Back in Kanchipuram.

I got back into Kanchipuram yesterday. The kids made a sign saying "Welcome Back David Uncle", really cute. It is great to see them again. I also got a chance to meet the new volunteers, two "blokes" from England.

I forgot how hot it is here. It's really hot here.

Last night I gave my cell phone to the kids upstairs to play with. I often give it to them because they like playing this snake game that the cell phone has. I forgot to get it back from them last night though -- I got it this morning. Then, this afternoon, this girl Angela calls me (she's a girl that is working in Chennai that we met randomly and became friends with) and is like, what was up with all the text messages last night, and I was like, oh no. Apparently they sent nine text messages to her -- most of them were blank, but here are some of the other ones:

I.am a little boy my name is lvcky sorry

O'sorry sister .i don ntoto no the phone ndoomn

Phone privileges REVOKED.

Anyway, now that I'll be home in less than a week, I'm starting to get excited. First, I can't wait for my own bed. The beds here suck, even at the hotels. Also, I can't wait to not be unbearably hot all the time. A/C is great and I love it, but I really crave NATURAL coolness. There's something unsettling about being inside an A/C restaurant and looking out the window and seeing the hot and dusty world out there. Third, I can't wait to have a big fat cheeseburger + chili + cornbread + strawberry milkshake from St. Francis. I'm not that big of a meat eater, but my god do I miss beef.

Traveling Day 8: Kovalam

I really miss the kids a lot, so I decided to cut my traveling in half and spend my last week with the kids in Kanchipuram. I will take an overnight train tomorrow night.

Since I am cutting my travels in Kerala short, I figured I might as well spend my last few nights at a really nice place. I am staying at a beachside resort, which is really posh. It's set away from the main touristy area, on a more secluded beach, and has a pool, and get this...hot water!!! I took a hot shower this morning and it was everything I dreamed it would be.

Kerala has been fun, but it's very touristy. In Varkala, I met up with almost everyone who was on my backwater boat tour. They were cool, but we just didn't have much to say to each other. I ended up becoming friends with the Keralan guys at this one restaurant, who are about my age, and really cool. I went there a lot, and hung out with them until late in the morning, drinking and talking. The chefs are former Bollywood dancers, and I was really really hoping they would shake a leg, but it did not come to pass.

I'm going to go to back to the hotel, and swim in the pool for awhile...then maybe go to the beach and bodyboard for a while...then I will work on the friendship bracelets I am making for the kids. Two down, 10 to go.

Traveling Day 3: Kochi

I arrived in Kochi yesterday, and will be staying here another two nights. It is pretty nice here, though the weather has been overcast and slightly rainy. I didn't do much today other than walk around the town and see a few of the sights. There are these enormous chinese fishing nets, which are lowered into the water. I got to walk out on one and talk some pictures (for a price, of course). Last night I had dinner at this really good restaurant, and got to talking to the waiter. Long story short, I went back earlier today and the two of us went to the fish market together (a short walk) and we picked out two small lobsters which they will cook for me tonight. I also went to "Jew Town" which is an area that used to have a thriving Jewish population, but now only has like seven Jewish families. Tomorrow, I will go on a day-long backwater trip on a traditional keralan boat and after that I am going to see some live kathakali, which is the traditional keralan theater/dance.

I am already sick of all the touristy stuff. I am avoiding all the shops because they are obviously just handicrafts geared towards tourists. I was talking to the manager of the inn I am staying at, who said that three years ago, some Kashmiris came here and opened up a ton of shops, which have just ruined the charm of the town, because the people who run the shops hound you relentlessly. You can't go anywhere without people trying to get you to go into their shop. "Hello friend! How are you? Would you like to look in my shop? Just one look." It's really annoying. Honestly, I think it's that way at all the tourist destinations here, though.

