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February 1st 2007

Published: February 1st 2007

Hey everybody!Alice again. It's 8pm at the momento so we're at an internet cafe dude!groovy baby! thank god the keyboard is mostly english too, except that the @ is in partnered up with the number two!
Just had a funny moment trying to find it, though. we were given a map by a girl called Supa, who I will tell you about later on, and were trying to follow it step for step like right lost souls and so a group of men told us where it was and were shouting after us as we were getting confused! Doesn't sound so funny now that I've written it but it was at the time cos we seem soo silly and useless!
by the way, photos can't be put on today we forgpt the usb leads but we will put them on on Saturday!
Sooooo, we arrived here at around 1.30am in the morning and had to wait an hour for the bags to arrive! That was the worst part of the flight, the rest was pretty basic and fun! We watched a couple of Bollywood films and ate food and al that jazz. Anyhoot, when we stepped out from the airport into the city of Banglore, it was crazy madness! we walked down a platform and there was about 50 taxi drivers/pick-up people shouting at us! we felt like famous people with paparazzi all around. Prabu picked us up and had a nice sign saying 'alice and tara welcome!'(i'll be guessing names a lot today as it's a lot to take in!) and then we jumped into a Jeep with sideways seats an open boot so we felt quite exposed! The driving here is absolitely bonkers! It takes a while to adjust but once you do it's great fun! People drive on the left, but insted of lanes the roads are just very wide and when people want to overtake, on either side, or go faster and are near a corner or want to turn a corner, they beep the horn. So there is constant beeping and it all seems a bit pointless, like they are just competing for who can wear down their horn the quickest!They must need replacing a lot.
So as we were dricng and trying to take in the sights, sounds and smells of the city, Prabu told us a little about peace Child India. There are volunteers who stay for a longer amount of time and work on individual projects is schools in the local area, and there are short term volunteers, like us, who will just observe for a few days and then start playing games and practising english with the kids.
We arrived at a woman called Bern's house, who is the mother of the pioneer of Peace Child India, as we are stopped there until Sunday, when we ca move into the office headquarters. Tara and I were totally wiped out, and wanted to just drop dead, but had the heavy task of fighting the mosquitos first!
Bern went back to bed once she had showed us our room, and we stood staring at the mosquito net for ages trying to work out how it works!! we tried the whole duct tape thong but that failed slighty so in the end we just tied the ends to the bedposts, which seems to e holding still! It's horrible at night at the house though as we are sharing abed and are under a ner in a small room in a small house in a cramped city and so claustrophobia creeps it's nasty way into my head when the lights go out as it feels like I can't escape! A bit of melodrama for you there, I've been lacking in that since I've been so chilled for two days.
So we finally got the net up and climbed into bed and we could still here all of the traffic and beeping etc, as it never stops and the mornings start at arond 5.30 am, when we just about got into bed!We slept until 3.30 pm and when we got up I felt so disorientated! I thought it was aout 11am! We met Bern's nieces Supa Samantha and whatshername and chatted to them for most of the day. They are all around 17, and very lovely and English is their first language so they're easy to talk to!
So the first day was pretty easy-going. We had a little tea (I'm going to start calling it dinner from now on as people are getting confused) and then read some guide books and crept into bed again. We are just sleeping in whatever we have on that day so are joining the skanky travelling brigade (STB) in fine style! The pathroom in Bern's house is very basic, the toilet need to be filled with water before beging flushing and there isnt a stand in shower, so Ican't wait to be in the office, tell you about it in a while.
Today we awake at around 8am and had a wash breakfast etc and then another whatshername, i'm really not being ignorant it's just hard to remember them all!, who teaches, picked us up and we drove in an autorickshaw, or 'auto' as the homelanders call it, to the office. it was the funnest ride ever! Kindof like a kiddy rollercoaster, very bumpy and actually scary as there are no road rules and no seatbelts!
