Goodbye Nepal

After spending a week at the Namo Buddha monastery I feel like a new woman. It was such an amazing place with incredible views of the Himalayas. The monks had to continue with they're prayer ceremony for the week I was there, so I actually didn't do any work, but am pleased to say I now have a new meditation routine.

I write this on my second last day in Nepal and I am not ready to leave but feel as if this place is my new favourite part of the world. Can't wait to come back and explore it further, even though it is the second most corrupt country in South Asia.

Thanks for coming with me on my journey!

and now for the finale

The last 4 days have been such a treat... Spending time with children has been such a joy the only difficulty has been the Nepalese disciplinary measures... The teachers are allowed to hit the kids if their work is wrong or if they are playing up... I had to walk out of class yesterday because I couldn't deal with it... Luckily today I was working with a different teacher and he refuses to use these disciplinary measures so it was a much more peaceful day...

Tomorrow I'm off to the monastery for my final week and I am already feeling sad about leaving... I feel very comfortable here and the people are so lovely... Not sure if there will be internet where I'm going so I may be incommunicado until next weekend!

Just call me Anju

I've spent the last 3 days in the jungle of Nepal. Hanging out with elephants, rhinosauri, deer, peacocks nd tigers. Unfortunatley I didn't see any live tigers but managed to see a fresh paw print so they were close enough. I saw everything else though. It was a blast.

I started my project today and for this week I will be at a local state school teaching English before I move on to the monastery at the end of the week. I'm looking forward to chilling out with monks but in the meantime the Nepalese children are beautiful. Although I havent had a chance to teach the younger crowd who are apparently a handful so I'll keep you posted on that!

This week I'm living with a host family who are very nice and more than helpful! They have given me a Nepalese name to use while I'm here. Just call me Anju!!!!

Goodbye India

As I enjoy my second last day in India I can only hope I experience the same fondness for Nepal. Manali is a gorgeous town with 360 degree views of the Himalayas. Yesterday I went for a walk in the snow capped Mountains, the're huge! I aso went paragliding, so now I can say I've been flying in the Himalayas!!! It was epic!!!

Tonight I catch a 14 hour bus to Delhi and will be arriving at 6am. I will spend the day and night there before I catch my flight to Nepal... Not sure if I'll have access to the internet so this is me signing off from my Indian chapter and thank you all very muh for joining me on the ride!!! See you on the flip side or at least from Kathmandu!

Last day in Shimla...

Sadly today is my last day in Shimla. It was difficult to say goodbye to the children and teachers as they have all been so lovely. They made me dress up in a Sari and they did my make up. Mrs Raina is keeping her ear to the ground for an appropriate husband for me so they wanted to make sure I looked ok in traditional wedding gear before they organise my wedding.

It's been such an amazing month and the serenity that encapsulates the area is leaving me with a sense of peace that I have not felt in a while.

Tonight I'm heading further North to a town called Minali which is properly in the foothills of the Himalayas. It's going to be cold but I'm looking forward to the scenery. I will be there for 3 days before venturing on to Kathmandu!

The film's name is Bittoo Boss, comes out in February!

I'm officially a Bollywood star!!!

You'll never believe what happened to me this weekend. After having lunch with a friend I've made in my time here, we were approached by a scout who was looking for a foreign lady to be in the Bollywood film that is currently being filmed in Shimla. So after having a few words with my friend the next thing I know is I've been accosted by this stranger. I was taken to location and put through wardrobe, make-up and hair business before being told what I'll be doing. I play the part of a traveller who arrives at a hotel room ready to meet her meditation partner.

I was only filmed for about 10 mins but was well paid for my short stint as a Bollywood film star. The film comes out in February so I'll have to be asking one of my more tech savvy friends to download it and burn it for me. I was chuffed!!!

I went for a day trek today which was nice. Walking through the Shimla woods and finally reaching the destintation which was a Hindu temple where we were served a free lunch. We ate our lunch on the ground and it was delicious as usual. I only have one week left in Shimla and I am already feeling sad at the thought of leaving this place which has become my home.

