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!

My New Home :)

So here i am outside mine and Rose's room; we have a double bed, shelves, wardrobe a western toilet, a fridge and a fan - everything you could possibly need and only a 30 second walk away from work!

And this is the view from the opposite direction looking out from our front door. The larger trees are coconut trees and the smaller banana trees - when kids forget their plates or on special occasions they cut down the leaves and eat off them :)

 Rose and i in our first saris! had to have lots of help from the girls at the hostel - wrapping them is so complicated! Thank you Abi (on the left)

These are the secondary children at their daily whole school assembly not looking particularly interested in what the headmistress has to say.. some things never change...

This is my preschool class having there lunch! Absolutely adorable! This is about as quiet as you will ever see them :) Just to add we also eat with our hands sitting on the floor with the other children at the hostel. An excellent way to get to know them but i still havent quite perfected the art of eating curry with my hands!

And finally this is the view outside the internet cafe i sit right now! A typical Indian street scene, now i will head back to the train station, catch a 20 min local train, catch a shared Auto Rickshaw to Kasuva village and walk back to Sevelaya - the place im begining to call home :)

This mine and Rose's rather messy bedroom - with a huge mosquito net that attempts to protect from god knows what other lodgers also share our room....

This is the primary school where I teach in the morning. At 9.15 they gather for meditation and prayer the lessons start at 9.45.

 Here is the secondary school where is teach as a 'supply' teacher with Rose. These children are very hyperactive and hard to control but i think slowly but surely we are getting somewhere and managing to teach them something.

Further a field...

After returning home we still had a few days until we would began teaching. Not wanting to waste a single day Rose and i took a day trip to Chennai. This is me on a fishing boat on Marina beach - the second longest beach in the world! The waves we huge! like anywhere else in India women cannot show any skin so we jumped the waves fully clothed and got soaked! Didnt take long to dry in the intense heat though!

This is a fairground ride that appeared to be run by children for children. A little different from a waltzers at Skegness

Got caught in a monsoon on another day trip to a neighboring village Avadi! The kind owner of this fruit stall allowed us to take shelter until it slowed down and we could wade to the train station.

Another aspect of India that is impossible to ignore: the poverty. Here are some slums located literally next door to the gigantic air conditioned multi-storey Mall in Chennai

!

School trip! The Indian way...

Straight after exams there is a weeks holiday, so we are invited to accompany the children from the orphanage and its resident staff on a bus tour to Madurai and Kodaikanal! We embark on a 14 hour journey on a handpainted, elderly rickety but full of character Indian bus.

Our first stop was an abandoned palace temple in Madurai. We climbed up a steep cliff face to reach this breathtaking view.

We then stop for an unexpected prayer at a small Hindu temple, paying respects to the god Vishnu. As part of the ritual you walk 10 times round the temple, splash your hair with holy water, inhale incense and take flowers and rice from the priest.

Next stop: a Maharajahs palace. No royalty in sight but a major tourist attraction - the huge space had a sort of eerie feeling as we wondered round the ginormous open plan rooms.

Finally just as the sun sets we visit the Meenakashi temple. This really is big. Without converting to hinduism this was the best photo i could get of the golden temple - the true pearl of Meenakashi.

After an interesting nights sleep on mats on the floor of a hired marriage with all other 140 people on the trip we set off to the Kodaikanal hills! It is refreshing cooler the higher we climbed up the precarious tracks, a little to close to the edge of the road...

At approximately 15 degrees, while people in England would be in there bikinis sunbathing the children all put on there woolen bobble hats and jumpers! This is Denmorie and Sharat, two adorable siblings on the bus.

It took about 5 hours to reach the highest peak. The place was full of monkeys - cute from a distance but a little aggressive up close! The camera found it hard to pick up the amazing views of the valley because of the mist but i will never forget the vastness of that sight. The world really is massive!

On the way down the group stop for a photo by this amazing waterfall!

Day 3 and on the way back to Sevelaya we visit yet another HUGE temple - Tamil Nadu is full of them but they are all so different and beautiful in there own special way :) This one you had to climb millions and millions of steps before reaching another spectacular view, I had a little friend from the orphanage called Ammu to help me though...

Exploring

Its exam season for the children so i have lots of time to explore before i start teaching. This is a typical house from Kasuva Village that surrounds the Sevelaya campus. You cannot pass through it with out children rushging up to you asking your name, your country, your fathers name, mothers name etc etc \. Everyone is very friendly and to the elderly women like this one we always greet with a respectful "Vanakum" on passing.

After walking through some rice fields i came across these giant Cacti!

India: So far so good

After spending 3 days in Hyderabad on an orientation course, my partner (Rose) and I set off on a 14 hour sleeper train to Chennai. Here is a rushed photo of me outside our train but trust me i didn't look quite so energized after 14 hours of rough tracks dusty winds, interesting company, constant horn honking but some breathtaking views!