Hello World!
Well...this time next week I'll be back home in the rain, cold, Christmassy place we call England. Naturally, things here are winding down slightly; yesterday we had a treasure hunt with the Kids, today we played party games (Pass the Parcel was such an Alien concept at first!!)
It's clearly been the best 10 weeks of my life (cliche or what?!) and I'm sure I'll blog my post trip thoughts when I get back (It'll be a long post I'm sure) but for now I'd just like to leave you with a short story from today.
Over the 10 weeks we've gotten really close to our community (much closer than the other 5 teams) partially because our construction project allowed for this. Yesterday our hole was 100000% finished and so today it dawned on the community that we were finally going home. The widow whose toilet hole we dug broke down physically into tears in sheer sorrow that we were leaving. Other members of the community were crying too and offered words that were both encouraging and saddening. I think we'll be remembered in a tiny Indian village named Malainta for many many many years because of the toilet we've left behind ( In the words of one village teenage: "We will know that India is a developed country when every house has a toilet") but I'd like to also think we'll be remembered for our being there. When Brother Andrew visited churches in the Eastern Block during Communist times one preist remarked " It's not your sermons that make a difference here: it's your being here" and I'd like to think the same applied to us.
See you all very soon!
Love,
Callum x
Wednesday, 16 December 2009
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
The Last Crusade...
Good evening all!
How's is going?
It's a very strange thought that this time in 2 weeks I'll be somewhere over Europe on an aeroplane. Things are coming to a close and we're starting to finalise all sorts of things with our classes and rushing to complete construction projects on time because there are no more volunteers coming to this project after us. The sadness of it all was that last night was the final time that we'd experience the creme de la creme of Indian cuisine that only rolls around once on the two week food cycle...
CHIP NIGHT!
Not such a shame really eh!? The past week's been pretty productive (no weddings!) at work. I did a fruit day with my class last Thursday. The "curriculum" says that they should know the names of fruit etc. so I bought a load of fruit so they could taste it at the same time. I even bought fruits that I'd never tried before such as guava (YUM!) because what are expensive, exotic fruits at home are just the norm in India ( 4 Rs for a guava- that's like 5p and I think that they're at least 70p at home!). I thought that the best way to teach the names of the fruit was to write the name on the board, say it, have the class repeat it and then when they could successfully repeat the name then they get to eat the fruit. This method worked great through all 9 fruits, until we arrived at the 10th fruit. The dialogue goes as follows:
Me: Okay Bulo (say) "Pomegrannate"
Class: (Silence)
Me: Suno Suno (listen) "Po-me-gran-nate"
Class: Sir Ji....
Me: "P-o-me-g-r-a-nn-a-t-e"
Class: P-P-Po..... Anar!! (Anar is the Hindi word for pommegranate)
The last two days have been spent not at work, but instead doing International Development sessions. At first I kind of felt abit opposed to this, after all I wanted to just get on with the work but now I see the point because I've been able to relate the Mellenium Development Goals to the people I work with and the community in which I work. The farmer whose crops harvest too soon, the girls who don't come to school because they have to work in a gender imbalanced society, the family who took an 1100 Rs loan to cover their daughters medical treatment all make sense when we look at development in the wider context.
In other news, we discovered a tiny, backstreet, dirty spoon style cafe round the corner that does the BEST SAMOSAS IN THE WORLD for just 5Rs. The sun is still shining (although it's getting abit cooler again) and I'm still amazed at God's creation every time I look out the window and see the snow capped Himalayas. That view will never grow old.
Love and blessing!
Callum x
P.S. Both photos are taken from outside our house...
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Nothing Much...
Hey everybody!
While changing earlier, I noticed the huge tan lines I'm getting... Tan lines in December?!?!
Anyways, things in India remain pretty fine and dandy!
Havn't got enough time to update you on my week, so I thought I'd leave you with a couple of pictures from today and yesterday :-)
Callum <><
Monday, 30 November 2009
Eid Mubarak! (Merry Eidmass...)
Hello Friends!
The past few days have been pretty eventful, fun and rewarding! First, let me fill you in on the school beautification project! What was once a drab, dull, building with grey cement walls, prison bar windows and peeling cement has been transformed into a haven of learning, with jungle and ocean themed rooms. The classrooms are, though I say so myself, AMAZING. (See Images below- hopefully they work!) It's amazing what yoyu can do with primary colours, primative paint brushes, a couple of girls who are good at art and a bucketful of enthusiasm.
The past few days have been pretty eventful, fun and rewarding! First, let me fill you in on the school beautification project! What was once a drab, dull, building with grey cement walls, prison bar windows and peeling cement has been transformed into a haven of learning, with jungle and ocean themed rooms. The classrooms are, though I say so myself, AMAZING. (See Images below- hopefully they work!) It's amazing what yoyu can do with primary colours, primative paint brushes, a couple of girls who are good at art and a bucketful of enthusiasm.
Saturday saw the official opening of the classroom which was deffinately an experience! The politician arrived late, looked very uninterested and showed very little enthusiasm to anything. The Himachal Aggricultural Dept. were present at the ceremony also to give out free seeds to farmer (and I think that was what made the ceremony so well attended!). Also at the ceremony we managed to get coaxed into making a speech (I don't know how we did, but we did!) and ended up on local T.V. and in all the local press. Only in India...
