Shanti Bhavan

So...I realized that my last post contained so little actual information that it probably left most of you without much sense of where we were and what we were doing. Well, fear not. This post aims to remedy that.

For the first several weeks of our time in India, we had the privilege of staying and working at Shanti Bhavan Children's Project, a rural boarding school located about 2 hours outside of Bangalore, in the South-Eastern state of Tamil Nadu. Shanti Bhavan, affectionately known on campus as SB, opened in August 1997 as a project of The George Foundation, a non-profit based in Bangalore. 

But before you can understand how special Shanti Bhavan is, you must first understand the prevalence of the caste system in India. It is hard to believe that such a hierarchy of inequality still exists today. The Indian Constitution of 1949 banned the caste system, but because it had been enforced as law up until that point, castes remain an ingrained social structure and a source of intense discrimination. The lowest or "Untouchable" caste faces severe restrictions such as menial jobs, social segregation, and extreme poverty. 

The children of Shanti Bhavan come from families of this "Untouchable" caste. They are the first in many generations of their caste to receive an education. Students are accepted at age 4, attend SB through their high school graduation, and are then supported through their college years. The school is built on the foundation that every child, regardless of the social status they are born into, deserves a quality education. The students at SB are definitely given that. In addition, they are taught important values and shaped into well-rounded individuals, primed to reach their full potential and break the cycle of poverty. 

"Shanti Bhavan" translates from Hindi to "Haven of Peace", and it is just that. Compared to the rest of India - the pollution, the noise, the chaos - SB feels a million miles away. It is truly beyond description. And the students!!!! They are absolutely amazing - funny, smart, talented, lovable, not to mention humble, generous, and totally ready to change the world.

So, what was our part in all this? I'm so glad you asked. :) The first part of our time at SB was spent running an intensive Arts Camp with a team of 8 other ASTEP (Artists Striving To End Poverty) volunteers.

Each day we taught one 90 minute "Concentration Class" for students who expressed specific interest in Musical Theatre and two 60 minute classes for students from other concentrations (Music, Theatre, or Visual Arts). We also taught a 90 minute "Collaboration Class" in different volunteer pairings - I taught a Partnering Dance class with one of the Visual Arts teachers, (who also happened to be one of my Very best friends from college), and Harrison co-taught a Comic-Book creation class. 

In addition to classes, we led tons of games and daily "fun activities" which included scavenger hunts, tye-dye-ing, water balloon fights, and even s'mores - a special treat as we had to bring the marshmallows all the way from the U.S.!! We also had a group of students assigned to us as "Journal Buddies". We would get to spend 30 minutes each evening with our buddies, after which they would journal, and we would read and respond to their journal entries each night. This was one of my favorite ways we got to bond with the students. 

Overall, we worked with about 120 students, grades 6-12. Some of the graduates of SB come back from college or even take time off from their jobs to participate in camp. I think that says something about how much they love and appreciate their arts education. 

Why the arts though? Again, I am SO glad you asked. ASTEP's role at Shanti Bhavan is pivotal. First of all, art, music, and dance is an important part of Indian culture. Exposure to training in these areas from people of different cultures broadens their worldview while simultaneously helping them understand their own cultural identity. But young people gain so much more than arts training from arts education. Obviously, we have had a long-standing belief in the power of the arts, and it was no different at SB. We were able to witness first-hand our students exploring important values like courage, wisdom, and belief, and gaining life skills such as leadership, self-confidence, and creative problem-solving. We watched them develop a skill set which will serve them on and off the stage for the rest of their lives. And last, but certainly not least, it is FUN!! These students are under immense pressure and carry a heavy academic load throughout the year. ASTEP camp is a time for them to let go of that and be silly and spontaneous. The growth that comes out of this is extremely valuable. 

Obviously, I could advocate for arts education forever. I hope if you're reading this though, I don't have to work too hard to convince you. :)

Of course, I'm already behind on this blog, but I promise I will keep it coming.

Sending so much LOVE to all!

xoxo,

C&H🍟

Ps. My apologies for my picture-free posts. We don't have a laptop with us and uploading any photos to the blog via iPad has proven difficult. I will keep trying, but no promises!! 

Random Fun Fact: the SB students decided that I look like Carol Burnett because of my "HILARIOUS" faces. Haha. Well...technically they said Miss Hannigan, but I will still take it over Kung Fu panda. 🐼

Greeting to our faithful friends and followers,

2 weeks? Has it really been 2 weeks since we left Washington? How can this be?

