Hi,
You know it's bad when...the best nights sleep you have had so far in India was on the sleeper train. A tragic fact but sadly a true one. Needless to say I enjoyed the sleeper train to Goa, though I was definitely glad I got an air conditioned carriage and it's going to take some pretty hefty convincing to make me travel otherwise. There are just some things a gal can't slum it on!
So before I even got to Goa I got a good (I say good, it's as good as it's ever going to get in India) nights sleep, a proper pillow (not one filled with hard beans), an amazing view of the Indian countryside from my window, a nice family for company who shared some snacks with me (I did have to strategically tip the rest of the one that was just purely cloves and spice into my bag and smile and pretend the first mouthful was nice) and an omelette sandwich.
I got a really good feeling about Goa as we travelled to our first guest house by rickshaw. It reminded me of when we used to go on holiday to rural Corfu and I instantly got the feeling that I would be happy there. Our jaws all dropped when we saw that the guest house in Baga was right by the sea, so we all pretty much knew from there that it was going to be a good weekend.
We treated our time there like a little holiday. We found a really nice little bar/restaurant which did cheap sun loungers and really good food (and some really horrible cashew flavoured local spirit called Fenne, never again) run by a man called Robert who looked after us the whole time we were there. On our first night we got talking to a group of guys who were a mix of British, American and Dutch who were all on a computer course (not a bad location for a work course if you can get it) and we all sat on the beach drinking beer and eating the amazing BBQ provided by bar. We then moved onto a bar called Curlie's (infamous bar in Goa apparently) which had yet more amazing food including the second best falafels I've ever had (the first being PilPel in Spitalfields, London for any veggie geeks) and my first experience of shisha*.
Speaking of more firsts, I had my first banana boating experience as well. Aside from the unflattering climb back onto the boat during which I'm sure a few inhabitants of the Arabian sea definitely saw my backside and being ditched in the sea by myself it was pretty fun and I haven't laughed so much in a long time. Next on the list...jet skiing!
The season in Goa finished this weekend so it was mostly Indians on holiday. It was definitely a different sight to the typical British holiday that you'd probably see in high season and there were a few things we didn't anticipate. The first was how everyone was going in the sea, fully clothed. I'm not talking just shorts and t-shirts but full saris, so we stuck out a bit in our bikinis and shorts. The second and definitely the most interesting is how much of a tourist attraction we were ourselves. Being low season we were pretty much the only white people in sight and all day long people were coming up to us, asking us to have photos taken with them. As soon as you agreed, suddenly twelve of their friends appeared wanting photos to. We found it funny at first and didn't mind, but when one group of men came and asked us whilst we were eating. We said maybe when we we're finished and they literally wouldn't go away. So we said no, then they decided just to stand there anyway and film us and when I decided to walk down the beach and take some photos on my SLR they stalked me and filmed me taking photos...crazy! I seriously felt more popular than the Tag Mahal! It's a weird feeling being the 'ethnic minority'.
Luckily we had protection in the form of Robert who chased away a few camera wielding tourists and our taxi driver Alex, who said he gives a 'good beating' to anyone mistreating tourists. We weren't sure whether to laugh or be scared after that confession. He did give us some good tips though, he said we'd probably get invited to 'parties' by random Indian men but never to go. Luckily we'd managed to dodge a couple of these 'parties' already with Amanda's famous line "We like public parties"!
Any downsides? My good old friend sunburn turned up for a holiday himself, haven't seen him in a few years. I spent the whole day wearing and reapplying factor THIRTY and I still managed to go 'colour of lobster' as someone said. So the last few days have been a tad uncomfortable and fuelled with ibuprofen and moisturiser. My legs and back are still a lovely shade of scarlet but my arms and face are probably as brown as they're ever going to be so there's a silver lining I suppose.
We also attempted to hire a scooter. We could only get one as Amanda was the only person who brought her driving license to Goa. She was pretty certain (I definitely was not) having never attempted to ride a scooter before that she would be able to drive the three of us to the beach. However after several near collisions with trees and the man's face not beaming confidence we decided to quit whilst we were ahead (and alive) and get a taxi. Scooters...definitely not as easy as they look!
Here we are back in the mentalness and beeping horns of Mumbai. We rocked up at 6am this morning, and to be honest none of us were in the best of moods. We'd all slept (and smelt) better and had to wait for McDonalds to open twenty minutes after it was supposed to. Normally I'm a fan of 'Indian Time' as it's totally ok to be late but not when it comes to affairs of the cuisine variety, I am not very patient. Still after some egg McMuffins, a snooze and a shower our moods improved.