Anyway, on Friday I will head to Amritapuri for one night and stay at an ashram, then head down to the beach town of Varkala for a few days, then the beach town of Kovalam for a few days. There is a lot more that I could do, like going to the wildlife sanctuary, but I think I'd rather just chill on the beach for a bit, read some books, and then head back to Kanchipuram a few days earlier than I originally planned to spend some more time with the kids.

Traveling Day 1: Ooty

I said good bye to the children yesterday and set off on my two weeks of traveling. I took an overnight train last night to Metapallayum, and then caught a train to Ooty this morning. Ooty is a small town in the Nilgiri mountains, where there are a lot of tea plantations. There isn't really anything to do here, but it is worth it for two reasons.

First, the train ride from Metapallayum to Ooty was absolutely amazing. It is called the Nilgiri Blue Mountain Railway. The train is very small, and there is only one rail set of tracks, rather than one for each direction. It was built in the late 1800's / early 1900's, and is unique in that it uses the swiss rack system -- the locomotive has cogs that pull against these teeth pieces laid on the train tracks, pulling it up the mountain. Because of its unique tracks, only the original steam locomotives can run between Metapallayum and Coonoor (halfway to Ooty). The views on this train ride are absolutely breathtaking. I'm not normally big on scenic nature views, but this was really just unbelievable. It takes you over many bridges which are a bit hair-raising, and through a lot of narrow tunnels. In the tunnels that are really long and narrow, the steam builds up and it gets really hot and foggy, but then you exit the tunnel and the steam billows out and in comes the cool mountain air. Of course, the train ride was really slow -- it takes about twice as long, and most of the time you are going at walking pace. But really, it was just unbelievable, and totally worth it.

The second reason to be here is the relief from the heat! It is so nice and cool up here in the mountains. It's a big change to see people wearing sweaters and knitted caps.

I am just chilling out today. I was going to take a walk up to the botanical gardens, but it's raining right now so I may just find a cafe somewhere and read my book. Tomorrow, I will leave for the state of Kerala, where there are a lot of beautiful beaches and backwaters.

Buffalo.

This is what a three day old buffalo looks like.


This is what a mama buffalo looks like.

Deloused in the orphanorium.

Well, I guess I can take "never had lice" off my resume. Here though, it's more of a minor annoyance than an ohmigod problem. It's like, oh yeah, just put this cream in your hair then comb them out. Done.

Captions below.

Please look at the two posts below; I have added captions to the photos.

Random pictures of India.

Kanchipuram is famous for its silk production. I was invited inside a silk factory across from the orphanage and took some photos. The looms are very large and watching how the patterns come together is very interesting.


Walking down the street two weeks ago, at night, I saw a house with a lot of lights outside and people milling about. I asked what was going on and they immediately grabbed me and took me inside. There was a celebration of some sort, with an enormous feast. I took some pictures of the feast, the family, and this baby who was dressed up very ornately.


This is a guy I call Siesta Rajesh. To be honest, I don't know his real name, so I named him after one of the kids. Every day he sleeps on the porch here, covered in flies. Periodically a hand will come up in a fruitless attempt to wave some of the flies away.


Ox-drawn carts are all over the place here. The horns are always painted and often they have bells on them as well. I asked this guy if I could jump on for a ride, and he took me down the street.


Monkey in Pondicherry.

More pictures of the kids.

This is Saran. He is very loving and caring, but at times seems very lonely. He is interacting with the other kids more, which is really great to see.


This is Sumitha. She is boisterous and fun, and loves to dance. Sometimes she yells "Uncle!" and when she gets my attention, she just shows me a little dance.


Jabes. At one time the bain of my existence, he has gotten so much better -- paying attention, not talking, not hitting others. He is absolutely sweet and is a lot of fun.


Saran again. This is what my life is like at the orphanage -- walking to and fro with Saran wrapped around me.


Kuni. She is another home school student, although she is a bit older. She is fairly quiet and is very well behaved, and is such a sweetheart. I love having her in my class.


Crazy kids.


Brother and sister.


Kids at prayer time.