As you probably are aware, Saturday was also the Islamic festival of Eid (Eid of Sacrifice- to do with the story of Abraham nearly sacrificing hislong awaited Son Isaac but in the end God spares Abraham the trauma and permits Abraham to sacrafice of a Goat- it appears in Genesis in the Bible). There's 2 Muslims in the house and so we were planning on celebrating Eid the tradtional way-with our own goat sacrifice. This plan fell through at the last minute when the goat seller refused to sell the goat if it was going to be killed so we decided that we'd BBQ chickens instead (don't worry guys- most of us bought our chickens dead, but the Muslim guys did kill their chickens to ensure they were Halaal). We maranaded our chicken Tandori style and cooked it on a fire outside the house, using a gril we made ourselves and served it up with some yummy veg steamed backwards style. I can 100% say that it was the BEST chicken I've EVER EVER EVER eaten and I'll deffinately be whipping it up when I get home. The Eid atmosphere in the house was surprisingly (?!) similar to Christmas and it felt pretty good!
On Sunday a few of us headed out for lunch to quite a posh place in Palampur (if the same restaurant were in England I don't thinkI'd be able to afford to eat there!) and then hung around town for a little while- playing basketball with the kids and learning how to fly traditional Indian kite (it's pretty difficult!) All in all a pretty great weekend!
In other news, I've finally had a shave (I was growing abit of a beard , just to try and prove my masculinity but it wasn't really working for me!) and I'm currently hooked on the T.V. show "24". We've been watching 4 episodes a week for a couple of weeks on DVD and we're currently on episode 13/24. It's really good but addictive. Also, went to yet another wedding today. It's strange that I've been to one English wedding in my whole entire life, but 5 Indian ones in the space of 6 weeks! Can't complain though... the food's good and Indian hospitality is amazing.
Hope everybody's feeling happy, well and blessed by life!
Callum <><
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Paint and Politics.
Good Evening!
How y'all doing?
So far, this week's been pretty rewarding!
We got to school on Monday to find that Saturday's going to be the inauguration of the new classroom (that's been built a couple of years...) and that a top local politician's going to be there. Although we don't normally work Saturdays te teacher was very pesistant that we attend to it looks like this weekend will be full of ceremony! I've found that in India politicians mean alot. Their 'photos are up everywhere and people generally respect them (they've probably not asked about expenses or anything yet...) so it's quite a big deal. Infact our teacher is normally pretty lazy and unmotivated but one wiff of a local big wig and she's pretty enthusiastic. The children have been allowed to skip class to practice traditional singing and dancing and the teacher's even finally agreed to buy some paint so that we can draw pretty pictures on the wall and boy- do the pictures look good! (Although the teacher bought 4 cans of blue , 1 can of brown and a can of red paint- nowhere near enough to do the task in hand so we had to get our own too :-) ) It's incredible what politics does to people.
My class are still cute and has grown by 2 members (that's 100% increase!) although one of them fell, broke her hand and spent a week in hospital and can't come to school for 20 days. Her family have had to gt a loan to cover the crippling 1100Rs (about 150 pound) medical bill, so we're going to see if we can help with that before we go. The other new addition to my class is a persistant homework cheat- she always somehow manages to bribe an older sibling to do it so that she gets 100% and a sticker. But alas, her plan has been foiled. Callum 1. Sneha 0.
Apart from that, the sun is STILL shining (haha.), the food is STILL amazing and everything's pretty good! I hope you're all excited for Christmas (has the Coca-Cola advert started yet?). I'm a tad disappointed that I won't have an advent calander this year!
Love to all,
Callum
How y'all doing?
So far, this week's been pretty rewarding!
We got to school on Monday to find that Saturday's going to be the inauguration of the new classroom (that's been built a couple of years...) and that a top local politician's going to be there. Although we don't normally work Saturdays te teacher was very pesistant that we attend to it looks like this weekend will be full of ceremony! I've found that in India politicians mean alot. Their 'photos are up everywhere and people generally respect them (they've probably not asked about expenses or anything yet...) so it's quite a big deal. Infact our teacher is normally pretty lazy and unmotivated but one wiff of a local big wig and she's pretty enthusiastic. The children have been allowed to skip class to practice traditional singing and dancing and the teacher's even finally agreed to buy some paint so that we can draw pretty pictures on the wall and boy- do the pictures look good! (Although the teacher bought 4 cans of blue , 1 can of brown and a can of red paint- nowhere near enough to do the task in hand so we had to get our own too :-) ) It's incredible what politics does to people.
My class are still cute and has grown by 2 members (that's 100% increase!) although one of them fell, broke her hand and spent a week in hospital and can't come to school for 20 days. Her family have had to gt a loan to cover the crippling 1100Rs (about 150 pound) medical bill, so we're going to see if we can help with that before we go. The other new addition to my class is a persistant homework cheat- she always somehow manages to bribe an older sibling to do it so that she gets 100% and a sticker. But alas, her plan has been foiled. Callum 1. Sneha 0.
Apart from that, the sun is STILL shining (haha.), the food is STILL amazing and everything's pretty good! I hope you're all excited for Christmas (has the Coca-Cola advert started yet?). I'm a tad disappointed that I won't have an advent calander this year!