So today's the day I've been dreading, the day the girls left this evening to go and see North India before heading home, leaving me on my own in Mumbai. I know it's only eleven days but I was on a real downer about it when we arrived back from the station. I came into my room, sat down on my bed and realised this was pretty much it. I wouldn't be able to wander across to the girl's room for a chat or have anyone to laugh with at dinner when we were served up stewed vegetables and different consistencies of lentils for the third time that day. I only really felt like crap for about two hours but it really hit me hard. I cheered up a bit when we went round to Jenny's (our co-ordinator) and she said that one of the girls, Lauren, from the project in Goa had asked for my details so she could introduce herself before I got there. Sure enough when I logged into Facebook she'd sent me a message so it's nice to be able to chat to her before I go.
As you will have gathered by now, I'm definitely going to be relocating to Goa. I'll be in a place called Merces for two weeks, then I'll be in Calangute for a month and a half after that. I'm a lot happier now that it's all been confirmed. All I need to do now is enjoy sightseeing in Mumbai and make the best of the projects for the next two weeks. Sorted :)
Big thanks to Sarah and Amanda for filling my first two weeks in India with loads of laughs and memories. Good luck with your Northern India trip and see you back in the UK, definitely not for curry!
That's my news up to date, hope everyone is well. All messages are still greatly appreciated.
Lots of love from
Holly
xxx
* Don't worry mum, I haven't taken up smoking ;)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Friday the 13th...unlucky for me!
Hello again,
Well as the title says Friday the 13th wasn't such a lucky one for me. I'd succumbed to the dreaded Delhi belly and it literally was the worst food poisoning I've ever had, not that I've had it that much due to being a veg. But it just seemed to be a million times worse being away from home, in the heat and not having not having anywhere particularly comfortable to curl up and feel sorry for myself. Aside with all the lovely things that go with food poisoning, my body decided it was appropriate to give up completely and just pass out. I was on the phone to Jon but said I had to go pretty quickly as I thought I was going to be sick again. I was sitting on the edge of my bed with an agonising chest pain and feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. I used to faint a bit when I was younger so I'd felt that feeling before so knew I wasn't actually going to have a heart attack...but by the time I'd established this in my head I'd passed out and fallen backwards onto the floor. I woke up feeling that weird feeling when you faint of not remembering how you got from up there to down where you are. The oddest bit was not being able to feel my hands and having to wait until I could to get up off the floor. However I felt a million times better after that and had probably the best sleep I've had here since I've been here so I'm pretty glad that my body decided to be so dramatic.
I've had a lot on my mind about what my experience here is going to be like over the next few months (see last post as to why and I will update on the situation a little bit later) and it was keeping me awake at night. So Rosie suggested that I keep a journal to write my thoughts in before I go to bed so I have a clear mind to go to sleep on (and also for those thoughts you don't want everyone to know). Sarah who I'm staying with has been keeping one since she's been travelling in South Africa and Australia and also said it helped. It really has and I've been sleeping a lot better since. It's also really nice to write again, I used to write a lot and haven't the last few years so I've been getting a buzz from putting pen to paper (and finger to keyboard) again.
Aside from the yuckyness of Friday I had a good weekend. We decided to dive into the Lonely Planet and go and see a couple of things Mumbai has to offer. On Saturday we went to Dobi Ghat, which is the largest human powered washing machine in the world. It doesn't sound very interesting but it was quite cool to see all the different colours hung up in huge long rows and to see something quite ordinary being done in a completely different way to how we do it (and it definitely beats the bucket in the corner of my room that is my washing machine). We then went to the Ghandi museum, I must confess I don't really know a lot about Ghandi but it was really interesting and good to learn about someone who is so important to the history of the country I'm calling home for a few months.
This week has been all about getting excited for Goa. We're travelling down on the sleeper train tomorrow at 11pm and 12 hours later there we'll be! Even though I know it's not exactly going to be the Orient Express I'm actually pretty excited for the train. For some reason I've always wanted to go overnight and sleep on a train, and now I get to do it and end up somewhere exotic...we'll see how excited I feel once I've done it.
