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".