We so appreciate your patience in waiting for this post. The reasons for my delay in writing were many:

-Spotty Internet - The school has Internet, but only in a few locations within the school building. It is hilariously slow because of so many users and the server is often down. I have barely even talked to my mom and if you know our usual habits, you know this is significant. 

-Lack of time - We have just completed a week of intensive camp in which we were planning and leading high-energy classes, games, and activities for over 100 students from early in the morning until late at night. 

-Mental and physical exhaustion - Add in extreme heat and refer back to the "Lack of time" section.

But, more than anything, my delay came from not knowing quite where to begin. There are so many things I wish I could share with you, but I know my words will not be enough. 

I wish you could feel the humidity, how everything is juuuust a bit soggy, and your sheets are juuuust a bit damp when you collapse onto them each night. I wish you could hear the outrageous chorus of birds which greet me each morning. There is the Alarm Clock bird, the Laughing bird, and the I-Swear-That's-Just-A-Human-Doing-An-Impression-Of-A-Bird bird. I wish you could know how the first bite of every meal is an adventure, how the food is not quite too spicy to eat, but definitely spicy enough to make your nose run and make you sweat, as if you weren't sweating already... I wish you could smell the distinct (but surprisingly not repulsive) aroma of burning garbage. I wish I could explain how much my heart melts when tiny 7-year-old Kiruba runs to me at breakfast to say, "Good Morning, Miss. I had sweet dreams. Will we dance today??" I wish I could convince you how freeing it is to not be glued to a cell phone all day. I wish I could tell you how much I miss Diet Coke and chocolate and anything cold. (The only thing that's cold here is our bucket bath.) I wish I could do justice to the creativity, energy, and smiles these kids exude every day. 

And, finally, I wish I could I could make you understand how it truly doesn't feel like we've stopped moving since we stepped off the plane, but that even through any discomfort or frustration, we go to bed each night the very best kind of tired. 

Where words fall short, please know we are having an extraordinary time. And think! This is just the beginning of our adventure here!! More about the school and what we're doing soon!

We love and miss you all and we are so grateful for your unending support.

xoxo,

C&H

Random Fun fact: The children have decided that Mr. Harrison looks like the animated panda from Kung Fu Panda. The jury is still out on whether or not that's meant as a compliment. :)

INDIA

Today is the day!

Thank you to those of you who are tuning in again for our India adventure. I will try to keep up a little better than I did the second half of our South Dakota tour. The internet factor is a little unknown, but I promise to try my best!

It definitely feels surreal to be headed to the airport on a journey which has lived in my mind for many, many years. We are excited...and terrified. And we truly feel overwhelmed by the love and support we have received.

We will have a 9.5 hour flight to Frankfurt, a 5 hour layover, and then another 9.5 hour flight to Bangalore. Between that travel schedule and the time difference (12.5 hours ahead of PST), we are sure to be pretty confused/sleepy by the time we arrive. DO NOT WORRY though. I have been given explicit direction by Mom to get up and walk around often during the flight so as not to get a blood clot. So, if all goes as planned, we should be jet-lagged, custom-ed, and delivered to Shanti Bhavan school (clot-free) by late morning Wednesday.

It's hard to have expectations of a situation with so many unknowns. Above all, we are focusing on being present and open in our total experience and immersion into this new culture. We can't wait to see what that looks like in practice.

Now I'm off to check my luggage for the 86th time. We LOVE you all so much, and can't wait to check in with you soon.

xoxoxo,
C&H


http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/CarolynAndHarrison/India2015

Sturgis

Hey y'all!

Here is the map from my last post, as promised.  Thank goodness I got that fixed!!

Our first week back, we were in Sturgis!  You may have heard of Sturgis as they are host to a giant annual Motorcycle Rally.  Every summer, hundreds of thousands of bikers report to the Beautiful Black Hills for this week-long rally!!  It is a pretty big deal.  I have never been there during the Rally.  We were actually supposed to go the year we were at the Black Hills Playhouse, but Harrison got sick, so we cancelled our plans.  But even in Custer State Park it gets CRAZY with bikers, so I cannot even imagine what it's like in Sturgis.  

Here is Sturgis on the map:

                          

This was such a great group of kids with which to rejoin our touring adventure.  With a population of 6,644, Sturgis is a booming metropolis, and an arts-rich community, complete with an Arts Council and a beautiful theater space.  

