Life is Life

Doing my morning yoga on the roof, its impossible to take any kind of strenuous excersize so before school every morning i do yoga on the roof. Unfortuneatly there is no opportunity for me to do it locally so i just do the rountine i remember from classes at home. After doing it alone for a few weeks, Rosa, on my left and Emilia on my right decided to join so I taught them the sequence too ;)

About a week after Diwali people put small candles outside their houses. The path through Kasuva Village looked beautiful, all lit up by candle light. Unfortunately my camera is not the best quality in the dark but hopefully this should give you an idea of what the houses looked like.

 

 

On the way back through Kasuva some boys were again playing with fire but this time it was alot less scary than the fireworks at Diwali. Hot coals were enclsosed in strong netting attached on the end of a rope, you then spin round and make patterns with then flames that get brighter with movement. Rose also took a photo without flash so you can see how excited I am by what is supposed to be for children. Im still a child though right?

The children from the boys hostel on their way to school. Evn the small children have to carry a huge rucksack full of books - sometimes almost as big as they are!

One sunday afternoon we decided to explore the local area a bit further; we took a bus 30 to town called Periyarpalliam, a city built around one temple. This is the Markets outside the temple selling flowers, coconuts, sweets, coloued powder and lots of jewlery.

An Alladins cave of bangles. Every colour, size, pattern you could imagiune and full of glitter; it was impossible to choose.

Inside the temple there were processions of families dressed only in Neam leaves to cover themselves with. I am still uncertain of the exact meaning of the ritual but i think it is a way of cleansing your sins.

On the way out we found a friendly man doing Henna stamps. Unlike the stuff ive seen at home its is a lovely rich red colour and with stamps you can get more detailed designs. It took me forever to choose which stamp i wanted by which time a small crowd of local people had gathered to get a better look at the foreigners. I am always just as interested in them as they are of me.



Temple Run: Vellore to Kanchipuram

Took a weekend trip to Vellore and Kanchipuram with Emilia, Rosa and Rose, the bus was supposed to take 1.5hours but of course running on 'indian time' it took three- maybe one day we will arrive at a guesthouse before midnight...
Of course the journey part of travelling is all part of the experiemnce - here is a typical Indian train: 

This is me outside Vellore fort. After crossing and extremely hectic busy street, walked through the peaceful grounds and arrived at the doorway to an exquisite huge white temple, again covered in delicate carvings and statues.

Inside the fort's temple

 We then went for a ride on the pedal boats on the moat surrounding the fort! I dont think anyone had used these for years, and especially not a group of foreign adults without any children. Looking vey stylish in our neon jackets :)

We attracted a bit of attention from some students on a school trip - they evidently found us on a boat way more interesting than the ancient fort itself.

Both Vellore and Kanchipuram were considerably less toursty then Mamallapuram. It was nice to visit places that attracted Indians rather than just foreigners we have sort of got used to the constant staring now. We always use local transport but sometimes it can get a little busy - literally could not move here but at least i wasn't hanging off the sides like most people!

After a day and a night we moved on to Kanchipuram. Another very busy exciting dusty Indian city full of more temples. They were beautiful pockets of peace away from all the uproar.
We started early to see as much as possible and manage to catch the beautiful morning sunlight where it is slightly cooler than the rest of the day.

At this temple you could blessed by an elephant upon entry. Rose and I were perhaps a little too excited at seeing our first Indian elephant - we even filmed it :)

The last temple was my favorite - it was almost 5pm so the sun was just setting casting beautiful shadows in the temple. This is Emilia and I just outside the temple gates

There were only a few people looking around it so we could really take our time and soak up the atmosphere and more beautiful ancient carvings. A perfect end to the trip.

Party Party Party!

I got invited to my first Indian wedding! Suginia (I have probably spelt this wrong), the office receptionist at Sevalaya was getting married, her and her new husband can be seen sitting at the centre of the photo being showered in dried rice by all their guests. The whole ordeal made every english wedding ive been to look pretty dull -so much colour, happiness, glitter, flowers and festivity made it a fascinating experience. 

 Comparatively our clothes looks pretty boring and I still haven't mastered the art of sari wrapping alone. Thought we should get a photo nevertheless after it had all calmed down (until the evening). I am with Emilia, Rosa, Louisa and Sophie (from the left) who are also volunteering at Sevelaya - they are my 'neighbors' and are all absolutely lovely!

Next came Halloween; completly alien to Indian culture so we thought we woulddo some activites with the children from the hostel - make masks pumpkins etc etc BUT a cyclone strikes Chennai and the surrounding area so we were bound to our rooms for the night. It was a genuinely spooky experience all sitting round by candle light (the wind had torn down the power lines) while the wind rain thunder lightening went crazy outside.I couldn't have Halloween without at least a pumpkin so before the cyclone was expected some children from the village watched intently as we carved a melon.

After the Cylone came more rain storms. This is the view outside our roo0m - the entire grounds were flooded - we had to wade in this water up to out knees to get to the kitchen for dinner

Sevalaya the flowing day... on the left is a boy and his father going home from school and below is the boys hostel and 'playing field'.

HAPPY DIWALI : THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

Or 'Deepavali' as many people here also call it. I am so happy to be lucky enough to spend Diwali in India. The air was thick with gunpowder, bangs and flashes exploding all over Sevelaya's grounds as the hostel children were given donated fireworks to 'play' with. Children running around screaming and laughing in their new 'Diwali' clothes; by far the happiest I've ever seen them.