Love to all,
Callum
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Long Time No See!
Hello!
Firstly, for anybody who may be reading this... sorry it's been 11 days since we last met but last weekend there were so many lighting storms (a fork landed right next to us- near death experience!) that the internet modem blew and so we've been without internet all week.
The last 11 days have flew by pretty quickly. You have to be really careful here that you stop and pause occassionally because everything's so go go go! If you're not careful you'll miss out. Last weekend was our first long weekend so we went to Kangra for a night. We got the bus after work (in the dark- what an adventure!) and rolled up in Kangra at around 8.00. After abit of haggling over a hotel room for the 6 of us (we're getting good at it- the tourist board price for the room was 1100 Rs... we paid 500 ;-) ) we checked out the town, got invited to a rather glamourous wedding (as you do), declined aforementioned invite and then got some rather yummy tea.
The next day, we planned to visit the historical Kangra Fort and Temple however the weather was shocking! I've noticed that India's a country of extreemes and the weather is no exception. Unable to venture much further than the bus station we decided to save the fort for another day and so headed up to McLeod Ganjj again (I've blogged about it before- it's the place where the Dahli Lama lives in excile). I really like McLeod-- it's full of backpackers, volunteers, and even some people who went for a holiday in the 80's but never made it home. After trudging about in the rain for a little while to secure an even better deal on a hotel room we headed out for some food. (You knew it was coming....) We went to a little Itallian restaurant called Jimmy's that we found last time, which became our eaterie of choice for the whole weekend. Seeing as I like food so much I'll reel off what I had to eat at Jimmy's (over the course of three meals, naturally)
* 4 Cups of Ginger, Honey and Lemmon tea
* 2 lemmon Ice Tea's
*2 Pepsi's
* Chicken and Mushroom Alfredo Penni Pasta
*Garlic Bread with Cheese
*Minestrone Soup
*Chicken in White sauce with mashed potatoe and steamed veg
*Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream
*Hash Browns
* American waffle with Maple Syrup and Ice Cream
* Fresh fruit Salad with honey and Yoghurt and Museli
And the amount of money I spent at Jimmy's? Just over 900 Rs (around a tenner!)
We met loads of different people from all over the world in McLeod including 2 Australlian Girls, a Canadian guy who used to live round the corner from where Berri lives in Chester, and a German couple- one of whom was on the national Skiing team. I'd also like to add at this point that my German's not turned as bad as I feared it may have- Frau Spreeman would be proud!
On the Sunday we headed up to the waterfall in McLeod (breathtaking), did some shopping, ate more food and then got a great deal on a Taxi back home. (Every deal's a great deal.. right?)
Work this week's been pretty good. Construction was difficult at the beginning of the week because of the previously mentioned weather but the weather's back to good old sun so it's all good. The children in my class are getting better and better at English and both got 90%+ on this week's test which was a very proud moment! Went to another wedding this week which was even better than the last one, even though I did eat a particularly hot green chilly whole and got laughed at by the kids in my class who were also present!
This weekend we went back to McLeod Ganjj, met up with some of the friends we made last weekend and did abit of Christmas shopping. (It's far less stressful here!)
So as you can see... everything's great here! Had abit of a cough this week but Indian herbal honey cough medicine did the trick. We're more than half way through already... doesn't time fly.
Sorry about the mammoth post... I did try to be brief!
Love to all,
Callum <><
Firstly, for anybody who may be reading this... sorry it's been 11 days since we last met but last weekend there were so many lighting storms (a fork landed right next to us- near death experience!) that the internet modem blew and so we've been without internet all week.
The last 11 days have flew by pretty quickly. You have to be really careful here that you stop and pause occassionally because everything's so go go go! If you're not careful you'll miss out. Last weekend was our first long weekend so we went to Kangra for a night. We got the bus after work (in the dark- what an adventure!) and rolled up in Kangra at around 8.00. After abit of haggling over a hotel room for the 6 of us (we're getting good at it- the tourist board price for the room was 1100 Rs... we paid 500 ;-) ) we checked out the town, got invited to a rather glamourous wedding (as you do), declined aforementioned invite and then got some rather yummy tea.
The next day, we planned to visit the historical Kangra Fort and Temple however the weather was shocking! I've noticed that India's a country of extreemes and the weather is no exception. Unable to venture much further than the bus station we decided to save the fort for another day and so headed up to McLeod Ganjj again (I've blogged about it before- it's the place where the Dahli Lama lives in excile). I really like McLeod-- it's full of backpackers, volunteers, and even some people who went for a holiday in the 80's but never made it home. After trudging about in the rain for a little while to secure an even better deal on a hotel room we headed out for some food. (You knew it was coming....) We went to a little Itallian restaurant called Jimmy's that we found last time, which became our eaterie of choice for the whole weekend. Seeing as I like food so much I'll reel off what I had to eat at Jimmy's (over the course of three meals, naturally)
* 4 Cups of Ginger, Honey and Lemmon tea
* 2 lemmon Ice Tea's
*2 Pepsi's
* Chicken and Mushroom Alfredo Penni Pasta
*Garlic Bread with Cheese
*Minestrone Soup
*Chicken in White sauce with mashed potatoe and steamed veg
*Chocolate Brownie with Ice Cream
*Hash Browns
* American waffle with Maple Syrup and Ice Cream
* Fresh fruit Salad with honey and Yoghurt and Museli
And the amount of money I spent at Jimmy's? Just over 900 Rs (around a tenner!)
