This morning Tove and I got up bright and early to caught a train for Chennai. This is the way to travel in India. Assuming you made the arrangements far enough in advance to have a real seat. Fortunately we did. It was a real nice comfortable trip. So now we are here. Haven't done much as of yet. We did find the local movie theater. We have tix for SMURFS 3D tomorrow morning. We are not excited about this city. Hoping when we start to got see some sites that we get more excited. Currently, not so much.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Kochi, Munnar, Kumily
As you have already seen from a previous post, Kochi was filled with food, coffee and Harry Potter. It was great to reconnect with Tove after leaving the farm. I took a night bus to Kochi, Kerala and arrived at 5:30am. Fortunately Tove and her friend Hanne arrived earlier Thursday evening and already had a place for us to stay. Poor Hanne, she was kept up for the next 2 hours while Tove and I caught up. We finally decided we should get a few more hours of sleep at around 7:30. Kochi was as I remembered it, but now I had more time to relax and enjoy it. We did a lot of wandering around and shopping. We went to the Mattencherry Palace (Dutch Palace) which was really very cool. We learned a lot about Indian history and that none of us knew. We tried to go to Jew Town, yes that is what it is called, and go to the Pardesi Synagogue but it was closed both times. A bit bummed out about that. We took a back waters tour. We were expecting this to amazing and beautiful. Hoping to see some villages and different ways of living. Well, it was beautiful. Tove and I have decided that we are not meant for boat tours. They keep turning out to be horribly boring. The tour guide barely told us anything. We saw how rope was made from coconut and how they burn clam shells with charcoal to make calcium nitrate, but that was basically it. It was a 7 hour boat ride / tour.
Next we headed to Munnar. The bus ride into town and out of town was out of this world. The Western Ghats are amazing. I have a few pictures but they just don't cover it. By the time we head to Munnar I have a cold. Munnar is very cold and less than welcoming. Neither of us feel any love for Munnar itself but we don't regret the bus ride in and out of town. We just stayed on night. I have not worn so much clothing in India as I did there. Loved my rain jacket and scarf.
We quickly moved on to Kumily and set up camp where we stayed a month ago when there. It was a great week of basically doing nothing. We read a lot and watched an amazing amount of rain fall. The idea was to relax and that is what we did. The weekend trip for the projects abroad volunteers happened to be to Kumily the weekend that we were there so I was able to catch up with Denise and Jacqueline from the farm and introduce them to Tove. It was great to see them again and get updates on the farm and the village.
My birthday was spent in Kumily. Tove was awesome and woke me up with breakfast and tea and we had a bit of a spa day as well. It was as good as a birthday could be away from home. Our last day in Kumily we went for an Elephant ride. It was great fun. I haven't been on an elephant since I was little with my mom at Marine World I think it was.
Our next stop was Madurai before we headed to Chennai. Tove had to pick her stuff up from the office there and I had some repacking to do. Since we were so near, we decided to make a side trip to the farm to see Raisa and the host family. We couldn't have picked a better day. We got to see everyone and we went with Raisa and the volunteers to one of the orphanages that they had been working at to do a presentation on farming. At the end we were treated to a dance performance from a bunch of the kids. It was so much fun. I am sore today from playing and throwing the kids around yesterday.
Next we headed to Munnar. The bus ride into town and out of town was out of this world. The Western Ghats are amazing. I have a few pictures but they just don't cover it. By the time we head to Munnar I have a cold. Munnar is very cold and less than welcoming. Neither of us feel any love for Munnar itself but we don't regret the bus ride in and out of town. We just stayed on night. I have not worn so much clothing in India as I did there. Loved my rain jacket and scarf.
We quickly moved on to Kumily and set up camp where we stayed a month ago when there. It was a great week of basically doing nothing. We read a lot and watched an amazing amount of rain fall. The idea was to relax and that is what we did. The weekend trip for the projects abroad volunteers happened to be to Kumily the weekend that we were there so I was able to catch up with Denise and Jacqueline from the farm and introduce them to Tove. It was great to see them again and get updates on the farm and the village.
