North Korea and beyond...

Dochi Township North Korea, September 2007.

I (Andi) tallied up that I have visited in the last nine months - six countries and even more cities, four of these countries in the past two-three weeks. And now I'm home after being away with work and is time for another blog. Is so nice to be back with Gareth who has also been busy recently, organising and leading a global conference with his work.

We are in the midst of heavy monsoon rains and as I write this the water is pouring down the streets and thundering off the roof of the apartment. Is actually quite refreshing as it cleans a lot of things up, cools things down and fills up the tanks for when the weather turns hot and dry again.

So back to the recent trips. I rivaled Gareth's last crazy schedule with one of my own. Heading to North Korea as a World Vision delegation of 3, to assess and respond to the floods which hit the country last month and also check on our shipments. I was curious to visit this secretive, little known country which in 2002 George Bush named as part of an "axis of evil". I don't often quote George Bush.....
Beijing, China.
Is difficult to operate as an NGO here but World Vision have had development programs and relief response to disasters since 1997.

The three of us included the WV DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) National Director who's based in NYC to be close to the UN, is Taiwanese and the Regional HEA Director who's also a friend as we've worked together now for five years. He's British but based with his family in Singapore. Then me.

My journey to get to the country included Bangkok, Singapore, Beijing and then North Korea. You can only get your plane ticket and visa to NK from Beijing. So I was in the WV Singapore office for few days and then Beijing for few days inc a chance to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden Palace. This visit was special for me as this was my first visit to the country my Mum was born in.. Then we traveled onto North Korea.

Forbidden Palace, Beijing.

We were only allowed to visit DPRK for five days as you have to seek permission for NGO delegations. Part of this included inter-agency meetings we had arranged with The Red Cross, UN, World Food Programme etc and visiting some of our field programs, seeing the flood damage and making reports, assessments, gathering footage, photos, stories, interviews etc.

On arrival at the airport our mobiles were confiscated and we were given a receipt to retrieve them on exit, as calls are monitored and you are allocated 'minders' or officials who check your itinerary and again monitor your movements.

I was surprised at how beautiful the country is and the average person was so welcoming, but this is in contrast to the dictatorship, poverty and a crumbling infrastructure and it felt so surreal at times as we traveled and were watched at every move. North Korea by the way has the world's fifth largest army of one million, despite only being a population of around 23million.

On this note I also had a scary moment when a gun was cocked and held at me in the dark, but it all worked out ok and my security training kicked in as laid my things on the floor, held my hands up and kept calm (until I got back safely to my room that is!)

I was also really encouraged when global news agency Reuters offered me a job based on my photos, footage and stories, as we met them and other media to do planned media interviews in Beijing as we exited North Korea.

Then briefly back to Bangkok on route home to Hyderabad, I was up until 4am the night I arrived editing the footage for our global offices/media to use. I have never slept so well on a plane when traveling later that day.

Since being back we've had a Hindu festival in India again. Ganesh took place this Tues, as the night before India had won the T20 cricket world cup and seeing the city light up in fireworks the sound of shouts and drums, bikes racing down the street with flags on the back was really fun.

We've also caught up with friends since we've been back. I had a girls night out here recently for a birthday and Gareth had a boys night out while I was recently away (a night of sport on TV and pizza). Its also been another round of birthdays and different events for us so we've been kept busy gift buying, cooking meals and eating too much!

I could share so much more about my trip to North Korea and China etc, but maybe I'll save it to this short update and update you more individually if interested. On a final note huge congrats to our friends Athena and Paul on the birth of their son William.

Legends

This is possibly the best commentary ever.

The night boys became men.

All singin', all dancin'

The last few weeks have seen us dancin' and singing a number of times, continue to travel the world, see family and friends, take part in courses, have busy work period and be involved in some great church events and daily life. We completely recognize we have been rubbish at updating the blog recently, life has taken over a little and we have had even less time to post news.

But one singing all dancing night was to the music of Martin Smith and Stu G from the band Delirious? visiting our church Pearl City. This was an amazing event, many people who hadn't been to a gig at church before really enjoyed it and the place was packed out. More pix and news to follow.


Delirious command the stage, Martin Smith & Stu G...


Another dancin' moment was a dinner party including expat and Indian friends we had over to our apartment. I cooked for 10 people a Jamie Oliver, 'proper bloke sausage pasta' dish. Took some effort and many pans on our hob, but with a salad and bread courtesy of the Marriott we had a fabulous meal, that's not me saying this but friends, honest! We then went onto dancing all night in our kitchen/tiny balcony to some great 80's sounds.

Good friends; Lynden and Rajani..


Other news we need to share is our weekend trip to Jaipur - including elephant riding, visiting some amazing forts and palaces.