Radha and Rohini.


Molini and Sonim.

Random Thoughts

Pondicherry was really nice. The food was great, and it felt good to ride a moped again. The east side of town is where the nice restaurants and cafes are, and the streets aren't that crowded, so it was fun to buzz around. The west side of town is where all the shops are, and riding a moped in that was one of the worst experiences of my life. There was one point when we were stuck at an intersection forever because of some Hindu procession.

By the way, everything here is some Hindu thing. Why was there music playing at 6am? Some Hindu thing. Hey what's that festival on the street? Some Hindu thing. Why does everyone have the day off today? Some Hindu thing.

Anyway I am really proud of an anology I came up with yesterday about Pondicherry. It is as if you took a medium sized French town, picked it up and shook all the people out of it, placed it randomly in India, and just let slowly get inhabited.

I decided to shave my beard. India is much too hot for a beard. Shaving it off felt soooooooo good. Also, I don't want to come home with a tan on the upper part of my face and a pasty chin.

This is my last week with the kids, then I will go to Mamallapuram for the weekend and start traveling around. I haven't found anyone to travel with besides one girl who I haven't met and who may or may not be able to go for part of the time. So I'll see how it goes...I typically don't enjoy traveling alone, so depending on what happens I may just find a nice seaside village in Kerala and stay at a nice hotel for a while, or go up to Goa which is a small state colozined by Portugal (and was actually a part of Portugal until 1961), and is basically the center of hedonism in India. Fuck yes.

This guy Matt, who volunteered here from January through July (!) will be returning to the orphanage tomorrow and will stay for a week before he goes home to England. It will be really nice to have someone else around to help me this week. And to hang out with!

Even being away from the kids for the weekend, I really missed them. It will be hard to leave. They're ever so precious.

By the way, I came to this internet cafe with my camera, expecting to post a shit ton of pictures, but I forgot the cord. So I'll either post them tonight or tomorrow, but check back because there will be some portraits I took of my home school kids as well as other random pictures I have taken.

Sincerely,
David

Oh my god monkey. Alternate title: blessed by an elephant.

I have seen two monkeys and an elephant in the past week.

In Mahabalipuram, there was a really old guy walking down the street with a monkey on a leash. I was like oh my god monkey. He let me hold the monkey, and Jin took some pictures. The monkey crawled up my body onto my shoulder, but mostly I just kind of held it while it kept biting me. Like, in a playful way. Thank god for vaccinations. Anyway I named it Mojojojo.

I also saw a monkey at the schoolyard yesterday. All the children rushed to one area and I was like what's up kids and they were all, monkey in the tree, check it. For ten minutes we yelled at the monkey, just being all "MONKEY! HEY MONKEY! MONKEY, OVER HERE, MONKEY!" but it was not interested in us at all. I didn't name it, but since I'm here, I might as well...and since I'm in Pondicherry right now I'm going to go with Francois.

Yesterday I went to a temple in Kanchipuram solely because it has an elephant. There it was, big huge elephant, kicking it in the back with some dude who takes care of it. You get close to it and it puts its trunk out, then you put some coins in and it gives them to the guy, then it bops you on the head ever so slightly with its trunk, which is a blessing. I got some kick ass photos of the elephant. I named it Stampy.

GOD BLESS THE FRENCH.

I am in Pondicherry this weekend, which is a former french colony. It still has that french feel to it. It's like a small french village but with Indians living in it instead. The streets all have french names, and there are a ton of great french restaurants. I just had the most delightful coq au vin and a cup of black coffee.

As a side note, hanging out with Jin, who is from England, in addition to Indians using certain British words/phrases, has made me pick up a few English ways of saying things. For instance, they don't say math, they say maths, and they don't say scotch tape, they say cellotape. But in my thoughts I use the word "quite" a lot. That meal was quite delicious, quite delicious indeed. Bob's your uncle. Oh and apparently no one in England says "smashing" anymore; that is a relic from the sixties. They do however say "cheeky monkey".

