Sunday Fun!

So this weekend we made no plans to do anything because we still don't feel confident venturing into the city alone and everyone was too busy to take us anywhere. So Holly and I  thought we would just walk down the road to the village and explore for a few hours. However, we had only just walked out the gate when we bumped into two girls who were going into Hyderabad to get a laptop so we decided to accompany them instead! So we hopped on a few buses (which we now know the numbers for so we can go ourselves) and headed into the city. Along the way we stopped for some sugar cane juice which tasted really good, despite it's unappetizing dirty green colour, and was so refreshing in the heat. Yes, it has finally stopped raining but now it is insanely hot! We spent quite a while in the electronics shop where Holly and I stared longingly at the washing machines, went cross-eyed watching about 50 televisions at once, and nearly fell asleep on the comfy leather sofas. It amazes me every time we go out that one minute you are walking past homeless people sleeping on the street and the next you are inside a massive warehouse full of 3D televisions, laptops, iPhones etc. Poverty and wealth are just so closely packed together. After this we were taken to McDonalds (again). People seem to think that it's the only food we will like! Apparently, in this busy part of the city, if you stand in the same place for one hour, 100,000 people will go past you! It's crazy. There was an incident when we tried to cross the road involving the lights changing and us getting stuck in the middle with hundreds of vehicles zooming passed on all sides. That was pretty terrifying but we survived to tell the tale and made it to the other side eventually. We would have done some shopping but since it was an unexpected trip we hardly had any money, so we just headed back to the hostel. Every time we go out with friends they won't let us pay for anything which is so nice but we do feel bad. They want to treat us because we are guests! On our way home we had our first street food which was delicious and so cheap! We will definitely go back for more another day.
Last night we played carroms (a board game) with some students during which we were asked if we are married! I think people think we are a lot older than we actually are! While sitting outside a scarily huge cricket landed on my back. A lizard ran out from behind our curtain and I very nearly stood on a massive toad. It's fair to say the wildlife is proving a challenge.

The sunset from the roof of the hospital.

Same again.

Lots of televisions.

Political protests which seem to happen daily here.

'Pani poori' - our first street food.

The view from one of the balconies at the hospital.

Lunch.

Hiding at the back of the library, eating peanut butter out of the jar with a piece of cardboard because we don't have a spoon! Life is good.

Disclaimer

This blog is a personal blog written by Megan Raistrick. As such the views expressed in this blog are those of Megan Raistrick and not those of Project Trust.

Latest Update

I apologise for neglecting my blog for the last two weeks, I have no excuse. The last few weeks have flown by! I can't believe I left home nearly a month ago now! I don't feel as though I have left people behind because I have been in contact with my friends and family quite regularly. I managed to Skype home at the weekend for the first time which was lovely even though my sister repeatedly fell asleep on camera. I will forgive her only because she was so exhausted from her dance rehearsal. I'm so proud of my little ballet dancer! It was so lovely to see my family's faces, and I was able to give them a small tour of the campus. If anyone wants to add me on Skype my name is megaanraistrick (I think).

So the last time I wrote on here I was 17, now I am 18! I had a really nice birthday although it was very strange not being at home and seeing my family and friends. Holly and a couple of friends organised a cake for me and dragged me out of bed at midnight to take me outside to be greeted with cake in my face. Apparently that is a tradition here! It was so nice of them and they made my birthday special. Holly also got me some nail varnish (as I had to bin mine at the airport) and some nice Indian bangles which I haven't taken of since because they are stuck on my wrist and also they are very pretty! Somehow she managed to sneak out to the shops during one of my lessons without me catching on. In the evening our hosts at the hospital took us to a fancy Chinese restaurant which was lovely. The food was incredible and made a very welcome change to curry!

My teaching is going well although we still don't have many classes as we are waiting for the timetable to be organised. Our students are so sweet and they all say English has become their favourite class since Holly and I started teaching them! I had a slightly embarrassing moment yesterday when teaching my vision technicians class because I actually didn't know how to spell technician! I felt better after though when I met Holly in the corridor because she had done her whole lesson with toothpaste round her mouth! Very amusing. It's so nice being here with someone else so that we can laugh about the things nobody else her would understand.