The stunning Amber Fort

Plus I (Andi) recently had a visit to Australia with part security/conflict training for both personal and team situations (some interesting stories to tell inc being 'fake' shot at, ambushed, evacuated at 2a.m.) Then having few days to see my sister and family after and again some stories to tell of both these events and promise I will write these up. Plus Gareth's brief trip to the UK for his Aunt & Uncle's 70th birthday celebrations and a Cam's wedding all held on same weekend.

Sadly there have been more bombings in Hyderabad and many lives lost so please pray for peace and for the city to settle. Thankfully no-one we knew was affected but this doesn't negate the fact that a normally peaceful city is losing lives and experiencing terrorism. Last night saw a lock down by police of some businesses/schools/restaurants etc as they keep peace in the city and try and find out those who committed the act.

There has now been three bombs in three months, but most people on the street are determined to carry on as normal and not let this change life in this fantastic city.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070828/ap_on_re_as/india_bombings_1

I (Andi) head off to North Korea with work next week but before this Gareth and I have friends visiting from Australia for few days and a trip is planned to the Taj Mahal for the first time. Again we will have to update you with pix and stories. So this is a holding page! for more news to come and we'll be in touch again soon.

Hope you're all well.

Love,

Gareth and Andi.

Sacrifices...

We've had another relatively busy week after Gareth's return from his marathon global trip. Taking Monday off to recover meant he had a much needed long lie in especially as jet lag kicked in and a number of days of not being able to sleep till 4am was starting to take its toll. Eventually he got back into a regular sleep pattern and was able to take some time to rest.

Good-bye guys, we'll miss you

The weekend after he returned saw us wave goodbye to one set of expat friends after their two years in India. Paul, Athena and son Taylor waved a teary farewell before boarding their plane back to the States where Athena is due to give birth to their second child later in the year. After the group lunch with them we almost immediately said 'hello' to our friend Pete from London, visiting us in Hyderabad for a couple of days as he was over in Chennai with work for a little while.

Was lovely to see him standing there at the airport and we whisked him off for dinner that evening in a restaurant, that as far as possible did not serve spicy food. Pete is not a lover of spices and his taste buds are highly tuned to seeking out any errant chilli flakes etc lurking in the dish. This skill was quickly demonstrated, as in India asking for 'no spice' translates as 'less spice' to most restaurants. Pete's meal therefore had to be sent back and made again, this time in their minds as bland as possible so he could enjoy.

Andi, Pete and Gareth (two cameras on us at one time meant eyes in different directions!)

However it was a nice start to our time with him and we rose early Sunday to head to church and go on after for a tour of some of the sights of Hyderabad. This day however we hadn't realised was a festival unique to the city - a festival of colour. So when we arrived after lunch at our first stop Golkonda Fort, which we've talked about in earlier blogs, we were suddenly struck by the abundance of colours stretched out before us.

How many different colours can you count...?

Sarees, scarves, blankets, pots, pans etc were brightly coloured and looking beautiful with the place itself packed out. Sunday being a day off for most we knew it would be busy, but the Fort was heaving as people came out to celebrate the festival. Some were plucking or chopping up chickens to then cook in pots for family meals and there was a number of different smells as dishes were being prepared.

This leads us to our first unique part of the story, witnessing the sacrifice of a goat or more correctly the goat had already been sacrificed and we were seeing the aftermath. Out of the three of us, I the non-red-meat-eater saw the most of the goat with its throat cut being held down in the last throes of death, as blood streamed down the path. A 'glorious' moment for me and one I am unlikely to forget or encourage me to eat goat.

Then pushing up the path being greeted by many 'namastes' or 'hi's' as we were one of very few western faces visiting that day. Hearing the beat of the drum and passing the crowds who were keen to touch the shrine of the Hindu god, we reached the top of the fort and had an amazing view of the city and could imagine something of the lives of those who lived in this impressive structure many, many years ago.

Then the rain started, so working our way back down Gareth the Pied Piper of Hyderabad surrounded by 15 young guys desperate to chat to him, created much excitement as he spoke to them in Hindi and handled some of their many questions.

Pete and I also got caught up in the fun and both Pete and Gareth teased the guys, that they had to pay 50 rupees for every handshake they were asked for.

Making it down to the bottom again we took shelter for a short time, crouched in one of the archways with others, we eventually made a run for it to discover our car had been blocked in by a 4WD and auto van.Drenched by the monsoon rains, the men take charge of the auto van blocking our exit..

