GREETINGS!!!!

Well hello friends and family!!!!
Its been a while since you've been fully updated!!!! Yesterday Chelsea and I roled into Jaisalmer in Rajhastan and after a few trains and a few rickshaw rides we arrived ready to brave the day! After finding a hostel (it had a pool!), we decided to go on a camel safari!!! We ended up going with a father and daughter duo from Switzerland, they were very friendly and had amazing English the daughter was only 11 which was very neat! We headed out and saw some beautiful Jain Temples before reaching the barren wasteland. When they say desert, they mean desert! It was absolutely incredable! We had amazing time with the camels, and got to run up huge sand dunes and enjoyed be the only living things for miles around! We ate around a little fire and then picked a dune to sleep on! The stars were absolutely incredable, I've never seen so many stars in my LIFE! But.... enough about the camels! Today we visited the Jaisalmer Fort which was fantastic!!! and tomorrow we are heading out at 5am to catch our first of 3 buses (a total of 12 hrs!!!) to Pushkar where we will see the sites!!! In the next week we hope to go on a tiger safari be in Jaipur for Holi (this crazy festival where they chuck paint at eachother) and see the Taj Mahal so we are crazy busy but crazy excited!!! Hope that gives you all bit of an update!!!

We again LOVE AND MISS YOU ALLL!!!!!
PS we are nearing day 50!!!! what in the world, my how the time flies!!!!

WE HAVE ENTERED PUNJAB!

Well, we have finally arrived in Punjab! After a lengthy 34 hour train ride which involved sharing a room with a drunk man and also having to share a foot and a half wide bed, we were very ready to get off of that train! When we got to the station, neetu and her mother and cousin were waiting for us, and took us to their LOVELY home. Punjab is mainly made up of farmland, and it is nice and chilly here! First time that we've been cold in the past 40days, so it was quite thrilling! Since arriving we have: flown a kite and cut other kids kites down (like in the kite runner), found marijuana growning everywhere, milke buffalo, seen many fruit trees (mango, guava, papaya...) eaten TONS of fresh farm food, and have had the pleasure of fresh from the buffalo yoghurt! every meal. every day. WOOT! In the next few days we will continue our travels in Punjab, and then will be heading off to Jaisalmer for a camel safari!!!!!!!!!!!! All for now :)
Love Simone and Chelsea

Last week at the orphanage!

So, here we are. Day 27. Crazy isn't it? We've spent the last month now at the orphanage, and it's been really awesome in the past week or so because it seems like we're no longer guests, but part of Ashalaya. The kids are finally completely comfortable with us, however sometimes too much :) but you know, we deal! This past week, we introduced the Macerena which proved to be quite the hit! De de ne na de ne na de ne na na........ we've heard it many times now! It first began with just the two of us, but the other night we were downstairs with all of the boys, and somehow within seconds everyone was doing it with us! it was fantastic, we were actually laughing so hard because it was so incredibly out of the blue! We also bought jenga, and my o my those kids can get quite competitive! They love it, even though it sometimes causes injury. But we all get through it :) We also got to take a trip up to what the call the "hill station," which is pretty much like a mountain range! It was beautiful, slightly less smoggy (Simone's lungs got a chance to finally breath), and we even got to feed monkeys!!!!!! For the most part, everything is quite the same as per usual, the heat, the smells, the food... HOWEVER... we're taking the kids to Essel World this Saturday!!!!! Very exciting - its supposedly like Indian version of Disneyland! So we're pretty pumped right now, and the kids are too because nobody has ever been, so I'm sure it'll be quite the adventure, otherwise known as gongshow! Then on Sunday we're seeing the elephant caves (which we dont really know what they are, but Im sure they're great), and on monday, we get to see Anthony Loenen!!! Pumped. Sadly though, we are at our last stretch, and on wednesday we'll be leaving up to the Punjab region to visit Neetu, a friend of ours :) Its going to be really hard to leave all the kids as it seems we've just got comfortable with them recently, but its also going to be sweet to be able to see another side of India. Thanks for keeping us in your prayers :)