We met loads of different people from all over the world in McLeod including 2 Australlian Girls, a Canadian guy who used to live round the corner from where Berri lives in Chester, and a German couple- one of whom was on the national Skiing team. I'd also like to add at this point that my German's not turned as bad as I feared it may have- Frau Spreeman would be proud!
On the Sunday we headed up to the waterfall in McLeod (breathtaking), did some shopping, ate more food and then got a great deal on a Taxi back home. (Every deal's a great deal.. right?)
Work this week's been pretty good. Construction was difficult at the beginning of the week because of the previously mentioned weather but the weather's back to good old sun so it's all good. The children in my class are getting better and better at English and both got 90%+ on this week's test which was a very proud moment! Went to another wedding this week which was even better than the last one, even though I did eat a particularly hot green chilly whole and got laughed at by the kids in my class who were also present!
This weekend we went back to McLeod Ganjj, met up with some of the friends we made last weekend and did abit of Christmas shopping. (It's far less stressful here!)
So as you can see... everything's great here! Had abit of a cough this week but Indian herbal honey cough medicine did the trick. We're more than half way through already... doesn't time fly.
Sorry about the mammoth post... I did try to be brief!
Love to all,
Callum <><
Wednesday, 11 November 2009
Pride Before a Fall...
Hello Readers!
How's everybody doing?
There's that expression, 'Pride comes before a fal' and I must admit that I've been very gloating in the Indian weather of late. As the saying would suggest things have meterologically changed here (briefly, I hasten to add) and we woke up on Monday morning to rain, heavy rain, wind, very fast wind, coldness and rain; a stark contrast to the sunburn acquired by many the day before! We braved the elements to go to work, although the bus could only manage to take us half way. Waterproofs donned we trudged through mud to make it to school where we found around half the children had made it in and were huddled together in a classroom getting smoked out by the fire while the teacher warmed herself. Since starting work I've never felt sorry for the children before- they're happy, playful, intellegent but just lack excess money, however on Monday, seeing them shivvering away with runny noses and woolley hats really tugged my heart strings.
Needless to say, a couple of rounds of the Okey Kokey and all was well with the world.
Sorry for the short update- computer time is scarce!
Callum <><
P.S The weather's back to full on Sun now and the mountains are snowcapped.... bliss.
How's everybody doing?
There's that expression, 'Pride comes before a fal' and I must admit that I've been very gloating in the Indian weather of late. As the saying would suggest things have meterologically changed here (briefly, I hasten to add) and we woke up on Monday morning to rain, heavy rain, wind, very fast wind, coldness and rain; a stark contrast to the sunburn acquired by many the day before! We braved the elements to go to work, although the bus could only manage to take us half way. Waterproofs donned we trudged through mud to make it to school where we found around half the children had made it in and were huddled together in a classroom getting smoked out by the fire while the teacher warmed herself. Since starting work I've never felt sorry for the children before- they're happy, playful, intellegent but just lack excess money, however on Monday, seeing them shivvering away with runny noses and woolley hats really tugged my heart strings.
Needless to say, a couple of rounds of the Okey Kokey and all was well with the world.
Sorry for the short update- computer time is scarce!
Callum <><
P.S The weather's back to full on Sun now and the mountains are snowcapped.... bliss.
Friday, 6 November 2009
Remember Remember the Sixth of November??
Good Evening!
Firstly I hear that the weather in England isn't so great. I wouldn't like you to think that I was sitting here in totally amazing weather. No, that's right... the weather isn't perfect here. Today- there was a cloud. (for at least five minutes anyway...).
It feels like this weeks been quite short. Monday was a teaching-free day due to a Public Holiday for a Sikh Guru and today was teach-free to do the first part of our evaluation and lesson plans etc. Apart from that, it's been a really productive week at work (despite illness and losing team members to another school for part of the week). My class are now all fully able to recognise colours (although yellow sometimes becomes blue...) and one girl can even spell black! Progress! :p
As for the toilet building project... the pit is now around 5ft deep and so it's fun getting in and out. The lady whom we're digging for made us some pretty delicious Indian cake stuff on Thursday (which is really kind considering she had to feed her family and herself for less than 600 Rs / 7.50 a month!). I'd heard about Indian hospitality before I came here, but I never knew it would be this good! You can walk down the street and be offered back to somebody's house for tea and whenever you visit somebody you can be sure to leave refreshed. I really like this about India, although I'm pretty sure if I started inviting randomers for tea back home in England I'd gtet some strange looks!
Last night was a Bonfire Night with a difference. Rather than doning the waterproofs and attending a windy, cold, very busy, council run, public firework display (haha...) we set off the leftovers of our Diwali Fireworks. I'm pretty sure these sort of fireworks wouldn't even be allowed in England on the grounds of health and safety but in trusty old India there's no such concept! Here, if a firework explodes in your hand, it's not due to there being a large quantity of explosive inside, or a lack of taper. It's because you were stupid enough to allow it to explode in your hand.
