enjoyed a lovely tea hosted by Parvinder Singh, his wonderful wife Jaspreet, and their family, including amazing sugar-butter-flour treats called "pinni." Then, after some rest, we ended our day with stories, laughter, and a fresh-caught snow-water fish, pictured here, as well as the rich and delicious lentils in dal makhani. What a perfect send-off from Dharamshala and MacLeodGangh... particularly once we started sharing some of our favorite songs and a bit of dancing, too!

Left, a view from Kangra Fort. Right, one of the walls within the inner part of the Kangra fort. This is very near the oldest known temple to Ambika, a temple one visits to gain additional energy.

Left, from Kangra, we headed further uphill to Dharamshala and were greeted with flowers and kind words by Rotarians from the Dharamshala Central club. They began our visit to Dharamshala at a very moving war memorial. We observed many different types of monuments dedicated to those from Himachal Pradesh--and from all three branches of service--who lost their lives in conflicts beginning with Indian independence. Pictured here is Joy with President Rtn. Ajay Sharotri.

Right, after a delicious lunch overlooking the valley, our hosts introduced us to the Norbulingka monastery and its community, all dedicated to preserving Tibetan culture. It was our first of many experiences learning about the Tibetans who live in Dharamshala and the hills above it.

Left, we enjoyed our evening with the Dharamshala club, and proudly wore our traditional Himachal hats for the entire night. It was fun to taste the Tibetan influence on some of the appetizers before dinner, and we enjoyed our first "momos"--Tibetan dumplings. Pictured here, from left to right, are President Rtn. Ajay Sharotri, P.J., Secretary Rtn. Kushal Katoch (a poet and singer who regaled the group with a beautiful Hindi love song and a fun, fast-paced Punjabi song as well), and Rtn. V.S. Parmar, a district secretary who was kind enough to join us for two evenings in a row.

Right, If anything could district the fans among us from the news of the Patriots' loss, it was the clear morning we awakened to in the Himalayas (actually pronounced "HimAHleeyas!"). We had a lovely breakfast in bright sunshine on the terrace, accompanied by President Sharotri's lovely wife Ritu, as well as the Dharamshala Central Rotarians who would be our tour guides for the day. And then, off we went!

Left, in a day filled with a perfect variety of activities, we began with a tour of the Himachal Parliament buildings. The photo was taken just outside and is similar to the photo that made p. 4 of the next day's local newspaper! Once we entered the building, we were able to visit the actual legislative chambers where the members of the state's parliament debate and vote during a 10-day winter session each year. It was a special treat for Joy, of course, to see a corollary to the Rhode Island State House.

Right, after visiting a Hindu temple; hearing stories of Hanuman, Ram, and Sita; and looking at various devotional texts; we headed off to Himachal's well-known international cricket stadium. Lunch in their beautiful restaurant was delicious, and we shared sports stories as we drank fresh sweet lime soda. It's hard to believe that various types of cricket matches vary so much in length--from 5 whole days (!) to one whole day to the now-common 3.5 hours or so. We laughed as we compared this to baseball games going into endless extra innings. Then, we were off for tea at President and Mrs. Sharotri's beautiful home. Finally, we loaded into a few cars and went up the hill, laughing around the hairpin turns, to our next Rotary club in MacLeod Gangh, the home of the Dalai Lama in exile.

Left, one of our first stops in MacLeod Gangh was the crystal store of our new Rotarian friend Jakub, Joy and PJ's long-lost brother, whose full name translates to Jacob Fox. We just happened to be there during the once-a-month candlelight chant and march in which the Tibetan community calls for a free Tibet once again.

Right, after a nice rest, we joined the Dharamshala club for their evening meeting in McLeod Gangh and enjoyed meeting some of their family members as well. Among many treats from that night were our pre-dinner snacks with a beautiful bonfire and a clear night of stars. We were also delighted to hear of the great number and variety of projects this club undertakes. Pictured here are Wendy and President Rtn. P.C. Bhaghat exchanging flags, with Secretary Rtn. R.K. Aggarwal at right.

