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Published: January 21st 2014
Hey gang!
Found my way to a little internet cafe just down the road from my host family. Unfortunately I cant upload photos from here though so apologies in advance for that! I'll only be able to put them up when I go to the Projects Abroad office and use the wifi there.
Firstly - I'm doing well and loving it! The country is crazy.. the best way to describe it is organised chaos. Somehow, no matter if there are 5 cars in one lane on the road (there are no lanes), 3 rickshaws trying to overtake, 4 motorbikes with a whole family on one seat (no exaggeration - yesterday I saw a boy at the front of a bike, a man driving and a woman behind carrying her baby.. all with no helmets, obviously), 3 goats going the wrong way and 11 people trying to cross the road, everyone gets by just fine without even a scratch. Albeit there is a lot of noise from all the beeping - it's relentless. However, there's no road rage at all.
Anyway, after I mastered the roads i was taken on a tour of the city. I got a new phone and a sim card so that I can text / call home for one tenth of the price on my iphone! And I also withdrew the average indian's month salary from the ATM (high roller...!) which is around 10,000 rupees or 100 pounds.
That 100 pounds goes a long way when a bus is 10p a go and a meal in a restaurant is under 3 pounds. In fact, a huge lunch I had yesterday was only 80p and it was so tasty. I'll put a picture up on instagram of it tomorrow hopefully.
On to the host family now... The man of the house is a lawyer and very much minds his own business. Most of my interaction is with the mother who cooks my meals and her children who I see when they return from school. I'm sharing the house with another volunteer called Leon but he's leaving this week to return to his home in Germany. At the moment I have my own room but when the next boy joins next week I am to share rooms with him so the father of the house can have his room back (I dont understand the situation completely yet.. it's easiest just to wiggle my head like the indians do... it means yes / no / im listening / carry on / go away).
Being the guy at home who won't go into the shower unless the hot water boost has been pressed so it will 100% be a warm shower and last 20 minutes, it's been a bit of a shock having to have a cold shower each morning. Though i can't complain as some host families only have a bucket with which to shower with so I guess I'm pretty lucky!
Mosquitos have been annoying to say the least. Been bitten every night so far but I think I've cracked it with the net for tonight so we'll see how that goes.
Not much more to report at this stage except that it's bloody hot (35 degrees today). My teaching starts on Friday, although I was introduced to one class today and some of the teachers. Everywhere we go we're celebrities... people are always asking where we're from and shaking our hands. I thought the italians were the friendliest people on the planet but it turns out it's definitely the indians! So so welcoming.
We did some painting today at an orphanage and tomorrow we're gathering as a big group (all 40 of the volunteers in Madurai - 32 of which are female) to plant some trees and make over another orphanage. Will hopefully get some good pics for you.
Anyway, enough yaking. Hope everything is good in England... I don't miss it yet!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Gap Year
Your travel plan sounds fascinating. Can't wait to follow along on your adventure. You'll be able to add photos to these even though you've already published. Looking forward to seeing some great photos. Good luck with teaching.