Sweat

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Wednesday was spent at Del Si. We leave at 9am and return at 4pm. In the morning we measured all the walls, windows, doors and floor space (inside and outside) so we could estimate how much paint we will need. We ended up with pages and pages of floor plans and calculations and in the end needed just under 700 square metres of paint! In the afternoon we continued to sand the walls of the front of the house and wash them down so they would be ready to paint. Very, very sweaty work in 33 degree heat! Nasjroo makes us ginger and lychee tea throughout the day (which is to die for) and offered another feast for lunch.

In the evening 2 volunteers make dinner for 17 of us, which is a huge task after a long days work. Maybe Susie and I will offer to do it next week. Maybe. Whilst dinner was cooking we went to the infamous 'bevco' or beverage company. These are run by the government and are the only places you can purchase alcohol in Kerala, other than a small number of hotels.

Thursday was spent at Del Si again sanding and cleaning. There is only Susie and I, along with our coordinator Dave, working on the house so it can take a while before we see real progress. We managed to grab an opportunity to visit the beach which Del Si sits opposite. Then Nasjroo, who could talk the trunk off an elephant, told us about his life during lunch. He is originally from Mumbai where he grew up in an orphanage, and became the cook for 300 boys!! He had a hard time after this but luckily was offered to be the cook/caretaker at Del Si. He appears to be very lonely and tries his absolute best to make lunchtime last longer each day and cook us up snacks throughout the day to encourage us to sit down and listen to his stories. But we aren't complaining as his food is the best we have ever eaten, and its all vegetarian too!

On Thursday evening, a Bollywood choreographer came to our volunteer base to teach us a dance. We all went out onto the roof and smothered ourselves in mosquito repellent and were informed that our dance was a mix of Bollywood and 'pop and lock'. Marc was in his element and quickly became centre of attention, and I tried my best to gracefully not fall into the washing line. We decided to go out for tea that night as the portions of food provided at the base (which are on the small side) are just not enough to give us any energy for construction work in the morning! It was well worth the extra money spent.

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