Indian observations, part 2:
• people don't use indicators or wing mirrors in India- instead they beep their horns incessantly! Every time you come up behind or overtake another vehicle, want to turn, pass a pedestrian, take a sharp bend, etc.
• Schools post numerous and huge billboards with pictures of the 2 or so students who achieved the best grades and underneath another 4 or so with the next best grades; like mugshots with their grades beneath "5A+". I think this is so sad- the pressure on the young people and the schools exploiting them to advertise their school and you see it everywhere!!
• Hinduism is a very interesting religion- it's far less restrictive and more tolerant than my recent Judaism or Islam experiences and more spiritual; based on many Buddhist philosophies- karma and reincarnation, etc.
• men really do piss everywhere! You seen a sign saying "no urinating" and a guy pissing in front of it!

Wednesday: I went to the tourist office to do the tour that started at 9am. But it was just my luck that no one else turned up and they need a minimum of 3! So I ended up paying the price of 3 people- about £14, instead of less than a fiver! But it was that or another day doing nothing. Was it worth it?? A guy drove me around in his jeep for 4 hours and to be honest I didn't see much I hadn't seen on the bus, although we could stop for photos and visited a spice garden. They showed me the plants and spices they grow here and explained some of the medicinal purposes, but ultimately they wanted to sell me products at the end. It is an undeniably beautiful place- we were up above the clouds and it's so green! But I didn't see any of the elephants and tigers that roam this area and as for the waterfalls- I can create better after holding my bladder on the long bus/train journeys. I grabbed a good meal- I even ordered for myself as I begin to decipher the menus. Then I made my own walk- meandering through the paths surrounded by tea fields while trying not to get lost or get told off for being on someone's land. I walked back to the town- got fruit and chocolate. Then chilled in the guesthouse reading- this is the problem when it's not a hostel- you have no common space so sit alone in your room.
Thursday: I got the 6.20am bus to Appluzha (or Allepey) and over 6 hours later I arrived at a cost of £1.50. I found the hostel- £4 a night including breakfast!! I was starving so went out for thali- it's a popular offering that is essentially rice and about 5 small dishes of different curries/sauces and a poppadom, but it's eat all you can so they come and will keep topping up the rice and sauces, that was an extortionate 60p! I walked down to the beach- the sun was shining today which was a nice break from the rain. Then to the town where I booked an overnight bus to Pondicherry for Saturday and got some fruit, etc. All the new trousers I bought have ripped at the crutch when I've worn them- it's been slightly embarrassing when I have nothing to change into so just have to walk around with my legs together and hope no one notices. Bloody cheap s*** and no jokes about crutch rot please! However, in several towns I've found people with sewing machines who do a good job of stitching them up for 50p- we'll see how long they last.... A quiet night in the hostel reading.
Friday: I was doing a backwater boat tour today, so got picked up at 8.15 with a young Indian couple staying here who were late so we missed the ferry and had to get a tuk-tuk to the next ferry stop. We got the public ferry across to the guides house where his wife had made us breakfast. Allepey is also known as the Venice of India as it's a collection of Islands surrounded by canals and lakes, but it's all very green and lush. So along with an older American woman we got a canoe type boat that was rowed by a guy stood at the back. We were rowed around for the next 6 hours, stopping for a walk around one of the villages and rice paddy's and again for a coconut water (40p here and it's still in the coconut). The boat travels very slow and it wasn't particularly exhilarating, but it was relaxing and interesting to see the villages and local people bathing in the canals and doing their laundry on the banks (the water wasn't particularly clean?!). We were lucky that the sun shined for some of the day and we had no rain. It was also interesting chatting to the yank (she's been working around Asia for the last 10 years) and two Indians and we saw some beautiful kingfishers. We went back to the guides house and his wife had made an amazing dinner- probably the highlight of the day- and the Indian couple were teaching me how to eat with my hand. We got the ferry back and I went for a walk around the town in an attempt to do something slightly active for a change. I really tried to embrace the experience today but, to be honest, it was a bit tame- I remember the last time I was on such a boat it was is in the Amazon rainforest in Bolivia surrounded by alligators, caiman and monkeys and I could jump in and swim with the pink dolphins and then we were piraña fishing from the boat and then anaconda hunting on the banks- I know I shouldn't compare but it summarises my india experience- everything I do is an inferior version of an experience I've already had. The backpackers I've met who love India are the ones who are happy to sit in the hostel watching Netflix for most of the day and are travelling on a tight budget so it's one of the few places in the world where they can get a lot for their money or else they are 20 and it's their first trip so it is all new and exciting. God, I know I sound old and like a travel snob- I know I'm so lucky to be here and really want to enjoy it!! But I'm starting to feel I'm travelling for the sake of travelling and yet I don't want to give up in case I miss something.
Saturday- my bus was at 3.45pm, so I spent the morning walking around- I went to the beach then to a lighthouse/museum, then to a cathedral- I know it's against my principles to visit these holy buildings but they offer a place where it's acceptable to sit alone in the shade for a while without buying anything or looking conspicuous! You can even have a nap and people just think you're praying. I had lunch and was rather proud as it was the first meal I ate completely with my hands. During the morning I had developed bad stomach pains and was hoping lunch may settle it, luckily it didn't progress to sickness or diarrhoea although I felt pretty rough so it was actually nice just to sit on a bus.