Nothing much else to report. The other boy's room had a monkey attack today, the sun's still shining and I'm off on an adventure this weekend... but that's all I can say about that (Mum will have a heart attack.,. hahaha). I'll report back on it next week sometime... if I'm alive!
Love,
Callum <><
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Hello World...
Not much to report today, however I thought you may be missing a good Callum Joke... so here it is...
Q: Why did the Scarecrow win a Nobel Prize?
..
....
.......
..............
A: For being out-standing in his field.
Haha?
Callum x
Q: Why did the Scarecrow win a Nobel Prize?
..
....
.......
..............
A: For being out-standing in his field.
Haha?
Callum x
Sunday, 1 November 2009
A Sunday Stroll in the Park...
Hello one and all!
Writing to you at the end of a rather good weekend! We only work half day on a Friday (we don't just skive and drink Chai in the afternoon though- there's lessons to be planned!) which is probably a good thing because I was getting a little annoyed with the class on Friday morning. For the first time I actually felt like a teacher and was really disappointed when nobody had done their homework or got higher than 9/30 on the weekly test! Now I can truly understand when teachers in the UK get annoyed when students don't do homework- it really messes the lesson plan up! Either way, my annoyed-ness didn't last long as it's very hard to be angry with the cutest kids in the world.
So, after an afternoon of meetings and planning was the social event that everybody had been waiting for- the inter-school volunteer Pub Quiz (minus the Pub) organized by moi. Feedback was pretty good, and it was very close at the top although it did get very heated at one point with an argument between arch rivals Drovi and Malenta (my school) over suspected cheating!
On Saturday 35 of the volunteers went to McLeod Ganj (where I went last weekend) and a group of us decided that we'd avoid the crowds and do some local sightseeing (which proved to be a very wise choice!) We headed to Baijna to Lord Shiva's 1500 year old temple (13 Rs / 16p for the 45 min bus ride- I'm going to be so heartbroken paying Arriva prices!) which was very nice, although much like all of the other Hindu temples that are here but older! After a lush lunch of Chilli Mushrooms (I resisted the meat- but did have french fries on the side...) we headed back into Palampur, had a look around and then took the 40 minute stroll back to the house.
Today 5 of the Male species decided to go for a stroll / ramble / hike / mountaineering expedition up a nearby waterfall. After initial confusion with a Taxi driver we ending up starting off in the wrong place, but it was amazing nontheless (see the photos above). The waterfall itself was beautiful and the terrain was very hilly and high. We took some potatoes with us , lit a fire and the end result was a pile of beautiful jacket potatoes Ray Mears style.On the way back we took a short cut and came accross a little village where the people were living in tents on the side of the hill. The children were playing happily, the parents looked like normal parents but still- it doesn't quite seem like justice.
And so here endeth the lesson! That's my weekend in less than 500 words! I don't have much else to report, although I did get into all my univeristy places for next year so now need to decide where to go (although I may not go yet... gap years are fun!). Also, there's no school tomorrow (public holiday) so that means some time for community visits which should be pretty cool!
Hope all is well in England. Don't let rain or cold get you down, know that it's sunny somewhere :)
Callum x
p.s. you may get a sore neck looking a the photos because I can't get them to rotate... sorry! xx
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Chilli Chicken...
Hello Everybody!
Things are much the same over here... Amazing sunrises over the mountains, The commute through the hills by bus (traffic on the commute was bad today... we got held up by a tractor), the glourious sun (but no humidity), the excellent food, the tasty chai, the cute Kids.... and the list continues (jealous??!)
I don't like to talk about food much (it's not a reoccuring theme of this Blog...) but the veggi stuff can get a little same old same old, so last night, the volunteer house tried something a little bit different...
CHILLI CHICKEN
from the take-a-way in Palampur. They say that eating Indian meat is a bit like playing Russian Roulette (because they don't know how to cook it etc etc) but last night was deffinately a winner!
Anyways... must go... it's time for tea (Veg.!) and need to put a jumper on (although it's hot in the day the nights are BALTIC- the jumpers that Ian and Louise gave me have came in very useful!)
Love,
Callum
p.s. a little picture of my smiling face so that you can see I'm well and not too tanned.
Monday, 26 October 2009
Chips Glourious Chips!
Good Evening!
Things here in lil' old India have been go go go! Went away to Dharamsala / Mcleod on for the weekend. We managed to get a Taxi for the 90 minute journey for 800 Rs (approx 9quid) for 11 of us and then found a lovely little guest house for 120Rs p.p (like 1.50!!). Dharamasala is pretty busy but Mcleod which is 9km up the mountain is much nicer, if not a little touristy. There's a large Tibetan community there, because it's where the Dalai Lama lives in Excile. We just spent the afternoon looking around the town, getting Traveller's Cheques changed (it's the only place within 75 KM that does them so i felt very rich with a huge wad of notes!) and looking around the temple (unfortunately Mr. Lama wasn't available for a private audience...) Then, after a hearty meal of CHICKEN (YAY!!! AT LAST!!!) we hit the town (overstatement really...) and spent some time in a cool rooftop bar, followed by a pretty dodgy nightclub filled with Tibetan men.
After a lush freshfruit and pancake breakfast, followed by a couple of people with food poisoning, we headed back down to Palampur. It was really strange because I still got that 'Sunday Night' feeling where you know you have to be up for work the next morning! Last night was pretty chilly- we can feel the winter setting in! However during the day it's still pretty warm- but not too hot!