The kids were wonderful - very enthusiastic and the loudest group (on-stage!) that we have had yet.  There were also kids from a couple different schools involved in our show, so it was really nice to see new friendships forming throughout the week!  As always though, we had a few characters.

We had one particularly amusing 1st grade kiddo.  I really want to tell you his name, but in an effort to protect his anonymity, I will just say he shares a name with a hilarious late night talk-show host, which makes everything he says a just a little bit funnier.  This was our conversation on the very first day...

Student:  "What if we can't come to the show?" 

Me:  "Well, we really need you to be at the show on Friday.  That's why we cast you!"

Student:  "But what if you can't because of something really important?"

Me:  "Like...what?"

Student:  "Like what if there is a really big bug in your stomach, like MONSTERS inside you!!"

Me:  "Well, that sounds like an emergency."

Ironically, his sister was sick for our first performance.  I forgot to ask if it was due to monsters inside of her...

He also kindly volunteered throughout the week to "show everyone something we shouldn't do on stage".  Haha - I indulged that at least once a day.  AND he told Harrison every single day that he should marry me.  "Harrison - she's a cool girl.  And nice.  You should marry her. Actually, you have to marry her!!"  Smart kid.  :)

We stayed with a wonderful couple.  On the night we got there, they told us they had recorded the new Downton Abbey and asked if we wanted to watch it with them.  It was all I could do to not break into "I think I'm Gonna Like it Here" from Annie.  Overall, a really fun week!

In closing...

Since I got the fixed the blog's photo feature, and I took no pictures in Sturgis, I will share a few highlights from our break.

We took Claire to ZooLights at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma.  She entire zoo is covered in lights - literally one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  I was walking around, squealing with glee, (way more than all the children there!)  Also, we rode a camel.  A camel!!

And we got to be there for Carson's birthday. I can't believe this little man is 9 years old already! I am so glad we got to celebrate with him.  Good planning.

And, of course, Claire gave me an epic makeover.  And as soon as she was done, she looked at me and said, "Ummm...you don't look very good."  Haha.  I love this girl.

Love to all,

Carolyn and Harrison

It's a New Year, y'all!

Well, Hello everyone!

In fairness to me, I tried to get this post up a few days ago and had some technical difficulties, followed by some motivational difficulties...

But I am now officially back.  I would love to tell you I felt inspired to re-commit to the blog because I feel revived by the new year, and made it my resolution!  But, alas, the primary reason was that my Mom put it in the Christmas letter, so I felt pressure.  Well, that, and one of my best friends wondered if something had happened to us since I had dropped off so abruptly.  Not to fear folks - we are alive and well.  I just got lazy.

Honestly though, thank you for reading.  It does make us feel good to know that people are following our travels and we love keeping people in the loop!

Anyway, I am so behind that I need to just do a quick catch-up, and tell you all the places I missed posting about.

Since Timber Lake, we have been in Salem (pop: 1345), Rosholt (pop: 426), Forestburg (pop: 73, school is fed by surrounding towns), to Kansas City to visit my Grandparents, Home to Wausau for Thanksgiving, McLaughlin (pop: 667), Sioux Falls to work in the home office, Olympia to visit family and friends, and back to Wisconsin to celebrate the Holidays!!  Whirlwind 2 months - what more could we ask for?

I marked our last 4 residencies on a map in case you're curious about geography, BUT the blogsite will not allow me to upload pictures at this time.  I assure you I am working to remedy this, because otherwise, this will be a painfully boring blog.  It will have to wait until the next post though!

In the meantime, I will re-cap a few of our favorite moments since I last posted...
(Note:  If we saw you over our break, you probably already heard these stories.  So sorry.)

