The end of the road

After a whirlwind of a trip, I have spent the last few days saying goodbye to all the visitors and finally packing myself. My mom and Dot only had a day left after we arrived back in Bangalore, so we spent Friday doing some last minute shopping on Commercial street and having a nice dinner out. Kelly had been basking in the Indian experience and enjoying almost all Indian food the whole time, but by Friday he was glad to join us at a Western restaurant where he dug into a cheeseburger.

Despite it being a pretty low key day, we had to expect the unexpected. For one, our rickshaw rides turned out to be pretty interesting. My first driver of the day must have been completely new to the job as he had absolutely no idea where he was going, and what should have been a 2 minute drive turned into 15. Then on the way home from dinner, Rob, Dot and I had the pleasure of being driven by a man who horked up a lung every couple minutes and spit out the side (directly next to my feet, no splatter thankfully). Dot ended up being quite concerned about the guy, exclaiming "I think he has cancer!". It's not surprising though since even a couple months here has made me concerned about my lungs. A lot of the time when I blow my nose here (which is often since I think I'm allergic to the air) there are actually black bits that come out. Definitely not healthy!

Our day also included another sighting of the 3 monkeys that like to hang around outside my apartment. Apparently while we were away, they got inside of my dad's apartment and were trying to get in the fridge when Tej walked in. It took a little while for him to scare them off because they are such feisty things and were up for a fight.

Later Friday night I said my goodbyes to my mom and Dot who left at 5am to catch their flight home. Saturday was Kelly's day to do some last minute things so we did just that, while also spending a lot of time watching Man vs. Wild and fighting about how legit Bear Grylls is. The next day he packed up and left at 1am for his flight.

Now it is my turn and I can hardly believe it! I am leaving tonight and heading back to the cold weather in Canada! I have had an amazing time in India and it feels like I have been here forever and done so many things, but I am more than ready to come home. If you asked me 3 years ago, I would've told you that I could live in India and that I thought Canada was lame. My opinion has definitely changed! India is an amazing place and I would love to come back, but Canada is where my home is and I am excited to find a job and figure out my life there. I am also really excited to see my dog Bunkley! It has been torture being surrounded by dogs and not being able to treat them like pets. Like Carly, there are just so many things I had taken advantage of in Canada, but now I have found a whole new appreciation.

I am so glad I was able to share this journey with my parents, Rob, Dot, Carly and Kelly, and make lots of new friends. It has been a fantastic experience and I've learned a lot. But now it is time to hop on an incredibly long and boring flight home. So see you all soon :)

You just have to laugh

Life in India can be so ridiculous that you just cannot take it too seriously or else you will be miserable. The service at the resort in Kerala for example, was without a doubt the slowest, most inefficient service I have ever experienced. The resort itself was worth every penny because of its location right on the beach, but the only on-site restaurant was a joke. The food was pretty good although it got old after several meals there, but it was the fact that it took at least 3 hours to eat one meal. We would wait until someone came to take our order (interesting since we were the only guests there), then wait at least an hour before a couple meals would reach the table. The group of us (11 in total) always sat together but never ate at the same time. After requesting our bills we would wait about another 20 minutes before we were able to sign them and leave. After a couple of these situations we decided that we should order our meals way ahead of time so they would be ready when we wanted to eat. So at 3pm on Tuesday I wrote down everyone's order on a piece of paper and sent it over to the restaurant, instructing them we wanted the food on the table at 8pm. We expected this would allow us to eat around 8:30, but of course we arrived at that time and waited another hour before anything was brought to the table. It was unbelievable really, but ultimately just hilarious.

It should be no surprise that we sought to eat one dinner in town instead of at the resort, so on Wednesday night we packed into our cars and drove to a restaurant called Paragon which Dad had read great reviews of. Our first impression of the place when we pulled up was that we would be eating in a squishy little dingy place, but we were quickly shuffled through many different rooms, past lines of people waiting and up the stairs to a secluded A/C room where we received the most amazing service and food. I mean AMAZING! We didn't know what to order so the chef offered us a banquet through which we received individual servings of different types of delicious seafood and other Kerala specialties (apple salad, prawns,squid,curried chicken, fish, fruit platter and mousse). Not only was the service and food fantastic, but after what seemed like an endless amount of expensive cuisine, we each paid 400Rs (less than 10$ Cdn). It more than made up for our other food experiences in Kerala!