It's summer at the moment in India and May is the hottest month so its approaching the end of the season in Goa. We read on the news that there's an end of season festival happening on the weekend that we'll be there so it'll be nice to do a wee bit of partying and enjoy the beach. It'll be strange to be back in that frame of mind again as I've only had a couple of drinks since I've got here. Alcohol is something that's quite prevalent in my life at home but I haven't really missed it whilst I've been here since it's not as readily available and it's not really the done thing here. That's fine though as if I'd wanted that sort of experience I would have gone somewhere like Australia but that's not what I wanted to get out of this trip so I'm happy with it. Not going to lie though, I mightly appreciated the beer we had in Mumbai city on Friday night (I never drink beer at home). It's amazing how much more you appreciate things when they aren't on your doorstep.
I'm just going to touch quickly on what's happening with regards to certain things that aren't quite right here without being too negative. As most people will know by now, it turns out that I'm going to be on my own in Mumbai when Sarah and Amanda leave after we get back from Goa. This was quite a shock and has affected my trip so far quite a lot and is something I'm not too happy about. The project I've been placed at in the afternoon also isn't quite what I thought would be and what I'm doing isn't reflected in what I was told when I booked (see last post). I decided that by staying in Mumbai and at the project I'm not going to get the experience I wanted and would probably meet my friends in Thailand in August not really feeling that great and go home feeling deflated. So taking that and a couple of other factors into consideration I contacted i-to-i (the company I booked the trip through) and told them that I wasn't happy. To cut a long story short, it looks like I'm going to be moving to a project in Goa. The only thing I know is that there are three volunteers there which is a big step I'm the right direction. I've only just got the ball rolling with that one and don't want to get my hopes up too much yet but I'm feeling a hell of a lot better about everything and am crossing my fingers for a good result on this one. Will keep you all posted.
On a better note I want to list a couple of the weird and wonderful things I've seen here so far that make this city such an interesting one:
- Motorbikes, apparently a suitable method of transport for a family of five!
- Parking, only seems to be allowed on even days of the week e.g 2nd, 4th etc.
- Taxi drivers, they think it's ok to turn down your custom if they don't like where you want to go.
- McDonalds, only £2 for a whole meal (sort it out UK). Highlights being McPaneer and McTikka Masala. I haven't actually eaten one yet but I'm needing a break from curry so think that might be one for the train tomorrow night.
- Lincoln Road Market, I thought European markets were bad for trying to get you to buy stuff but this really was something else. You couldn't move for someone trying to sell you something (doesn't help being white as they all think you have money/they can overcharge you). Got a pair of hareem trousers for 150 rupees though (about £2) so definitely can't complain there and I can't wait to see what the Goan markets have to offer.
The next time I post will probably be in Goa or when we get back so fingers crossed for an exciting weekend and good news!
Thinking of everyone at home and missing you all lots, thank you for all the lovely messages people keep sending me, it's much appreciated and I'll reply to them all when I can :)
Love from
Holly
xxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Well as the title says Friday the 13th wasn't such a lucky one for me. I'd succumbed to the dreaded Delhi belly and it literally was the worst food poisoning I've ever had, not that I've had it that much due to being a veg. But it just seemed to be a million times worse being away from home, in the heat and not having not having anywhere particularly comfortable to curl up and feel sorry for myself. Aside with all the lovely things that go with food poisoning, my body decided it was appropriate to give up completely and just pass out. I was on the phone to Jon but said I had to go pretty quickly as I thought I was going to be sick again. I was sitting on the edge of my bed with an agonising chest pain and feeling like I was going to have a heart attack. I used to faint a bit when I was younger so I'd felt that feeling before so knew I wasn't actually going to have a heart attack...but by the time I'd established this in my head I'd passed out and fallen backwards onto the floor. I woke up feeling that weird feeling when you faint of not remembering how you got from up there to down where you are. The oddest bit was not being able to feel my hands and having to wait until I could to get up off the floor. However I felt a million times better after that and had probably the best sleep I've had here since I've been here so I'm pretty glad that my body decided to be so dramatic.
I've had a lot on my mind about what my experience here is going to be like over the next few months (see last post as to why and I will update on the situation a little bit later) and it was keeping me awake at night. So Rosie suggested that I keep a journal to write my thoughts in before I go to bed so I have a clear mind to go to sleep on (and also for those thoughts you don't want everyone to know). Sarah who I'm staying with has been keeping one since she's been travelling in South Africa and Australia and also said it helped. It really has and I've been sleeping a lot better since. It's also really nice to write again, I used to write a lot and haven't the last few years so I've been getting a buzz from putting pen to paper (and finger to keyboard) again.