Today half of my class was missing (i.e. 1 person- there's only 15 people in the whole school!) so I just went over colours with Sahil (the little boy). This quick revision exercise of last week's worked soon turned into a full hour of learning- I'm finding it frustrating when things just don't stick sometimes! That said, I'm still pretty impressed that a 6 year old boy, whose first language is a Tribal language, his second is Hindi and then his third is English but he can still hold a conversation and count to six million and thirty three (hyperbole- he does get abit stuck on any number ending in -9 and any number that begins in F sounds like P e.g. Pifty One, Pifty Two etc etc)
During construction thisafternoon some of the local ladies came to give us a hand. They rolled up with their pick axes and we were half expecting these middle aged, underfed ladies to slow us down. Boy were we wrong! They wiped the floor with us! They could handle a pick axe and shovel far better than us (or any other English builder I've seen for that matter- they didn't stop for Tea / Chai breaks every 30 mins!)
The highlight of today was deffinately the food though (for a change...) The wonderful event that occurs only once every fortnight. The event that has 43 westerners in suspense. The evening that turns us to animals, fighting for food. The event that is....
CHIP NIGHT!!!
And oh they were so good!
Speak to you all soon, do leave a comment!
Callum x
P.S. The picture's pretty much the view from the window... jealous?
Friday, 23 October 2009
Here Comes the Bride...
Hello World!
I'm getting abit too good at this Blog updating malarky at the moment!
There's not all that much to report from today- except for the teacher cancelled School (yeah- they can just cancel school here) without taking into consideration the fact that I'd spent an hour preparing a test for my class (The kids won't escape though- they can have it on Monday! haha). Instead of school we just casually rocked up at a local wedding...
Weddings here are much different to English weddings (possibly an understatement) and the wedding party actually felt honoured to have us there as opposed to us feeling honoured that 7 westerners would be allowed to show up attheir special day. The bride is paraded in on a sort of stretcher covered in a veil and then she sits in a dark room for the rest of the festivities with only a select few (including us!) permitted to see her face. After this comes the food. I may have mentioned in several past posts that the food here is good, however the food at this wedding was the Creme de la Creme of food. There were dishes upon dishes upon dishes served to us as we sat cross legged in rows with leaves as plates. Stephen and Louisa should deffinately take note of this for their upcoming wedding!
This afternoon was spent in meetings and doing lesson plans. Lesson plans are proving to be pretty difficult because nobody seems to really know what the curriculum is so it's pretty much a do what you think's best approach. So next week it's going to be a full exegesis on War and Peace (or days of the week- whichever I'm feeling at the time.)
For Now.. Aacha Ji!
Callum <><
I'm getting abit too good at this Blog updating malarky at the moment!
There's not all that much to report from today- except for the teacher cancelled School (yeah- they can just cancel school here) without taking into consideration the fact that I'd spent an hour preparing a test for my class (The kids won't escape though- they can have it on Monday! haha). Instead of school we just casually rocked up at a local wedding...
Weddings here are much different to English weddings (possibly an understatement) and the wedding party actually felt honoured to have us there as opposed to us feeling honoured that 7 westerners would be allowed to show up attheir special day. The bride is paraded in on a sort of stretcher covered in a veil and then she sits in a dark room for the rest of the festivities with only a select few (including us!) permitted to see her face. After this comes the food. I may have mentioned in several past posts that the food here is good, however the food at this wedding was the Creme de la Creme of food. There were dishes upon dishes upon dishes served to us as we sat cross legged in rows with leaves as plates. Stephen and Louisa should deffinately take note of this for their upcoming wedding!
This afternoon was spent in meetings and doing lesson plans. Lesson plans are proving to be pretty difficult because nobody seems to really know what the curriculum is so it's pretty much a do what you think's best approach. So next week it's going to be a full exegesis on War and Peace (or days of the week- whichever I'm feeling at the time.)
For Now.. Aacha Ji!
Callum <><
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Blog Posts are like Busses...
Hello World!
After no update for a whole week two come along at the same time! How's that eh?!
Breakfast this morning was Bannana Pancakes so it was clear that today was going to be great (it's hard to imagine how a day in themountains couldn't be good!?)and the weather remains glouriously clear and sunny but not too hot which makes it a fantastic climate for us westerners (though the locals are starting to find it chilly).This morning's lesson went really well; I'm teaching my class colours, days of the week and addition at the moment and the lessons are intertwined with outbursts of Duck Duck Goose and the Okey Kokey (or Okey Kokey Dokey as some of the children call it). The children are taught in millitary parrot fashion by their Indian teacher so the funny thing is that while they know all of the col0urs and all of the days of the week they are unable to match the word to the idea and so are totally unaware that the sky is blue or that tomorrow will be Friday.
After lunch, which was eaten in possibly the most scenic place I've ever eaten a picnic, we completed the playground drainage system (a.k.a large trenches) that we started yesterday and then cleared away some solidified mud from the front of the school to tidy it up abit. We finished in plenty of time and so were able to paddle for a little while in the waterfall that's next to the school while we waited for the bus to pick us up at 4pm. However, things in India happen very spontaneously and at 3.55pm the widdow whose toilet we're building next week (she's pretty young, with 5 kids and earns 700 Rs a month- around 8 pounds) came over to speak to us and invite us to her house for Chai- an offer that we couldn't refuse! This made us very late and the bus driver and the girls from the woman's empowerment course who share our bus weren't so impressed!
