We are Alive! ...meaning we finally have internet

So I apologize for any parents, relatives and close friends (or stalkers) of the team out there who have been checking the blog religiously, trying to make sure their son/daughter/friend/stalkie arrived in India safely, but we have been living in the Dark Ages for the last four days. We have had no Internet connection! It’s been rough, but luckily everyone survived. Apparently, it’s been a problem almost every year that we come because of the overlap of the dates of Hartford’s winter break and Pathway's winter break. When we got to Pathways, the two hard wire ports that they have for us were not working yet because school is not in session. So since classes started yesterday, our Internet is finally working. The other problem is that with all the work in the village (and a bit of sight-seeing) there has been absolutely no time to work on the blog. So, since I am sitting here quiet bleary-eyed—sleeping an average of four hours a night for the past four nights will catch up to even the most hardened college student—I am just posting this to let everyone know that we actually made it and that I am going to back track on the last four days for you tomorrow morning. All I can say for now is that India and Abheypur have been incredible so far and so different from everything I was expecting.

To leave you with a little tid-bit, since I know you are hankering, here is a video from the second day in the village (January 9th). It is of Sarah and Clay taking about what they and most of the rest of the team did that morning with the soak pit. (A soak pit is basically a deep hole in the ground at a low point or a point where a lot of water collects so that greywater can collect there and have a chance to seep back into the ground, rather than puddle up in the streets, thereby raising the water table)