And here are a few of the people who came to get a checkup:
I also finished teaching last week, here's a picture of some of my students:
And here's a map of my trip up till now:
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Volunteering
My last week at SEVAI school was great. Just when I thought I was in an isolated little village with no other white people in sight, a team of 18 volunteers from Australian NGO Equal Health came to stay at the school. They were a medical team: doctors, opticians, dentists, nurses, physiotherapists, and a dietician. For about ten days here they set up a health camp where local villagers came to get tested and treated, and given medication and glasses, all free of charge. It was very well organized, and each day about 500 people came, so they were always hard at work. One day they left to a coastal village to set up the same camp, and I tagged along for the overnight stay, helping out giving vision tests to people and managing the crowds, which were crazy and kept pushing forward, trying to be first in line! This was really the poorest of the poor, mostly elderly, with massive eye, back, hearing, difficulties, and other health problems. It was so inspiring to see this team at work, and see some people leave happy and thankful. Here's how it worked:
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Latest News
In the last few weeks, I’ve spent most of my time trekking in the cold hill stations of the Western Ghats (Madikeri, Ooty, Kodaikanal) chilling on the tropical beaches and in the palm fringed towns of Kerala (Verkala, Fort Cochin) and meeting the locals in Tamil Nadu.
An Israeli friend of mine told me a few weeks earlier of a place not too far from Kodaikanal, named Vattakanal, which was supposed to be just above the clouds, with fantastic views of the mountains. Most importantly, it wasn’t in the Lonely Planet!
So I managed to find my way to this little village, through a few dirt roads, and arrived to some steps leading to houses on the mountain, with some loud rave music blasting from above. Obviously I had to go and see what was happening, and was welcomed by a massive group of Israelis, most of them tripping on acid, partying on a terrace, with insane views of the mountains in front, blasting a curious but fun mix of psytrance and dubstep. Most were dressed in extreme-hippy ware, some brandishing sticks and waving them at the mountain, it really felt like I had popped into a Lord of the Rings movie, with hardcore dance music. It turns out this “village” is quite popular with Isareli bloggers and travellers, and many have moved here to stay for months, they cook their own food, chill, party, relax from their long military service. Good fun, but it was a bit weird, it was only 13:00 and little Indian kids were watching from the bushes, giggling. Can you imagine the culture shock?!Kodaikanal in itself was a strange place. There is a very prestigious (and Hogwarts-like) International school there, so loads of teenagers from around the world can be seen hanging about town. Very pleasant though, and probably my favourite Hill Station so far.
After seeing pleasant Fort Cochin I headed in a ferry through the Kerala backwaters, and decided to stay in an ashram for a few days, that a friend had told me about. This was Amma’s Ashram in Amrithapuri. Amma is very famous for the ‘darshan’ (blessing) she gives people. This takes the form of a hug, so at the Ashram hundreds of people queue up for hours to receive a token, and when their number is read out, they’ll go on stage and receive a short hug from Amma. It's pretty strange... Everyone in this place is encouraged to wear white, and it’s about 75% foreigners (so surreal) who walk about, with big smiles on their faces, conversing about spirituality, while the beachfront is full of quiet meditators in all sorts of yoga poses. Although the people there have a nice ideology (everyone is a volunteer to help keep the place clean, functioning) it wasn’t really my thing. I quickly hopped on the ferry again the next day, and made my way to Verkala, which was really just a mini-Goa: westerners on the beach, western food, western prices...
In Kanyakumari I found the India that I had missed in Kerala. After watching the sunrise over three seas: Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Lakshdeep Sea (you couldn’t tell them apart, but it felt cool) I headed with another travel buddy to the town, which had Tamil music blasting (really, you couldn’t hear yourself speak) out of megaphones from every street corner. It was Sunday, my favourite day in India, because everyone is happy to be on Holiday, and just chilling. Old men sit on front steps of their homes drinking chai and reading the newspaper, some heavily involved in card games; kids play with spinning tops and sing songs, housewives dust their street-fronts, old women cackle and chat to each other as we walk past; all the while the sea (which one?) waves lap up on shore and the fishermen come home in their blue boats with the catch of the day. The houses are all multicolored, usually in shades of pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue. At dusk the colours are even more beautiful and complete with the music and smells (insence, food, rubbish) it all culminates into a really incredible experience, these are the kind of mom ents I travel for.
At the moment, I’m in a school about 25km from Trichy, in Tamil Nadu. I’m volunteering teaching English, in exchange for which I’m given a bed and 3 meals a day in the school. In the morning I have a class of 12 year old girls, and after a group of mentally challenged students (and two deaf students) who range from 6 to 22 years old. My first class is fun, and reminds me a lot of teaching in China (although for obvious reasons Indian kids speak much better English); I especially love asking a question, and 40 little heads answering with the famous Indian head nod.
