Last Week of Volunteering...Goodbye Parassinikadavu

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Lots to tell but I'm kinda falling behind on this blog thing! Luckily I've taken some notes to write a quick overview about the last week of volunteering. After a quick weekend trip to Wayanad (beautiful but lots of bus rides, not very relaxing though we did see elephants!) we were back to work and finished most of the projects we started; the one that was the most fun was the painting of an ABC mural (see photo). Hopefully the kids will enjoy our art skills, or lack there of!

We got to do a few cool "cultural outings" during our last week; only a quick hike from our house we were able to see "tody" collection which is the collecting of a certain part of the coconut that is fermented and then turned into alcohol...quite strong and kinda yummy. The collection process is fascinating because the workers climb the trees in seconds flat to collect the tody, very imressive. The sun had set and we began to hike out, I noticed quite a few birds overhead and then realized they were bats, and that we were walking past a cave of bats. Suddenly hundreds started taking flight, many close to the ground and right by our heads. Some of them were as big as HAWKS! I'm not exhaggerating...I also had a panic attack because they were so many, and well, they're not the nicest looking creatures. Upon arriving home I heard some commotion coming from one of the bedrooms, I went in to check it out and the girls said there was a big spider under their bunk bed. Okay, I have somewhat overcome my arachnophobia so I decided to take a peak at the "big spider" and oh...my...god, I have never seen a spider that big...not even in a zoo! Fortunately we have brave Jae Qun who always comes to the rescue; he got a cooking pot, captured the spider, and had it outside within minutes... all while brushing his teeth the whole time.

We also got a behind-the-scenes show of Kalari, a beautiful and ancient form of Indian Martial Art involving all kinds of crazy weapons, sometimes aflame .(see photos)

Our last week of yoga was spectacular, and those who maybe were not initially a fan of the master came to love him for his kindness and quirks. We also had our last Ayurveda lessons in which we were given a tour of the plant harvesting (for medications) as well as a lecture that involved actual cadavers (see pics, if you'd like...). It was an overwhelming but fascinating week of lectures. If you're interested in Ayurveda I'd be happy to go over my notes with anyone, and talk about the 3 doshas!

We were lucky to be apart of many Christmas celebrations at the schools and had a great time playing games and sharing things with the children. Even though it is a Christian holiday, many Hindus and Muslims celebrate with their Christian friends, so Christmas was a lot more happening than I expected it to be. Our organization donated quite a few things to the children, especially to the School for the Mentally Challanged where many of the children are orphans. The school provides them a place to learn and live but most of their basic needs are met through volunteer organizations such as FSL. Here I will add a quick plug for Volunteers For Peace (http://www.vfp.org) and FSL India (http://fsl-india.org/); I truly feel that both of these organizations use their fund responsibly. If you would like to volunteer or donate I highly recommend them both. Many organizations are actually quite expensive for volunteers but I really can't believe how affordable and enriching my experience was. I'm hoping to do another program through VFP or FSL in the near future!

It was a pretty sad day when we all said goodbye to each other...we had a really great group and I feel so blessed to have met each and every person. Such a change in lifestyle can be emotionally taxing but having such positive people around helped everyone to hang in there when things got tough. Cheesy volunteer thing to say but I feel I gained so much from everyone who touched my life in Parassinikadavu. Namaste.

Next up...hello Goa!!!

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Comments

[Green World Tourism]

Nice pic
Wow the pic is really nice. Hope you enjoyed.