Hi Everyone!

Well today is Friday already, and another week has passed. Your on holidays today Mum! Make the most of it!

We have had a fairly lazy week - on Wednesday night we went and stayed with a family who are Fr Thomas' cousins. Lizzie and Saban are the Mum and Dad and the boy, Nithin, is 19 and the girl, Neethu, is 16. Everyone here is so pushy and in your face! Within minutes, I was Neethu's best friend and sister. I had never even met her before, and yet we slept in the same bed and she wanted to know everything about me. People ask such personal questions here - and they don't even think twice about it. Maybe it's just the culture, but I'm not sure if I like it!

Anyway, it was ok. There was also a priest staying at the house, and he is in charge of an orphange. He took me to visit the orphanage. There were 52 girls living there. It was really sad. They had never ever seen a white person in their lives before - and they were absolutely ecstatic to see me!

Fr Zachariah, the priest, rang ahead to say I was coming. We drove there in the jeep with no doors, and when I arrived, they were all sitting in the school room waiting for me. When I walked through the door, they jumped out of their seats and their eyes doubled in size. It was so funny! I went and shook each girls hand and asked their name. Some girls then danced for me and sang, and then I told them some things about my life in Australia. They asked some questions and then I read them a couple of paragraphs from one of their books, so they could hear my pronunciation. It was such a nice experience.

When I got home, we had dinner. This was about 6 different curries, with chappati bread. Yum! I love all the breads here. At Fr Thomas', we have rice and curry for breakfast, lunch and tea. After dinner, we chatted for a while before heading to bed.

The next morning, I was supposed to go to mass with them, but they didn't wake me up so I left it. It is in Malayalam, so I wouldn't understand anyway. Sunday's are enough for me! Fr Thomas is going to say mass for me in English sometimes I think.

That day, Thursday (yest), we then went for a bit of a drive around the district. We went to a place where a temple is being built (Hindu). It was really interesting. They have been working on it for six years already and aren't anywhere near being finished. The work and sculpturing was amazing though. I now see why it takes 30 odd years to build a temple! We then visited Neethu and Nithin's grandmother and cousins. They showed me all of their pets and the well in their back yard where they get all of their water from.

After this, we went back to Fr Thomas'. I had (another) afternoon sleep, before writing out gift lists etc. You wouldn't believe that for all the gifts I brought, I'm still gonna run a bit short! Oh well.

Last night I chatted with Fr Thomas for a couple of hours. He is so happy to have me here.

There are so many things about this country that is so different to ours. They say you either love it or hate it. Well... I think I love it... except for when I hate it! I have had such a good time experiencing everything, but there are so many things that just don't fit here. Like the advertising for instance. All of the street signs and signs in shops all have (white) girls wearing skimpier clothing than would ever be allowed in Australia - and yet if the women here dare wear anything less than a sari or this other suit thing they wear - they would be in big trouble. It's pretty funny though - when I was in Madras, I saw an after dark shop - and it was very similar to an Adult Shop in Australia. It only sold clothes, but it was really funny, because there were all muslim women in the shop with the burkas on. It's hard to imagine them dressing down when they cover so much up!

I saw a sign for a call centre. It said: 'Want to spoke good english? Join a call centre today'! No wonder they speak such good english!

There is no such thing as social welfare here - your children are expected to support you until you die and the youngest child inherits everything here.

Every shop has a security guard out the front. The bank guards have huge guns at the ready.

Men commonly hold hands here. It looks so funny! Husband and wife are not allowed to show any connection at all in public - and yet two men will walk down the street hand in hand!

After each meal at a restaurant, they give you fennel. It tastes a bit minty and aids in digestion. I don't like it though.

Animals here are treated terribly. Everyone owns a dog, but they live a cages about 1x1.5m and never get let out.

Here in Kerala, no-one is homeless. All the kids go to school, and a lot is expected of them. Kevin, Fr Thomas' nephew, didn't get 100% in his last exam. So Thomas and John (his father) went up to the school to talk to the teacher about him. Because he didn't get 100%! He was so upset, and I really felt for him - I used to hate it when my Mum went up to the school as well!

Fr Thomas' mum is 95. She is a very simple lady who is set in her ways. She has each meal at an exact time, and between meals she just prays. Fr Thomas brings her communion every day.

Fr Thomas' family, as most families here do, have a servant. Her name is Mani. I feel sorry for her too! Servants get paid about 1500Rs per month. That is $45 for full time work. She cooks every meal (over a fire-oven), washes up and does all the cleaning. I'm not even supposed to take my plates to the kitchen - she takes everything to the table, and clears everythings off. I still help her when I can get away with it. What a terrible life!

No-one really talks to her unless they are telling her what to do. It is so sad. It is things like this that I hate about India. Maybe they are much more advanced in the technological area than Australia - but what good is that when people are still servants, and others live on the street unable to feed their kids?

Anyway, I must go,

I do believe that Nan will be reading this. Hi Nan! And everybody else too! I am missing you lots and can't wait to see you all again.

Thanks to those who have been sending messages - please keep it up - I've really been enjoying them.

Love you and miss you all,

Melody