This is where Pete impressed the local men while Gareth had to do a 20 point turn, as he and the car park guys managed to push the auto back far enough for us to squeeze out and dripping wet we headed off to our next stop, Charminar in the old city. Scene of bombings a couple of months ago it is now back to normal, we didn't however spend that long before we needed to get back for dinner and rest/dry off at home, as we were saying goodbye to Pete at 5.30 the next morning. This evening also involved the men avidly watching the golf, football and Grand Prix coverage.

We really enjoyed our time with him and also having the chance to later that night skype his wife Fi and son Josh to catch up quickly and say hi, as they wait in the UK for Pete to return home.

A couple of days earlier I (Andi) had been going through a slight cooking revival, suddenly enthused to try some new recipes as much as possible with no oven, one day saw me looking at a recipe for broccoli soup. Preparing all the ingredients I did exactly as Jamie Oliver said and added part of the hot water from the pan into the blender with the softened veg. This is where it started to go slightly wrong...

The blender obviously not coping with the heat, mid blending decided to blow its top off as I stood over it - hot green veg flew up in the air landing mostly on me, the wall and the floor. Gareth hearing a 'small' cry from the kitchen came rushing through to find me standing there head to toe in broccoli. Very sweetly he packed me off to the shower as he set about cleaning up.

That was the end of the soup, but have still been inspired to try some new dishes and Gareth's (and my) stomach is benefiting from the more successful efforts! Attempting to counter balance this, I've been able to enjoy regular swims recently, as the monsoon weather has meant many people locally think it is too 'cold' to swim and at times I have had it to myself and not had to play dodgems in the normally packed pool.

The other amusing but great example of life in India re effects of a power cut, was when I got stuck in our apartment block lift. Coming back from picking up some groceries, dragging in a few heavy bags to the lift I pressed for our floor and half way up the power cut in the building. Now this is a normal occurrence so not something to be worried about. However our back-up generator which powers up the lift and emergency lights in these situations was not responding, so left me stranded between floors and therefore unable to crawl out, for over 20 minutes. Eventually the poor watchman was able to get the power on again and the lift slowly wound its way up to our floor and let me escape the heat.

The coming few weeks see us next Sunday enjoying UK worship band Delirious lead worship at our church, Pearl City, plus play at an evening event the church is also hosting. Tickets for it are also being given out on the streets and going fast - so we hope it's another opportunity for new people to visit and enjoy the music and talks.

Gareth and I have then planned the following weekend a short break to Jaipur in Rajhastan, one of the most beautiful parts of India which boasts stunning palaces, forts, hills and walks. We plan to do some exploring but also take advantage of the hotel amenities to relax.

Amber Fort just one of the many beautiful places to visit on our trip.

After this I (Andi) will then have one more week before I fly to Australia on the 12th Aug with work, where I will be trained in personal and team security during conflict scenarios for when I travel to different countries or respond to disaster situations with my job. This might involve being kidnapped at 5am from my bed and held at 'fake' gunpoint, or walking through an imaginary minefield, as I have to respond as taught...

Some theory and some practical training, it will most definitely be an experience and honestly if someone kidnapped me and held a gun to my head I think most people would have the same reaction - and not sure if any training can ever fully prepare you! "Don't panic Mr Mannering!" (A quote from an old UK TV show, 'Dad's Army', if you're unsure who Mr Mannering is..)

After this I have meetings in the WV Australia office and then a few days holiday to visit my sister Nikki and the family, including seeing how much our niece Ella has grown since the last visit at New Year. Gareth's got some trips with work later in the year, which includes the Philippines this time and America again. Tonight we have dinner with some of his international STL/IBS colleagues who are visiting for a few days.

Work for both of us is still busy but rewarding and we continue to be excited about the church. We've been chatting to them about setting up a 'life group' our end of the city, as existing groups meet far away and with many living this side and currently no group set up, we hope to change this fairly soon. I've also been asked to get involved with the music group.

Our friendships continue to grow and we feel really blessed by these and also knowing, investing into and learning from so many people with different backgrounds, experiences, cultures, countries, languages and religions.

Avocado, Australia and memories...

The Birthday Boy with Andi, Ben and Libby

Hillsong Conference

The Birthday Breakfast

Do you ever look back at your life so far and are thankful and amazed at the people met, communities part of, friends made, experiences had, cities and countries visited, some mistakes made, some great choices/decisions or a life you may have impacted in some tiny way..

Risks taken (including for me jumping out of a plane!) opportunities, career developed, funny memories, sunsets, crack of dawn moments.. Times you have laughed so hard your side hurt, cried so much your eyes could hardly open, celebrated birth and celebrated the lives of those you've loved and lost - asked yourself and God so many questions and sometimes got answers...

Well I have (Andi) and at this privileged and happy point in my life with my husband in India one of the world's most colourful, rich, poor, generous, tragic, beautiful, unjust and amazing countries, I was reminded of a period in my life as I watched a travel programme the other day. I love travel, history, biography or nature programmes!