My birthday was spent in Kumily. Tove was awesome and woke me up with breakfast and tea and we had a bit of a spa day as well. It was as good as a birthday could be away from home. Our last day in Kumily we went for an Elephant ride. It was great fun. I haven't been on an elephant since I was little with my mom at Marine World I think it was.
Our next stop was Madurai before we headed to Chennai. Tove had to pick her stuff up from the office there and I had some repacking to do. Since we were so near, we decided to make a side trip to the farm to see Raisa and the host family. We couldn't have picked a better day. We got to see everyone and we went with Raisa and the volunteers to one of the orphanages that they had been working at to do a presentation on farming. At the end we were treated to a dance performance from a bunch of the kids. It was so much fun. I am sore today from playing and throwing the kids around yesterday.
Last Week at the Farm
So apparently there is a reason why one should keep up on their writing / blog...to help remember. I am having a hard time remembering everything I have done in the past few weeks. hmmmmmmmmmm
My last week at the farm is a bit of a blur at this point or really it probably was at the time as well. I remember not feeling the need to actually dump cow urine on Henry's head because he decided to do a little bit of work. We had another trip to CCD. It was a repeat trip for me only. All the the others had never been. I was a bit disappointed that this new set of volunteers didn't find it as interesting as the group of us did the first time I went. Oh well. I learned that I am a total nerd and have been geeking out over various aspects of the farm. I gave a couple of tours of the farm to Projects Abroad Staff members.Really I am a geek. We had a group of young children from a government school come to the farm for an outreach program. This was a lot of fun. the kids were very young and didn't know much English at all so we mostly played games. I had a couple of them playing with worms. And I finished all my charts and they are hanging in our office and are on the computer for Raisa to print and hand out. Woo!
It was a very sad goodbye for me. I have grown very attached to the Village and the Host family. Everything and everyone was so amazing there. It really started to feel like home. I was also bummed because there were a few volunteers that had just started a week or so before that I was just getting to know and really liked. Lets see how good facebook is at keeping up the contacts.
The night before I left we had a nice dinner with the host family as normal and Raisa made pudding for everyone as a sort of going away treat for me. It was a really nice night. Various members of the extended family stopped by and there was a lot of laughter and goofing around. The next day was the hardest. Raisa said I had to say my goodbyes. I was really hoping to ignore the fact that I was leaving. Kind of like I did at home. No such luck. I was very glad to have my sunglasses. My one saving grace was knowing that I plan on going back with my Dad.
My last week at the farm is a bit of a blur at this point or really it probably was at the time as well. I remember not feeling the need to actually dump cow urine on Henry's head because he decided to do a little bit of work. We had another trip to CCD. It was a repeat trip for me only. All the the others had never been. I was a bit disappointed that this new set of volunteers didn't find it as interesting as the group of us did the first time I went. Oh well. I learned that I am a total nerd and have been geeking out over various aspects of the farm. I gave a couple of tours of the farm to Projects Abroad Staff members.Really I am a geek. We had a group of young children from a government school come to the farm for an outreach program. This was a lot of fun. the kids were very young and didn't know much English at all so we mostly played games. I had a couple of them playing with worms. And I finished all my charts and they are hanging in our office and are on the computer for Raisa to print and hand out. Woo!
It was a very sad goodbye for me. I have grown very attached to the Village and the Host family. Everything and everyone was so amazing there. It really started to feel like home. I was also bummed because there were a few volunteers that had just started a week or so before that I was just getting to know and really liked. Lets see how good facebook is at keeping up the contacts.
