Success!

Greetings from back home!  To say the trip was a success would be an understatement.  The students were amazing, the trip was awe inspiring and we all shared in changing each others lives for the better - for this I thank everyone!  I have posted pics on kodak gallery and will send them along to your e-mails shortly.  In the meantime - I hope the link below works.  We will hopefully be setting a time over the summer where we all reunite and share pics voer some pizza.
Thanks again,

http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=Share-_-Personal-_-Email-_-Sharee-_-Images

Update- wed. 6/15

Pressed for time but wanted to give an update since Agra.

-We arrived at a nice hotel in Jaipur after seeing the Taj and Fatehpur Sikri and visited the spectacular Amber Fort (arriving by elephant, which was a thrilling experience). We also got good shots of the Palace of Winds, Water Palace, and Red Palace of the Maharajah. Soon, we'll see spectacular saber-rattling on the Pakistan India border. More details soon!

-Alex Dudley

CRAZY INDIAN GIRL EATS MUFFIN IN ONE BITE!!!

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Tribal Posts

We have been going a hundred miles an hour, sleeping very little and loving every second of it!
Due to the crazy schedule, we will not be able to post as often as we had liked. However, as part of our daily tribal activities, each tribe has written their own post. So here is the latest from the kids point of view.
The Green Tribe
Greetings from cow land.
Day One - After 21 hours in transit, we arrived in Delhi. Nobody slept the first night, culture shock seemed to keep everyone awake.
Day Two - We had the the first morning in India to explore - so we walked to a 200 foot hindu monkey temple.  Our group won the first tribal prize with the purchase of a pink, glitter pyramid at a random temple.
in the afternoon we crowded onto an unbelievably crowded subway to take a tour of Old Delhi and took a Rickshaw ride to a mosque where we were surrounded by curious Indians wanting pictures. We felt like celebrities.
Day Three - We woke up at the crack of dawn (4:30) and hopped on a train to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.  Our hotel had a very refrshing swimming pool that we all enjoyed.  We went to Fort Agra which was mind blowing.  A fort of fairy tales with draw bridge, moats etc.  Luckily we had the afternoon to relax, go swimming, get massages and shop.
Day Four - Another early morning followed by a day packed with adventure. First we saw the absolutely breathe taking Taj Mahal.  Unreal!  We then hopped on a bus toward Jaipur.  On the way we stopped at Fatehpur Sikri Fort which was enormous and inexplicable.  We were happliy greeted by the air conditioning on the bus from the 110 degree temps. 5 hours later we finally reached Jaipur.  So here we are, a very nice new hotel and packed schedules.
"The finest ship to sail, the sea of life is friendship"


From The BLUE TRIBE:
The Taj Mahal is where we went today,
and we have to say it was more than ok.
It was big and white - like my dad,
I gotta say it was pretty rad.
From its intricate designs and its flawless decor,
Nowehre else in the world will you find anything more!
We woke up at 4:30 in the morning,
The Taj Mahal was anything but boring.
Some guy followed us around and took our pictures,
It was as awkward as a pre-teen mixer.
But before this we took a metro,
I gotta say it was pretty retro.
It was really pretty ghetto.
There is no way I would venture here in my stilleto.
When we were in Delhi we rode in a Rickshaw cart,
It was definitely a unique mart.
Where they sold everything from wheels, hinges, and jewlery.
Walking around here, there is no time for Tom Foolery.
Some advice for when you travel here,
Keep your family, friends - and money near!
"The thing I most long for, is to find the place where all the beauty comes from" - CS Lewis.
The Red Tribe
Rickshaw rides - spectacular being surrounded by so much.  The rides were gorgeous and exciting.  The ride was bumpy, smelly and thrilling.  Smells of sweat, manure and food.  Different foods, drinks, bunches of wires, dogs, clothing, jewlery and people.  The electrical wires were in bunches like spaghetti.  Seeing different people, all sorts of colors of clothing.  Bumpy rides while hitting pot holes.  People of all sizes and ages.  Seeing people opening shops, the noise of hoinking, people talking, the bikes moving, the smells of everything.  All the dogs, cows, donkeys and camels wlaking through the streets making a traffic jam.  The spices and grain shops.  Seeing all of the different fruits that were being sold.  Rickshaws carrying much more than they should.  This is all around speechless!
"I can't explain any of what I saw becuase it is beyond words" - Andrew P.

Their there!

As most of you probably know the Hamster tribe arrived safely this moring around 9 am. The weather report was HOT.
This morning their time they have eaten and are headed to the market. Ramsey reports everyone is good and ready to go.

