Arriving in Jaipur - Kelly

After long flights, layovers and communication challenges, I made it to the hotel in Jaipur. I received a pre-arranged ride to the hotel. We went through part of the city to get there. On the way passing office buildings, an ancient fort ruin, unfinished concrete structures and shanty homes in between it all. There was a mixture of people on the streets Sunday. My eyes went to those in the back ground sitting on the side of the roads, digging through trash and hiding in any shade available. At one point while at a stop light children came to the car window begging for food. They persisted to wrap on the window with their fists during the whole time we waited for the light to change. They had tattered clothes, dirty hair and hands, and seemed experienced in their begging. Today we went out with a driver to a store. Again at a stoplight a child came to the window. His eyes were just at the height to look into the car. It was hard for me not to look at him and each time he caught my eyes he motioned for food by touching his mouth. I could see the adults (women) he was with sitting on the median under a tree. They all looked disheveled.

Our work to this point has been searching for the appropriate initial contacts. We need to purchase a phone here to make local calls. I have begun to realize how large this project is and am now working to identify the most important milestones to meet. This two weeks is going to go quickly.