Aside from the yuckyness of Friday I had a good weekend. We decided to dive into the Lonely Planet and go and see a couple of things Mumbai has to offer. On Saturday we went to Dobi Ghat, which is the largest human powered washing machine in the world. It doesn't sound very interesting but it was quite cool to see all the different colours hung up in huge long rows and to see something quite ordinary being done in a completely different way to how we do it (and it definitely beats the bucket in the corner of my room that is my washing machine). We then went to the Ghandi museum, I must confess I don't really know a lot about Ghandi but it was really interesting and good to learn about someone who is so important to the history of the country I'm calling home for a few months.
This week has been all about getting excited for Goa. We're travelling down on the sleeper train tomorrow at 11pm and 12 hours later there we'll be! Even though I know it's not exactly going to be the Orient Express I'm actually pretty excited for the train. For some reason I've always wanted to go overnight and sleep on a train, and now I get to do it and end up somewhere exotic...we'll see how excited I feel once I've done it.
It's summer at the moment in India and May is the hottest month so its approaching the end of the season in Goa. We read on the news that there's an end of season festival happening on the weekend that we'll be there so it'll be nice to do a wee bit of partying and enjoy the beach. It'll be strange to be back in that frame of mind again as I've only had a couple of drinks since I've got here. Alcohol is something that's quite prevalent in my life at home but I haven't really missed it whilst I've been here since it's not as readily available and it's not really the done thing here. That's fine though as if I'd wanted that sort of experience I would have gone somewhere like Australia but that's not what I wanted to get out of this trip so I'm happy with it. Not going to lie though, I mightly appreciated the beer we had in Mumbai city on Friday night (I never drink beer at home). It's amazing how much more you appreciate things when they aren't on your doorstep.
I'm just going to touch quickly on what's happening with regards to certain things that aren't quite right here without being too negative. As most people will know by now, it turns out that I'm going to be on my own in Mumbai when Sarah and Amanda leave after we get back from Goa. This was quite a shock and has affected my trip so far quite a lot and is something I'm not too happy about. The project I've been placed at in the afternoon also isn't quite what I thought would be and what I'm doing isn't reflected in what I was told when I booked (see last post). I decided that by staying in Mumbai and at the project I'm not going to get the experience I wanted and would probably meet my friends in Thailand in August not really feeling that great and go home feeling deflated. So taking that and a couple of other factors into consideration I contacted i-to-i (the company I booked the trip through) and told them that I wasn't happy. To cut a long story short, it looks like I'm going to be moving to a project in Goa. The only thing I know is that there are three volunteers there which is a big step I'm the right direction. I've only just got the ball rolling with that one and don't want to get my hopes up too much yet but I'm feeling a hell of a lot better about everything and am crossing my fingers for a good result on this one. Will keep you all posted.
On a better note I want to list a couple of the weird and wonderful things I've seen here so far that make this city such an interesting one:
- Motorbikes, apparently a suitable method of transport for a family of five!
- Parking, only seems to be allowed on even days of the week e.g 2nd, 4th etc.
- Taxi drivers, they think it's ok to turn down your custom if they don't like where you want to go.
- McDonalds, only £2 for a whole meal (sort it out UK). Highlights being McPaneer and McTikka Masala. I haven't actually eaten one yet but I'm needing a break from curry so think that might be one for the train tomorrow night.
- Lincoln Road Market, I thought European markets were bad for trying to get you to buy stuff but this really was something else. You couldn't move for someone trying to sell you something (doesn't help being white as they all think you have money/they can overcharge you). Got a pair of hareem trousers for 150 rupees though (about £2) so definitely can't complain there and I can't wait to see what the Goan markets have to offer.
The next time I post will probably be in Goa or when we get back so fingers crossed for an exciting weekend and good news!
Thinking of everyone at home and missing you all lots, thank you for all the lovely messages people keep sending me, it's much appreciated and I'll reply to them all when I can :)
Love from
Holly
xxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Krishna Chandra Rd,,India
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Namaste India
NAMASTE MUMBAI!
I can't believe I'm actually here! After four months of talking and planning, I'm actually sitting here in Mumbai, 5000 miles from home...still something I'm finding a tad overwhelming if I sit around and think about it for too long.