• As I explained in a previous post, the kids love to try to figure out how Harrison and I are related.  In Salem, they were having a particularly difficult time believing that we were married.  In one full cast discussion about it, a 8-year-old boy raised his hand and said, "Umm...if he is married to someone else and you like him, then you are committing adultery.  That's the sixth commandment, you know."  I was shocked, as was the rest of the cast.  I assured him that was not what was going on, but I eventually had to bring wedding pics as proof.  
• In our show, some of the youngest kids play "The Seasons".  They appear four times throughout the show, and sing/dance a verse to show passage of time throughout the story.  In Rosholt, after hearing her part, this teeny-tiny Kindergarten student raised her hand.  When I called on her, she said, "Am I Deer Season? Because I am a hunter."  I had to explain to her that we didn't actually have a verse about Deer Season in our song.  What were we thinking, right?  It was one of those "You know you're in South Dakota when..." moments. 
• In McLaughlin, we were right on the time zone line.  So, we were staying in Central time zone, and working in Mountain time zone.  It always took us awhile to figure out when we needed to leave to be there on time.  To be at the school by 2:00, we had to leave by 2:30.  It was like riding a time machine to work.  That, coupled with a snow day and late start which re-arranged our entire rehearsal schedule, made for a very interesting week!  The kids did great though.  And we are getting good at rolling with the punches!

We were also so lucky to be able to spend so much time with our family and friends, both in Washington and Wisconsin, over Thanksgiving and Christmas!  We have so many people who love and support and we are constantly reminded of how blessed we are.  We miss you all so much, but you are what keeps us going!

Wishing everyone a year full of discovery, laughter, growth, and - above all - LOVE.

C&H 

Timber Lake!!

Hello all!

I have to admit I have been sort of procrastinating this post.  I felt pressure to get it right and do Timber Lake justice, as this is the town where my Grandpa grew up!  It was such an honor to see the town where he lived, as I may never have gone there under other circumstances.

This is where Timber Lake (Pop: 461) is located:

At Timber Lake, we were working with 6-8 grades.  This is the first time we haven't had itty-bitties, and we definitely have roles in the show designed for kindergarten and first grade students.  So, we had the challenge of adjusting some things and convincing people that what they were doing was awesome - even when their parts (and costumes) were usually for 5-year-olds.  Middle school is also so different than elementary - they are so concerned about being "cool".  Thankfully, we had a great group of kids and they came along with us without much fuss!

The school also has a BEAUTIFUL stage - which is such a gift after weeks of performing in gymnasiums.  This is extremely rare for a town this size - they have a wonderful, supportive arts community.  And we told the kids, constantly, how lucky they were to have such an opportunity.

As I was saying though, this was a really special experience for me because of my family's history in Timber Lake.

My Great-Grandfather,  Rev. Ole Olson, moved to Timber Lake in December of 1942, along with my Great-Grandmother, Hazel; my Grandpa, Richard; and his sister, Ruth.  Rev. Olson was to serve the Baptist churches in Timber Lake and Trail City.  According to my Grandpa, "he had made a good start at helping the Timber Lake churches to revive," but he passed away in July of 1944.  My Grandpa was not quite 10.

My Great-Grandmother worked as the Deputy County Auditor for about 8 years.  When the current County Auditor retired, she ran and won easily.  Since this term can only be held for four years, she and the County Treasurer would switch positions each term for some years.

The place we were staying was actually the old Baptist Church which had been converted into a hunting lodge.  (It was super nice and new and we were only the second people to stay there!  We were absolutely spoiled.)  At first, I thought this was the church where my Great-Grandfather preached.  Then I purchased the book that the town had developed for the Centennial a few years ago, which has a section about my family, written by my Grandpa and Great Aunt.  In it, I read about a Baptist Church fire on Easter of 1949.  So, after checking with my Grandpa, I discovered that Ole Olson's church had been a different building, a couple blocks away.  This new church was built, and was dedicated in November of that same year.  This is the church where my Grandpa was raised, and later ordained, AND where Harrison and I had the pleasure of laying our heads while we stayed in Timber Lake.  (Ok - For a good 7 minutes, I tried to look up on the internet whether it would be "laying our heads" or "lying our heads", and I'm still not sure. We lie down, but lay our heads down??  I think so.  I should have just worded it differently, but after all that research, I had to commit.  Sorry if I'm wrong.)  Regardless of how I word it, it was really meaningful.

  We have to get creative if we both want to be in the shot!  :)

Timber Lake has a surprisingly great museum.  They cover all sorts of things - a huge collection of marine fossils, Dinosaur bones and fossils, Native American artifacts, Ranching and Rodeo, and, of course, an in-depth history of Timber Lake.  There is one section where they have a bunch of antique tools and household items and a sheet where you are supposed to guess what they are.  Right next to that, there is a large collection of "vintage" photos, and the challenge is to see how many of these Timber Lake faces you can name.  My Great-Grandmother was among them!!  I was so excited.  I wanted to take a picture so bad, but we were not supposed to photograph the historical photos, so you're just going to have to believe me.

