Last week seemed to disappear. I think Monday was a pretty mellow day at the farm. Tuesday we had to be up and ready to go by 6am to climb a mountain. (The power just went out. No fan or light and its really hot.) This was awesome and really stupid all at once. Kumar, the head farmer came with us and brought a friend who is familiar with the mountain range we wanted to climb. Or really the boys really wanted to climb. We were first led up the smaller mountain. The boys complained. They were determined to get to the top of the tallest one. So we made out way across to the other mountain. There was only a goat trail to follow. We got 3/4 of the way up at which point the guide told us we should stop and we could go no further. We went further. The rest of the hike was rock/boulder climbing. It was insane and great fun. We were really hoping there was going to be another way down because we couldn't have gotten down the same way we went up. I have cuts, scratches, thorn punctures and no sunburn. Yay me! I did all this in my sandals. They are amazing. My feet are too swollen to fit into my shoes. We did find another way down. This actually proved to be harder than climbing. The weeds were waist high and there was no path so we couldn't see where we were stepping. It was also bloody hot at this point. By the end I was really glad we started at 6am. It was easily 100F on our way down. We took the rest of the day off.
Wednesday we went to the market and bought five chickens and passed out some flyers to local farmers about organic farming. We got some positive responses and have one appt set up to visit a village near by. This is good! At some point I will post a pic of our five chickens hanging out in a bag being carried around the rest of the market.
By the time Thursday came around I was tired, it was hot and the end of the week. So of course we did the most work that day. We tended to three local farmer's farms. We need a bicycle with a cart attached. Carrying two gallons of liquid fertilizer on my shoulder a half mile multiple times in the heat really wasn't working for me. Especially since the the container is open at the top. I was in great need of a shower a lot sooner than I got one.
We left Thursday night for our weekend trip. We took the night bus to Pondicherry. This weekend was a disaster waiting to happen, though overall wasn't horrible and mostly comical with the right frame of mind. On the local bus taking us to the bus station that we were catching a bus to take us to the night bus station there were a few goats. Never thought I would see goat on a bus, but hey, its India. Anyway, while Tove and I were standing talking to the boys we felt some wet splatters on our ankles. I didn't get too much on me but enough to notice that something was maybe spilling. Tove seemed to get most of whatever it was that was hitting the floor and splashing. Yay for goats being on a bus and peeing. We were in hysterics once we figured out what was happening. We couldn't stop laughing or move. The bus was packed. Fortunately my backpack was on my back and not the floor.
There are two main reasons why most of the volunteers want to go to Pondicherry. There are bars open till 6am and there is steak that is safe to eat. Pondicherry was a French Colony so most of the architecture is French. It does not look like India at all until you go into a bathroom. It is very clean and quiet. Its also the first town I have been to here that I have seen locals who are westerners. It was a very nice break. We found really coffee and donuts. I think we spent 3 hours in the bakery.
Now for the reason it didn't go as planned or was considered a disaster. We didn't plan very well and went on a weekend that the results of last months elections came out. What this means is that we weren't supposed to be out on the streets in case of rioting on Friday afternoon. We learned from a few locals that this was true, not just something Projects Abroad was being overly concerned about. We spent the afternoon on the beach. This was great fun and slightly annoying. The beach was filled with mostly men on the younger side. THey were all running around in their bikini or boxer briefs. this was more than any of us needed to see. There were a few that kept parading back and forth in front of us. At first this was pretty funny, after a while they kept blocking our view of the water. I might post a couple of pics of our view.
The other bummer about the election is that no alcohol is served and a number of the shops were closed. So Friday night we went to a restaurant looking for beef and beer. There was no fillet available because they had run out. Due to the election, their distributer of beef was closed. The chef was very nice and was able to make another dish with smaller cuts of beef that made everyone happy. I had chicken. It was very good. No beer, wine, or mixed drinks. Hooray for Election Day and Friday the 13th. We spent most of Saturday just wandering around town until we had to catch the night bus back to Madurai. The return bus home was terrible. Most of us had beds on the bus, but the ride reminded me of the knight bus in Harry Potter. It was moving that fast and was that bumpy. There was no sleeping and the whole first half of the 6 hour rid eI really needed to use the toilet. It was terrific.
