1st November

I can't quite believe it's November already. We arrived at our project two months ago today! When I think back over these months and what I have accomplished my first thoughts are, nothing. But if I really think about it, that's not true. The biggest achievement is definitely being away from home this long without any major homesickness! Everything here feels relatively normal now so I don't often realise that it's actually quite a big deal. Being away from family and friends for a long period of time is really tough, especially when I know I'm not going to see them any time soon, but I just have to remember why I decided to put myself through that! Regarding achievements at work, it's the little things that are more noticeable. Like being told by our host that he can see a big difference in the English levels of our nursing students and being told by our students how much they enjoy our classes! In our social life it's also the little things that I notice. Getting public buses on our own, arguing with auto drivers about prices, crossing the road on our own, looking up places on Google maps and then finding our way there, booking holidays, washing everything by hand, the list goes on.. I don't feel as though I have done anything of great importance but all these little things make me feel a lot more independent than I did when we first arrived, two months ago today.

After both Holly and I being ill last week, when it came to the weekend we decided to treat ourselves. On Saturday afternoon we managed to successfully find a western coffee shop so we went there for lunch. My stomach wasn't coping too well with the Indian food so I can't express how much I enjoyed having a cheese toastie and chips! And a chocolate volcano cake for dessert. This place also had free wifi which meant I could go on facebook and twitter for the first time in months so I enjoyed looking at what everyone has been up to. We ended up staying for 4 and a half hours because we were so relaxed!

Then on the Sunday we planned to meet up with Anna and Fidra, the two other volunteers in Hyderabad, and go to a water park. After about an hour and a half on buses, Holly and I found the girls and we got an overpriced auto to the park. When I say water park, it wasn't exactly like what you would expect. It was basically a swimming pool with flumes that was outside! But it was good fun anyway, and nice to be in the water when it was so hot. We had to wear the most hideous 'swimming costumes' I have ever seen. They were basically shiny, baggy trousers and top that pretty much covered us head to toe. Obviously I knew we would have to be covered up in the pool but they didn't have to make us look like idiots. What made it worse was the men are allowed to go in wearing nothing but shorts! Outrageous. Also there was a rope down the middle of the pool to separate men and women. The women's side was made up of me, Holly, Anna and Fidra. The men's side had about 100 men splashing around, having a great time. And staring at us. We did go on some slides but they mostly involved getting so much water up your nose that you can't breathe properly, so we quickly moved on to lunch. After having rain constantly for so many days I conveniently forgot to put on suncream which resulted in me getting burnt for the first time in India. But it turned brown pretty quickly so it's not too bad. Don't worry mum, I'll be more careful next time..

While walking from the water park to the train station we got harassed by a little girl who grabbed onto Holly's bracelet and would not let go. We managed to escape after a pretty embarrassing scene in the middle of the street but then the same girl found us again at the train station! This time she appeared carrying a baby which she kept trying to force us to take. I'm not sure exactly what she wanted us to do with the baby, but I felt so sorry for it getting tossed around and several times it was close to being dropped. I did have to see the funny side when the girl approached Holly with the baby held out at which point Holly turned and ran resulting in her being chased. This provided a lot of amusement for the other people on the platform. It's fair to say we were very relieved when the train arrived!

All in all it was a pretty good weekend. Hopefully we will have another good one as tomorrow we are going to our Overseas Rep's house to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights.

The lake in the middle of Hyderabad.

Casually chilling with some goats in the train station.

Friday 25th

Here's some pictures from the traditional day at our hostel!

Thursday 17th

I apologise again for the long gap in between this post and my last post! It feels like a lot has happened since then and I can't quite remember when everything happened so this post will probably be a bit all over the place. But here goes..

I will start with work at the hospital. Not much has changed in the last few weeks. We have started to realise that if something is supposed to happen today, it means tomorrow. If something is supposed to happen tomorrow, it means next week. Basically nothing happens on time. It is quite funny when you think about it, but it can be frustrating at times, especially when it involves getting us work to do! We have started spending time in the children's rehabilitation department which has been really interesting. The clinic is for children with a whole range of disabilities and it provides speech therapy, physiotherapy and special education to help children and their parents. It is really fascinating to watch but it can also be quite sad. We spend a couple of hours there every day just observing, and then in time we will be able to help with any tasks they need doing. There is also an adult rehab department where we can help out by recording audio books (if they can understand our accents) and learning brail so that we can make brail books. Patients are sent to this department if the doctors can do nothing for their sight so that they can receive counselling and training. They give classes on how to use computer programs and also teach people how to cook and clean so that they can take care of themselves in the home. It's amazing that the hospital provides all of this, and its all free of cost!

