Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Kerala Adventure - Part Two


The second installment of my journal entries during the trip to Bangalore and Kerala...

"So yesterday was the wedding and it was very nice - almost entirely in Malayalam (the local language of Kerala) - but very nice. It was completely different to our wedding and really any wedding back home. It was more a formality, but this largely because the couple do not know each other - so the western focus on celebrating the couple's love is not something that can play a major part.

There were THREE sermons (yes, THREE), two of which were in English translations, and many felicitations (their word, not mine) and considered advice shared. We had a GREAT meal afterwards and then had the two-bus journey back to Bangalore.


I enjoyed visiting rural Kerala - there is something very authentic and genuine there that is not so apparent in the metro cities. People are content with who they are and what their lives consist of, whereas in the city, people are striving for something more, and usually something more western.

Something I have never done before is pray for a car! The driver we had from Sultan Batheri to Pulpally had bought the car the day previous - so we were his maiden voyage. Because of this, Ummen asked me to pray for the driver and for a blessing on his car...which I did from the back seat - another first.

Prices were not high in this area - the Bangalore - Mysore bus (3 hours) was £2 each ($4), Mysore - Sultan Batheri (3 hours) was £0.70 each ($1.40), and breakfast for three people was £0.40 ($0.80) in total.


Other new things tried during the trip were Karangali water and Geera water (boiled water with different ayurvedic additions, including tree bark), and paththiri for breakfast which cam with a lamb dish (FOR BREAKFAST!?!?)...."

Monday, March 26, 2007

The Kerala Adventure - Part One


I completely forgot to put on the blog my experience in Bangalore and Kerala (including the Indian wedding), so thought I would give you some excerpts from my journal...(pictures to follow)

"Yesterday was an interesting day.

Life is full of choices. You can choose to play it safe or you can choose adventure. Neither is necessarily right or wrong, just a different path. When Binu invited us to his wedding, it was going to be a difficult choice. He is a good friend and was desperate for us to be there, but we knew Andi would be in Thailand, so I had to decide whether or not to go alone. After a few discussions, I worked out that it may be feasible to incorporate a work trip to Bangalore and go to the wedding in Kerala (another state) on the Saturday.

So yesterday, I travelled by train (12 hours), car (6 hours), bus (6 hours) and auto (10 mins) – I crossed three states: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala, and I finished up staying in a Catholic seminary in a tiny village called Sultan Bathuri. All this because I chose adventure.


I travelled with Ummen, which definitely helped break any language barriers and also provided some company for the trip. I also tried Appam (rice dish) for breakfast for the first time (it came with an egg curry).

I love seeing the authentic India – the one you can only see when travelling by train or bus – especially bus. The first bus was a decent air conditioned vehicle which included a TV showing the latest Bollywood offering. The second bus from Mysore to Sultan Batheri was “old school”…to say the least, and was populated by many guys in the lungi (wrap around) and rags around their head. Just before the Karnataka/Kerala border, an elephant was just standing by the side of the road – the people nearby seemed to be taking no notice.


Tonight we had a great meal at a restaurant that has not seen a foreigner for a VERY long time…if at all! The meal was topped off with a Keralan speciality, lime tea – which was amazing! Looking forward to the wedding tomorrow…"

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Seven Reasons I Am Becoming More Indian

1. THE HANDKERCHIEF: I always thought I would have to be 60 years old before I bought the real deal cotton handkerchief. However, it is actually a necessary part of Indian life - not just to blow your nose, you also need to dry your hands, clean your face, and many other things. So I finally succumbed and am now the proud owner of 4 pristine 100% cotton handkerchiefs. I feel old.

2. THE HEAD WOBBLE: I never thought this would affect me. It's one of the first things you notice when conversing with Indians - they don't just nod, they wobble. And recently I noticed an inadvertent, subconscious movement of my own head that has never been part of my persona before. It definitely makes things easier and makes me more understood, more quickly (which is not an easy task for a Scotsman in Hyderabad)

3. WATER DRINKING: When you buy a bottle of water, especially a large bottle, you cannot presume that you will be the exclusive user of that bottle, therefore most Indians have developed the technique of pouring water into the mouth without touching the lips. Previous attempts from me have resulted in more water across my face and clothes than in my mouth. However in the last few weeks I have mastered the technique and can now proudly say I can drink like an Indian.