Me and Holly on Saturday night, loving life.

On Saturday night there was a freshers' party at the hostel. It was not quite the same as a freshers' party in the UK but it was still good fun. Basically the second years organise the party for the new first years and get them all up on the stage to introduce themselves and make them do stupid and embarrassing things. And along with that there are lots of singing and dancing performances. The dancing was incredible, I wish I could dance like that! Holly and I were called up onto the stage to be introduced and they gave us a rose which was nice. They also made us dance which was not so nice. It was thoroughly unpleasant in fact! Holly was also called up on stage by one of the freshers as his task was to propose to her. This was very funny for me, Holly was less amused. After all the performances they had a rave in the car park which was pretty insane. Everyone just went crazy with the dancing! But then the police arrived at 1.30 because the music was too loud. So much fun!

My rose!

Holly's proposal!

The freshers looking beautiful in blue.

The weather hasn't been particularly hot the last few weeks but it has been raining a lot. There were lots of storms with crazy thunder and lightning! Our new friends were shocked to hear that we don't like rain as they all love it. I can't imagine why someone from Scotland doesn't like rain?! All the wet weather made the mosquitos really bad and we are getting bitten all the time, it's such a pain! Now that it's getting hotter they seem to have gotten batter though which is good. Holly actually got a little bit sunburned yesterday! Strangely after being in India for 4 weeks I am yet to use sunscreen or sunglasses. We just don't get the opportunity to go outside much.

On Monday we had to go to the foreign registration office which was so boring. It took 6 hours because they were having some sort of problem with the system. Nightmare! It is sorted now though so we are officially allowed to stay in the country for more than 6 months. In other news, I swallowed an insect the other night. I will be sure not to yawn outside again without covering my mouth!

The food is starting to annoy me. It doesn't taste bad but after having the same thing every single night for almost a month I am a bit sick of it. Yesterday Holly and I went to KFC for lunch because we needed a change. That's the first time I have been to KFC but I don't think it will be the same as in the UK (unless they do rice there as well but I highly doubt it). We had a chicken rice bowl, it was delicious! It's so tempting to go out looking for different food every day but it would get too expensive. However, the KFC was only 80p so I can't really complain.

Something strange I have noticed here is the way people greet each other. In the UK we would say, 'hello, how are you? What have you been up up?' Here they say, 'hello, how are you? Have you had your breakfast?' Sometimes they don't even ask how you are, it's just straight to asking about food! Very odd.

Anyway, I have nothing else to report just now except I am very happy!

Another cow on the road.

People dancing in the streets on the day of a festival!

Me, very happy!

Pictures!

Here are some pictures of the fort we went to on Sunday:

My class of training nurses wanted a picture taken with me on my birthday! Unfortunately my eyes are closed.

Get In Touch!

If anyone would like to get in touch with me directly (and I'd love it if you did!) then here's my contact details:

Email: meganraistrick11@gmail.com

Address:
Megan Raistrick,
Education Department,
L V Prasad Eye Institute,
Kallam Anji Reddy Campus,
L V Prasad Marg,
Banjara Hills,
Hyderabad 500 034
Andhra Pradesh,
India

Please don't hesitate to send me an email or write me a letter!

My Weekend

On Saturday we were told to remain at the hostel instead of going to work because there were some protests going on in the city. We took this opportunity to get to know our campus a bit better and we also met some people who also stay there. We spent the afternoon playing badminton which was completely ridiculous in the climate! But it gave us a chance to make some friends so I put up with the heat. Then in the evening they taught us an Indian board game which was very difficult but good fun! It was nice to finally be talking to some people our own age.

Then on Sunday some friends took us to Golconda Fort in Hyderabad which was fantastic. This was our first proper outing in India so it was full of many 'firsts'. It was our first time crossing the roads which was truly terrifying, our first time in an auto-rickshaw, also terrifying, and our first time on public transport (getting on and off buses while they are moving), equally terrifying. The fort was incredible, the views were amazing! We received a lot of attention throughout the day with people repeatedly asking to get their photo taken with us and following us around. They clearly don't get a lot of tourists in Hyderabad. Another interesting point; it cost our Indian friends 5 rupees to enter the fort, it cost us 100 rupees. After getting thoroughly drenched, we then headed into the city centre to a shopping mall and had a look around, ending up in McDonalds. Believe me when I say it did not taste the same as it does in the UK!

