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

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Location:Krishna Chandra Rd,,India