I think we're going to be going away at the weekend to Dharamshala (wherethe Dahli Lama lives in excile) because it's the closest place that we can find to cash traveller's cheques and there'll hopefully belots of meat :-) The food here is fantastic but I can't help but crave some chicken! Hopefully I'll be able to update soon!
You've been a wonderful audience... that's all folks!
Love,
Callum <><
After no update for a whole week two come along at the same time! How's that eh?!
Breakfast this morning was Bannana Pancakes so it was clear that today was going to be great (it's hard to imagine how a day in themountains couldn't be good!?)and the weather remains glouriously clear and sunny but not too hot which makes it a fantastic climate for us westerners (though the locals are starting to find it chilly).This morning's lesson went really well; I'm teaching my class colours, days of the week and addition at the moment and the lessons are intertwined with outbursts of Duck Duck Goose and the Okey Kokey (or Okey Kokey Dokey as some of the children call it). The children are taught in millitary parrot fashion by their Indian teacher so the funny thing is that while they know all of the col0urs and all of the days of the week they are unable to match the word to the idea and so are totally unaware that the sky is blue or that tomorrow will be Friday.
After lunch, which was eaten in possibly the most scenic place I've ever eaten a picnic, we completed the playground drainage system (a.k.a large trenches) that we started yesterday and then cleared away some solidified mud from the front of the school to tidy it up abit. We finished in plenty of time and so were able to paddle for a little while in the waterfall that's next to the school while we waited for the bus to pick us up at 4pm. However, things in India happen very spontaneously and at 3.55pm the widdow whose toilet we're building next week (she's pretty young, with 5 kids and earns 700 Rs a month- around 8 pounds) came over to speak to us and invite us to her house for Chai- an offer that we couldn't refuse! This made us very late and the bus driver and the girls from the woman's empowerment course who share our bus weren't so impressed!
I think we're going to be going away at the weekend to Dharamshala (wherethe Dahli Lama lives in excile) because it's the closest place that we can find to cash traveller's cheques and there'll hopefully belots of meat :-) The food here is fantastic but I can't help but crave some chicken! Hopefully I'll be able to update soon!
You've been a wonderful audience... that's all folks!
Love,
Callum <><
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Good Morning India!
Hello Folks!
Firstly, appologies for the delay in getting a Blog post up... you'll soon realise (just like I have) that things in India happen pretty slowly, crazily, lately but always interestingly! My journal is pretty packed at the moment- there's so much going on all the time so I'll present you with an abridged version of the past week's events in order to bring you up to speed!!
'Breakfast Over Afghanistan'
Last Tuesday's flight was mental in every sense of the word. Firstly, I met Jodie (fellow P2er) in London at 5p to head over to Heathrow together (we had to be there around 1830) wich gave us 90 minutes to make a 45 minute tube journey. However, TFL had other ideas and at 7.50pm we were still stuck 12 stops from Heathrow with no guarentee of getting there any time before 9.00 which meant I was very close tyo not making it here in the first place! However, 50 pound later and some sharp negotiating with a shifty Taxi driver we made it just in time at 8.25. The upside of being slightly late to check in for a full flight was that we got upgraded to extra legroom seats with cool TVs :-)
The flight was otherwise cold, dry and slightly uncomfortable and I can now say that I've eaten Scrambled Eggs and a funny looking sausage over Afghanistan.
'Bus of Death'
Upon arrival in Delhi we were met by some Idex reps. We then went outside and saw a lovely, large, air conditioned coach right in front of us only to be informed that our coach / bus / mobile shed was was parked round the corner and that all 43 of us would be sardined in to it and the luggage would be securely tied to the roof… with a bit of string. The bus ride was most definitely the worst part of the whole experience so far; the heat, the squashing and the length (The journey estimation was 6 hours in India time- or 9 hours in real time!) Upon arrival in Jaipur we were split into our host family groups and Frank and I were allotted the lovely Rita and Rakesh who lived with their children (and servant!!!) in quite a nice district. The Tuc-Tuc there was way better than anything at Alton Towers
'Jaipur'
The next few days were spent watching Bollywood Movies, shopping, having sweaty meetings at the IDEX (in-country NGO) office, and elephant riding at the Amber Fort. We were very lucky to be in India for Diwali and so the whole of the City was covered with fairy lights and children (or mini-terrorists as one person described them) setting off very powerful fireworks all over the city. After 3 days we embarked upon the mammoth 16 hour train journey to Himachel which was surprisingly fun! My preconception was a cockroach infested plastic bed with dim lights and lots and lots of people- but the reality was quite the converse and it was really good to meet some of the other 42 volunteers.