I won't bore you with every single detail of everything I've done/eaten/seen etc from when I left Hitchin to where I'm sitting now in West Bandra, I've read a fair few blogs like that and to be honest no ones really bothered about what you ate on the plane or how many rupees the taxi from the airport cost so you'll only be getting the (what I think to be) interesting stuff.
I was first introduced to the cultural difference pretty much when the plane took off. I hadn't got round to looking at what films/tv were available so I had one eye on the person in front of me who was watching Friends whilst I tried to make myself as comfortable as is possible in cattle class. It was 'The one where Ross is fine' episode and they pixelated out the bit where Joey and Rachel kiss, I didn't expect it but wasn't surprised about this at the same time. But the bit where Joey runs his hand up Chandler's leg wasn't pixelated, I couldn't work out whether they didn't mind things as long as were in jest or if it was going to be more difficult to decipher what is and isn't ok out here.
My first encounters with the Indian people have been really lovely. I could feel myself getting a bit upset when the plane landed as we were waiting to get off. I didn't want to look like crazy crying British girl so I managed to hold it together. The man next to me must have seen that I was upset though as he said "No need to worry, India will look after you. You are British and will be treated like a princess". Leoni, the lady who I'm staying with welcomed me and was chatting away like I'd been there for months within five minutes of me arriving and last but not least the i-to-i rep Jenny. After the orientation she took me for the most amazing Chinese I've ever had in my life, bought me a really beautiful blue silk scarf as a welcome gift and then had to experience my tears when we started talking about family. She was great though and she said she stood at Mumbai airport and wailed when she said goodbye to her daughter the other day, who's only going away for two weeks...which made me feel a little bit less of a blubbering fool.
I probably sound like I've arrived in India and started the monsoon season early but crying, I promise I haven't, I'm just getting used to the fact that absolutely everything is completely different to what I'm used to and I don't even have the consistency of familiar people to counteract that. I wish I was one of those people who wasn't phased by anything, but unfortunately I'm not so I'm just accepting that its going to take me a little longer to get into the flow.
Speaking of everything being different...the house I'm staying in, although big and beautiful is like something from 'Help my house is falling down'. A lot of the lights don't work, there's a 'knack' to switching on the shower and the beds leave a lot to be desired. I woke up from a jet lag induced sleep covered in white flakes which turned out to be bits of the ceiling plaster and paint that had come off whilst the fan had been on. Leoni said that nothing had been replaced in the house since it was built in 1959 so it figures it's not in the best state.
She has lived here all her life and was proud in telling me that her family built it. I think the only way she can afford to stay here is by taking in volunteers as our accommodation and food is included in the price of the project. As far as I'm aware she has never married and has no children to support her, which is unusual in Indian culture and she is clearly sad that she has an empty house so she is doing what she has to do in order to keep her family history.
I started at the project on Monday. The morning project is at a place called UCDC, which runs a creche for the children of domestic workers (a lot of people have maids/servants in India). Those that know me well will know that it's a bit of an understatement to say that I'm not the greatest fan of children, so what happened when I had to contend with 51 screaming children aged between four months and three years? I actually enjoyed it, so much so that I let a two year old girl fall asleep in my lap.
The second placement, a community centre called Navjeet, is definitely not what I expected. So far I've pretty much spent three days cutting out card for charity greetings cards...yes you heard right. I've been assured though that I won't be spending the next three months doing this and that I will get to go to the village where the children who make the pictures that go on the front of the greetings cards live and spend some time there. It does sound like a bit of an odd thing to be doing and it is pretty monotonous/feels like slave labour. But I'm just going to have to persevere with it and hope it paves the way to more interesting things.
The other big thing that I didn't expect was the lack of volunteers that I'd be working with. When I arrived I was told that there were two other girls, Sarah and Amanda (who are lovely lasses) who were staying there and working on the project. I was then told that they would be here till the 19th then...it would be just me...on my own...for the rest of my stay. I imagined there would be about 20-30 volunteers as there have been when I've talked to other people about volunteering they've done. So it's a pretty scary prospect to go from expecting to be part of a team to being on my own for three months. It's been praying on my mind a lot and has clouded the first few days of my trip in someways, but I've got to try and make the best of it and cross that bridge when it comes to it if it becomes a problem.