Sunday: 14 hours later I arrived in Pondicherry- I probably was given the worst seat on the bus- right at the front so I had to listen to the driver chatting to the 4 guys who sat with him and his music all night! It wasn't a proper sleeper bus either (just recliner chairs) and I felt like I didn't really sleep although I must have because the time went quickly. It showed a Bollywood film in the evening which was quite entertaining- so cheesy! 6am in Pondicherry as the sun was rising, I got a tuk tuk to a guesthouse (no hostels here), where unsurprisingly the room wasn't ready but they let me go up to the roof terrace which had sun beds and so I slept for a while until the sun become too hot! It was 8am and from the terrace I watched over 20 games of cricket being played on a piece of wasteland, most didn't even have two sets of stumps but it was fun to see. Pondicherry was under French control until 1954 and so has a strong French influence- some people still speak French and I met a French girl in the guesthouse who I chatted to for a while. My room was ready about 12 and I slept for 3 hours- I still felt really lousy but forced myself to go out and explore the town. I walked along the beach- I'm now at the Bay of Bengal having been at the Arabian Sea yesterday. Then through the French quarter- saw my first elephant here in a temple of all places?! Got back about 6- think I must have picked up a bug as I just feel tired, my joints ache, I have a temperature and I feel nauseous. I know I must be ill as I've eaten nothing all day- I even found a western supermarket with so much stuff I would normally be tempted by and left empty-handed! Typical that I get ill when I'm meant to start work tomorrow! But glad I'm not staying long in Pondicherry as nothing more to see or do really!
Monday: luckily I felt much better and even managed to eat some toast! I got the bus at about 9.30 and arrived in this remote village about 10.30. I phoned the guy in charge who said he'd send another volunteer to get me. 3 white people showed up- all Germans and took me to the house where I'd stay. It's a nice enough house but the place was a complete pigsty where no one had done any cleaning for months! The toilet is outside and a squat latrine, the shower is also outside. There is a fridge and a small stove. The was another guy here but it turns out only one of these Germans is a volunteer with the project and has just finished a year with them as part of a culture exchange Germany offers to young people, the other 3 have been with different projects around the area and were just visiting as they've finished but all agree this is the best project! They were rather hungover and there was no showing me anything in the house or explaining anything and they spoke in German the whole time. But it wasn't long and we got a bus to the project. I met the guy in charge who seems very nice- he set it all up after growing up in an orphanage with people with learning difficulties and recognising there was nothing for them. He was so pleased to have an OT on board and I felt really rather out of my depth as it was clear he was expecting me to fix everything. The project is running an Eco farm where people with learning difficulties live and work in an aim to become self sufficient and sell produce to support themselves. They have a school in the same place where local village children with learning difficulties can come. They are in the process of building small cowsheds to start dairy farming and for the manure. I went to the classroom- a mud hut with 10 people with mild-moderate learning difficulties and the biggest barrier was the language- they speak Tamil and many struggle with that so learning English is not an option. It was soon lunchtime- I sat and ate the rice and sauce with my hands amongst them. There were also some more young people who have more severe learning difficulties. Then in the afternoon the teacher left me to it- I had no idea what I was doing and how am I meant to do anything with a class where no one speaks English. Luckily one of the helpers gave us some puzzles and stuff and so I tried to use it as an opportunity to assess each persons capabilities, ie who could talk, write, do puzzles, thread beads, etc. We finished the day with a ball game. And I got the school bus back to the house, but the unorganised Germans had locked the key in the house so they dropped me at the nearby office and I sat there not really knowing what was happening but making some notes about my ideas and observations.
A guy come back and worryingly easily broke us into the house where I discovered the Germans had also left the stove on all day!! One of the Germans come back and I asked about where I could get food and he said he was going back to the project for dinner which was about 8.30pm. So I walked back with him 3km on the dark, uneven roads- it was most bizarre as I made conversation asking him about all sorts of stuff and he asked me nothing! The four Germans then sat at project on their phones and chatting German til we ate then for half hour or so afterwards before they got up and we left. 2 come by bike and I walked with the other 2, but again they spoke German the whole way! I've never met Germans like it, they are normally some of the nicest backpackers! I was pretty pissed off by the time I got back and when I tried asking the long term guy about where I'd sleep and I got some half-hearted response then I snapped! But in a way that was more upset than angry as they'd totally excluded me all day and hadn't helped me or explained anything! But they didn't say much. You should have seen the state of this 'bed'- I've slept in some rough places and I could deal with a mattress that was no more than 2cm thick; but you should have seen the sheet- it was so stained! Huge yellow patches, sweat I presume as it's so hot! I tried asking if it was clean but got nothing! I used the sleeping bag liner that Fima kindly have me to put the dubious pillows in and lay on. There was a power-cut that lasted all night so the fan didn't work and so it was bloody boiling and it didn't matter that I didn't have a top sheet. I see people in England moaning about the heat- I wish they could spend a day here or walking through the desert!
Tuesday: I jumped on the school bus that passes the house at 9.30, although it was 20 minutes late. I was up earlier and so took the chance to wash my sheet- I boiled a couple of kettles and hoped the boiling water would at least kill the germs- it was still pretty stained. The Germans were no more friendly, but some leave on Wednesday and the others Friday! At the school I started doing individual sessions with some of the kids to assess their capabilities. At the end of the day I sat with the manager and started sharing my ideas and we come up with a bit of a plan. I told him what a mess the house is in and he's gonna ask the guys to clean it up before they leave! I also went through the limited files they have on the 25 pupils/residents. Some really charming characters as you can imagine!
Wow! I'm usually quite confident in my abilities to get stuck in to a project, but this is going to be a challenge I think- they need someone with experience and a speech and language therapist and, of course, some resources! Although they are already doing some amazing work to provide meaningful activity and an inclusive environment for these people. But it's going to be the adventure that I was looking for I think.
Hope you're all ok and not too hot!