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! 

Intruders

The last few days have been low key. Sam and I have been trying to finish up our work with the Fishermen Trust, and I've been studying for a couple of midterms that I have to write later this week. We're done with some promotional stuff, we're almost done revamping the website, we've created a business proposal and we only have a couple other things to do. I'm home next week, and then Sammy's off to Ooty and Kerala with the family, so we need to get it all done.

Even though we've been stuck inside, we've still managed to have a bit of an adventure. This is how the story goes... Sam and I decided that we needed to get out of the apartment around lunch time yesterday. We went for a walk to Nilgiris (our local grocery store) and picked up a few essentials (bread, milk, eggs, chocolate...pretty much what we'd get in Canada!) and made our way back home to have some sandwiches. Sam opened the door to our apartment and looking straight at us from our balcony was none other than a monkey trying to B&E. He had opened the screen door almost enough to get in. He froze at the sight of us and then backed away, and I ran in to slam the screen door shut. The screen however, has no lock, so I held it there with my foot, while Sam and I had a stare down with this monkey and his monkey friend. We stomped and yelled until they were annoyed enough to leave. They hung around the trees for most of the day and came back to our balcony at least once more. We can only assume that they were husband and wife, because we later spotted them with a baby. I managed to snap a few photos in the process.

As cute as the monkeys are, had we not interrupted this intrusion, our kitchen probably would have been torn apart and our electronics could have gone missing. They are wild, vicious and greedy. One even tried to smack Tej in the face a while back. Monkeys aren't the only deceptively adorable creatures around here. This morning we went to the gym, and I witnessed a horrific dog fight. 4 on 1. I could barely watch. Some of the guards threw rocks at the dogs, trying to break it up. Eventually, they fled and the lonesome pup managed to limp away. From what I saw, I'm surprised they didn't kill him. It's awful, and we hear these dog fights all throughout the night. Next time I come to India, my mission is street dogs....and garbage.

Chennai: Love, Hate and Dinosaurs

Sam and I spent a couple days in Chennai. We took a very busy 5 hour train there, where beggars walked the narrow aisle and people were trying to sell everything from coffee to colouring books. I learned a lot in Chennai, and it all comes down to love, hate and dinosaurs.

Love: I learned that Indians are extremely loving. They are loving of their guests. We have been spoiled rotten from the moment we got to India. In Chennai, we stayed with Raj's family, and they wanted nothing more than to see us eat, smile and enjoy ourselves. We had some of the best food on our trip at that house!

Indians are also very loving of their family. In fact, as we learned on this trip, it is common for an Indian family to sleep in one room (until you are married or no longer live there). Raj and his brother stayed in the same room as their parents, despite the fact that there is a spare bedroom right next door. They find no shame in this and are happy to spend time whatever time they have with each other.

These particular Indians are extremely loving of God. I can't explain the passion they have for Jesus. Raj's brother-in-law prays in the car before he begins driving for the day. This is almost a necessary thing to do before driving in India, but the mere fact that he brings his driving to God shows how much he wants God to be in control of his life. I really admire their faith.

Also, sam and I discovered our love for guava in Chennai. Mmmmm.

Hate: Chennai hates me. First of all, the city tried to kill me with it's wretched stench and toxic fumes. I honestly felt nauseas after being in the car for half an hour, because there is no oxygen in the air-- just car exhaust. I'm starting to believe in global warming. The temperature is much warmer than in Bangalore, and yet, I got no colour. My skin is immune to the sun. No need to be jealous, I'm just as pale as those of you whiteby's stuck in Canada. Third of all, Sam and I were almost trampled by a cow. Apparently, it's mating season and cows are chasing each other all over the place with very little regard for their surroundings. Watch out.

Dinosaurs: We did some sight-seeing in Chennai. We began by visiting the shrine for St. Thomas which was built where he was murdered. It was super cool and we again were celebrities, because a group of men from Nagaland had probably not seen a white person before! We ended the day by seeing some stone carvings and watching the waves at the beach. However, it's the middle excursion that really made the day worthwhile. We went to a crocodile farm where we saw snakes and hundreds of crocs, including what I can only describe as an evolved dinosaur. This crocodile was about 4 meters long and 2 meters wide. It was enormous and the pictures we took don't begin to do it justice. It's the largest crocodile they have in captivity in India, and they say that it's kind can get to be 7 meters long. Insane.

We took a 35$ plane back to Bangalore, and it was worth every penny. Quiet, peaceful and only an hour. We saw a strange sign in the Chennai airport. I snapped a picture, and thought I'd leave you with something to ponder.

Race and Space: Our experiences in Mysore

On Monday, Sam and I traveled outside of Bangalore for the first time. Raj took us to Mysore. The ride there was not bad-- we stopped for dosa, and not just any dosa...the BEST dosa ever. It was smooth sailing until we almost got into a car accident. Imagine this. You are driving on the 401 (or some other major highway), and all of a sudden, you see oncoming traffic in your lane. Going over 100km/hr, our driver swerved through a God-sent gap in the median to the other side of the road (where oncoming traffic should have been). It turns out that the road had been shut down on the other side, and traffic had been carefully directed into our lane, but the police decided to let us figure out the changes on our own. No pylons, no flashing lights, no police officers to direct traffic. That's India for you.

This being our first real trip on a major highway, I also noticed, and was irritated by the speed bumps all along the way. One minute we're driving 110km, the next, we've slowed down to 20km, and we're wobbling over a speed bump. This lasted our entire highway trip.