We spent Sunday in Madurai basically moving from one a/c location to another. I wasn't feeling so great. My body has finally decided to reject India. It took it a month and a half to make this decision. I have developed a sensitivity to most of the food, so my digestive track is a little angry. I love my genetics.
Wednesday we went to the market and bought five chickens and passed out some flyers to local farmers about organic farming. We got some positive responses and have one appt set up to visit a village near by. This is good! At some point I will post a pic of our five chickens hanging out in a bag being carried around the rest of the market.
By the time Thursday came around I was tired, it was hot and the end of the week. So of course we did the most work that day. We tended to three local farmer's farms. We need a bicycle with a cart attached. Carrying two gallons of liquid fertilizer on my shoulder a half mile multiple times in the heat really wasn't working for me. Especially since the the container is open at the top. I was in great need of a shower a lot sooner than I got one.
We left Thursday night for our weekend trip. We took the night bus to Pondicherry. This weekend was a disaster waiting to happen, though overall wasn't horrible and mostly comical with the right frame of mind. On the local bus taking us to the bus station that we were catching a bus to take us to the night bus station there were a few goats. Never thought I would see goat on a bus, but hey, its India. Anyway, while Tove and I were standing talking to the boys we felt some wet splatters on our ankles. I didn't get too much on me but enough to notice that something was maybe spilling. Tove seemed to get most of whatever it was that was hitting the floor and splashing. Yay for goats being on a bus and peeing. We were in hysterics once we figured out what was happening. We couldn't stop laughing or move. The bus was packed. Fortunately my backpack was on my back and not the floor.
There are two main reasons why most of the volunteers want to go to Pondicherry. There are bars open till 6am and there is steak that is safe to eat. Pondicherry was a French Colony so most of the architecture is French. It does not look like India at all until you go into a bathroom. It is very clean and quiet. Its also the first town I have been to here that I have seen locals who are westerners. It was a very nice break. We found really coffee and donuts. I think we spent 3 hours in the bakery.
Now for the reason it didn't go as planned or was considered a disaster. We didn't plan very well and went on a weekend that the results of last months elections came out. What this means is that we weren't supposed to be out on the streets in case of rioting on Friday afternoon. We learned from a few locals that this was true, not just something Projects Abroad was being overly concerned about. We spent the afternoon on the beach. This was great fun and slightly annoying. The beach was filled with mostly men on the younger side. THey were all running around in their bikini or boxer briefs. this was more than any of us needed to see. There were a few that kept parading back and forth in front of us. At first this was pretty funny, after a while they kept blocking our view of the water. I might post a couple of pics of our view.
The other bummer about the election is that no alcohol is served and a number of the shops were closed. So Friday night we went to a restaurant looking for beef and beer. There was no fillet available because they had run out. Due to the election, their distributer of beef was closed. The chef was very nice and was able to make another dish with smaller cuts of beef that made everyone happy. I had chicken. It was very good. No beer, wine, or mixed drinks. Hooray for Election Day and Friday the 13th. We spent most of Saturday just wandering around town until we had to catch the night bus back to Madurai. The return bus home was terrible. Most of us had beds on the bus, but the ride reminded me of the knight bus in Harry Potter. It was moving that fast and was that bumpy. There was no sleeping and the whole first half of the 6 hour rid eI really needed to use the toilet. It was terrific.
We spent Sunday in Madurai basically moving from one a/c location to another. I wasn't feeling so great. My body has finally decided to reject India. It took it a month and a half to make this decision. I have developed a sensitivity to most of the food, so my digestive track is a little angry. I love my genetics.
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