Day 2: November 19

Like much of Dubai, the airport is modern, sleek and clean.  There are 3 terminals, with Terminal 3 being dedicated solely to Emirates.  Terminal 3 is the largest building in the world by floor space, covering 370 acres of space.

At left are my travel mates Robin and Sharon, just before entering to catch the flight to India.

Once arriving in India at 3 AM, we had an hour's drive to the orphanage, and upon arrival, were shown to our sleeping area.  My head hit the pillow after 5 AM, and we slept for a few hours before getting up to explore.  . 

Before visiting the kids in class, we got familiar with our surroundings, and tried to get organized.  At that point, the shower situation became apparent.  Talk about a wake up call... 1 bucket, 1 hose, and 1 cup.  (Stand in bucket, use hose, then cup to rinse.)  The excess water stayed on the floor, and when you are done, a squeegee (sp?) pushes the water to a small drain in the corner.  I thought this was unique to our primitive setup, but then saw the same facilities in other bathrooms, even at the airport.

The bed was, uh... elevated and rectangular. There's not much else to say about that.  Luckily, I had packed 2 wool blankets to donate to the children's home, so they were my sheet and blanket for the week.

Comfortable but moldy bed.  I slept well most nights, although there may have been some medication involved.

I'm signing off each post with a photo of one of the kids.  This is Anjulie, posing in the front yard of the church, where the men had been chopping wood.  She's looking quite serene here, usually she was outgoing and a little sassy. The kids would sometimes mug for the cameras, but most of the time they were calm and composed.  They seemed to be very respectful and sincere when being snapped.