Left, we awakened to sunshine that was quickly overtaken by Himalayan fog wrapping around MacLeod Gangh. Our first visit was to the Dalai Lama's home community and temple while in exile. We were careful always to walk in a clockwise direction, as is the usual practice in Tibetan Buddhist devotional areas. A special treat was that we were joined for the day by our new friend Arvind Sharma, who will be coming to our district in March as part of the GSE exchange. He is pictured here at the Dalai Lama's temple. The cabinets at top right are filled with the sacred texts.

Right, we observed so many interesting aspects of the Tibetan culture in the area surrounding the Dalai Lama's residence. For instance, we passed around the entire outside of the temple while turning large cylindrical prayer wheels. By doing so, we were repeating thousands more mantras for peace than we could have said just on our own. There was a small building outside the temple filled with hundreds of lit candles and a few people continually lighting them. And within the devotional area in this photo, there is a preserved skull transported from Tibet (look below the kettle, wrapped in yellow).

We headed down the hill and out of McLeod Gangh's fog to another delicious lunch in Dharamshala. And then, accompanied by President Bhagat's wife Uma, we proceeded on to an impressive project supported by the Dharamshala Rotary club, as well as other benefactors from throughout the world. We received an especially warm welcome from a few very friendly dogs and then met the founder of a school and home for Tibetan children and younger adults with mental or physical difficulties. (She is at right in the photo, with Joy, Rtn. Parvinder Singh, President Bhagat, and GSE team member Arvind Sharma, from left to right.) The name of the school translates to "Ocean of Courage," and their students have won multiple awards for the paintings that many of them do as part of their program.

After a wonderful evening with the Kangra Rotarians, led by President Rtn. Dr. Pahwa and Secretary Prashant Bhasin, we began our day with a perfect Sunday-morning breakfast. We visited the home of Rtn. Yogesh Gupta for the meal and enjoyed speaking again with the club's officers. Though everything was delicious, it was especially fun to have porridge made of grains from the family's flour mill. (Note to Anna's mom--just like Wheatena!!!)

Following that, we visited the Kangra fort (pictured above), built by the 200th king of the Mughal dynasty. The fort is so historic that its first capture occurred in 1009 A.D. We learned to pass through the gate feet first--never the head--to avoid decapitation from a potential enemy inside. Such a lovely time, and many thanks to our hosts in Kangra!

I would like to begin my first post from India with many thanks to our kind, kind hosts in Ludhiana and especially to the honorable District Governor Sanjiv Sethi. Our visit to District 3070 has been already been the experience of a lifetime, and we are very grateful for Gov. Sethi's leadership in the GSE exchange and for the kindness of his lovely wife . I also thank the presidents of all of the Ludhiana clubs for their hospitality in making so many arrangements for our enjoyment and our learning. We have been so pleased with your warm welcome and the many wonderful activities. What an amazing week! I would finally like to thank Rtn. I.S. Grewal and Mrs. Grewal for being the best, most gracious host family I could ask for, and for accompanying us on our journey going forward.

In the week our team has been in India, we've experienced a number of life cycle events. Within the first two days, we witnessed joyful weddings. We were saddened to hear of the death of a Rotarian's family member and our hearts reached out to all in mourning. At a visit to the countryside, our hosts had just learned of a new baby nephew born in Canada. The event was noted by a beautiful set of herb bouquets hung over the door.

We look forward to traveling to Himachal, although we are certainly sad to leave our friends in Ludhiana behind. We will happily see them again at the district conference and upon our return to Ludhiana!

The Kangra Club meeting was the the first time we gave our full, longer presentation about ourselves and District 7950. We showed the video about America's Cup,that Rhode Island Economic Development Council head, Keith Stokes, had shown to the Providence Club in mid-January. We exchanged flags, photos, and other gifts. And we enjoyed acting as a panel to answer some tough but interesting questions about history, geopolitical opinions, and gender roles. With that as a starter, our conversations continued until 11:30 pm!

Left, Today was our first travel day within India. We were sad to leave our friends in Ludhiana (in the state of Punjab) until the end of the month, but also excited to explore a new area, Himachal Pradesh (Pradesh means "state" and, as we quickly learned, Himachal is said as "Him-AH-chul"). And, thus, our 6-hour ride in a chartered small bus took us to the city of Kangra.