4. HAND GESTURES: Indians are very expressive and use their hands frequently as they talk. I have begun recently to use my hands as I talk. Not sure how much it helps in the clarity of my communication, but sometimes you just have to realise that the people around you rub off on you.

5. THE MOUTH NOISE: When Indians are slightly annoyed or are being misunderstood and want to correct that misunderstanding they make a noise by a sharp intake of breath and the sound of the tongue against the inside of the mouth, a bit like a "tut" (not an easy noise to describe). It is not a particularly nice noise and one I actually found quite rude when I first arrived here. But recently it has become a habit of mine - especially if someone cuts in front of me while driving. Not sure if I want this to continue, but it's not easy breaking a habit.

6. EATING WITH HANDS: If you eat in the less developed parts of Indian cities and villages, it is unlikely you will automatically be given a fork and spoon - and almost definitely not a knife. Therefore you have to learn how to use your right hand as an eating implement - and I love it! Maybe it's psychological, but I think the food tastes a lot better that way. It's more fun too.

7. BOLLYWOOD CD'S: Bollywood is huge. DVD, VCD (Video CD), and audio products sell in huge numbers - not to mention theatre ticket sales. Recently I have used our well earned money to purchase two such CDs - and I love them. They may be cheesy, but there is definitely a time and place for that!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Learner Driver



(click on the image for a bigger picture)

Well, I (Gareth) can now officially announce that I am the proud owner of an Indian learner's driving license (I realise that may sound like I have found an Indian learner driver and taken their license from them, but that's not what I mean). The even more exciting news is that in one month's time, I will have my very own full license!

The process of obtaining the learner's license was very entertaining. First of all, it took about 5 months to actually get the agent to contact us. But once he called, the process went ahead at full steam...to the point that I drove to the driving school centre, waited about 20 minutes, was then ushered into the office where I was told to sit behind one of the three computer screens. They hadn't even mentioned a test, but obviously this is what I was about to do...or thought I was about to do.

In the end, all I actually had to do was hold my finger down on the control key of the keyboard, while the examiner answered all the questions!!! He slowed down for a couple to see if I had any idea, but even if I said the wrong answer he pressed the correct button. Most of the questions went so fast, I didn't even have a chance to read them! The funny thing is that he only got 16 out of 20 correct (although he did the same for the other two "students" and got 16 with them also).

What a country.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

English lessons...again!

When we first arrived in India, we knew there would be some language barriers, and there has been. However, we did not expect to have language barriers when it came to using English! However, we have discovered that in India there are a few words here and there that we have had to add to our English vocabulary. Some of the words are olde English words, but others are completely new and could potentially be the fault of the British Raj during their reign in the country. Here are a few examples...

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

And finally......

While I was away I was also asked by various curious people about my wedding and the day's events, as each country often has its own traditions. So if you're interested and to my colleagues who wanted to see photos - here is a link to our photographer's website as she was keen to display some of the photos from our day on her site.

http://www.annemarieking.co.uk/gallery02/gallery02.html

Coming home after 12 days away, Gareth had been a fantastic husband stocking the fridge with food, putting flowers in the vase and wait for it... sweeping two of the floors in the apartment! He said that after two rooms, he was so hot and tired he couldn't do anymore.. I appreciated the effort!

Also while away I read 'Blue Like Jazz' by Donald Miller. This book has challenged and encouraged my spiritual life as I seek truth and honesty in my Christian faith. He doesn't shy away from difficult questions but communicates so effectively and simply. I really recommend checking it out for, as he describes it, "non-religious thoughts on Christian spirituality".

This is also a couple more pix from my trip, the one I took of the pig is completely irrelevant to the conference but I just like the photo! As I took it the flash went off and the pig/bird stirred. As you might see from the picture he's kinda big so as he moved towards me - it was time to leave..