A note from Dr. Conlan

To those tribe members attached to me, I send you greetings from Australia! To Sony, Hunter, Andrew and Alex - and to all your friends also coming, I wish you a comfortable and relaxing flight to India. I will be at the Indira Ghandi International Airport to meet you all on 9 June. Thereafter we take a journey to our hotel and then we enjoy a late night supper, which will be prepared for you. I'm sure you will be excited to arrive in a country so completely different from your own, but you will also be tired. So probably a good night's sleep is in order. That way you'll be ready for the next day's extraordinary sights, sounds, textures and smells of India's capital Delhi! Mr Brookhart has told me what a great group of special young people you are. I'm sure we are going to become wonderful friends. If there is anything you wish me to bring with me from Australia, please just let me (or Mr Brookhart) know! I can't bring Koalas or Kangaroos though! They're too big and eat too much! So for now Red Group (and all of your friends and teachers) may you have a wonderful trip across to India! See you in Delhi! Kind wishes, Dr Meath Conlan.
REGARDING the recent e-coli outbreak in Europe: I assure you that we shan't be eating any raw vegetables at all. Everything we eat will be cooked (probably vegetarian - is my serious recommendation).

Is everyone getting ready??

Mr. B has given me access to the blog so I wanted to make sure everyone has my number. Hunter will have a phone over there and if he calls or text I will post and let you know how things are going. Please feel free to call or text me anytime for info. if I have it I will pass it along. You can also reply to my post and that way we can all share the info we are getting.
See you at the airport Wednesday at 11am.
303-807-0644

Phone numbers for hotels and neck wallets.

Greetings,

Please find phone numbers for each SITA office and hotel below. IN an emergency SITA will be able to get a hold of us directly (ie. bus driver etc.) Also, we are making neck wallets for each student. The wallet will include the list of hotels and phone #'s, a copy of their visa and passport, an emergency card written in Hindi asking for assistance and order of operations to locate group, get help, etc. We will be handing out neck wallets (and our nice orange group shirts at the airport). We will also be collecting any meds you wish us to administer. We will be making final home calls next week to check in on each of you for last minute concerns and questions.

Sita Offices

HEAD OFFICE
SITA
Tower B, Delta Square
M.G.Road, Sector-25
Gurgaon – 122001
Haryana
Tele : +91-124-4563000
Fax : +91-124-4563100
Contact Persons:
Anupam Khare +91 9873467199
Vikram Trivedi: +91 9650400282
Ahzam Khan : +91 9810028158

AGRA
SITA
FF-15, TDI Mall, Taj Nagari, Phase 1
Fatehabad Road, Agra – 282 001
T: +91 562 402 3681
F: +91 562 402 3680
Contact Persons:
Jai Sehgal: +91 9837436612
Yogesh Sharma: +91 9897191370

JAIPUR
SITA
Tirthraj, Jacob Road, Civil lines,
Jaipur – 302006
T + 91 141 4112600
F + 91 141 4112604
Contact Persons:
Vinith Vijayan: +91 98290 99424

AMRITSAR
SITA
Hotel Ritz Plaza
45, The Mall, Amritsar - 143 001
T: +91 183 2562836, 2562839
F: +91 183 2226657
Contact Persons:
Prabal Bhullar: +91 9815384849

DHARAMSHALA
SITA
Opposite Nehru Park, The Mall
Manali, Distt. Kullu, (H.P. - 175131)
T: +91 1902 251848, 254458
Contact Persons:
Ritesh Sood: + 91 9418005235


Hotels

DELHI
Hotel Regent Continental
4/73, W.E.A., Krishna Market ,
Saraswati Marg, Karol Bagh
New Delhi - 110 001 India
Tele: - 91-11-45011111
Fax: - 91-11-25762067

AGRA
Hotel Amar,
Tourist Complex Area,
Fatehabad Road,
AGRA - 282 001.
Tele:, +91 - 562 - 2331884 to 89, 4008402 to 405
Fax,:, +91 - 562 - 2330299

JAIPUR
Hotel Park Inn
A-28/c/3, Sawai Jaisingh Hwy - Bani Park,
Rajasthan - Jaipur – India
Tele: +91-141- 4151000
Fax: +91-141-4151001

AMRITSAR
Hotel Grand Legacy
8, G.T. Road, Model Town,
Amritsar - 143001 (Punjab) INDIA
Tele: +91-183-5069991, 5069992, 5069993, 5069994
Fax: +91-183-5069995

DHARAMSHALA
Hotel Surya
H.H. Dalai Lama Temple Road McLeodganj,
Dharamshala – 176 219
Himachal Pradesh – INDIA
Tele: +91-1892-221418 , 221419 , 01892-221420
Fax : +91-1892-221868