On the drive home from Paragon I was desperate to pee. I like to avoid public restrooms in general but in India I am far more hesitant to use one, so I figured I could hold it for 15 minutes. Well those 15 minutes were long extended by not only a major festival that backed up traffic for a mile, but also a train which resulted in the train tracks being blocked off for another 10 minutes. I was dying!!! It was a big joke for everyone around because of all of these random delays, but this was a time where my sense of humour in India was severely tested. I was able to laugh about it after we made it back to the resort where I booked it to my room.

Another thing you can't take too seriously in India is the attention Western people tend to receive from all sorts of people. Seeing white people in Bangalore in pretty common due to all the business men who work here, but in Kerala the group of us were quite the site. This was especially true when we were on the beach wearing far less clothing than everyone else and swimming unlike everyone else! Our afternoon swims drew many spectators - none of whom hid their interest in us. For the most part we all found it pretty funny, although I was a little uncomfortable getting out of the water each time, and there was one point where Kelly and I were approached by about 30 young men who wanted to take pictures with us - they were far too grabby and I was quick to make my escape.

There are just so many things in India that might make you uncomfortable and would merit some harsh words in Canada, but you have to laugh and that's something I definitely do. 

Some Recent Photos

Monkey right next to our balcony (at the apartment)

Aftermath of the bees

Elephant only 20ft away!

Goats at Jungle Retreat (massive!)

Working elephant on the side of the road

 

Dot loving the locals in Kerala (they adored her too!)

Dot in the Indian Ocean 

Not a Kerala in the World

Another Canadian has joined me for the last leg of my journey in India. Many of you were in on all of the lies that kept his visit a secret, so you may already know that Kelly showed up on Wednesday morning! I had begun the day with my routine of going to the gym, and returned extremely sweaty to my apartment where I opened the door to see Kelly sipping a coffee on the balcony. The only words I could muster were “Shut-up!”. It was quite the surprise and it took me a good 20 minutes to be sure I wasn’t going crazy or dreaming. The timing is perfect for him to be here since otherwise I would have been a major fifth wheel on the trip to the jungle and beach, where we both are currently having a blast!

Right now we are relaxing at a resort right on the beach in Calicut, Kerala. The group of us arrived here yesterday after a long drive from the jungle. We spent 3 days chilling with the animals in India’s 12,000 acre forest in the foothills of the Nilgiris (“blue mountains”).  My parent’s friends Norwyn & Sandra and Hugh & Vivian live in a compound right in the jungle where they and Rob & Dot stayed. Meaghan, her kids, and Kelly joined me down the road at Jungle Retreat. This place is such a part of the jungle that we had to be escorted on our walks from the restaurant to our room at night just in case we ran into one of the local leopards, elephants, bears or snakes. Luckily we didn’t have any unexpected interactions with these animals, but we did get to sit on a veranda in the jungle as we watched bison drink from a pond and were greeted by a wild elephant that came within 20 feet of where we sat. An early morning hike had also been planned for one of the days where we could have come across anything from a flying squirrel to a tiger, but a down pour of rain cancelled those plans. That didn’t matter much after a couple drives in the area were enough to bring us across 6 other elephants and loads of menacing monkeys and spotted deer.

We also made the terrifying trek up one of the mountains to Ooty where my parents both went to boarding school. I say it’s terrifying because to reach the school we had to drive around 36 hair pin bends up to 5,000 feet above sea level. There is not much to keep a car from falling off the side of the mountain other than a few randomly dispersed barriers (which we later discovered are only put up after an accident has already happened there – very comforting). There is even a record of deaths displayed on signs as you drive up. But I have to say it is the most amazing and entertaining drive ever. Kelly would have paid a million dollars to be able to drive a rickshaw or motorcycle up the road. Needless to say, we all made it up and spent the day visiting my parent’s school, eating fantastic dosa at a hole in the wall and shopping at the market. The drive down was just as insane, but we survived that as well.

