Namaste!!  I think it has been a little over a week since i arrived in Kerala although i cannot be sure as keeping time here is not high on the list of priorities.   So what can I tell you?  Hmmm I guess I should start at the very beginning, it is a good place to start after all.

 

Last Thursday I touched down in Trivandrum and was carried out of the plane by the swarming mass of passengers almost before the plane had touched down.  Stepping out onto the tarmac at 8pm at night the humidity and heat drained what little energy I had left but I knew it would be at least another hour until i arrived even to Mitraniketan.  Joining the back of the queue for passport control, now freezing as the air con was on full I took in the small airport, 2 desks and a carousel for luggage.  Before I knew it, it was my time to get checked out,  it just so happened that the passport controller lived right next to Mitraniketan and would not let me go through without talking about the projects, what I intended to do and how long I would be staying.  By the time he was satisfied with my answers my rucksack was the only piece of luggage left so I shouldered it and headed out the door.  As the automatic doors slid open I was confronted with a sea of faces shouting and screaming at me ?.rickshaw drivers.  Desperately clinging on to my rucksack, as I think it is a acknowledged that if they can pry it from you, you must drive with them, I tried to spot my name on one of the 3 pieces of paper being held up? and then I was it claremadeddas ?an interesting fusion of my names.  It figured it was close enough and thus met Ahnil.  Getting to the car was a challenge, there is no parking or stopping at the airport so the driver had been driving in circles and wasn?t able to stop for me to get in so I ended up running along side the car shoving my rucksack in the open door and then hurling myself into the car. 

 

Thinking the most exciting part of my trip was over I relaxed a little?.foolish mistake!!  The roads are ?. Patchy to say the least and when you have been sitting for a long time in a plane every bump was felt painfully both on the bum and the head as there are no seatbelts.  After about an hour and a half , passing familys of 5 or 6 on one motorbike and puzzling over the use of the horn (so far the logic seems to be use your horn ALL the time except when it would actually be useful) we arrived in Mitraniketan and I was taken directly to the directors house to meet him.  Vishwanitan greeted me warmly and offered me tea which I will admit I declined in favour of finding somewhere to sleep.  So it was up to the guesthouse to find my room.  They opened the door and I headed straight for the bed after saying that I could make do without a mosquito net for one night and fell asleep.

 

The next morning  I realized why they were so shocked with my denial of a net.  No bites but on the wall right next to my head was the largest spider ever.  He´s maybe 3 inches long and pretty ugly but I have let him stay as he keeps the smaller spider count down.  I have named him James and usually he sleeps in the corner of my room athough we have had a few disagreements when he took a liking to sleeping in my toilet bowl.  Well I guess I should give a brief description ofmy quarters.  They are ?basic ?.pretty basic.  My mattress is at most an inch thick strip block of foam but is surprisingly comfortable.  I think the ´luxury shower´ consisting of a bucket and jug (the jug part makes it luxury), the toilet that it had flush using the same bucket and jug (which is also used for your washing and cleaning purposes) has been the most fun to get used to.  I have a balcony overlooking the rubber plantation which is really nice and me and the other volunteers spend a lot of time there.  

 

There are three other volunteers at the moment, 2 danish and 1 german.  We are getting along pretty well and often share a Kingfisher or two under the stars.  Last night we branched out to try Indian wine ?I cant say I will be rushing back to buy it but it wasn?t that bad at all ?I have had worse in England!  Alcohol here is sold in government shops and it is pretty well frowned upon.  The general opinion is if you buy one bottle you are an alcoholic.  Well you can imagine the looks we got as we came up to the counter and ordered 2 crates of kingfisher strong and four bottles of wine.  You feel pretty conspicuous especially when you have a bumpy 20 minute rickshaw ride through the streets to get back to the hostel with the bottles clinking on the back?judgment was definitely passed!

 

The nights are pretty interesting.  To start there is a scheduled power cut every night to save money in the region which is published in the paper everyday ?but unfortunately I am not so hot on my Malayalam so it comes as a surprise every night.  We probably head to bed at about 11pm and should wake up at about 7 or something.  The temple a mile away has different ideas.  At some point between 3 and 5 they blast out some Hindu prayer and song for 40 minutes which is driving us all crazy.  I am hoping I will get used to this and not hold.  

 

The rest of Mitrankietan has worked out well for me.  I teach an hour and a half of English every morning to the college students, I have also set up a percussion group that starts tomorrow where I hope we will be able to make some instruments provide some entertainment for the kids in their evenings.  I am also thinking of starting a photography course for some of the older students as I found 10 film cameras at the back of a closet and a film costs round about 5p but I have to get permission from Reghu to do that.

 

Now down to the important stuff?.FOOD!  The food is really really good.  We eat everyday at the Roundhouse (the directors house) and it is amazing.  Eating authentic Keralan food whilst talking with the most incredible man.  Vishwanitan is the most amazing and inspirational person, hs stories are just crazy he is friends with everyone and casually drops in that the Dali Lama and he did this one year and when he was young he would go on hunger strikes for this and that but now he is too old for this.  He is so funny and I love mealtimes.  Today I tried green chilli and spent the rest of the meal drinking as much yoghurt as I could?whoooa that was HOT!  

 

Anyway I have waffled on for long enough, i haven´t taken many photos yet so I will upload them later if the internet permits!!  

 

Hope all is well in the homeland! xxx