Right, On the way between Ludhiana and Kangra, Rotarian I.S. Grewal and his wife (both traveling with us until mid-month) pointed out people selling bread by the side of the road. They do so because people like to feed the local monkeys, who now congregate by the side of the road to wait. We didn't feed them, of course, but they had high hopes when we pulled over to take a picture.

We began seeing rain and the hills around the same time. However, by the end of the drive, we had seen multiple rainbows... and the hills were beginning to turn into our first snow-capped mountains.

Joy Fox reports: Since our day out in the village we have been touring more around Ludhianna with our wonderful Rotary guides. On Thursday, we visited the world's largest bicycle factory(Hero), which produces 19,000 bikes per day, and a textile factory (Vardham) where we saw bales of cotton turned into fine sewing thread.

And today, we visited a Rotary project and Punjab Agricultural University. The Rotary project was to donate two computers to a primary school in an underserved area. When they called the school to arrange the computer delivery, the staff was gracious, but said they had no tables for them. So, the Rotarians bought tables too.

Like everywhere we go, we are welcomed with open arms and warm smiles. Tomorrow we are off to explore several villages in the Himalayas. As our travels continue, please know how thankful we are to all of you for supporting our adventure!

Left photo:Learning to make breakfast at home before Thursday's "programme" began: parantha with shredded radish and green chilis (lal mirchi). A second batch had cauliflower.

Right photo: Our visit to the Hero bicycle factory--Joy learning how the bike wheel rims are made.

Left photo: Our visit to the Vardham textile factory in Ludhiana began with an explanation of how the water is cleaned after the dyeing process.

Right photo:Also at the Vardham textile factory, we saw cotton being processed from the beginning all the way through ginning, spinning, spooling, and packaging. Ludhiana is compared to Manchester, England because of its strong industries.

Left photo:Anna with teachers from the National Child Labour Project school -- the teachers on either end teach 4th and 5th grades.

Right photo: Wendy and Joy present dictionaries from the Rotary Club of Providence to the National Child Labor Project school.

Wendy discusses interior design with the dean of the College of Human Sciences and the department chair for Interior Design.

At the Punjab Agricultural University, Yulia and Anna (pictured here) made beetroot puri
(puffed fried bread) with home sciences students. We then ate them for lunch!

Thank you District Governor Sethi and the Rotary Clubs of Ludhiana for hosting
a wonderful reception for us last night. There was tons of food, good conversation and dancing.
We are heading off to our next town with smiles on our faces!

DG Bill Vangel received this newspaper clipping from DG Sanjiv Sethi of District 3070 in northern India, who hosted the team and their local host families for dinner at his home shortly after their arrival.

Left photo, After visiting the Mudki Memorial (not pictured), which commemorated the valor of both the Sikh army and the opposing British army in an 1845 battle, we visited the school in the small town of Mudki, with children from nursery school through high school. We visited a classroom which sported a Smart Board, and Anna answered a student's question about the differences between our schools and theirs... including that Anna always wished for a Smart Board and projector in her own American classroom!

Right photo, visiting a dairy farm, we were shown the latest equipment, watched a cow being milked... and Anna and Yulia (pictured here with the young man who hooked the milking machine up to the cow) even tried the fresh milk, which was delicious.

Left photo, Even with so many other lovely things, one of the highlights was spending the whole day with two potential GSE team members who may be traveling back to MA and RI in the exchange (left to right: Anna, Muskaan, Yulia, Amit, Joy).

Right photo,our fourth stop for the day was to the gurdwara--a Sikh temple--in Mudki. We covered our heads (PJ even wore a handkerchief), removed our shoes, washed our feet and hands, and made an offering at the shrine. We were honored as VIPs by receiving saffron robes in a ceremony. Then, upon leaving, we each received a blessed piece of sugar similar to halvah from two men who volunteer their time to distribute it to visitors.

Left photo, While Yulia's day began earliest two days in a row, with extra outings arranged for her, Anna and Joy's may have ended the latest. They attended a second dinner in the same restaurant as the first--this one with a group including one of their "Indian sisters," Sonia (at top with Joy then Anna), as well as (from left to right) a cardiologist, Rotarian Kelley, and one of two Australian medical students also visiting Ludihana. At dinner until 11:30 pm, then singing to Punjabi music in the car ride home!