So after our 6 hour drive from Bangalore to the jungle, we had another 5 hour trek to Calicut where have all fallen in love with the ocean. I am incredibly sun burned from a quick tanning session at Jungle Retreat (apparently the sun is much stronger when you are on a mountain), so tanning is not a priority for me.

The internet is sparse here so I will post some pictures when I get a chance and tell you more about how much fun my mom, Dot and Kelly are having as they experience the chaos that is India. They all love the traffic, the food, the shopping and of course the cows. Hard to believe we will all be back in the Canadian winter in less than a week!

  

An update on the bees:

For those of you interested, we dealt with bees the night after Tej’s attempt failed. Sadly but successfully the bees have all become victims of a chemical that made them drop dead on the spot! I’ll post a picture when I get a chance.

Carly's Finale

You  think that I'd have it all figured out by now-- the "Why I'm here" part of this whole adventure. The truth is, I've been home for a week, and I'm still wondering (possibly even more uncertain) than I was when I first arrived.

The Bible tells us that we won't always see the results of our good works, and maybe that's the case for me. Sam and I did what we could to help TFT. I know God has big plans for them, and I hope that we were able to contribute to that plan in some small way. I hope to see TFT prosper, and I look forward to being a part of their future.

Working with The Fisherman Trust was only one reason that I went to India. I'm pretty sure an even bigger reason for my journey was to learn something-- and I certainly did learn a lot. I'll attempt to break it down.


What I learned about India...

1. Well first of all, I learned that India is not Canada. They are very different, and I suffered through some serious culture shock in the beginning of my trip. The traffic, the touching, the smells, the looking...and all the anxiety and nausea that comes with it. I make it sound so terrible, but once you get past the initial shock, it's really a fascinating place. I was quite comfortable at the end, and to my surprise, I was sad to leave.

2. Bangalore is the best city. I had to leave it to realize that, but after travelling to Mysore and Chennai, I realized that Bangalore is about as Western as it gets. It's the city. Less people stare because they are used to seeing white people, and you can get mostly any type of food.

3. Indians are very collectivist....and Canadians are very individualistic. Although we like to think that we are all about relationships, we are actually all about ourselves. We are selfish. In India, I found that family is truly everything. 4 or 5 grown adults still share the bedroom! They love each other immensely and find comfort in acting as a unit rather than an individual. I'm happy to have my own bed, my own space and my own identity! That's culture for you!

4. India has the BEST fruit. I miss it so much. It was all so fresh-- mind you, I stuck to the golden rule: if you can't peel it or cook it, then don't eat it. Those baby bananas were a life saver when I was sick. The smell of guava fills the whole room, and kiwis were juicy and sweet.

5. Indian kids are so flippin' cute. You'll see.

6. Indians are EXTREMELY generous. And that's an understatement. We were well taken care of in India. Everyone wanted to feed us, buy us things, take us places, spend money on us. These are people who, even with my debt and unemployment, I am still far wealthier then.

In India, people live to give. Even the organizations-- like TFT and Breakthrough, they make money so that they can run free camps for the underprivileged. It's the opposite of capitalism, and probably how God intended it.

What I learned about me...

1. I LOVE CANADA. I'm feeling more patriotic than ever. I love our laws, our traffic rules and our lack of freedom. I love that there is a comfort zone, and that it's more than an inch away from my face. I love the snow (that one probably won't last), and I love the fresh, crisp air that comes with it. I love my dog and cat, my house, my family, my friends, my church, my Loblaws and my Timmys. There is nothing like it.

2. I am a selfish, rich, spoiled, uptight, bratty white kid--- in India. Here, I'm pretty nice, quite generous, and middle-class. But it's really put things in perspective for me. There's a lot that I can improve on no matter what country I'm in.