The night before I left we had a nice dinner with the host family as normal and Raisa made pudding for everyone as a sort of going away treat for me. It was a really nice night. Various members of the extended family stopped by and there was a lot of laughter and goofing around. The next day was the hardest. Raisa said I had to say my goodbyes. I was really hoping to ignore the fact that I was leaving. Kind of like I did at home. No such luck. I was very glad to have my sunglasses. My one saving grace was knowing that I plan on going back with my Dad.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Project Complete - Oats, Fruit, Coffee, Black Tea, and Harry Potter
So, I am now out on my own. My project is complete and am now in Fort Kochin with Tove. Aside from being a bit tired and in total denial that I am done at the village things are great. My first breakfast was oatmeal and fresh fruit with an amazing cup of cold coffee. Later in the day I had orange cake and black tea. Happy food! Then that night I went to see Harry Potter. I need to see it again to decide how I feel about it. I will wait til I get home for that.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Books Read So Far
Pride and Prejudice - Again
Water For Elephants - 1st Time
Harry Potter 3 - Prisoner - Again
Dead Reckoning - Sookie Stackhouse - 1st Time
A Time To Kill - 1st Time
Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil - 1st Time
A Village By The Sea - 1st Time
The Glass Castle - 1st Time
Hunger Games - 1st Time
Catching Fire - 1st Time
Mockingjay - 1st Time
Brida - 1st Time
The Secret Garden - 1st Time
The Lost Symbol - 1st Time
The Reader - 1st Time
At least that is all I can remember.
Water For Elephants - 1st Time
Harry Potter 3 - Prisoner - Again
Dead Reckoning - Sookie Stackhouse - 1st Time
A Time To Kill - 1st Time
Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil - 1st Time
A Village By The Sea - 1st Time
The Glass Castle - 1st Time
Hunger Games - 1st Time
Catching Fire - 1st Time
Mockingjay - 1st Time
Brida - 1st Time
The Secret Garden - 1st Time
The Lost Symbol - 1st Time
The Reader - 1st Time
At least that is all I can remember.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
I have worked with 16 volunteers at the farm so far
This past week has been pretty regular. I am on my way out. Finishing up projects and helping with getting the new volunteers up to speed. One week left. I am off to Kochi this Thursday night to meet up with Tove for a lazy-ish couple of weeks.
Last weekend I spent in Madurai with Lyndsey, Tove and Roberta. It was the last weekend before they all left their projects. We found a less than exciting place to stay in Madurai after we first found the Domino's. This was the first time any of them had been there. Yay for pizza! We met up with a few other volunteers from other projects as well as with Hovard and Hadrian from the Farm. Hadrian and Hovard were heading to Pondicherry for the weekend. After pizza we all headed in our separate directions and headed for bed. The next morning we had breakfast and ran a few errands before heading back to you rooms. More new clothes made. I had two new pants and a couple of shirts made. These are my favorite so far.
Saturday evening we said our goodbyes to Lyndsey. She headed home to Arkansas Sunday morning. We were very sad to see her go. Roberta headed back to the farm for the rest of the weekend leaving me and Tove a nice quiet Sat evening and Sunday.
After saying a short good-bye to Tove on Sunday, glad I'm planning to see her again, I headed back to the farm with two new volunteers. Denise and Jaqueline. Sisters from Toronto. We now have have 5 Canadians on the farm. Woo! I really like these two. They are fun and energetic and open to being here. We are now up to 8 volunteers.
Monday morning brought everyone back from their weekend trip to Pondicherry. Two of the boys got arrested. Fortunately they made friends with the officers at the police station and were able to leave. They got caught riding motorbikes without international licenses. Oops! Oddly it wasn't Henry that got into trouble.They all took a night bus back to arrive Monday morning so they were all exhausted and were then off to Dindigul for an Ayurvedic outing. Since I have already done this I stayed back at the farm and worked on my chart project for Raisa. It proved to be a very long day for them.
Wednesday we went to a market hoping to by some vegetable seedlings but were not successful but it was still fun to see all the volunteers wander around as they have never been to a market here before.
Thursday we worked on a local farmer's banana plot and Henry actually did some work. I think Raisa had a few words with him or the rumor got out that I was going to dump cow urine on his head. He worked both Wednesday and Thursday with little complaint. So much for me needing to turn evil.
