Madurai

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I arrived in Madurai yesterday after only a 1 hour delay this time and met with projects abroad ok. I also met some other volunteers starting at the same time as me, there are about 25 of us but only 2 of them are doing the same as me. The others are doing things like medicine or journalism as well as care in other orphanages. A Dutch guy called Jordy is doing exactly the same as me but for 5 months and he is a year older. There is also an australian coming and he is arriving later. I haven't met any English people yet, they are all French, German, Dutch, American and Australians.
We are staying in a hostel right in the city centre while they get our placement ready. Its so busy out on the streets and really noisy with all the car horns and Muslim prayer calls. The room has two fans though so its quite cool inside and the 29^ outside is bearable.
For breakfast there is this really sticky rice shaped like a pancake and then a this spicy sauce to go with it.
We went for a walk through the city afterand I can't believe how many shops they cram together on one street. Also the smell is pretty bad when you walk past beggars and people living in doorways. We took our first auto-rickshaw ride back and it is so much less hassle then walking, definitely my prefered way to travel. There are so many street venders on the pavement that evryone walks in the road so you always have to watch your back for bikes and cars. But everyone just runs out of your way when your in a rickshaw.
I've seen 2 monkeys and quite a few cows as well as lots of bullocks pulling carts.
We should be moving in to the orphanage Friday evening so I will get to meet the boys then.

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Comments

[jeremykalous]

madurai is mad
Madurai is a mad city. i remember i once saw a man doing a handstand on the pavement with his head totally burried under the ground. perhaps he is still there. did you see the famous temple there? the dust and dirt and people is pretty overbearing in the beginning but it wears off after a while. when you return home england might seem surprisingly overly sterile in comparison