3. Patience is a virtue, and I don't have it. Another thing to work on, I guess!

4. I will reiterate. I have an amazing family, the greatest friends, a wonderful home, and an awesome church. I am so blessed and I can remind myself of that everyday. I love you guys.

5. I want to make a difference-- in Durham Region. I love this place, and my heart is here. I can't wait to start my placement at the Refuge, and I truly believe that God will use my to impact lives right here in Toronto. Even though I saw horrific poverty and homelessness in India, I still have empathy for people here.

 6. I love Donald Miller. He helped me through this trip, and I think that everyone should read his books-- Blue Like Jazz, Searching for God Knows What, and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

What I learned about God...

1. God is everywhere. I know that sounds silly, because it's probably the first thing I learned in Sunday School, but I've never truly experienced God in another place the way I did in India. I saw Him working in the lives and organizations, and I felt Him working in me. He was my rock when I was feeling sick and alone, and He helped me press on when I felt like giving up. I was halfway across the world, and He was right beside me, the way He is when I'm at home.

2. He can break you down, and build you back up to be even stronger than you were in the first place. Sometimes you need that. I became so vulnerable in India, and He gave me the strength to endure and then flourish! I ended up having a great time, and I was able to build relationships, and brave the insanity of India, all within a few short weeks.

3. God loves all of his people. I should try to love all of his people too-- even the ones I want to kick in the shin. It takes patience, practice and a lot of prayer to love frustrating people, but considering that God loves us in spite of all the irritating and horrific details He knows, I think we can try to love others. We are all different, some more than others, but we are all God's children, and if we deserve God's love, then we definitely deserve each other's love.




I'm happy to see that Sam has already taken over with some more ridiculous stories. I'm sure she'll have much more too say when the Sinclair-Hayes clan journeys to the jungle. I can only imagine Dot's reaction to the wild animals. 

All sorts of company

Life in India since Carly left has been quite low key – thus the lack of blogging, sorry about that J

Most of my week has consisted of reading books on the balcony and applying to jobs online but I do have a couple of stories to share!

The Dentist:

Hearing about how cheap the dental procedures are in India sparked my interest. So after letting Tom get his check-up and fillings done first (just to make sure the place was legit) I headed to the dentist down the road where I paid less than $20 for a full check-up and cleaning. No cavities! It was an interesting experience because there was such a mix of India in with a regular dentist experience. There was your average dental chair and all the sterilized tools, but I was also required to remove my shoes and had my picture (not so covertly) taken by another patient. We've also discovered that prescription medicine is much cheaper over here but since the regulations are less strict it may not be the best idea for my dad to stock up on diabetes meds - expiry dates are not taken too seriously in India! 

The Bees:

My dad and Rob have become the unlucky hosts of a swarm to bees! Now when I say a swarm I mean thousands of bees all packed together hanging from the balcony. It wouldn’t be such an annoyance if they weren’t making the balcony off-limits and wandering the hallway, but needless to say we don’t exactly want them around. So several attempts have been made to get rid of the bees in a humane fashion. First there were the mosquito coils which were not remotely successful! The next attempt was a little more drastic and not at all planned by any of us – this involved Tej covering himself in a blanket and taking a broom onto the balcony where he attacked the hive! I was not impressed because I was now trapped in my dad’s apartment, unable to make it down the hall to mine since the bees that weren’t busy attacking Tej had filled the hallway and were not happy. Tej finally made it inside with a few stings which in a matter of hours swelled incredibly! More than 24 hours later he still looks like he has the hands and feet of an obese man (Tej can’t be more than 120 pounds). He’s gone to the hospital now which I think was a good idea.

And after that fiasco the bees have simply reconvened on the balcony, requiring attempt number  3 to happen tonight - which I assume will not involve allowing the bees to live. Sorry environmentalists.