The programme was showing St Patrick's Day in Dublin, Ireland this year and I sat there feeling so nostalgic, I could almost smell the air and the atmosphere as I was taken back 14 years to when I was 19 and doing part of my degree in Dublin. I was involved in a local church who that year were part of the annual parade past St Stephens' Green and down O'Connell Street, and there was a group of us taking part.

As an English girl I was dressed in green with Shamrocks all over me and a painted face, belting our hearts out waving flags and banners and walking alongside a float. It was such a great day despite the dismal weather and I made some good friends there during that time. I also got the chance to go to the Trinity University Ball, a famous event which goes through the night and ends up with breakfast, a big greasy fry up at a local caf'.

Though I was studying at DCU I had many friends at Trinity Uni and was formally invited by a guy to the event and even given a corsage, which I pinned to my gown not always a norm in the UK, more American Proms I think.

Why am I telling you all this, I don't know really! Maybe I'm just thinking about the past few weeks and events in our life here and how much has changed and yet how much remains the same. In the sense of friendships, community, church involvement, love, food, laughter, dancing, great cities etc, etc.

These last few weeks we've celebrated a number of events some of which were birthdays including Gareth's. One birthday for a friend Rajiv was great fun and involved a game of football boy/girl mixed teams. Only four-a-side we were all shattered at the end, but took me back to high school when I played in a girls side and we won the Yorkshire schools championship. I felt I played ok after so many years, and even managed to score past Gareth twice, though his version of events may include the comment, "I let her" . That is blatantly untrue.

I had a women's' church breakfast one Saturday morning, which was a great way of getting to know many of the women in the church better most of whom are Indian and just two of us expats and hear more about plans for community work etc. Plus as per many women's get togethers, it involved a lot of good food including homemade banana and toffee muffins!


Gareth's birthday was also lovely. As is our tradition for each other I planned a surprise day for him prior to a dinner in the evening with friends. I had a cake made with the MK Dons (football or Soccer for you Yanks)logo on the front, which was a bit of surprise. The evening dinner itself was held outside, candles burning we had our own 'tent', and despite the high winds that night we had a lovely meal with good friends.


Part of the birthday day itself rained as we are in monsoon season, which means lovely cool weather and rain which cleans the dusty roads. After a special lunch I had then planned for a swim in the hotel pool, secretly packing our cossies and then next driving onto one of the palaces in Hyderabad we had not visited. Well with lunch done and the rain still coming down we discussed our options and thought why should the weather stop us, hey we're British after all!

So as the only ones in the pool we hopped into the cold water and in the rain had a game of volleyball, well as much as you can with two of you and me being 5ft 2". Was so much fun and a great memory of the two of us - when Gareth lost his wedding ring... for the third time.

Yes, that's right while hitting the ball over the net the water had loosened the ring which came flying off. This then meant we had to borrow goggles from the hotel (who thought we were mad swimming in the rain) and spend a little time underwater 'Lord of the Rings' style hunting for the ring. Eventually we found it glittering in a corner, Gareth was extremely relieved and will never wear it while swimming again!

Currently he's in the States with work for the last week of two weeks away before returning home, having experienced eight flights in total. The week before he was at the Hillsong Church conference in Sydney. Has been an exhausting but rewarding time for him.

Also while in Sydney he got to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law, Matt and Amanda and their son Noah. They were visiting the conference and know Gareth enjoyed catching up with them when he could. While at Hillsong he had a number of meetings and was also asked to speak at one of the conference seminars, focusing on digital music.

I miss him terribly and can't wait for him to get home, but thankfully the two weeks have managed to fly by with work and time with friends, church.

This is so sad but I got excited about lettuce and avocado being on sale again (well in one grocery the other side of the city!) When I say 'on sale' I mean 'now and again', but for the first time in a long time I made myself a tuna, lettuce, avocado and tomato salad and for those who know me well they know this is heaven with a bit of sweet chilli sauce dressing on the side!

I've also worked out or been given recipes for some new dishes inc using some favourites such as courgettes, kiwi and sweet potatoes plus how to make a chicken and herb lasagna, great mexican salsa and a prawn Pad Thai dish, and all comes off the microwave or the four top gas stove.

We are planning ahead for a number of visitors.. Our friend from London, Pete Garratt is coming for a night and day while in India with work, so will be lovely to have him stay. Then literally three days later one of my best friends and bridesmaids Rachel is flying in for a week.

Later in the year we may see my sister Debs arrive and then Gav and Natalie from Glasgow come for New Year, 2008. Is always fantastic and special to show those we love our lives here and be able to share some of India with them.

I (Andi) am also heading to Australia with work in August for 10 days and will give you more of an update soon.