it took us around 30 minytes to get to the offices, but the ride was pretty nice. We passed all kinds of people, from rich business men to slum children and beggars, and took in a array of sights from rubbish-munching farmyard animals to Muslim burial grounds and beautiful Eastern gardens. The smells are strange, and changed from overwhelming strong spices and oils, to nauseating sewage that in some parts seems to just sit in the street with rubbish. It's easy to ignore the negativities, though, when there are so many wonders to occupy the mind!
Anyways, the office is amaaaazing. And totally not what we expected. I cam see why some people come here and end up staying on for 8 months or so! There are 4 floors; the basement is used as a place for nearby slum children to come for a lesson in the morning, and as the basis for a co-operative that Maeve and Jagan, the founder and his wife, set up to help women of the area to gain a reasonale income making bags, cards etc, that are exported and sold around the world! I really want to do some fundrasing for Peace Child India when I return as I can see that it will remain important to me when we leave, even if it is after only a month. The ground floor holds more short-term interns and has qite a big office. The dormitorys are seperated by bamboo-type twisted sheets and there are hangings and airy spaces and clean floors all around! I can't wait to living there, as I keep saying, but you will see why when we put the pictures up!
The first floor holds a lving area and a kitchen and bedrooms for the long-term interns, all of which seems luxurious when compared to the cramped styles of the city. The top floor is Maeve and Jagan's flat. We met a few interns and eveybody is great! quite a few people are leaving soon, though, but its nice as there are 5 of us starting at once! People are from all over Europe and America so it's great as we can chat about our home countries and I love to learn abput different cultures! It's great to see how somethig that is the norm in one country can seems so out-of-sorts for another! For example, a girl called Hayley from South Carolina was very shocked when we told her the ages that children start drinking in England!
This afternoon, we went along to a school close to Bern's house to observe and it was sooo nice!Prabu leaded the session, realy, as the kids spoke only a tiny amount of English there, but they were all so excited to see foreigners and it again felt like we were famous or something! They were all grins and got excited if you smiled at them or asked them their names. It's great! we are going to a children's home tomorrow, and I'm really excited for that as helping children who have a unfortunate background seems more fulfilling as making them smile brightens their day having some intensive interaction, whereas other kids can go home to their families.
We have weekends free so are planning to explore Bangalore this weekend, and travel to nearby beauty sopts during the other three. Apparently there are lots of cool bars and clubs that we can try during the week, but they all close at 11.30!!how strange?! Will be hard to get used to I think! This weekend we intend to do a little shoppng and try a vegetarian cafe and visit the botanical gardens, which looks very groovy indeed.
Saturday night brings forth a leaving party for a few of the interns so will be a great chance to get to know the other workers and relax so we're very excited for that!
The heat isn't that unbearable as of yet, around 31 degrees C during the day and so pretty comfortable whe inside somewhere cool and in the shade. Got a tad sweaty today though walking around to the bus-stops! im going to buy a couple of baggy kaftan-things as i think t-shirts are hotter than loose fitting tops, so I will be embracing the STB even more come next week.
Ok, so I'm going to sign out now, sorry if any of you are bored! You will get more of an india (haha i wrote that instead of 'idea' just then!) when you can see the pictures this weekend. hope all is well back home, and I am missing you slightly!!! Please don't change my room too much, Joe, and don't steal my clothes and shoes, Louise!
mmmm can't wait to wash my hair tomorrow, it is almost dread-like now and a tad too much towards the STB side of life.
So speak soon Britain dwelling fellows, and Peace Out!
Lots of love and harmony, Alibobs and Tararara xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
p.s hahaha Tara has just reminded me of the side-to-side head movement that Indian people do. it is like a shake taking the ear down to the sholuder on one side and then on the other, so looks weird and wobbly! tara is embracing the whole wobble, as does like the sideways movements a lot anyway! oh, and don't worry you will hear from Tara too, I agree that I'm hogging the blog a little at the moment!

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