The Visitors:

My lonely week came to an end on Sunday when Carly was replaced by my mom and Dot! After a good flight in, they spent most of the day sleeping, but now having recovered from their jet lag, they are my entertainment. I have basically become a tour guide for the two, and their disbelief at the sounds, smells and chaos reminds me of how crazy the things are that I have gotten used to.  The few days we’ve had together have involved a lot of shopping and coffee. Dot has been on a quest to find Rob some ties because she was horrified to see a mismatched outfit he had worn to work. She is also determined to convince the Canadian government to replace taxi cabs with rickshaws because she has fallen in love with how they can weave in and out of traffic, fitting into any available nook (according to her the weather issue can easily be solved with winter tires). We also celebrated my dad’s birthday last night, which involved us being extremely resourceful in order to wrap his presents. Let’s just say we used stickers from our luggage tags as tape.

So anyways, life has been good and quite relaxing. We are experiencing some rain but have lots to do to keep us busy this week. Next week we begin our journey into the jungle and down to the beach - you'll hear all about it soon!

Food

My last weekend in India has been all about food. It actually began on Friday when we went to Breakthrough for lunch. Sam volunteered there three years ago, so we had to go say hello. It was a lot of fun. We hired a driver to take us there. On our way we saw the usual cows, dogs, traffic and poverty. We also saw camels! People were riding camels along the road as if they were a common means of transportation. No biggie.

At Breakthrough, Sam reunited with some old friends, and she showed me what this amazing adventure and team building camp was all about. They made us go through this tunnel. It's pitch black and you have to crawl through, up and around, until you finally come to the end. It wasn't so bad, but I can't imagine being in there alone... or having a fear of small, dark places. After the tunnel, we had lunch, we learned to make chipatis, pet a dog and went on our way. Later that day, we had the fellows from TFT come by for some Indian banoffee (we had to improvise some of the ingredients), and we said our goodbyes. We gave them an external hard drive as a gift. We knew it was something they could seriously use, and they were extremely grateful. I really hope that we were able to contribute to the future of their organization. They have amazing hearts, and want nothing more than to reach out to Bangalore.

That evening, we went out for a final farewell dinner at the Oberoi (me saying goodbye to the best hotel in the world). Good company, delicious food, beautiful scenery, and serenading music. It was perfect.

On Saturday, we attempted Commercial Street again....and this time, we conquered! It wasn't nearly as crazy as the last time, and we got everything we needed. We even stopped for a big greasy paper masala dosa. Mmmmm. Tom had pizza. We relaxed for the rest of the day, and had dinner with Dad, Rob and Tom. They polished off the steak, and we finished off our Indian leftovers.

Up until now, the food was great....but nothing...and I mean NOTHING compares to the breakfast we ate on Sunday morning. I could write a blog post just about this food. We went to the Leela...another fancy hotel. It was about 20$/person for an unbelievable buffet. Breads, pastries, donuts, french toast, bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon, fresh fruit, yogurt, jams, custards, bacon, sausage, omelets to order, fresh waffles and pancakes, mango smoothies, freshly squeezed OJ, the best tea, coffee and cappuccinos, plus a whole slew of Indian food (which I passed on). You could order anything, and they'd make it. All inclusive. And it was honestly the best of the best. We stayed there for 2 and half hours. Amazing. Mom and Dot are going to die.

We fasted for the rest of the day, and had enough room to squeeze in a scrumptious Italian dinner. Bread, salad, soup, pizza--- you know, something light! We ate to tune of Lucky Ali, Indian superstar; Meaghan's estranged husband. We watched the concert for a little while because Tasmia (Meaghan's daughter) was singing back-up! It was a late, but great night, and we crashed as soon as we got home!

Today is all about packing, pondering and last minute shopping. I'm flying home tonight, and I'm feeling bittersweet..... what an adventure. I've learned a lot, and maybe on my 18 hour flight, I'll be able to figure out why God sent me here. I'm going to leave the rest of the blogging up to Sam, as she continues her India journey in Ooty and Kerala.... the jungle will be quite the adventure, I'm sure!