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Published: January 23rd 2007
Hey all, I hope you're all well. I'm probably the illest I've felt since arriving here at the moment, but it's not as bad as it was earlier. It's because yesterday we were out of bottled water, and as Maria had said you can trust the tap water in the country side I took my chances. I won't be doing that again. If I'd been in Chennai, Bangalore or even Tiru I wouldn't of considered it, and now I'm wishing that I'd allowed myself to go thirsty. After being sick a few times in the night it's a bit better now though, but all I've had to eat today is a biscuit and a banana, but I've got a few more bananas and I can stomach them at the moment. I just don't want to eat too much before my bus back home, it'll be too much if it's anything like the one I had in. Thankfully I got to stand inside the bus unlike a handful of people, but I still couldn't really breath and people were pushing into me from every direction, I really got wound up by it all and when at the end people were trying to push in front of me to get off I was quite powerful in defending my position.
Anyway, sorry to start on a negative note. At least today I've sorted out registering, and I don't have to worry about that any longer. And the weekend I just had in Bangalore was brilliant. We met up with Nicole and Eileen on Friday night at about 10, and as I'd feared nothing had been reserved for us (I even told them that my phone wasn't working). However after a long search we found somewhere with a european toilet, warm water and a T.V. at a good price, so it all ended okay. The next day we met up with Karen and Miriam in the centre, and we all had loads of fun. We could already talk to Eileen and Nicole for hours, and meeting in a smaller group also allowed us to see how hysterical Karen is, and combined with Miriam's ability to say the most unexpected things it was so much fun. We did things like sit in Coffee Shops and went shopping in centres that dwarfed anything you could go shopping in in the U.K. We also went through the scary house in one of them which was really funny.
The night was even better, as we all went to Pizza Hut for Colin's birthday. We met the 2 Canadians who are staying with Karen and Miriam and they were mad aswell, so it was a very good crowd. Then when we told them that it was Colin's birthday they made him stand on a chair in the middle of a restaurant and all the waiters stood in a circle around him singing him happy birthday to the tune of We Will Rock You. There chorus did fit very well, I couldn't quite follow the verse. After that it got more fun, as we found a rooftop nightclub, with confortable sofas for us all to sit on and a dancefloor and a swimming pool, although we weren't allowed in that, although I think Nicole was planning to push the birthday boy in if she could get his phone and wallet out of his pockets. At the club they played the same music we hear in the U.K., and people would all start synchronizing their dance moves, which was pretty hard to follow. I was personally hoping for some high tempo Bollywood tunes, but the music played went down very well.
We all want to meet in Bangalore again, there was even a suggestion of making it a monthly thing. The only lesson is that next we have to reserve a hotel in the centre, the Lonely Planet has a good one and we'll book it next time as we were quite out of town, and Rickshaw drivers kept deliberately getting lost and trying to blame it on us. SOme discussions got very heated, as we made how we were going to pat and the route as clear as they could want it. In fact as a generalization Rickshaw drivers are the most dishonest people you'll ever meet and would rip off their Mum for an extra 20 rupees.
I thought I'd also update you on my placement. I'm starting to get into it a little more now, I've been sharing lessons with Rose and Gemma and Me + Colin take 4b for English, in fact last Thursday we had to take virtually all the classes. The biggest problem is that I don't have a concrete timetable yet, and only find out on the day what I'm doing, which means I can't plan. My board work is now legible and quick enough, I'm getting more confident and getting the class to interact more, but you have to know what you're teaching, which isn't possible when you walk into a classroom pretty much blind. Gemma seems to run the volunteers, so I'll speak to her about it as it's only a matter of time until I come unstuck. Yesterday I didn't actually know some answers to questions, but as all the pupils did I could just say 'Yep, that's right' and write it on the board!
Anyway, hope you're all well. Even after sitting down her to qrite this I'm feeling a little better, so an easy evening tonight and I should be there.
Rob.
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Mum
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Tummy Bug
Oh dear, sorry to hear you drank some dodgy water. Hope you're feeling good now. Remember that you've got some stuff to put in the water if you're worried about it. I expect it doesn't taste too good, but might avoid any more sickness. Love Mum