Last week we booked the trains for our first long weekend away from our project. At the end of November we are going to Hampi, a small town about 12 hours away by train where there are lots of ancient boulders which form an amazing landscape. There are also lots of temples and ruins to visit so it should be quite nice. We are also trying to organise meeting up with some of the other volunteers over Christmas and New Year which is proving quite difficult since everyone seems to have different holidays! Hopefully we will sort something out and we'll be able to spend Christmas together on a beach in Kerala!

Last week the hospital organised various different sports and arts contests which we went to watch. Here are some pictures of the rangoli (patterns made with multicoloured powders) and mehndi (henna) competitions:

After watching these competitions we went out for dinner with some friends. The first excitement came from being in an air-conditioned car. And then the food. I can't even describe how good it was to have a meal outside the hostel or hospital! I had chicken noodle soup, ginger prawns and chicken biryani (spicy rice with chicken in it). I was in such a good mood after the meal, the food made me so happy.

October seems to have been a constant festival with holidays every week and people celebrating all time! Last week there was a Hindu festival during which people go dancing every night and Holly and I were lucky enough to take part in this. We were taken to a massive outdoor function hall where there was a live band, loads of food and over a thousand people dancing in the same place, at the same time. The atmosphere was amazing, I have photos of the crowds but they don't even do justice to the amount of people there! Of course we were also made to dance but it was actually quite easy so we didn't mind. It was so much fun and we ended up getting in at 2 o'clock in the morning which did not please the security guard who had to wait up for us!

On Sunday we went to buy our first sari to wear for Traditional Day this Saturday. The amazing selection of colours, materials and patterns meant that of course it took ages for us to pick something! We also had to make sure we chose something light-weight because otherwise it would to too heavy for us to wear for the first time! Eventually I chose a dark green and maroon one and Holly chose a royal blue one. I ended up spending much more than I intended but once I saw the one I liked I just couldn't find anything else the same! So even though it was expensive, I had no choice but to buy it. I wrongly thought that we were finished there, but after buying the material you then have to take it to a tailor to get the blouse stitched. We put this off for a few days but as we need it for Saturday and the tailor can take several days, we had to get it sorted yesterday. None of our friends knew where to go but eventually one of their mothers kindly offered to take us. We went to the village beside our hostel where she asked around several people looking for a ladies' tailor, and after wandering down some dodgy looking side streets we ended up in a women's house which was actually the tailor. After a lot of talking in Telugu (I still don't know what was said) she agreed to stitch our blouses for Friday and then we just left her to it. So my expensive sari is currently with a stranger in her house, on a street where I certainly would not go alone during the day, let alone at night. Fingers crossed all will be fine! We then went to buy some jewellery to wear with our saris. I have ridiculous amounts of bangles to wear on each wrist! They will definitely sort out my bingo wings. No doubt we will take lots of pictures on Saturday so I will put them in my next post!

Unfortunately I have been ill since Sunday night. I don't actually know what was wrong as the doctor wasn't very communicative but after two days in bed I am feeling much better now, just tired! Holly was very good to me and bought peanut butter and chocolate which I enjoyed once I was able to eat again! I'm not sure if I ate something dodgy because the last thing I had before being ill was pizza from Dominos! It would be ironic that after eating curry every day for seven weeks the first stomach problems I've had were after eating pizza.. 

Tonight there is a big foundation in celebration of the hospital for all the staff, students and their families. There will be lots of food, singing, dancing etc so no doubt I will have loads of pictures to put up on my next post! 

Here are some random thoughts and pictures that don't really fall into any particular category:

• When I was ill, Holly went to the shop by herself and was in the lift was a man who managed to start up a conversation, ask for her number and tell her he loved her, all between the 1st floor and the ground floor. When they got out she told him she was married so he'd leave her alone!
• We were walking from the village back to our hostel and two men on a motorbike stopped in front of us and watched us walk passed. They then drove on, stopped, and watched us walk passed again. This happened four times. Very odd. 
• We keep accidentally leaving our bathroom light on when its dark, leading to an infestation of hundreds of insects which we spray with repellent which kills them, leaving hundreds of dead insects everywhere.
• I used to love rice. Now, not so much.
• I can't remember what it's like to feel cold.
• We had our BMI calculated and by Indian standards I am overweight.
• I just want to mention how proud I am of my little sister, Isla, who was in a professional ballet at Eden Court last weekend and how much I wish I could have seen it!! My wee star. 

A little boy threw this bag of candyfloss through my window in the car on the way to the hospital!

After discovering how cheap watermelons are, we are eating them daily!

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!