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Today is #GivingTuesday and every donation you'll make to worthy causes will be matched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

If you are considering donating, I'd request you to consider a cause that we care about and are supporting - that of improving education, health and the quality of lives of women in the developing world. We are achieving this by working through Vicente Ferrer Foundation

Our goal is to raise $2000 by December 31st.

Remember, no amount is small, every dollar counts!!

Hope you will consider donating.

#givingtuesday #wishingwell. #VicenteFerrerFoundation



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Help us make the journey to school safer and faster than before for 127 high school students in Narpala in rural Andhra Pradesh for VFF USA. 

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Video

Beet Root and Goat Cheese Salad

Have you ever been to the Cheesecake Factory and tried the Beet Root and Goat Cheese Salad? Well, knowing each of the ingredients, I would never have bothered ordering it, forget eating it. But then, my dad introduced it to us the first time we went there, I tried it much against my 'initial wish' and guess what - it is now my favorite dish there. I can not resist sharing my experience with it...

Couple days ago, we went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate my sister's birthday. We had about a 15 minute wait until we got seated, and when we ordered our food, we started with our all time favorite, the Beet Root and Goat Cheese Salad. The salad like the name suggests has beet roots and goat cheese - all in good measure, and arugula, green apples, and my favorite, candied pecans. Except for the candied pecans, I wouldn't go near any of the other ingredients. And if you are anywhere like me, you would not too. But, try it, and you will relish it!

Take a big forkful with all of the different components, and when you eat it all together, it is as if the different tastes come together in a sensory explosion (reminds you of the mushroom and cheese scene in Ratatouille). The creaminess of the goat cheese pairs beautifully with the soft beet root, the tart apple, and the bitter arugula. The candied pecan tops it all with a sweet crunch. It is simply divine!

Take my advice, and the next time you go to the Cheesecake Factory, try the Beet Root and Goat Cheese Salad. You will love it too!

Arangetram Dancers Project

You might be wondering what Arangetram is. Well, it is a Indian Classical dance graduation where you have to dance in front of a huge audience for over 3 hours. My mom did it, and I can only imagine how tiring it must be.


Anyway, our friend was having her dance graduation a couple days ago, and we decided to make her a present. We were out of ideas until we saw a frame portraying dancers in poses that our mom's friend had presented to our mom at the time of her Arangetram . We thought it would be nice to make and frame a similar gift, so we did. 


We decided to make the dancers out of clay. It took 2-3 hours on each doll, and my sister and I split the work evenly. Although we did end up fighting a little, (well, what are sisters for?) every single doll turned out great. In the meantime, we asked our dad to help us with a doll case, or frame for them. It was an amazing experience having to create new ways and methods that would work for us, and make the dolls look as realistic as possible. Our dad was so impressed with the intricate clay dolls that he was worried that we will accidentally mess them up while handling them and end up wasting the long time we spent making them.

When the time came for us to make the final touch ups and bake the clay dolls, we had to carry them to another area in the house. While doing that, our dad was watching us like a hawk to make sure that we didn't mess them up, and while we were carrying them, we had to be so delicate with them so they wouldn't bend, fall, or break. 

Our dad was even more scared when we started to bake them. The oven that we always used to use to bake things would sometimes burn our clay things up, so we decided to use a new oven which we hadn't ever used to bake clay. To make sure the oven wouldn't burn our clay creation, before we put our masterpieces in, we baked some other small clay things. None were the size of the dolls, so we were tense the whole time they baked. But our calculations ended up correct and the dolls came out all right. We were overjoyed, but had to make sure we didn't drop them, or they would definately break. 

Our dad packaged the frame in a box with lots of paper, bubble wrap, and foam to ensure that they were secure and safe. The only bad part about that was that if the frame did break, we wouldn't have any sign that anything had happened to it until our friend opened the box. Luckily, while we were in Atlanta or driving around, nothing happened to our precious cargo, much to our relief when we reached Charlotte. 

 
We finally got to give it to our friend, and she loved it. When we told her that we made it, she was speechless with joy, and pleasure. It felt so good to have given someone a handmade present, and the fact that she loved it was even more reassuring. 
 


I am so glad we got the experience to create something never made before specially for a friend, and now I know, that no matter how much I fight with my sister, it has never felt better to have someone to work with.

World of Coca - Cola

Last week, I went to Atlanta with my family, where we visited the World of Coca - Cola. As strange as it may seem to you,  I had never tasted Coke before in my life. So here, I will share with you my first ever experience with Coke.

We went into the building, where we saw a couple videos, and explored the history of Coke before we actually went to the tasting section. When we finally got to the tasting part, I grabbed a glass, filled it with regular Coke, and started drinking.  It fizzed and bubbled a lot in my mouth. It tasted, well ... different. It tasted like Coke. There's no other way to describe it.

To tell you the truth, I was never and still am not a big fan of soda. Have you ever taken a big gulp of it and swallowed it quickly, when suddenly your nose starts burning? That was one reason I never really liked it, and the other is that most soda isn't healthy. But Coke was different from anything I had ever tasted before. It was a new experience. I couldn't exactly say that I liked it, but I couldn't say that I didn't. Like I said, it was different. 

So anyway, I started tasting the Coke from around the world. Some of it was disgusting. Some of it tasted like medicine. But most of it tasted pretty good.

I have to say, my most favorite thing in that section was water. I'm sorry. It's probably the most refreshing thing in the world, at least to me... and my sister...

If you ever go to downtown Atlanta, you should definitely go to Coke World. It's a marvelous experience in my opinion, even for people who don't like Coke. I learned that you should always open your mind to new and different possibilities, and always try new things.

Math and Me

Strolling with my friend on a lazy summer day,

When we were done with work and play,

The talk turned to 7^th Grade & school,

To what we liked and found really 'cool'.

“Oh, Math is so useless, and boring to me

I'm sure I hate Math,” said she.

“Oh no, it's interesting; I love it,” said I,

“It's useful everywhere in life, you will see.”

Every morning your alarm goes off : 'Ring, ring'

Pick your backpack, which to school you must bring,

You do all this without much ado or fuss -

Just so you're on time to catch the bus.

Flowers in yards, and fruits on trees

Birds in the sky, and even buzzing bees!

Look around in nature, and what do you see?

It's Math at work, in the form of symmetry.

I love figure skating with the jumps and spins -

The axels, camels, laybacks and sits.

All use angles, and lines, curves and more;

All part of Geometry – Math is the core.

When I open my lunch box and look at all the food,

The home-made bread and veggies and fruit -

I remember we used fractions to measure the cups of flour

To make the bread that brightens my mood.

When school's out & in my spare time, I love doing Origami -

the ancient Japanese art of paper-folding

Do something on one side, and repeat it on the other :

again it's Math at work, in the form of symmetry.

We need to buy groceries so we'll have something to eat,

Whether weighing the food, or paying for it,

Measuring calories you put in or out,

Math is everywhere without any doubt!