On a better note, I went to the city centre last night and booked a train ticket to Goa so I can go with Sarah and Amanda next Thursday. I decided to posh it up and fork out for air con as I couldn't be in the same carriage as them since they booked a while a go. There's only so far I'm prepared to slum it when it's a 12 hour overnighter on an Indian train.
So all in all, so far so good!
I best be going now as I'm sitting in a Cafe being very anti social, we're a bit excited about finally finding somewhere with wifi!
Missing you all, speak soon!
Love
Holly
xxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
I can't believe I'm actually here! After four months of talking and planning, I'm actually sitting here in Mumbai, 5000 miles from home...still something I'm finding a tad overwhelming if I sit around and think about it for too long.
I won't bore you with every single detail of everything I've done/eaten/seen etc from when I left Hitchin to where I'm sitting now in West Bandra, I've read a fair few blogs like that and to be honest no ones really bothered about what you ate on the plane or how many rupees the taxi from the airport cost so you'll only be getting the (what I think to be) interesting stuff.
I was first introduced to the cultural difference pretty much when the plane took off. I hadn't got round to looking at what films/tv were available so I had one eye on the person in front of me who was watching Friends whilst I tried to make myself as comfortable as is possible in cattle class. It was 'The one where Ross is fine' episode and they pixelated out the bit where Joey and Rachel kiss, I didn't expect it but wasn't surprised about this at the same time. But the bit where Joey runs his hand up Chandler's leg wasn't pixelated, I couldn't work out whether they didn't mind things as long as were in jest or if it was going to be more difficult to decipher what is and isn't ok out here.
My first encounters with the Indian people have been really lovely. I could feel myself getting a bit upset when the plane landed as we were waiting to get off. I didn't want to look like crazy crying British girl so I managed to hold it together. The man next to me must have seen that I was upset though as he said "No need to worry, India will look after you. You are British and will be treated like a princess". Leoni, the lady who I'm staying with welcomed me and was chatting away like I'd been there for months within five minutes of me arriving and last but not least the i-to-i rep Jenny. After the orientation she took me for the most amazing Chinese I've ever had in my life, bought me a really beautiful blue silk scarf as a welcome gift and then had to experience my tears when we started talking about family. She was great though and she said she stood at Mumbai airport and wailed when she said goodbye to her daughter the other day, who's only going away for two weeks...which made me feel a little bit less of a blubbering fool.
I probably sound like I've arrived in India and started the monsoon season early but crying, I promise I haven't, I'm just getting used to the fact that absolutely everything is completely different to what I'm used to and I don't even have the consistency of familiar people to counteract that. I wish I was one of those people who wasn't phased by anything, but unfortunately I'm not so I'm just accepting that its going to take me a little longer to get into the flow.
Speaking of everything being different...the house I'm staying in, although big and beautiful is like something from 'Help my house is falling down'. A lot of the lights don't work, there's a 'knack' to switching on the shower and the beds leave a lot to be desired. I woke up from a jet lag induced sleep covered in white flakes which turned out to be bits of the ceiling plaster and paint that had come off whilst the fan had been on. Leoni said that nothing had been replaced in the house since it was built in 1959 so it figures it's not in the best state.
She has lived here all her life and was proud in telling me that her family built it. I think the only way she can afford to stay here is by taking in volunteers as our accommodation and food is included in the price of the project. As far as I'm aware she has never married and has no children to support her, which is unusual in Indian culture and she is clearly sad that she has an empty house so she is doing what she has to do in order to keep her family history.
I started at the project on Monday. The morning project is at a place called UCDC, which runs a creche for the children of domestic workers (a lot of people have maids/servants in India). Those that know me well will know that it's a bit of an understatement to say that I'm not the greatest fan of children, so what happened when I had to contend with 51 screaming children aged between four months and three years? I actually enjoyed it, so much so that I let a two year old girl fall asleep in my lap.
The second placement, a community centre called Navjeet, is definitely not what I expected. So far I've pretty much spent three days cutting out card for charity greetings cards...yes you heard right. I've been assured though that I won't be spending the next three months doing this and that I will get to go to the village where the children who make the pictures that go on the front of the greetings cards live and spend some time there. It does sound like a bit of an odd thing to be doing and it is pretty monotonous/feels like slave labour. But I'm just going to have to persevere with it and hope it paves the way to more interesting things.
