Following what felt like a traumatic series of sari relates events, I thought the sari itself would stay in the bag and I would pull it out every once in a while, look at how pretty the material was, then put it back in the bag so it wouldn't crease in the wrong spot or something dire like that! Little did I know, the sisters that are staying here at Mithra had other ideas. We'd had quite a long weekend. We'd visited Kanchipuram where we completed a crash course in 'How to visit 5 temples in under 2 hours', been blessed by elephants, taken thousands of photos, eaten delicious meals, visited Keralan cultural events, eaten the best ice cream and shopped up a storm. The sisters would have no complaints of being tired or sweaty or ... read more

If a friend of mine were coming to Chennai, I would offer them all kinds of advice: When on a bus (when it comes to the crunch, a bus is sometimes the only option) make sure you wear a very supportive, preferably sports, bra. Don’t cross your legs in a skirt- you will give someone a heart attack. Don’t count on the monsoon season, when monsoon like days arrive, just be grateful. When someone says the quality of tampons and pads aren’t very good (ad tampons are impossible to find), listen to them and listen to their advice to bring shitloads (Sorry I didn’t listen Viv!). Take drama lessons- when an autorickshaw driver offers you a ridiculous price throw your hands in the air and act as if he has said something preposterous about your mother. ... read more

I have no idea where to begin! We’ve been here a little over a week and everyday is full of so much but to some degree things are starting to feel somewhat normal…or maybe I’ve just completely forgotten what normal is! Every morning begins with breakfast at 7am. We’re staying at a place called Mithra that is run by an Australian nun. It’s a school for children with physical and intellectual disabilities and is also connected to a massive church. At breakfast everyone is pretty quiet. We sit next to the sister who says grace and then we eat. We have broken away from the breakfast curry and I now have oats and sultanas and Tess and Darrel have muesli-Tess and I found curry for breakfast quite tough, Darrel however is exited about all the food ... read more