So a longer blog this time as know we've been very slack over the past months. Pix will be downloaded and added to this blog update soon, when I/we have a chance or the time to save them to my laptop! Hope you're having a good week...

Operational Hazard

Not sure if this story from South India will have crossed the globe, but it is a bit scary...

NEW DELHI (June 22) - The 15-year-old son of two doctors performed a Caesarean Section birth under his parents' watch in southern India in an apparent bid to gain a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest surgeon.

Instead, the boy's father could be stripped of his licenses and may face criminal charges, officials said Thursday.

Dr. K. Murugesan showed a recording of his son, Dhileepan Raj, performing a Caesarean section to an Indian Medical Association chapter in the southern state of Tamil Nadu last month, said Dr. Venkatesh Prasad, secretary of the association. The video showed Murugesan anesthetizing the patient.

"We were shocked to see the recording," Prasad told The Associated Press, adding that the IMA told Murugesan that his act was an ethical and legal violation.

Murugesan owns and runs a maternity hospital in the city of Manaparai, Prasad said in a telephone interview from Manaparai.

Murugesan, who could possibly be prevented from practicing and face criminal charges for allowing his son to perform the operation, expressed no regret and accused the Manaparai medical association of being "jealous" of his son's achievements, Prasad added.

"He said this was not the first surgery performed by his son and that he had been training him for the last three years," said Prasad.

Murugesan told the medical association that he wanted to see his son's name in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The family could not be immediately reached for comment.

Indians have long had a special fascination with world records, and reports of unlikely feats are staples in the Indian media. The underage surgery is not the first time that record-setting zeal has proved dangerous.

Last year, a 4-year-old boy, Budhia Singh, attempted to run a 43-mile marathon in an attempt to earn a spot in a local record book. Doctors stopped him after 40 miles when he showed signs of extreme exhaustion. Afterward, they found the child to be undernourished, anemic and under cardiac stress.

The baby that Raj delivered was born with a noticeable lump on the spinal cord, Prasad said, but added that the birth defect had nothing to do with the surgery having been performed by a 15-year-old.

Prasad said that his team had reported the surgery to the state's top medical association in state capital Chennai.

State health secretary V.K. Subburaj told reporters Thursday that the government would investigate.

"We'll get the report and then we'll see whether there are any violations ... prima facie it looks like there is a big violation," he said.

"We will definitely take action against the concerned medical officers."

Dinner in the dark...

We had a round of social engagements and entertaining last week. Josh D'Souza, a friend from STL OM Books came over for dinner Weds night and Thursday we had some American friends Athena, Paul and their son Taylor also over for dinner. Midway though eating we had a power cut, which is a fairly normal occurrence here and when candles come in handy. However we're also lucky that our building has a generator, which kicks in when the power goes off and allows us to use one light and one fan!

Was fun seeing Taylor create a play area in our normally child free apartment, we had an area dedicated to puzzles and books etc and for the first time switched on to the cartoon channel for him to watch. He's a really clever child who has picked up some of the local language Telagu, and speaks English and Spanish also. As they head back to the States his parents are aware that he will now have to adjust to life in the US, as his home has become Hyderabad.

Friday night we drove to the other side of the city for dinner at the home of our friends Rajiv and Renee, where an indoor BBQ was set up and very yummy. Gareth particularly appreciated the homemade red meat burgers. Then Sunday was church. We've started going to a new church called Pearl City, which we're excited about as they focus on community, the poor and have great music and teaching. The church, which is only nine weeks old already sees over 100 people coming and new people arrive each week. Has also got a lot of young people though the church is a mix of ages - next week I (Andi!) am attending a women's breakfast and we also hope to go to one of the 'life groups' held in a coffee shop across the city during the week.

After church we went onto Taylor's birthday party as he turned two. Held at Pizza Hut the Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh characters there to entertain the children, had most clearly seen better days. The outfits needed a good wash and brush and one child was so bemused by them he held off having a drink, which meant he would need the bathroom, which meant he would have to pass by these guys on the way to get there! Despite this it was a lot of fun and Taylor enjoyed himself. Watching the expat and Indian children dancing together to a mix of Hindi/Bollywood music, with their faces painted with either Spiderman or butterfly masks was really cute.

The monsoon is now moving towards Hyderabad and we have seen a marked difference in the weather as it has turned a bit cooler, with more rain. This is lovely as the other day working in my home office I had three power cuts, one of which lasted over an hour. When it's in the 100's and you're trying to work with no fan on or any air flow at all - a cold shower is the most pleasurable thing in the world!

Work continues to be busy for us both, but manageable with some good things being achieved and we're enjoying an extended time at home before Gareth heads to Australia and the States at the end of June.