I love India and Kids Rock

I managed to get through the week unscathed and had a wonderful time in the process. The kids are all very beautiful however it can be quite difficult watching them work as their disabilities obviously hinder their learning process. It is always a joy seeing them smile when they have completed a task. There are moments when it can be frustrating repeating yourself when you are trying to get them to co-operate. They are all very fond of the sports equipment and jump at the chance to kick a soccer ball around.

The English classes are going well and the teachers are slowly becoming more comfortable with speaking. I finally found a Hindi-English dictionary which is going to help enormously as they are constantly stipulating that it is their vocabulary which they want to expand.

The house we moved into during Diwali is so comfortable, the only problem is there are no kitchen utensils. We are still eating out everyday which is unfortunate as I was lead to believe we would have a cook at the house and I would therefore be able to learn many recipes to take with me, but alas I will have to get the gist of it from what I eat and buy a decent cook book.

back to work

Green Lion, the company I work for, purchased some sports equiptment for the children so we played for most of the morning. Throwing balls to one another and skipping rope amongst other things! There is one kid who is very cute he never ceases to smile, always a pleasure hanging out with him...

I need to make preparations for my afternoons now as I am teaching the teachers English... They are a beautiful group of women who can all speak relatively well however they lack the confidence to speak up so I'll have to figure out ways to encourage them!

two days of rest

Diwali was such a treat. The night before Diwali a large group of people, myself included, went to a girls orphanage to have dinner. We gave them many gifts and sweets as Diwali is much like a Hindu christmas. They were very sweet. They performed dance routines and sang beautifully. They don't have music or dance teachers. After the performances everyone went outside and set off fire crackers in the lead up to Diwali. We then sat down to eat and said good night after dinner.

Diwali itself was a wonderful day. I spent it with Mrs Raina, the principal from the school. I had cooking lessons and ate till I could not eat anymore. We then decorated her house with candles. After dinner my coordinator and I went to one of the other projects and set off fire crackers. We were shooting rockets down the street. It was very fun!

Thursday and Friday are both holidays so I have just been relaxing and hanging out with my coordinators. We moved from the hostel into a house were you can hear a river flowing. It is very serene and surrounded by trees. A nice place to unwind after work. Next week I will finally be getting involved in the project which I am very much looking forward to!

I finally figured out how to post pictures!

The kids getting ready for Diwali. HAPPY DIWALI!!!

Monkeys don't carry rabies it is the stray dogs that do, of which there are many.

Dressed in traditional Punjabi outfit at wedding reception. Mrs Rana on the left is the school principle and the other two are teachers at the school.

GOA!!

A cow at a pedestrian crossing in Bangalore!

An elephant at Dessara in Mysore. One of India's famous festivals!

The name says it all!

day off

I have come to India to work and I have really only worked 2 days. The other 3 I was selling candles. Yesterday we celebrated Diwali with the children and many people from the community came into the school to give gifts. We danced for most of the afternoon and had a very long lunch. There were youth from an NGO who spent the day with us. Their NGO works at helping young people with drug problems. It was quite coincedental as last week when I was sellling candles I read an article in the paper, that was used as a bag for the sale of the candles, that drug and alcohol abuse is quite problematic in Shimla.

Anyway the point of the story is yet another day of not much work. Today I also have no work so I went to the cinema to watch a film in a language which I don't understand. It was still funny!

Tonight I am having dinner at a girls orphanage and am dressed traditionally which is growing on me. All the locals are always offering positive comments on seeing me dressed this way!

Tomorrow is Diwali... "HAPPY DIWALI!!!" It's practically christmas for Indians, the biggest Hindiu celebration of the year so very pleased to be a part of it.

not much of a wedding

As I strolled the streets of Shimla today I was admired by many as I was dressed in a traditional Punjabi outfit. It was bright red and bright gold so it's not as if I blended into the crowd. On arriving to the weeding we were told that it was merely a reception. So we chatted briefly with Tina, the girl from school whose cousin's wedding it was, ate some of the delicious food. The dahl was suprisingly oily compared to what I am used to by now. We talked to the bride for a little while and then went on our merry way. Apparently the ceremony is in the first week of November and is quite a number of kilometers away, so today was a celebration for the local Shimlans to celebrate with the lucky couple. It was still a great reason to get dressed up and now I have the outfit for other celebrations that are taking place this week.