Right photo,Three of the families of Phiddey prepared their homes to show us how they cook outside, what their homes and lives are like. We were followed through the streets from house to house by (literally) more than a hundred people. Smiling, waving, saying hello, or clasping hands in a prayer pose while saying "Sat siri akal" (to Sikhs) or "Namaste" (to Hindus)--all get a huge response... as does sharing with people the photos we've just taken as they pose, as PJ is doing with his digital camera.

Though I have traveled a lot and experienced the kindness of many cultures and many friends, I must say that I have never experienced such hospitality, welcoming spirit, and generosity as I have so far in Punjab.

Our host family has been incredible, and we truly have been welcomed both as special guests but also as members of the family. District Governor Sanjiv Sethi and his family, the Rotarians who have accompanied us on outings, their wives and families and friends, and all of the people at the institutions and organizations we have seen... all have made us feel so special and have been so kind in answering our questions. They have proudly shared their world and their lives with us. I can only hope we can be as helpful in welcoming their team when they visit Providence this spring. We keep feeling like we need to pinch ourselves for having such an amazing opportunity, with many thanks as well to the Rotary Clubs of District 7950.

And a last, overdue shout-out to Mrs. Kelley, our first host mother here in Ludihana, who makes the best food I think I have ever had (sorry, Mom). We've had saag (spinach), dhal (lentils), aloo (potatoes), parantha (stuffed flat bread with ginger and zucchini this morning for breakfast), puri (puffed bread), roti (flat bread), and so much else. As an extra food note, a treat at tonight's restaurant was brown sugar mixed with melted ghee (clarified butter). One just eats it with a spoon or spreads it on roti.

Today's visit to the rural area outside Ludhiana began with a visit to the Shahid Ganj School for girls. After Wendy's introduction of the team,
PJ made all the girls laugh by asking them to give a "thumbs up!"

Left photo, Joy and Anna, dressed by their new Indian sister, Ekjot, before a lovely reception hosted by District Governor Sethi. Right photo shows Yulia, left, and Wendy, right, Rotarian Kelly at reception hosted by District Governor Sethi. (We had just shared a delicious birthday cake for Wendy!)

Team GSE Little Rhody is heading out to a reception tonight. We had a great first night with our host families. Some of us ate authentic Indian, others Pizza Hut. Today, we saw two hospitals and a school for children with disabilites. The weather has been sunny and spring-like. Everyone is so welcoming

PJ Fox with items made by children in vocational program at Nirdosh School for Mentally Challenged Children in the city of Ludhiana, state of Punjab. The program is supported by a Rotary Club.

Team leader Wendy Marcus visits the Dayanand Medical Hospital and College clinical laboratory -- on her birthday!.

We're here. Delhi being "here," that is. We arrived at our beautiful hotel somewhere in Delhi last night and are doing our best to beat jet lag. At 4 this afternoon, we'll fly from Delhi to Chandigarh, then off to Ludhiana, where our District 3070 tour actually will begin. We'll be with our hosts by tonight, early evening. Even without having met them, we've been so well taken care of already, from our ride having worked out perfectly to a welcome call with our contact here having been arranged for the moment we walked up to the check-in desk.

It's fun to choose chickpea curry with delicious ginger shreds for breakfast. It's fun to share fried bread with honey around thr table with our team members. Fun to laugh as PJ declared the "milkshake" at breakfast the best thing he's tasted. Adventures in food to ensue!

Hello to the students/advisors at The Met School for whom Wendy and I promised to keep our eyes and ears open! We'll look for potential service projects, collect travel tips for Tisha, a high school senior in Kaitlyn's advisory, traveling to Jaipur for her project in April.

Just a quick note to say we arrived in Delhi safe and sound last night. The driver and hotel chosen by our rotary friends worked out great. We are heading back to the airport in a couple hours to fly north. Looking at the newspaper today, it is apparently Martyrdom Day. There are many ads with ghandi photos and messages such as "my life is my message" and "the industry should regard themselves as trustees and servants of the poor".

At Newark Airport Saturday evening, Jan 28, ready to board flight to India. Left to right, Yulia Yelle, Anna Haas, Wendy Marcus, PJ Fox, Joy Fox