Passed The Test!

Yesterday I (Gareth) sat and passed my official Indian driving test! Without any lessons! (some of you may be thinking I have already posted about this, but that was to get my "Learners License", this is the real deal).

The test itself was a bit of a joke...I had to drive in a figure of eight (without hitting anything) and then reverse around an "H" shaped course before finishing - a little less intense than the UK version. There is also no one in the car with you, they watch from strategically placed CCTV cameras.

So, it's all very exciting and the license lasts until 2027, so we should be ok before it expires. Andi will be next and I'll be able to prep her on all the necessary details..."go forward"..."go back"..."well done, you've passed".

Of course nothing could prepare you for the reality of the Indian roads - that is a lesson in animal instincts (literally, when trying to dodge the cows).

Celebrating 365 days of Marriage!

Well, we've just arrived back from a long weekend in Mumbai celebrating our first wedding anniversary. It was such a great weekend, filled with relaxation, swimming, sight-seeing, catching up with friends, eating some great food, and most importantly spending some quality time together. We both loved the city and were also glad to be out of Hyderabad during all the bomb commotion.

Andi flew to Bangkok the day after we got back and will be back Saturday, so I am on my lonesome having to cook for myself (or remember the Domino's number...not difficult as it is in my phone memory) and motivate myself to get back to the gym.

Here are a few pics of the anniversary weekend...

Andi and I with Arun and Reena at a Goan restaurant in Bombay

The Elephant Caves, a short boat trip from Bombay

























Andi at The Gateway Of India




















Our champagne breakfast celebrating 1 whole year of married bliss!

Latest news from Hyderabad..

As we were waiting for our flight to Bombay this was the news that hit the TV screens in Hyderabad airport...

We take for granted our safety and freedom in this lovely city and have visited the historical area of Charminar many times, which is mostly peaceful and so generous and friendly. We are very sad for the families who lost loved ones or those injured and caught up in this tragedy.

Taken from BBC Online South Asia news..


Bomb hits historic India mosque

At least 13 people have been killed in a bomb explosion at a historic mosque and subsequent rioting in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, police said.

At least nine people were killed and dozens more hurt in the blast during Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid, one of India's biggest mosques.

Several more people were killed when police opened fire on a crowd of protesters near the mosque.

Police said they also found and defused two homemade bombs near the mosque.

Interior Minister Shivraj Patil said the explosion at the entrance to the mosque was caused by a "crude bomb".

It is not clear who carried out the attack.

People started running helter-skelter, there was such confusion - people were bleeding, running around in a very bad condition Abdul Quader Injured man

The BBC's Omer Farooq, in Hyderabad, says police have sealed off the area around the mosque but there are reports of clashes between both rival groups and police and protesters elsewhere in the city.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the attack and urged citizens "to maintain peace and communal harmony".

YS Rajashekhar Reddy, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, of which Hyderabad is capital, said the bombing was an act of "sabotage on the peace and tranquillity in the country".

Injured

The blast took place as thousands of Muslims were ending Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid.

Hyderabad is one of the biggest cities in southern India and has a large Muslim population, many of whom live in the congested old city where the mosque is located.

There was chaos and anger after the explosion. Many in the congregation ran for cover, some covered in blood. Ambulances ferried the injured to hospital.

"I was very close to the spot of the blast," one man, Abdul Quader, who escaped with minor leg injuries, told the Associated Press news agency.

The area near the mosque was left strewn with personal possessions

"As soon as prayers ended, we were about to get up, there was a huge deafening blast sending bodies into the air," he said.

"People started running helter-skelter, there was such confusion. People were bleeding, running around in a very bad condition."

Crowds angered by what they said was police failure to protect them gathered and began throwing stones at riot police, who responded with tear gas.

Some reports say police fired live ammunition at the protesters.

Several people were killed in the clashes, officials say.

There are fears that the number of dead from the bombing could rise further. Police say some of the injured are in a serious condition.

Last year more than 35 people were killed after bomb attacks near a mosque in the western state of Maharashtra. It is still not clear who carried out those attacks.

We're Back!

So we’re back home in India, after a whirlwind three weeks some of which saw us experience:

One dislocated knee, travel to four countries, seven cities, take around 10 flights (Scotland is of course included in these countries!) and sleep in 11 different beds (between us). Attend two weddings, be best man and sing at one of these weddings (Gareth and I respectively) and MC at the other.

Gavin & Natalie's wedding, near Edinburgh

Have an early celebration of our one-year wedding anniversary plus my brother and sister-in-laws pregnancy and nephew Noah’s first birthday. Organised by Andi’s parents, dinner was held in a candlelit private room in the hotel where we had our reception. A funny moment was our very cute nephew Noah, with fabulous pick pocketing skills quietly routing in my bag to be later found wandering around clutching a box full of tampons...