I didn't do much on Saturday but rest as I'm still get used to being here and town was very crowded leading up to the festical this week. I didn't really feel like dodging the crowds.

However friday night was a blast! Those Shimlans really know how to get down! I went to the local night club which is just at the bottom of the steps to the hostel I'm staying at. I had a great dance and got loose with the locals. Very fun! I still can't believe how universal some things are.

week one down

I was selling candles today but it was only made aware to me that the reason we were undertaking that work all week was because next week is Diwali. A festival of light and the biggest festival in India. Lucky me! I happen to be here at the right time. So although I wasn't really undertaking social work this week, besides the two days I worked at the school, I still feel very priviledged to be a part of an amazing festival at a grass roots level.

I still can't believe I'm in India and keep having moments where a huge smile crosses my face. I saw a massive traffic jam today as I was walking home from work, I was however lost as I had taken the wrong road. It didn't take me long to realise but I did find it quite amusing.

I forgot to mention that Shimla has monkeys all through the city which I find very funny and they seem to chase each other relentlessly on the roof of my room which is annoying. It's a tin roof!

chai

It took me till this week to find chai... I hade none in Mysore and none in Goa but I finally found the spot where I can purchase a glass for 5 rupee , roughly 15 cents... It's very sweet in ratio to spice but still hits the spot... The view from this eatery is amazing, looking down over the mountains of Shimla... I've spent every afternoon this week enjoying a glass of tea, one of the many things I was looking forward to this trip...

Today I was selling candles again which was fun and we managed to sell many, reaching more than our target... Mrs Rama was very happy... I am slowly settling in but am yet to take the bus to work by myself and a little concerned I'll miss the right spot to exit the bus when the time comes...

wedding invitation

I have been invited to a wedding on Sunday which is very exciting so today Mrs Rama and myself went fabric shopping. We took it to the tailors and they measured me to make some traditional Indian garments that I can wear. Mrs Rama is the principle of the school and a very jolly Kashmiri lady who is a joy to be around.

I was asked to make a speech this morning which went relatively well considering I had 20 mins to prepare it. I was a little nervous and fumbled up my notes but no one seemed to mind. The children are so very lovely and they all wanted me to help with their work today. I am however finding it a little difficult because of the language barrier. Everyone is so lovely and the women who work at the centre are so beautiful dressed in their traditional outfits. Sometimes I think I must have been Indian once upon a time with their nose rings and piercings. It is an amazing place to be right now and I can only hope that it will continue to grow on me.

expect the unexpected

So I was assuming that Shimla was going to be a small village and I was lead to believe I would be staying with a host family. However I am staying at a hostel with a room to myself and a king sized bed which is quite luxurious for what I assumed I would have this trip. The population of Shimla is 220,000 and is the capital city of Hamachal state. The city is inundated with brand name stores such as Nike and Dominos Pizza which was a little suprising and made my culture shock even more confusing. Oh well, there goes the life lesson I keep coming up against, 'have no expectations!'.

I started work 2 days ago at Udaan and it has been enjoyable so far. I am working at a school for mentally handicapped kids/youth who are aged between 5 and 23. They are all very cute some of which are mischevious. Yesterday I wasn't expected to do much considering it was my first day so I just helped out with a little math and some art. The staff are all very lovely and only a few speak English so I will be expected to give English lessons to the teachers so they are better equipped as English is compulsory in Indian schools.

Today was a little different. We set up a market stall at a local school selling candles for the school I work at. The candles are made by the mentally handicapped kids to help fund the school. Making candles also provides the kids with a trade they can take with them once they have completed school.

It is good to know that I will be settling into one area for a few weeks and emersing myself in the culture as the past two weeks have been a little daunting as I couldn't really unpack and get comfortable.

safely arrived in Shimla

After flying over the slums of Mumbai and a 9 hour bus ride to from Delhi to Shimla I have safely arrived. It is an amazing landscape here. The mountains are huge and the towns are built on the face of the mountains, seemingly vertical. I climbed stairs for half an hour to reach the accomodation.

I'm very glad I finally quit smoking as most of India has strict laws against smoking and Shimla itself is a smoke free city. I can still feel the effects as it was pretty hard to climb the stairs of the mountain.

