Hey everyone. To be honest not much has happened since Tuesday. Rose and Kim have returned to Kanji and they seem very fun and easy to get on with. They have created a very good card game which is very Mathematical and probability based, so I like it. I'm starting to get a little more preparation into lessons, so hopefully that'll keep going the same. Apart from that I'm almost getting into a cycle, and we're starting to help with homework more in the evenings. We hope to be back early enough to play some cricket this afternoon and we're going to a teacher's wedding reception on Tuesday which should be interesting, and that's all the news really. The funniest thing to happen since I last spoke to you was in mine + Colin's 4B spoken ... read more

I've got so much to say, I don't know where to start. On Sunday Me + Colin met up with Claire and Catherine from a nearby placement and we all went to Pondicherry together. On the way we had lunch at our placement principal's house as he invited us and we want to get on his good side. We had the tedious meeting of his family etc. and had a decent lunch, but I'm becoming very surprised by the Indian's attitude to alchohol. Every guide you read says it is frowned upon, but a week or so back Colin borker his 6 month no drinking resolution under Maria's insistence, and the principal and his family clearly had the intention of getting us under the table, as between 4 of us there were 4 600ml bottles of ... read more

Hello all. I feel really welcome and reassured at my placement. As yet I haven't been made to teach, I'm just observing. And they tell me that they won't push me into anything if I'm not confident. I think I am up to teaching, but if I fell I'd be better at assisting classes or working in small groups with the slower kids then I can do that instead. There are so many volunteers about it's quite flexible. There's me + Colin, Gemma who's into her 30s and is helping mainly with admin but is teaching aswell. Then within the next couple of weeks Rose and Kim return, they were the previous GAP volunteers and Maria asked them to stay on a bit longer. Rose clearly left an impression, I've never known someone so well without ... read more

Hello all! I hope it's all going well for you in the U.K. I've had a great first 2 days in Chennai, it feels like I've been here for weeks. Our flight got in at about half one in the morning on the 2nd, and I ended up getting to bed at some unearthly time like half 4, but I didn't get up until about 11 the next morning, so it wasn't too bad and after a good nights sleep last night there aren't any problems. We've all been staying the YWCA, I think it's linked to the YMCA. I'm geting on well with all the GAP students, ,and it's good to get to know each other before we all head off for seperate placements. I'm heading to mine on Friday, and a 4 hour bus ... read more