Magnificent Brides

Were were honored to be invited to two Indian weddings this past week.  The experience was unforgettable.  To recap, briefly, the weddings were Muslim and the brides were arranged a few months ago.  The two brothers, Ather and Rahman, celebrated their marriages in style with beautiful brides, delicious food, a loud and enthusiastic band (drums) and dancing.  Tradition dictates that the men and women stay separate.  The brides' side of the event included sparkles and bangles beyond belief!  Beautiful sarees, gold, and all kinds of jewelry on the wrists, ankles, hair and neckline.

Truly dazzling.  

Enjoy the pictures below.  They only begin to capture the variety of color and infinite amount of sparkle experienced on these evenings.

Dressing up for the wedding was fun!  Looking forward to the next time.

We tried to fit in as much as possible with our attire.  Our attire was perfect but we still stood out as foreigners.  

Bride marrying Ather on Monday, 16th of January 2012

The bride was asked to come sit in front of the elders.  Here the sister in law and friends are fixing her veil.

This is Tuesday's bride marrying Rahman.

Both brides wore similar sarees to be sure that one was not "out-doing" the other.   

Hello to the 6th Grade in Winfield

Our first attempt at publishing video.  If this goes well, there will be more!  

Animals in Borneo!

We visited an orang utan reserve called the Sepilok Orang utan Reserve. This picture is a mama orang utan, with her baby, swinging to a mid-day meal.

During our six kilometer hike, we came across a green rainforest snake with a grey tail. We tried to make it go off somewhere else (so nobody else bothers it), and it used its great muscles to reach a high branch.

We noticed a lot of strange animals in Borneo, but nothing was as weird as this one. This is called a proboscis monkey. This is the only primate that has its nose sticking out from its head.

We usually think of crocodiles as green, brown, or grey. This crocodile, though, was tan with black spots. This was a great experience because this was a saltwater crocodile. The biggest kind of crocodile in the world.

This was yet another strange animal we saw on our trip. This is called the rhinoceros hornbill. We were lucky to see these because they are very rare.

Can you see it? This frog was almost impossible to find, but thanks to Garrett, we never would have left Borneo without a frog photo.

Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra , Merry Christmas from Malaysia!

We decided to make this Christmas a jammed-packed, adventure through the rainforest of Borneo.  Borneo is located off the south east tip of the Malaysian peninsula.  The island of Borneo is divided into two countries, both Malaysia and Indonesia.  We toured through Sarawak and Sabah on the Malaysia side of Borneo.  Our itinerary included caving, trekking, long boat sailing, canopy walks, mountain views, motor boat through mangrove landscapes, orang utans, lots of proboscis monkeys, crocodile and monitor lizard sightings.  We woke up early nearly every morning and took a flight to our next adventure.  We filled our time well and made sure to take it easy towards the end with time on the beach, floating on the water viewing the amazing underwater world while snorkeling.  Here is a brief summary.  Be sure to check back again as we add more!  

We walked along the tree top of the rainforest in Borneo.  This canopy walk was near the city of Kota Kinabalu where we also saw this...

The biggest flower in the world; the Rafflesia.  Very rare and exceptional.  

We were lucky to catch one in bloom!

We also saw carnivorous pitcher plants...

We trekked through Mulu National Rainforest to explore Deer, Lang, Wind and Clearwater caves.  We also witnessed the nightly bat exodus...

Trekking through the rainforest makes you smile and sweat.

Garrett found a little friend!

Nicknamed the Jellyfish, stalactite formation in Lang Cave.

Enormous cave opening of Deer Cave

Deer Cave.  Can you spot Abraham Lincoln?

Bat exodus.  Millions of bats leave the cave each night depending on the weather.
This was quite a sight!

Cave formations near the opening of Clearwater Cave.   Single leaf plant only found in Mulu.  

Clearwater Cave

Getting Ready for Christmas

It is difficult to get into the Christmas spirit here in India. 

 But Garrett is pulling us through and Santa is on his way!  

This Morning in India

Here are two quick snapshots on the way to school this morning.  I really must carry my camera at all times and try to give our driver a little notice in order to capture as many snapshots as possible.

I thought these were dead chickens on the way to market but I was wrong.
These are live chickens on the way to market.
Fresh!
They can only travel this way for about 30 minutes, I am told.

Whole new view of working mom.
It was hard to grab the photo but you can see her little one on her left hip.  

Teaching English

Grant and Garrett helped teach English to approximately 30 very eager Indian students at the Madhapur Rainbow School.  They reviewed a handful of letters in the alphabet and the sounds each letter makes, along with introducing the sounds C, K and R.  The children were thrilled to see American student teachers and this enthusiastic group made quite an impression on Grant and Garrett.