Riding an Elephant!

We just got back from a ten day trip in Rajasthan. Rajasthan is one of the largest states in India, so we will have lots of things to share with everyone in the next few weeks! We went to the capital city of Rajasthan called, Jaipur. Jaipur is a very old city and has a big wall and many gates around the oldest part. Many of the buildings are painted pink there, so they call it the "Pink City" of India!

One of the favorite parts of our visit to Jaipur were all of the elephants. They are everywhere. You can see them here because people like to ride them and they are used by workers to carry things.We got to ride one into the giant Amber Fort. Even mom and dad got to go on top with us. This elephant was a girl and her name is Lakshmi. Evan and I got to pet Laskshmi's trunk. Her trunk was very warm and fuzzy! She is a very gentle elephant.

We even got to see an elephant carrying his own lunch! A big bunch of grass. This same elephant was very funny. We saw him pick up his driver's stick with his trunk. Then he handed it up to his driver! Elephants are very very smart animals.

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley flew all the way from Austin, Texas to stay with us for a few days! Our friend Mazzy sent him here. He had quite a trip - its a long way here from there! We let Stanley try on some traditional clothing so he would feel more comfortable. He's wearing a kurta pajama and a Rajasthani turban.

He got to ride on his first three-wheeler - an auto rickshaw. I think the drivers thought he was a little crazy. We gave Stanley a tour of our apartment and we got to play in our room for a little while. Then we took him around Noida to see the markets.

Stanley met the vegetable seller and the fruit seller. We also gave him a ride in a bicycle rickshaw. And finally - much to our surprise, some boys agreed to give Stanley a ride in their cart - pulled by a Water Buffalo! That's a really BIG animal.

Stanley's headed home today - back to Austin to share his experiences with Mazzy and Mrs Stanfield's kindergarten class at Robert E. Lee Elementary School! Thank you, Stanley. We had fun with you!

Happy Holi!

This year, March 11th was Holi Festival here in India. It is a holiday for celebrating the end of the Hindu year. Everyone gets ready to 'play" by buying different colors. Some colors are made of powder and others you mix with water. We mixed ours in the kitchen. Then everyone goes out side and gets very crazy. Powdered colors and water-colors are flying everywhere!I ran around with one of our neighbors. We got soaking wet with color! Evan guarded our balcony with his "pichkari." Thats a special water pump that shoots really far. The best thing about Holi is that your clothes can get completely soaked and stained - and no one gets in trouble! Pretty cool, huh?

Basketball

We started taking classes to learn how to play basketball here at ATS!Our coach is an Indian woman who lived in Australia for a long time. She is really good at basketball. She offers the classes to kids here on our Basketball court.

There are about 12 of us between 6-9 years old. We practice running up and down the court. We are learning how to shoot, pass and do lay-ups. And we are meeting new friends too! It's really a lot of fun.

Here is a little video of Audrey trying to make a shot!