The other big thing that I didn't expect was the lack of volunteers that I'd be working with. When I arrived I was told that there were two other girls, Sarah and Amanda (who are lovely lasses) who were staying there and working on the project. I was then told that they would be here till the 19th then...it would be just me...on my own...for the rest of my stay. I imagined there would be about 20-30 volunteers as there have been when I've talked to other people about volunteering they've done. So it's a pretty scary prospect to go from expecting to be part of a team to being on my own for three months. It's been praying on my mind a lot and has clouded the first few days of my trip in someways, but I've got to try and make the best of it and cross that bridge when it comes to it if it becomes a problem.
On a better note, I went to the city centre last night and booked a train ticket to Goa so I can go with Sarah and Amanda next Thursday. I decided to posh it up and fork out for air con as I couldn't be in the same carriage as them since they booked a while a go. There's only so far I'm prepared to slum it when it's a 12 hour overnighter on an Indian train.
So all in all, so far so good!
I best be going now as I'm sitting in a Cafe being very anti social, we're a bit excited about finally finding somewhere with wifi!
Missing you all, speak soon!
Love
Holly
xxx
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Krishna Chandra Rd,,India
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Not another cheesy travel blog...
Hi Everyone,
Yes I'm afraid it's true, I'm doing the whole cheesy travel blog thing. I apologise but its mostly for myself so I can remember all the little things that tend to get forgotten in amongst the big things that happen, but are still just as important to make up the whole memory.
I also want to look back and remember how I felt about things as they were happening to me, both positive and negative. One very clever trick of the human brain is it's ability to pick out the good things. After a while the bad bits just fade out into background and we only remember the positive. My best example of this is Duke of Edinburgh, there was definitely a lot of pain and tears somewhere up a Welsh mountain. But all that is clouded by the memory of how awesome it felt to climb to the top of Pen y Fan and struggling to put up a tent in gale force winds (and then watching it roll down a hill). So as strange as it may sound I want to remember how I felt during the not so good bits, like when I see people struggling to do the things I take for granted or when I just feel like flying home, eating a Pizza Express (had my last helping of dough balls last night for a while) and going for a drink in the Kings Arms with my friends.
On saying that I also want to remember the good bits and be able to look back and smile at the little things so please feel free to take a read about my upcoming adventures :)
Why this trip anyway? I decided that after nearly three years in fashion retail that it's no longer for me! However, I'm not really sure what is for me at the moment and seeing a bit of the world is something that's been niggling in the back of my mind since I left uni in 2008. So after a few months of worrying about leaving my job, being too old and worrying that I couldn't do it... I decided to take the plunge and do it! I picked India as it's on my list of places to go and I really wanted to experience a totally different culture to what I'm used to here in the UK. I also wanted to do something worthwhile, make a difference and have something to put on my CV rather than just bumming about for three months, so I've chosen to do a volunteer project in the Bhandra area of Mumbai.
When I've finished at the project at the end of July I'm going to see a bit more of Asia as I may as well take advantage of seeing places whilst I'm there. So firstly I'm heading to Nepal to see my friend and fellow White Stuffer Holly K as she'll be there visiting her boyfriend's family. Then on August 12th I'll be meeting some of my best friends Jon, Rosie, Nat and Jon's friend from uni Mike in Thailand (only 100 days to go guys). Another country on my list of places to go is Vietnam so I'm planning a detour there and perhaps Cambodia before heading back home.
So thats the what, the where and the why...now just a few thank yous to all the wonderful people in my life!
First of all, thank you to my parents. Without both of your love and support I would never have had the confidence to take this trip. I love you and will miss you both so much!
Thank you to all my friends for throwing me an amazing surprise leaving party and for being generally all round fabulous people all the time. Its at times like this you really realise who your friends are and the last couple of weeks has shown me that I have the best in the world.
Thank you to all my White Stuff ladies for a wonderful eighteen months working with you all. I had so many laughs and the privilege of meeting and working with so many great people that I otherwise wouldn't have met. Thank you also for all my cards, presents and coming to my leaving do!
I also have to mention Dan and Alex, who despite only getting to know me recently through Rosie, were kind enough to buy me a brand new rucksack for my travels. Thank you so much guys, its very much appreciated.
Also thank you to everyone else who have sent me cards, presents and messages :)
Anyway I'm waffling on a bit now so I will leave you with some idea of how I'm feeling right now...3 days to go = SCARED! Ha ha!
Thank you.
Lots of love from
Holly
xxx
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