'The Adventure Begins…'
So, here we are in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh and the local area is simply awe inspiring. We're surrounded by the Himalayas and monkeys. The house is huge and everybody's getting on really well. I got the class that I would be teaching yesterday (Class 2- 7 year olds) and we had our first lesson this morning. It's very weird because they're not so used to Westerners up here so we get lots of stairs and random people coming to practice their English and we carry an almost celebrity status among the children, who are very cute, very chatty, very playful but very very very poor. This afternoon we began our first construction project- building a drainage system on the playground so that the children can play in somewhere that's not a mud pit. It's hard work and the tools are primitive but it's highly rewarding. The food here is FANTASTIC and I can't get enough of it (I anticipate that I'll put a stone on- all of which will be muscle from the digging :p )
I hope I'll be able to update the blog more regularly and in bit more detail ( I didn't fancy swarming you with the millions of stories and adventures that have occurred- it'd be a really long post!) and that somebody out there is reading it! I've taken loads of great pictures and hopefully you'll get to see them too! Best go for a cup of Chai and to watch the sunset and the stars… jealous?
Callum ><(((:>
P.S. Here's a photo of the house..
Firstly, appologies for the delay in getting a Blog post up... you'll soon realise (just like I have) that things in India happen pretty slowly, crazily, lately but always interestingly! My journal is pretty packed at the moment- there's so much going on all the time so I'll present you with an abridged version of the past week's events in order to bring you up to speed!!
'Breakfast Over Afghanistan'
Last Tuesday's flight was mental in every sense of the word. Firstly, I met Jodie (fellow P2er) in London at 5p to head over to Heathrow together (we had to be there around 1830) wich gave us 90 minutes to make a 45 minute tube journey. However, TFL had other ideas and at 7.50pm we were still stuck 12 stops from Heathrow with no guarentee of getting there any time before 9.00 which meant I was very close tyo not making it here in the first place! However, 50 pound later and some sharp negotiating with a shifty Taxi driver we made it just in time at 8.25. The upside of being slightly late to check in for a full flight was that we got upgraded to extra legroom seats with cool TVs :-)
The flight was otherwise cold, dry and slightly uncomfortable and I can now say that I've eaten Scrambled Eggs and a funny looking sausage over Afghanistan.
'Bus of Death'
Upon arrival in Delhi we were met by some Idex reps. We then went outside and saw a lovely, large, air conditioned coach right in front of us only to be informed that our coach / bus / mobile shed was was parked round the corner and that all 43 of us would be sardined in to it and the luggage would be securely tied to the roof… with a bit of string. The bus ride was most definitely the worst part of the whole experience so far; the heat, the squashing and the length (The journey estimation was 6 hours in India time- or 9 hours in real time!) Upon arrival in Jaipur we were split into our host family groups and Frank and I were allotted the lovely Rita and Rakesh who lived with their children (and servant!!!) in quite a nice district. The Tuc-Tuc there was way better than anything at Alton Towers
'Jaipur'
The next few days were spent watching Bollywood Movies, shopping, having sweaty meetings at the IDEX (in-country NGO) office, and elephant riding at the Amber Fort. We were very lucky to be in India for Diwali and so the whole of the City was covered with fairy lights and children (or mini-terrorists as one person described them) setting off very powerful fireworks all over the city. After 3 days we embarked upon the mammoth 16 hour train journey to Himachel which was surprisingly fun! My preconception was a cockroach infested plastic bed with dim lights and lots and lots of people- but the reality was quite the converse and it was really good to meet some of the other 42 volunteers.
'The Adventure Begins…'
So, here we are in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh and the local area is simply awe inspiring. We're surrounded by the Himalayas and monkeys. The house is huge and everybody's getting on really well. I got the class that I would be teaching yesterday (Class 2- 7 year olds) and we had our first lesson this morning. It's very weird because they're not so used to Westerners up here so we get lots of stairs and random people coming to practice their English and we carry an almost celebrity status among the children, who are very cute, very chatty, very playful but very very very poor. This afternoon we began our first construction project- building a drainage system on the playground so that the children can play in somewhere that's not a mud pit. It's hard work and the tools are primitive but it's highly rewarding. The food here is FANTASTIC and I can't get enough of it (I anticipate that I'll put a stone on- all of which will be muscle from the digging :p )
I hope I'll be able to update the blog more regularly and in bit more detail ( I didn't fancy swarming you with the millions of stories and adventures that have occurred- it'd be a really long post!) and that somebody out there is reading it! I've taken loads of great pictures and hopefully you'll get to see them too! Best go for a cup of Chai and to watch the sunset and the stars… jealous?
Callum ><(((:>
P.S. Here's a photo of the house..
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
So We'll Start at the Very Beginning (It's a very good place to start...)
Hello Cyberspace!
This is not my first dabble at 'Blogging', it is in fact my third. However the previous two attempts both crumbled into a mess of cyber dust and so herewith the third attempt!
Blogging this time has more of a purpose though. Here, I hope to document and report back on the adventure I'm about to embark on in one weeks time to India... which is very exciting stuff!
And so ladies and gentlemen please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. Please ensure that your seat back and folding trays are in their full upright position and let's get ready to rumble...
Callum <>< x
This is not my first dabble at 'Blogging', it is in fact my third. However the previous two attempts both crumbled into a mess of cyber dust and so herewith the third attempt!
Blogging this time has more of a purpose though. Here, I hope to document and report back on the adventure I'm about to embark on in one weeks time to India... which is very exciting stuff!
And so ladies and gentlemen please take your seat and fasten your seat belt. Please ensure that your seat back and folding trays are in their full upright position and let's get ready to rumble...
Callum <>< x
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