Anyway, I am by myself this weekend, but it's alright -- I rented a moped (well technically, it's a noped since it has foot pegs and a kickstart engine), and am going to buzz around town. I was really hoping they would have motobecanes here, alas they only have the normal TVS mopeds. I will see a few sights, then relax in a cafe somewhere drinking bordeaux and reading a book. It shall be frightfully relaxing, I say.

Gotcha!

I TOTALLY caught a kid in the act of faking a guilt trip on me. I was at the school grounds, where they are allowed to play in the afternoon. I have a bag full of frisbees, skipping ropes, nerf balls, and other games, which I was handing out. Handing out these games is one of my least favorite activities, behind things like popping boils and ripping off broken toenails. I have all these hands grabbing furiously for everything, and once I give something to a kid then they all fight over it. Ugh. Anyway, I saw this one kid smiling happily and all of a sudden he turns to me and frowns and is like “uncle please, uncle please,” looking like he is about to cry, then all of a sudden he turns away and is totally smiling again. I was like GOTCHA SUCKA!!!!! They can turn it on and off like a light switch. Or a bandsaw. Anything that has a switch.

Success.

Each day, at the beginning of class I tell the kids that if they’re good they will get a sticker. I then make them repeat what it means to be good. Here’s how the conversation goes:

David: What does it mean to be good? What is number one?
Class: NO FIGHTING NO BEATING NO KICKING NO FIGHTING…
David: Okay okay, that’s enough, everyone quiet. Number one is no fighting.
Class: NO FIGHTING
David: What is number two?
Class: NO PLAYING
David: No no, you can play! I want you to play and have fun. Number two is no talking while the teacher is talking.
Class: NO TALKING TEACHER TALKING
David: What is number three?
Class: (inaudible yelling)
David: Number three is paying attention.
Class: PAYING ATTENTION

(What they say is in all caps because they always yell this stuff.)

Usually about five get one at the end of the day, and I never thought that there would be a day where everyone would get one, but yesterday was that day! This was made possible by the fact that the kid I used to call Voldemort has turned a new leaf and is now very well behaved.

Anyway, this act alone has convinced me that I am indeed the best teacher ever of all time and will remain so for eternity, modesty be damned.

Mahabalipuram.

I went to Mahabalipuram with Jin and Angela over the weekend, and it was such a relief. Lots of fresh grilled fish that was caught that day, soooo delicious. There was a french place also, and we got crepes and espresso, soooo delicious. Hung out on the beach, in the pool, at restaurants, and just chilled in the gloriously air conditioned hotel room. I am quite convinced that air conditioning is the best invention ever. Well at least like top 4.

One thing I found out about beer here. The only beer you can get is Kingfisher, an Indian beer. The thing is...they put glycerol in it to preserve it, which gives you these massive headaches. You can check this by turning a beer upside down with your thumb over the opening, then quickly submerge it in a glass of water. The water will not leak into the beer, but the glycerol will flow out. We tried it and sure enough it's true.

We also got shirt tailored for us, which was really cool. They were like $7.50 each.

Oh also, we went to "Siesta Restaurant", hehe.

Back at the orphanage...today it will be tough because Jin was here Wednesday through Friday of last week, and it was such a huge help to have him around. I'm on my own again until next week, when this guy Matt (who volunteered at the orphanage from January through July) will be returning for a few days.

The children.

Singing at prayer time.


More singing.


This girl's name is Baby, and she is an absolute doll.


Pinky is reaching for bubbles.


This is what 90 kids in one room looks like. The girl in the turquoise and pink is Miriam and she is an absolute sweetheart.

Proof.

Here's some proof that I am indeed in India.

getting a henna tattoo


local children (not orphans)


after I hung out with the neighbors and they put the red mark on my forehead:


neighbors cooking up a feast (cowpies in the lower left corner)


statue of ganesh, son of shiva


More to come later.