My last day in Goa was fun we went and saw a Bollywood film which was funny and then we went clubbing. It was cool dancing alongside Sikhs with their turbans.

I start work tomorrow which is exciting I just hope I'm emotionally ready for it. I'm sure it will be fine. I will be helping out at a boarding school for disabled children, first time for everything!

leaving Goa

As the week comes to a close I lap up the humidity and tropical weather...

After a couple of months of stressing about my transportation on my next leg I finally got it sorted and will arrive in Shimla sunday morning...

It's been raining heavily in the afternoons the last couple of days so tide up in the house with the other volunteers... It's been really nice meeting such friendly and beautiful women who are as altruistic in nature as I believe myself to be...

A funny thing happened yesterday, I was listening to a self help recording on one of the other girls lap tops and it was plugged into the 240V wall socket... I had ear phones plugged in and as the afternoon storm came down upon us I was zapped out of any need for self help.. Electric shocks blasted my ears!

Tomorrow's my last day and then I will be moving on to live in the foothills of the Himalayas for a month...

Go ta Goa

So I made it to Goa... The bus trip was excellent as it was decked out with beds so I slept most of the way...

I'm living in a volunteer house this week with 11 other volunteers... From Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands... My projects have all been cancelled so I am instead undertaking my orientation week which works out well as I get to travel around Goa...

I went swimming at a famous hippie beach on my first day... It's famous for it's psy trance parties which I was hoping to go to one while I was here but there are none on this week.... Oh well! Luckily the bar that was at the beach was playing some trance so I got the vibe!

The last two days we've had cultural lessons on India! My facourite fact so far is that the number 0 was invented in India... cool!

Thanks mum and dad for being Australian as I'm not sure how comfortable I am with being a women in India.. Arranged marriages and then a life of cooking and cleaning.. hmmmmm... There's a very dark side to the female born child as well such as infanticide.... Women are however being granted more independence in terms of being working women and receiving greater access to education while at the same time remaining house wives.... Many opt out of the marriage ideal as well...

India also claims to be the birthplace of Buddhism which I'm sure would easily be coontested by other countries...

I'm still in awe of being here and enjoying my time! It's nice to be with a very friendly group of women travellers this week who are all here for simialr reasons to myself!

last day in mysore!

So I have finished with my yoga training for this stretch of the trip and am very excited to continue the practice as a means for stress relief! Yay to new found ways for dealing with life!

The program coordinators here in India are being slightly flaky as I head to Goa tomorrow and they aren't being very communicative, even though I bothered to buy a mobile for them to communicate with me!

I was at a festival yesterday and saw elephants decorated. Although I had in the back of my mind a friends voice who had told me that they are treated very poorly over here which made me a little sad.

The place I have been staying this week isn't very beautiful but I am hoping my next stop off in Goa will be more exciting... I'll be on a bus for 12 hours on saturday night to get there... That's if my coordinators tell me where to get the bus from!

day 3

So I have been doing yoga for two days straight and am alerady feeling better from it... It's very humid today and walking around my neighbourhood the pollution is quite strong... My host family are relatively cool... the mother is an ayervedic doctor and the father is one of the yoga instructors they have two very friendly girls... I went to a yoga seminar yesterdayand came out with a very interesting new approach to my letting go process... It's the 3 A's attitude, awareness and acceptance... by looking at life in this way we can learn to have equanimity within everyday life... I threw that one in for you Al!

Cows approach me as I walk down the alleyways, as do many of the children who are more than willing to say hello... So far most of the people speak relatively good English there are only a few people who I have come across problems with... this has made it easy for me I can't imagine how I would be travelling now if I couldn't communicate...

No bowel problems as yet but the food has been amazing... I am trying to get some of the recipes off my host mum and am trying to retain the information... They use a lot of coconut in their cooking here in Southern India... I had a Dahl last night with vegies and cooked in coconut milk.. twas amazing!

two days until departure

so I have two days until departure date. Excited yet somewhat nervous of the unkown. I have been enjoying my week in Melbourne and the weather has been living up to it's reputation. With rain outside the window pain as I write my forst blog I finalize my last minute things. I have unfortunately come down with a sore throat but went to the GP today and they said it wasn't an infection just an irritation. Luckily I only need lozengers to sort myself out.