The following day after I got back, Sunday, we were at church in the morning and one of the best quotes I have heard for a while made in light of marking International Womens Day, was, "Women are God's favourite creation." I think some men may have a comment on this!

Later that day we attended an Indian friend's birthday celebration. Held at the Hyderabad Boat Club, it was great fun with some interesting Hindu traditions, including wrestling the birthday boy to the ground and then kicking him (slightly too) hard on the backside as many times as the age he is celebrating...he then had the birthday cake smeared across his face, all in all he has a pretty rough time of it!

Monday, March 12, 2007

Two weeks in Thailand. Part two...

One of the two teams taking part in the disaster planning simulation....

After a weekend of setting up and final conference plans, plus eating lots of Thai food inc seafood, which I LOVE (I must have had Tom Yum soup every day for 10 days!), Sunday night rolled round and on the opening evening for the conference we held a photo competition and official dinner/speeches, with an exhibition displaying each of the WV country offices submissions. The subject was HIV/AIDS and some powerful photos and captions were on display as everyone wandered around wearing their national dress.


I surprised people by wearing my saree, having decided before to dress in my current national dress from India...this made the WV India team very proud! Besides apart from a Morris dancer outfit or some Union Jack shorts (never going to happen) there isn’t really a UK national outfit (not an English one anyway)!


Our special guest speaker was an 11-year-old boy from Cambodia who is HIV positive and has lost both his parents. He moved all of us to tears, but inspired at the same time. He was just a typical young lad in many ways who WV Cambodia were supporting with his brother, but had been through so much and again reminded us all that children are our priority and helping them use their voice to tell their stories.

One of the photos I took while in a World Vision community programme...hasn't she got a great smile!

The week itself was great, despite early starts and late nights as per usual conference mode - it was a great time of learning, sharing and getting to know each other. Overall around 14 plus Asia Pacific countries were represented in the week. Another encouraging aspect was meeting some of the teams I have worked with in the past four/five months and have them say how they appreciated it, felt supported and have seen good work outputs/learnings.

However one of the sad things of being in Pattaya, a tourist resort where WV also has some projects, was seeing so many white, western older men with very young, pretty Thai girls and boys. It is easy to generalise and judge, but nine times out of ten it probably is sex exploitation. At the same time many of the Thai men and women were controlling the situation, earning some money and waiting for the next flow of tourists to fly in.

During the week I was speaking at and managing a few seminars, as well as making sure with Katie and James that the conference ran smoothly - so at times I was feeling a little out of my comfort-zone. But with prayer (!) and lots of preparing/planning, I felt my sessions and entire week went really well with good involvement and feedback.

Here's a couple of pix from the week...

The Asia Pacific regional communications team posing... Katie, me and James.


Two weeks in Thailand. Part one....

Sounds good doesn’t it and it was - but not because I was lying on a beach sipping a pina colada, as at times I may have wished for! I was there for the regional communications conference and also some meetings I had before in Bangkok, which went really well. I flew out from Hyderabad on the 27th Feb to arrive the same evening and make my way to the hotel in Bangkok. The next few days were spent finalising plans for the conference and lots of meetings with the Asia Pacific office directors, among others. I love my new laptop rucksack, which crammed full was flung on my back each night as I hopped onto the back of one of the many motorbike taxis, which whiz around the city... Cheap and effective they beat the heavy Bangkok traffic and are great fun into the bargain.

On the Friday we left Bangkok stopping off at the airport to pick up my colleague Katie and head further in Thailand. On the way we spent time at one of our World Vision long term community programmes, to check on a disaster preparedness simulation we had planned to train a few teams the next week. We met some of the fantastic community members and WV staff who were helping us by being actors for the day. Having provided scripts, notes etc for them I needed to check everyone was happy and prepared, which apparently they were as they asked if an Oscar for the best performance would be presented at the end!

Leaving them with everything ready for a fake flooding scenario the next week (!), we went on to our final destination Pattaya, where we were staying in a hotel shaped like a ship, very interesting! Was nice to see the ocean and to be honest that’s all I did the whole week - gaze longingly at the sea as we didn’t have any time to do much more but work!


More to come in part two, hope it's not too boring!