Today the President of Liberia was visiting the hospital and giving a lecture which we attended. We got up very early to catch the 6.15 bus to work and were surprised to see police patrolling the hospital with dogs! Security was very tight. The lecture was so inspirational. The President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, is a remarkable woman who was the first female Head of State in Africa and recently won the Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent protests for women's rights. She was visiting the hospital due to admiration of the work done there and also to set up a partnership in order to help improve eye care facilities in Liberia, a country who's health care system has suffered since their civil war. The whole event was broadcast to other LVP centres and photographers were constantly snapping away for the whole event making it feel like a press conference. It was such an amazing opportunity to be able to attend the event and I hope chances like that continue to crop up throughout my year.

So tomorrow is my 18th birthday! I am very much looking forward to it even though it won't feel quite the same being away from home. It will be strange not celebrating with my family and friends. But I think I will be doing something with the hosts at my project so although it won't be like a normal birthday it will hopefully be a memorable one!

Pictures!

The view from the room of the hospital.

The first of many cows I have seen on the roads.

My room decorated with pictures and cards!

The view from our bedroom window.

The lizard in our room that kept me awake all night.

A nice butterfly.

Greetings From India

After a very stressful journey down to London, involving me arriving at the airport 15 minutes before check-in closed, I finally made in to India! I managed to sleep for about 1 hour of the 9 hour flight from London to Mumbai so I arrived already extremely tired! The first thing I noticed as we landed was the slums that were squashed right up to the edge of the landing strip. As we stepped out of the plane and into the tunnel I was hit with the smell of curry!

As we waited outside the airport to get onto the bus I started to notice the stares we were getting from passers by. As a group of 20 white girls looking thoroughly confused we must have stood out a lot! One man was actually so focused on us that he tripped going down a step! I thoroughly enjoyed that first bus journey, there was just so much to see! The roads here are completely insane, no amount of warning could prepare you for the chaos. It is like a constant video game as vehicles try to avoid cars, buses, autos, motorbikes, bikes, pedestrians, cows, camels.. The list goes on. Each journey on the roads is an adventure in itself!

We all spent two nights in a guest house while we had an orientation from our Overseas Representatives. We went to their home for dinner and had our first experience of eating curry and rice with only our right hands! This was extremely difficult but the food was still delicious. Our group of twenty then split off into pairs as we all travelled to our different projects all over the country. When Holly and me were in the taxi travelling across the city we stopped in traffic and a young girl, who can't have been older that 5, came up to my window carrying a baby and started begging. The taxi driver just kept talking as normal but I didn't know where to look. It was awful. 

Anyone who knows me well will be impressed to hear that I have started eating bananas. This is not because I suddenly love the taste, it is for the sake of money as they are so much cheaper than other fruit. You get about 6 bananas for the equivalent of 10p! Other than bananas I have been eating lots of very spicy curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I think that will take a while to get used to.

Our accommodation for the year seems fine. It is very basic but we have made it our own by covering the walls with pictures of our family and friends. We do have hot water but the shower seems to fire water in ever direction apart from beneath so it looks like we will be washing out of a bucket for the time being. I made my first attempt an hand washing my clothes which was interesting. We made the mistake of leaving the light on in the bathroom once in got dark which led to large amounts of insects coming in through the window. We won't make that mistake again.

We don't officially start teaching until next week so we are just spending time getting to know the hospital and preparing for lessons. Yesterday we went to the shop for the first time and the shopkeeper gave me sweets for change because she had no coins left! I thought this was a strange alternative. Unfortunately the shop had no toilet roll so I was forced to take some from the hospital. I felt bad but it seemed necessary! This part of the city is very modern. There is a McDonalds, KFC and Cineplex across the road from the hospital! 

Soon I will work out how to put pictures up from my camera so my next post will hopefully contain some photos!