Here are some photos from the night before Diwali which was just as grand as Diwali itself.

Without wanting to be boring, i do have slightly mixed feelings about the safety of the kids literally playing with fire. One boy, Arun tried to catch a Catherine Wheel; he succeeded but now has a hugely swollen hand with the skin ripped off from his thumb and forefinger.

On the morning of Diwali more sponsors came in with more fireworks for more fun with the children! I spent most of my time with a girl Vithiya who is new to the Hostel. She is from Karnataka so doesnt speak any Tamil - i think she is finding it difficult to settle in and gets very confused. She loved looking and the fireworks  but i think she found the loud 'bangs' quite scary! Don't blame her tbh!

 Vithiya's favourite were the sparklers; she was quite insistent she could hold them alone but i didnt feel comfortable with that - felt almost like a nervous parent!

In the afternoon we went to Chennai; straight to Marina beach where groups of families lit there own fireworks, sparklers and crackers.

Here are some blurry photos i managed to get on the train ride back to Sevalaya. However they do not the the nightscape of Chennai on Diwali justice! As soon as the sun went down there fireworks in every direction i didnt know where to look let alone point the camera. It was really beautiful to sit on the edge of the train, feet dangling out the door, watching like a small child as the sky exploded with lights around us. 

India Never Stops

Just the day after Diwali was National Childrens WHICH WAS THEN  followed by Sevelayas 24th birthday celebrations- India never stops celebrating!

The older girls prepared a truly beautiful classical dance piece and i accompanied them as they performed it to the sick children in a local government hospital. We all crammed in the the back of a truck so there was room for everyone - the word 'seat belt' is definitely not in my vocabulary now!

Here the girls are performing to the school the next day - if i wore that much gold i would look ridiculous but they all looked incredible.

The best part of the whole Children's Day functions was when a group of my students from my first standard class 1B performed the song 'Cauliflowers fluffy' that I had taught them when teaching an English lesson on fruit and vegetables. I almost cried with pride as they sang WITH all the actions in front of the whole school. This is the action for "the apples are ripe".

Happy Saraswati Puja!

It was straight back to teaching on Monday after our trip to Mamallapuram, but Tuesday was a government holiday to celebrate the 9th day of the festival Navaratri, which gives thanks to the Goddess of Learning Saraswati. There is a statue of her outside Seleaya (above) which the children from the orphanage elaborately decorated. There was more delicious holy food, divine smelling incense, beautiful flowers and lots of excited children!

These are my new friends Ammu aged 16 (right) Dashini aged 3 (left she is in my preschool class) and Mina aged 5 (left of Dashini). Dashini runs up to me most mornings with a huge smile on her face and hugs my knees. Love her so much too :)

On the right this brother and sister are doing me their very best rabbit impression :) In my preschool class we do rabbit races - they love it!
On the left these two (i am struggling with the names a little) are showing us the traditional pose of Saraswati.

Later that afternoon I bought some Henna to the girls hostel, there was an expert older girl (Raj) who did Mendie for some of the children, Rose (above) and I (Underneath). The design on my hand is based on a peacock or "Mial" in Tamil.

 

And finally another group photo outside the Saraswati celebrations.

In my arms is Mina, this was the first time we'd met :)

A Mooch Round Mamallapuram

 

About 30 German volunteers came for a 10 day work camp to Sevelaya; like anywhere else in the world EXCEPT for Britain they spoke impeccable English so we all got on really well! At the weekend, which just so happened to be the beginning of the real monsoon, about 10 of us set of with our umbrellas to Mamallaporum, a small town two hours away from Chennai (3hours in monsoon traffic) thats famous for its ancient and intricate rock carvings.

I would say it wasn't quite the 'real India' we have experienced so far as their were lots of tourists. But foreign people means foreign food! so pleased to get away from the rice-for-every-meal routine at Sevelaya we took advantage of the cafes that sold pancakes, pasta omelets and noodles! The atmosphere in these places was unique; they played Raggea music with lots of Bob Marley, the waiters were extremly friendly, nobody was in any kind of hurry and in the evenings they lit the place up with lanterns and fairy lights - a shanty hippy town by the sea! But absolutely beautiful :) Here we all are Saturday lunch time.

 (above)

 

After paying the foreigners fee of 250Rs (Indians only pay 10Rs) we first went to the Shore temple. A very weather worn but still amazing temple literally on the beach. My friend Lou Lou and I asked a kind Indian man to stand under out umbrella and take our photo! we then did the same for him :)

 In case you couldn't spot me amoung all the other goddesses I'm the one in the middle looking very white and stupid :)

Inside The Five Rathas (chariots) and this elephant i suppose was one of the animals to help pull them.

 With the help of the Indian man behind me managed to catch this giant boulder just as it was falling off the cliff! Looks like all the rice is making me strong :)

Or i am just taking another touristy picture outside Krishna's Butterball like everyone else...

 This was the cheap friendly and colourful guesthouse we stayed in - they were very accommodating especially as we didn't arrive until 1am on the first night from our monsoon delays!

And these are just some of the mosquito, bed bug and god knows what else bites i received as a Mamallapuram sounvenir after a restless nights sleep with no power (so no fan). I was even coated in 50% deet repellent but looks like theres no stopping them...
Never judge a book by its  cover!

 As we wondered around the rocky hillside looking for more carvings we came across a kind and extremely happy Hindu priest. He insisted on giving Birgitta and I a quick blessing (see the white dots on our forehead) then bid us good day!