The second class is much more challenging, but after a week here, I’m getting the hang of it. Most of the kids are so keen and enthusiastic to learn and play, and I’m always greeted with massive smiles. It’s also quite sad, because some of the students don’t really respond to much and just stare and drool, occasionally speaking in Tamil. I’ve brought in my guitar, and taught them some drawing skills, and we play loads of games which they seem to enjoy, so it’s a very rewarding experience. After class, when I’m hanging around the school, some students will come up to me and sing the ABC song which I just taught them, or sing me some Tamil songs. It's really nice living in the school and being able to interact with the staff and students (some of which live there too) outside of class. I've made some good friends here and couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Here is where I’m sleeping (at night, complimentary mosquitoes, mice, frogs, weird flying bugs, cats, but it’s ok).
Tamil Culture is so interesting. Nobody here speak Hindi (I know more Hindi words than most people!) and there is a big arts, dance, and music here which everyone is very proud of. I'll be moving soon though - Pondicherry next: looking forward to some pain au chocolat and hopefully un peu de saucisson quand meme.
An Israeli friend of mine told me a few weeks earlier of a place not too far from Kodaikanal, named Vattakanal, which was supposed to be just above the clouds, with fantastic views of the mountains. Most importantly, it wasn’t in the Lonely Planet!
So I managed to find my way to this little village, through a few dirt roads, and arrived to some steps leading to houses on the mountain, with some loud rave music blasting from above. Obviously I had to go and see what was happening, and was welcomed by a massive group of Israelis, most of them tripping on acid, partying on a terrace, with insane views of the mountains in front, blasting a curious but fun mix of psytrance and dubstep. Most were dressed in extreme-hippy ware, some brandishing sticks and waving them at the mountain, it really felt like I had popped into a Lord of the Rings movie, with hardcore dance music. It turns out this “village” is quite popular with Isareli bloggers and travellers, and many have moved here to stay for months, they cook their own food, chill, party, relax from their long military service. Good fun, but it was a bit weird, it was only 13:00 and little Indian kids were watching from the bushes, giggling. Can you imagine the culture shock?!Kodaikanal in itself was a strange place. There is a very prestigious (and Hogwarts-like) International school there, so loads of teenagers from around the world can be seen hanging about town. Very pleasant though, and probably my favourite Hill Station so far.
After seeing pleasant Fort Cochin I headed in a ferry through the Kerala backwaters, and decided to stay in an ashram for a few days, that a friend had told me about. This was Amma’s Ashram in Amrithapuri. Amma is very famous for the ‘darshan’ (blessing) she gives people. This takes the form of a hug, so at the Ashram hundreds of people queue up for hours to receive a token, and when their number is read out, they’ll go on stage and receive a short hug from Amma. It's pretty strange... Everyone in this place is encouraged to wear white, and it’s about 75% foreigners (so surreal) who walk about, with big smiles on their faces, conversing about spirituality, while the beachfront is full of quiet meditators in all sorts of yoga poses. Although the people there have a nice ideology (everyone is a volunteer to help keep the place clean, functioning) it wasn’t really my thing. I quickly hopped on the ferry again the next day, and made my way to Verkala, which was really just a mini-Goa: westerners on the beach, western food, western prices...
In Kanyakumari I found the India that I had missed in Kerala. After watching the sunrise over three seas: Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea, Lakshdeep Sea (you couldn’t tell them apart, but it felt cool) I headed with another travel buddy to the town, which had Tamil music blasting (really, you couldn’t hear yourself speak) out of megaphones from every street corner. It was Sunday, my favourite day in India, because everyone is happy to be on Holiday, and just chilling. Old men sit on front steps of their homes drinking chai and reading the newspaper, some heavily involved in card games; kids play with spinning tops and sing songs, housewives dust their street-fronts, old women cackle and chat to each other as we walk past; all the while the sea (which one?) waves lap up on shore and the fishermen come home in their blue boats with the catch of the day. The houses are all multicolored, usually in shades of pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue. At dusk the colours are even more beautiful and complete with the music and smells (insence, food, rubbish) it all culminates into a really incredible experience, these are the kind of mom ents I travel for.
At the moment, I’m in a school about 25km from Trichy, in Tamil Nadu. I’m volunteering teaching English, in exchange for which I’m given a bed and 3 meals a day in the school. In the morning I have a class of 12 year old girls, and after a group of mentally challenged students (and two deaf students) who range from 6 to 22 years old. My first class is fun, and reminds me a lot of teaching in China (although for obvious reasons Indian kids speak much better English); I especially love asking a question, and 40 little heads answering with the famous Indian head nod.
Here is where I’m sleeping (at night, complimentary mosquitoes, mice, frogs, weird flying bugs, cats, but it’s ok).
Tamil Culture is so interesting. Nobody here speak Hindi (I know more Hindi words than most people!) and there is a big arts, dance, and music here which everyone is very proud of. I'll be moving soon though - Pondicherry next: looking forward to some pain au chocolat and hopefully un peu de saucisson quand meme.
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