Thursday morning Roberta started her journey home. She was not ready to leave. She fell in love with India and was ready to stay. She loved the farm and the village. She would go for long walks early in the morning and after work daily. She is 6'3" and was quickly noticed by all in the nearby villages. She made friends with a number of them and was invited in for tea or coffee daily. We are now down to 7 volunteers.
Thursday afternoon we went to the orphanage that I had gone to my first week at the farm. We created another plot. This time with vegetables. We were wishing that these kids would come to the farm and help us. I think we might have done a 1/3 of the work. The kids did almost everything. Very enthusiastic. It was great to go back. A few of the children remembered me and I was very proud of myself for remember them as well.
So now we are at Friday. I am working on various projects and starting to get things in order to leave on Thursday. I am staying in the village this weekend while the rest of the volunteers head to Moonar. I am not ready for another volunteer's weekend. Figure I may go into Madurai for a day or might just read all weekend.
Last weekend I spent in Madurai with Lyndsey, Tove and Roberta. It was the last weekend before they all left their projects. We found a less than exciting place to stay in Madurai after we first found the Domino's. This was the first time any of them had been there. Yay for pizza! We met up with a few other volunteers from other projects as well as with Hovard and Hadrian from the Farm. Hadrian and Hovard were heading to Pondicherry for the weekend. After pizza we all headed in our separate directions and headed for bed. The next morning we had breakfast and ran a few errands before heading back to you rooms. More new clothes made. I had two new pants and a couple of shirts made. These are my favorite so far.
Saturday evening we said our goodbyes to Lyndsey. She headed home to Arkansas Sunday morning. We were very sad to see her go. Roberta headed back to the farm for the rest of the weekend leaving me and Tove a nice quiet Sat evening and Sunday.
After saying a short good-bye to Tove on Sunday, glad I'm planning to see her again, I headed back to the farm with two new volunteers. Denise and Jaqueline. Sisters from Toronto. We now have have 5 Canadians on the farm. Woo! I really like these two. They are fun and energetic and open to being here. We are now up to 8 volunteers.
Monday morning brought everyone back from their weekend trip to Pondicherry. Two of the boys got arrested. Fortunately they made friends with the officers at the police station and were able to leave. They got caught riding motorbikes without international licenses. Oops! Oddly it wasn't Henry that got into trouble.They all took a night bus back to arrive Monday morning so they were all exhausted and were then off to Dindigul for an Ayurvedic outing. Since I have already done this I stayed back at the farm and worked on my chart project for Raisa. It proved to be a very long day for them.
Wednesday we went to a market hoping to by some vegetable seedlings but were not successful but it was still fun to see all the volunteers wander around as they have never been to a market here before.
Thursday we worked on a local farmer's banana plot and Henry actually did some work. I think Raisa had a few words with him or the rumor got out that I was going to dump cow urine on his head. He worked both Wednesday and Thursday with little complaint. So much for me needing to turn evil.
Thursday morning Roberta started her journey home. She was not ready to leave. She fell in love with India and was ready to stay. She loved the farm and the village. She would go for long walks early in the morning and after work daily. She is 6'3" and was quickly noticed by all in the nearby villages. She made friends with a number of them and was invited in for tea or coffee daily. We are now down to 7 volunteers.
Thursday afternoon we went to the orphanage that I had gone to my first week at the farm. We created another plot. This time with vegetables. We were wishing that these kids would come to the farm and help us. I think we might have done a 1/3 of the work. The kids did almost everything. Very enthusiastic. It was great to go back. A few of the children remembered me and I was very proud of myself for remember them as well.
So now we are at Friday. I am working on various projects and starting to get things in order to leave on Thursday. I am staying in the village this weekend while the rest of the volunteers head to Moonar. I am not ready for another volunteer's weekend. Figure I may go into Madurai for a day or might just read all weekend.
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