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Published: February 20th 2014
(quick disclaimer- sorry for the lack of pics in this blog and any thing that doesn't make sense, I've boshed it out very quickly! Instagram for the pics: @ryantanna)
Sorry for the long absence of communication - I've been very busy!
Where to start... well let's talk about this weekend. So, we went to Bangalore!
What a place. It's so different to Madurai which is in very heart of the south. Bangalore is much, much more northern when you compare the difference in cultures. It's like going from a small native tribe in Wales (I'm sure some of them are still tribal.. ha) to London... and most Londoners class anything north / west / east of the circle line as foreign territory, so you can imagine the shock when we saw women DRINKING ALCOHOL in PUBLIC and SMOKING! While wearing SHORTS and T-SHIRTS!
OMG! (Oh My God, for you non-students). We were home! The 4 females in our group of 7 suddenly felt a pang of relief as they realised they wouldn't have to swelter in the Indian heat under garments that cover their every inch of flesh. Also, there was no need for them to have to conceal their thirst for booze and smokes while in a bar full of debaucherous men; now they could join in the frivolities and make it well known they were here to party!
So... you can probably tell where this is going... us boys made haste in finding our first bottle and nestled ourselves in front of our hotel TV where we watched the Sochi games for a good 4 hours while the girls napped.
After a while, the girls emerged and we headed for a place to eat. Thankfully one of the girls had the foresight to find a nice western joint for us where a good few of us ate beef... yes, beef. It was heavenly. On mashed potato. Devine. $3. Sweet. There were also fishbowls of cocktails making their way around and around the table.. The night eventually moved on and we made our way to a 'club'.
As, it seems, is the norm all over the world (it seems to be some sort of international rule...) all women were admitted with no quarrels, and all 3 of us men were inadequately dressed to enter. Great. So off we went to the shop next door where we spent a lot more than we would have spent in Madurai on a pair of trousers and some shoes.
One of the party (I sh'ant name names publicly) was somewhat indisposed and had to be taken home. So that left only a few of us in the club which closed abruptly at 11pm. However, the night did not end there as, somehow, we had managed to make friends with what seemed to be the wealthiest person in all of India.
This charming, Indian lady who had lived in London for many years took us in her private car to her after-party which was in her house, guarded by 2 different guard stations 100m a part. Well, all I can say without incriminating myself publicly (kidding... not kidding) is that we had a great night. We finally made it back at 4am and slept undisturbed until 11am.
The next day, us 3 boys decided to have a bit of a boys day and so headed out to the military gardens of Bangalore where we felt very comfortable and manly walking amongst tanks, battleships and rockets. We had stocked up on McDonalds (such a novelty) so we were very satisfied with our outing.
The girls, as usual, were napping all day and only made it out of bed for our return. Later that day we attempted to repeat the previous night's antics but many of us were feeling a bit worse for wear so decided to call it a night after just one cocktail.
We weren't leaving until Monday evening so we took Monday to visit Bangalore's Palace - a beautiful place. We even managed to watch some filming of a local film in one quarter of the building and I persuaded a horse minder to let me have a quick ride for 100 rupees (one of the best pounds I've ever spent!).
OK, so that was Bangalore.
This week has been my final week at the school and I'm really sad to be leaving the kids! Unfortunately for me it's exam week, so no more lessons 😞. It's been sort of boring just supervising the exams but I've managed to read a hell of a lot on my Kindle so time hasn't been wasted. I've also spent a lot more time with the male teachers, of whom I treated this afternoon to a beer each in one of their rooms in the hostel (our sort of makeshift speakeasy for the afternoon). I think they appreciated it. They deserved it though for stuffing me full of lunch day and making my stay at the school that much more comfortable.
I will leave you with a summary of my time at the school which I was asked to write for the Projects Abroad newspaper (or something..):
"De Nobili Matriculation HR SEC School
My 5 weeks teaching 6th, 7th and 8th standard students at De Nobili School has been brilliant. Every day has felt like my first day because of the whole-hearted welcome I always receive, from both the students and the staff, every time I walk through the entrance. The students are always keen to interact with us foreigners, whether it be to to learn about our homes and families, to play football or volleyball, or even just to sit and look through pictures on our phones. Their eagerness to learn is wholly admirable and I would often finish a class only to be pleaded with to continue teaching through their free period. Following the tradition of Southern India, I have only really interacted with the male staff - though, thinking about it, this hasn't been too much of an issue as I'm not sure I could cope with any more food being offered to me at lunch times. Lunch has been one of my favourite parts of the day at De Nobili... not because it gives me some respite from using my brain all day for a change... in fact, far from it! But, rather, because it gives me time to get to know the male staff of the school who are equally as interested in my life and the culture in Britain as the students. One of the highlights of my time at De Nobili was the sports day that Projects Abroad helped me to organise between the students and the rest of the volunteers in Madurai. The school were very keen to be involved and the fact that they were so receptive to the idea, instils me with confidence that future volunteers will also be able to implement new initiatives at the school, should they wish to do so. However, the main highlight of the 5 weeks has to be the celebrations of the school's Annual Day (anniversary), where weeks of planning and dance rehearsals finally took to the stage for a breathtaking performance in front of 1500 parents. It was an inspiring spectacle and demonstrated just how great the school and its staff are... and of course, most importantly, its students!" X
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Wow Ryan what a fantastic life experience you are having and seeing how the other half live! So off to Chennai now, are you visiting Pondicherry (French colonial) or the Andaman Islands? Loving reading your blogs :) xx