So a lot has happened since my last
blog. I can’t even remember when that was as I have been removed from
civilization for around a week (well until last Friday). I’ve been
ill!!! Not sure if it’s Malaria or not…I’m pretty sure it isn’t, just a
normal fever, but that definitely wasn’t nice. It almost ruined my day
of basketball (I’m a big fan and it was all star weekend so was watching
quite a lot of ESPN) but I managed to recover in time. The problem with
Malaria, (well one of the many problems) is that it is the same as a
fever. So at the beginning you can’t really tell if you’re ill or really
ill. People in India also don’t seem to notice the existence of Malaria
(because they don’t feel Mosquito bites) so upon announcing I was going
to the hospital I was given a Neurofen. But I woke up fine this morning
so I’m hoping I’m going to make it home some day (alive).
Before I go back to anything interesting I would like to make a really
short rant (I enjoy rants so this is fun). No purchase in India is
straight forward. None. I can’t even count how many times it has
happened. Recently I got an Ice Cream from Basked and Robbins (too
tasty)…meant to cost 80 rupees. A couple of service charges later and a
cost for special flavors and a cone brings it to 150. Every time you
take a rickshaw, every time you eat out…just be prepared to pay at least
15% extra somewhere. I don’t mind that much at the end of the day
because everything is so cheap but I get annoyed on the principle of it
all. There just seems to be either a lack of democratic accountability
in terms of government run industries or market accountability in
others, as everyone seems to do it. Before I move on there is one
example that is really annoying me. Airports. All around the world
airlines pay for the right to use airports, paying for the landing space
and more a good quality terminal for their passengers. The Indian
government has decided that they will ignore this logic and effectively
ask for the passengers to pay twice to use the airport with user
development fees. I have to pay 1300 rupees when I leave from Delhi, 200
when I go to Delhi and 200 when I go to Nepal!
So interesting things... I went to Mysore two weekends ago. Only went
for one night and wish I had been there for more. There was a lot of
things to do, especially compared to
Bangalore
which although is great to live in doesn’t have that much to see for
tourists. The Maharajas palace was incredible…although better from the
outside at night than from the inside. The inside was interesting…but
overpriced. I had to pay 200 rupees to get in, despite trying to
persuade the guard that I was born in India and was in fact an expats’
son…he wasn’t that impressed and my English driver’s license didn’t do
much to persuade him. The sights from Chammundy Hill were also pretty
amazing…although we had to wake up at like 530 to go (this was part of
my week of no sleep).
The highlight was the market. I took endless pictures of piles of spice,
trying to recreate the pictures in the front of my Rough Guide, and
just enjoyed walking around. I think I could spend a day in there. We
were all pretty sure we met someone who would win the apprentice in a
flash. Although Kieran and I weren’t won over by his charm one of the
girls actually said this. Will stop being so rude, don’t barter with
him. In a market place in India, where there are no fixed prices, and we
are western tourists being taken for a ride Molly actually told me not
to Bargain!!! Glad I did because I paid half the price the others did
but I would’ve paid what they did just for the experience because this
stall owner was just incredible. He seemed to know something about every
post code in London and always talked about Eastenders. A true non
authentic tourist experience.
As I returned from Mysore Kieran and I had about 3 hours before we were
back at the train station and on our way to the adventure camp with
Physical Education And Fitness Leader. Definitely my best experience with
Physical Education And Fitness Leader
so far. We went with a school called Round Table school (which I think
has schools all over India) and were with 10th standard children (who
were only 2 years younger than me). That meant that instead of calling
me uncle I was called brother all week…which for some reason felt really
good..
So the idea of the adventure camp is to teach the children how to
work in a team, make decisions for themselves and learn to be more open.
This I all happening in the most amazing setting in the Western Ghats.
It was really intense, I didn’t sleep in a tent once whilst I was there
(I slept on a mat…a really really thin mat outside in the cold). I think
it was as much as a test for Kieran and me than it was for the
children.
I’m trying to think of how to sum it up. Each day was unique yet very
similar to the day before. Similar because each day involved the amazing
sunrises, sunsets, as well as the camping, walking, swimming and
rowing. Different because each day we hear different stories from the
children,
Physical Education And Fitness Leader
staff and the staff there. The kids also just grew and grew each day.
At the beginning they would barely talk in the circle time but by the
end they were laughing and joking with the head of the Adventure Camp (a
fierce some woman named Nomito). The children’s engilsh was quite
broken…because the school is a Kannada medium school, but we still
managed to bond over cricket (I lied about how much I knew/ didn’t know)
and all the camping.
It turns out Hamsa, one of the
Physical Education And Fitness Leader
staff members, had worked at the adventure camp for 3 months. The
adventure camp in fact asks for people to stay for 6 months minimum
whether it is for people getting training in India, or international
volunteers, but Hamsa decided 3 months alone in the middle of nowhere
was enough and came back. The atmosphere in the camp seemed very
different now to how Hamsa described it then though. There were 2
international volunteers and 2 18 year olds from Bosco (the local
orphanage home). I got along really well with one of them in particular,
Ashoka, whose dream is to become a cricketer in London. I told him the
weather was pretty cold but he should look me up if he ever comes into
town.
On the way back we managed to see some authentic Indian countryside as
we passed through the towns of Shimoga and Saga (our journey home
consisted of a taxi, 2 buses, a train and a rickshaw so we had plenty of
time).
When we returned we didn’t have much time to rest. Straight back to
work because on Saturday Kieran and I ran an all day football session.
In an ideal world I would be writing back victorious now, saying how we
managed to teach the children the importance of passing positioning and
focus….however we failed. The children’s attention span is really low
(this isn’t their fault it’s just how they’ve been brought up in the
detention centre). So lots and lots of drills failed. It was really
exhausting (hence how I got ill) but was a really good learning
experience for Kieran and myself and we think we can take a good session
of football now, now that we know what the children like.
Afterwards we went out for a drink…well we tried.
Unfortunately/fortunately, depending on which way you’re looking at it
the right wing crazies didn’t cancel Valentines Day. This essentially
meant a 10 pounds cover charge wherever you tried to go out so drinking
was definitely not on. So in many ways it wasn’t the perfect Valentines
Day (although Kieran is a great guy would have rather been spending it
with Sian at home) but saw Forum mall which was massive (small upside).
Yesterday is where this blog started. Was really ill…still recovering
and trying to work out if I have Malaria or not (pretty sure I don’t).
One thing I missed out was my Indian cooking lesson. I went over to a
friends called Prasad (is a volunteer with
Physical Education And Fitness Leader).
Tried my best to learn but cooking is really hard!!! I mean he had to
prepare the food 4 hours in advance. I have a bet with Kieran that I
will be able to cook rice, two curries and bread…not sure if I can do it
or not. He taught me one curry (which looked really hard), bread and
rice, but I just don’t think it would be edible if I tried it. I’ll be
in touch again soon…hopefully.
Will xxxx