We found a pretty fun playground, too!

We were also there over Halloween!  Though we knew we wouldn't really have plans, it didn't feel right not to dress up, after our last few years of costumes!!  In fact, let's review, in case you missed those...

                2010 - Dora and Diego                                                  2011 - Miss Piggy and Kermit

2012 - Popeye and Olive Oyl

So, you see, I wasn't ready to break the streak of these fun couple costumes, even if we were going to be dressed up with nowhere to go...quite literally.  I don't think I did too bad for a couple nights of hand sewing in a hotel room...

2013 - Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head

We did end up walking around to check out other people's costumes.  We were a little nervous about shocking this little town.  It is already unusual to see people you don't know roaming around, even when they are dressed in normal street clothes.  Needless to say, it was certainly a good conversation starter!  We went to the home Volleyball game.  They lost by a pretty large margin, but we got free popcorn for being in costume, so...WIN!  

We had bought some candy in case anyone from our cast came trick-or-treating to the hotel since they knew we were there.  No one had until, pretty late in the evening, a couple of girls stopped by.  I said, "No one is coming and we have tons of candy, so just take a big handful!"  They sure did.  And then they must have preceeded to hit the streets and tell everyone we were giving out huge handfuls because we suddenly started to get a huge rush of kids!  I almost ran out of candy!! 

And even after that late Thursday night, and our entire cast being crammed with sugar, we proceeded to have a great performance on Friday evening.

    

I had really been looking forward to this stop, and it did not let me down.  It was so fun to talk to people who knew my Grandpa and family, and it will be so fun to talk to my Grandpa about who he knows and what relatives we might have had in our cast!  Like I said, this is an opportunity I may not have had otherwise, and I feel very lucky to have experienced Timber Lake.

Love to all of you,

Carolyn and Harrison

Almost caught up!

Last week, we were in Irene-Wakonda.  The two towns are about 7 miles apart.  The elementary school, where we rehearsed, is in Wakonda.  And the high school, where we performed, is in Irene.

It was a really great week.  We had a little bit of a smaller group of kids, (about 30), but they were enthusiastic and fun.  At one point in the week, this charming conversation occurred: 

Student:  You guys have the same last name.  Are you brother and sister?  (A question we hear far

                more than we would like.)

Harrison:  Nope.

Student:  Are you best friends or something?  (Because best friends always have the same last name.)

Harrison:  Well, yeah.  We are married.

Student:  What!?!?!?!?  You are MARRIED???  I thought you were, like, 18.  

Carolyn:  Well, thank you!  In White Lake, a first-grader guessed I was 112, so I must be looking

                better this week.

Student:  No.  You definitely look like teenagers without all the acne.

You gotta love that.  It also reminds me of a student a few weeks ago who asked if we were married.  When we said we were, she replied - "I knew it.  You know how I knew?  Because your names kind of rhyme."  Apperently, this is a requirement for marriage.   

In addition to the show, we also did 5 theater workshops - 1st grade, 3rd grade, 6th grade, and two high school classes.  This made for a busy week, but it is always fun to go into the classrooms and just play without the pressure of accomplishing everything we have to in rehearsal.  The high school workshops were on Shakespeare as that is what they were preparing to read in their English class.  This was quite a mental stretch after being in elementary world.  (We primarily work with K-6th grade.)  But it was a fun challenge and it reminded me how much I love Shakespeare!

We also stayed with an incredible host family!  They had lived in Washington and Madison, WI, so we had lots to talk about.  They were generous and interesting and smart and we spent lots of time talking with them and their family.  They have a farm where they grow lots of their own vegetables and fruits, and make their own honey - delicious.  They also took us out kayaking on the Missouri River, or "The Mighty MO."  We paddled over to this little island.  (Well, I rode in the middle seat of a 3-person kayak while the men paddled me to the island like a queen.)  And we had a little picnic and explored a little.  It was really, really cool.

Oh - and their 12-year-old son's name is Harrison!  He is awesome and a lot like my Harrison.  (We have now met two Harrisons and a Chandler on our tour so far.  Pretty crazy.)  Anyway, the other Harrison lent us this pumpkin for a photo.  Their family also grows pumpkins, and apparently, if you carve your name into the side when they are still green, it grows like this!

Isn't that just the cutest thing you ever did see?

The correct answer is yes.

Happy Almost Halloween!  

LOVE,

C & H