Noah...

I (Andi) did a school presentation about my job and World Vision to 50 11-year olds in Glasgow organised by my niece Erin it went well, but the highlight for me were some of the questions they asked after which include: “How is your self esteem working for such a large organisation?” What???

Another goodie... “Do you feel your salary matches your lifestyle?” Okey dokey then, 11-year-olds going on 50.

We ate more three course meals than you can shake a stick at, (put on weight), visited many friends, a couple of fantastic BNO’s (if you were there you’ll understand), attend three different church services one of which I, Andi bumped into an old University friend, renewed visas and passports. Had meetings and worked, Andi in the World Vision UK office for a week and Gareth in both the States and then a few UK meetings - met/cuddled the two babies of friends for the first time.

‘Planes, trains and automobiles’ movie has nothing on us!

It was a really special, slightly exhausting time, but overall we achieved everything we needed to do with an occasional hitch along the way!

We unpacked the night we got back and some of the interesting items we collected on our travels include... Silver polish, a hard drive, liquorices, cous cous, green tea with lemon, leftover wedding confetti (spilt in the bag) DVD of the movies 'The Queen', 'Little Miss Sunshine' and the series 'Extras', other DVD’s/CD's, books, a knee strap, and some packets of sausage casserole mix and cheese sauce.

Waking up this morning I (Andi) had to remind myself we’re back in India, however the heat clearly confirmed this, we are not exaggerating when we say it is very, very hot. We had dinner with friends Saturday night in their home. The coolest place was their bedroom so we sat on their bed eating pizza and catching up, slightly weird but very comfortable.

We officially celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary on the 20^th May, which also makes it almost five years overall together and have planed a weekend in Mumbai (Bombay) to do this. We’re staying in the Hilton, having lunch one day with some WV friends, Reena and her husband and going to completely relax taking advantage of the lovely hotel and pool and also explore the city, though right now floating in the pool is looking really good!

On the road again...

Guess what, we're traveling again! Gareth's in the States and I'm in the UK. He's had meetings in Colorado Springs and then onto Nashville for a conference and more meetings. I am currently working in the World Vision UK office in Milton Keynes having first had a weekend in London staying with good mates Fi & Pete, meeting their baby Joshua, catching up with my friend Wendy and bumping into an old university friend at church on the Sunday, small world syndrome. We also have to renew our visas and passports while here.

Is lovely catching up with friends, old work mates in Milton Keynes and am staying with some other good friends Kate & Kenny who are very kindly giving me a home/bed while here and when G arrives on Thursday night. We then fly to Glasgow to see family and back to MK for a few days and wedding. Then Edinburgh for another wedding and down to York for more family and onto Heathrow to sleep our way back to India.

Also over the weekend I caught up with my friend Rach one of my bridesmaids. Some of our time was spent in the beautiful country around Godstone in Surrey, walking for a few hours in the sunshine, daffodils, bluebells etc. That's something that you miss - the change in seasons and UK in spring is gorgeous.

Coming back after a longer period of time and having made Hyderabad home, I can feel/see the differences a bit more and does feel a little strange at times, but of course is all familiar. Things like cost for example - a 45 min train journey in peak time cost me 40 pounds the other day, as opposed to paying $10 for a 12 hour overnight journey from Hyderabad to Chennai inc a bed and sleeping pack.

The huge choice in UK supermarkets is also obvious, you don't notice it when living here, but again you can see the differences. These are just obvious examples, however Indian logic, thinking or attitudes, social interaction are also different and again I can see that coming back this time.

But neither are right or wrong, though I think British Rail still overcharge, I guess it's just relevant to the culture and economy. We've hired a car and I (Andi) picked it up the other night and had to mentally force myself not to beep someone to move lanes, alert them to my overtaking or give a warning etc, as per daily driving in India, scary!

Is sometime hard to explain life for us in India when people ask what it's like, of course there are some things that people can identify with, but is also unique or almost hard to describe.

Anyway this is just a little update blog, as we'll try and write some more news when back in India.

"I think we should get a plumber"

Two events this week, the first is we've joined a gym. Whether that will last we'll see!

The other is we had a mini flood in the apartment. Possibly due to the excessive heat our emergency water tank in the roof burst a leak and started gushing out - at first into the main shower (throne) room. This was not too much of a problem, as it could be contained and head down the drain. However the tank borders onto the kitchen and water started running down one of the walls and pouring out onto the floor.

As Gareth was out at the time I (Andi) called the landlord having first tried to climb up and turn the main water mains off myself (my dad would be proud).. However this was not the problem. There was an actual leak in the tank and the water just kept a comin'..

