It has begun!

It's here! Our GRO Staff have been excitedly preparing for the arrival of
the delegates and launching our fourth delegation in India, the second in
Trivandrum with National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH). Yesterday,
all of our delegates arrived safely without any serious issues except for
someone's luggage being lost in London (as of a few minutes ago, it has
been safely returned!)

Our first day began at 3AM as we went to the airport and anxiously waited
for the delgates to arrive with flower garlands that is draped around the
neck during special events. The delegates were wide awake even after hours
and hours of traveling and chattering away. But once we arrived to the
hotel, they all passed out as expected ;) The day was spent relaxing,
trying different Indian food (including eating a meal entirely by hand!)
and shopping at a local Indian "mall" This is the first time for some of
the delegates to travel outside of the USA so it was an eye-opening
experience to be among the locals. We had our orientation (part one) during
dinner where we shared the expectations of the program.

Today, we will be boating on the famous Backwaters of Kerala on a houseboat
and getting to know one another better. We look forward to working with
NISH and their students, and continuing the positive relationship that has
grown since the last delegation in 2010. In the upcoming weeks, all the
delegates will take turns sharing their experiences through this blog,
vlogs and twitter. They come from all over the country, one from Canada and
all are very excited to contribute their diverse skills in developing
relationships and working with the Deaf Indian delegates and NISH
staff/students.

Please join us on this journey as we learn more about this amazing place
called India and its people and work with them in the goal of making the
world a better place for Deaf people!