So calling Mr Yadav our landlord, a lovely man but who has a tendency to be a little slow to react, I asked him if he could call a plumber asap. He wanted more details than,"water is coming down the walls and flooding the floors" and asked me to check with our watchman if there was any solution I may not have spotted....

So I did this and Srinivas made his way slowly up the three floors to check if he could do anything, which he couldn't. Standing there, slowly shaking his head he said, 'I think you should get a plumber.'

I then called the landlord again, he asked to speak to Srinivas in Telugu to check on the situation. Fine, then after this he comes back on the line to me and says, 'I think we should get a plumber'.

By this time the water was lapping my feet and no amount of mopping it onto the balcony or frequent emptying of buckets was making a difference... Are you getting bored with this story yet??

All this culminated in my being told at 12pm that a plumber would be there by 1.30. So by 2.30 I called to check on the status/eta of the plumber and was told he will definitely be there at 3.30.

5.30pm the plumber arrived, we have never had such a clean floor. The leak was stopped and we managed to get a couple of other things fixed at the same time.

So endeth the story..

I love Indian stretchable time.

Have a heart for ducks...

Wow what a past few weeks, has been especially busy. As the weather moves into the 100's we don't seem to have slowed down, but wonder why we get tired, duh!

Having been last week in Chennai for another conf (Andi), where this time I took part in training mostly program officers around comms for a regional disaster team, which meant helping them understand how communications and media works and putting them through interviews and writing reports, stories etc! But was good time despite the 8 a.m. starts and late nights.


Three of the conference leaders in Chennai - (From left) Edward, Mike and Richard...


Then got back to go straight to friends daughter's two-year-old birthday party held at the Hyderabad Marriott - was a fun 'do', a highlight of which was after the children had finished a number of us 'adults' hopped onto the bouncy castle!

Then Monday morning as many of you might have read/seen on the news, a tsunami hit the Solomon Islands, which meant that from early morning every day till now and will continue over the next few days, I have been focusing particularly on responding and supporting the communications for the World Vision global partnership, media and region. This means not just media but updates, news releases, overall situation reports and making sure the right pix, stories and footage are being facilitated from the Islands.

As World Vision are one of the largest NGO's there, this meant that the response was fairly swift in helping people whose lives had been devastated by the earthquake/tsunami.

Tonight after work I cook a meal for friends for our (well we try and doesn't always work out) weekly American Idol update and have tried to tidy the apartment, which seems to gather dust every day and then welcome my husband home from Mumbai where he's been in meetings for the day.

Another interesting, or to me at least, story from the past few weeks is that I almost ate a duck's heart. That's right - when in rural Thailand recently we visited a very local cafe for lunch and the only dish on the menu was duck and noodles. So that's what I ordered... When it arrived I saw a number of what looked like almond nuts. Lifting one up with my chopsticks I happened to mention this fact to the Thai WV staff and saw their expressions change as they explained to me, that that it wasn't exactly going to taste like a nut...

On a different note I have had my position as crisis and relief comms manager for Asia Pacific re-confirmed as due to budget was originally on a six month contract, which means I must be doing something right! Then in two and a half weeks I head back to the UK - one week of which includes work. Gareth is in the States at the same time and then we meet in the UK for visa renewal, weddings, family and friends.


So finally. Gareth and I wish you a blessed and happy Easter and look forward to catching up with you again soon.

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!?!?)...."

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…"

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!

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.

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...

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!

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 27^th 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!

From the frying pan...

We have always been told to expect the real hot weather from March to May...

...well...

...it has begun...

...in February! The last few days have been in the low 90's and it's only expected to get hotter in the coming weeks and months. Of course, Andi and I have had the experience of tropical Scotland and Northern England to acclimatise ourselves, but I'm thinking that this may feel slightly different.

One of my colleagues told me that he thought he might be able to judge the temperature outside by the redness of my face!

On Our Travels

Well, it has been nice to be in Hyderabad for a prolonged period, but it all changes this week. Tomorrow Andi heads off to Thailand for a 10-day conference with World Vision Asia Pacific. She will be in Bangkok for meetings and final conf planning for the first few days and then off to Pattaya for the remainder of the time where she will be speaking at a few seminars and planning a disaster simulation in the field for the teams involved. She'll then have about two weeks back home in Hyderabad before heading off to another conference, this time in Chennai, India for just over a week.

On Thursday, I (Gareth) get the evening train to Bangalore (which takes 12 hours) to visit some of my colleagues and also attend a wedding, which is actually in another state called Kerala (I'll be going there by bus...6 hours), before heading back to Bangalore and then home to Hyderabad early next week. (At least this trip cuts down the number of nights I have to cook for myself!)