Once we got to Mysore, Raj explained our itinerary for the day, and we began by seeing a small palace, which was followed by an exhilarating boat ride at the bird sanctuary. The birds were amazing, and there were bats hanging in the trees, but the real thrill was the crocodiles. We were only a few feet away from one croc. Bear Grylls would recommend against this, as would Billy the Exterminator, but it was just so cool! He was growling at us, and it sounded almost like a vacuum cleaner. Our guide rowed away at that point (yes, we were in a row boat...it fit about 10 people), but the crocodile opened it's mouth and we became more excited. Seeing our excitement, the guide rowed back towards the teeth-baring beast, and we took a few more pictures. At that point, it was getting to be a little scary, so we asked him to move on.

We journeyed onward to the Mysore Palace. It was massive and beautiful and the architecture was amazing, but Sam quickly reminded me that the money that was put into building the palace could have solved the poverty crisis in India. We ended the day at the Brindavan Gardens. This is where Sam peed in a hole, and where we discovered more about Indian culture, the first concept being that we are famous. Sam and I felt like celebrities at the gardens because everyone wanted our picture! I guess they don't see too many white people in Mysore. Raj acted as our body guard and selected a few lucky boys to have their picture taken with the Sinclair sisters. It was very exciting-- for them. Secondly, I discovered that Indians have very little concept of space. In Canada, if you are walking past somebody, more than often you would avoid touching that person-- turn sideways, duck down, etc. In India, that norm doesn't exist. People touch, and they walk right into you and they have no concept of personal space.

We headed home after the garden lights came on, and we drove back into Bangalore through the 9pm rush hour. It was an exhausting day, and we crashed as soon as we got home.

On Tuesday, we moved into our new apartment-- just down the hall from Dad's. We settled in, did some shopping and have been doing some more admin work for TFT.

This weekend, we're heading to Chennai, so we'll see what adventures come from that!

Pictures!

Sam and I spent the weekend at Meaghan's place. It was a nice break from the city! We played games, watched a movie and just relaxed! The best part was the long hot shower...there was water pressure! We've got a busy week ahead of us. We're moving today, going to Mysore tomorrow, working with TFT and DIYA, and then off to Chennai for the weekend! These next two weeks are going to fly by.

I'm sure I'll have lots of stories this week, so instead of writing a big post today, I'm going to put up a few pictures!

Welcome to Bangalore! The view from dad's apartment!

This is a taste of Bangalore traffic.We don't even park this close to other cars in Canada.

Just hanging out on the side of the road.

Sam riding with Ganesh!

A typical family outing. Usually 3 or 4 riding on a motorcycle.

This one's for you Jack! Woodville up!!

Sammy under a tree of pink leaves.

Palm tree at my favourite hotel.

Having my mocktail mojito at the Oberoi (5-star delux hotel)

Sam and dad at the Oberoi:)

pile of garbage...not yet on fire.

Small Hindu temple.

Street dog. This is about as close as I can get.

Cows eating garbage right by our apartment.

The Kara School kids were getting ready to perform an Indian dance. This one didn't stop crying the whole day. Super cute.

The Fishermen Trust organized this amazing adventure day for the Kara kids.

Same event!

Kara kids waiting for their turn to dance.

Commercial Street-- where I almost died!

We spotted a couple monkeys on top of a building on our way out of the grocery store.

Going out for lunch at UB City Mall. The only thing we could afford there was the food. 

Same place!

The house where my dad grew up! I took this one for you Grandma! So neat to see this. 

Me and Meaghan's adorable Pitbull at the farm.

Farm geese!

I've taken over 500 pictures so far, so this is just a taste of a few! I'll post more on facebook when I get home!

White Privilege Takes Effect

We are just the worst representation of white people in India.

Monday morning began with us waking up and packing up. It was moving day. At 10am, a driver came to pick us up, along with all of our stuff. We headed into Lingarajpuram, 6km and a good 30minutes away to our new home. The house belongs to the youth pastor's parents, who offered us their first floor for a fair price. Looking forward to having our own space, and finally unpacking some of our clothes, we dragged in our luggage and attempted to settle in. No such luck. It took 10 minutes, and a strong effort to hold back tears to quickly realize that this place was not going to be our Indian home. There was a lack of storage space, we weren't able to unpack a thing. The bathroom had just been redone, but there was no hot water available. The setup was very awkward, as we were meant to live with another girl, and we had to travel through her bedroom to get anywhere in the house. Other factors made the space uncomfortable for us snobbish white privileged girls, and with that we called daddy. He was quick to make alternate arrangements, and we awkwardly left that night. We couldn't exactly blame cultural difference for our discomfort, as there was a white British couple staying there for a couple nights.

In the end, everyone was very understanding and so kind to us. We even went to a movie with the youth pastor and the guys from TFT that same night. It was a Bollywood film. It was not in English, and there were no subtitles. But that's ok, because in an Indian theatre, you can talk as loud as you want. Need to make a phone call, don't go anywhere, it's no problem to do it from your seat. Are you excited about something that happened in the movie, you should probably whistle, clap and cheer! Sam and I each had one of the guys interpreting the movie for us, but our lack of understanding had a lot to do with the on screen rooster fights and the romantic gestures of stalking and suicide. Three hours later (now we know why they have intermissions), we exited the film with apologies from Raj, as the film was quite violent. It was definitely an entertaining first glimpse of Indian cinema.

The night ended with a short motorcycle ride home, some apologies to dad for causing him stress earlier in the day, and a good night sleep in a comfortable king sized bed. Talk about spoiled rotten white privilege.

As for today, we have spent some time doing some research for TFT, and preparing documents for their Drop-in centre.

Don't Touch Me.

The past two days have been insane. This is Sunday.

Sam and I woke up bright and early and made our way over to an army base where TFT was helping with a school event. This event was supposed to happen the day before, but there was a political riot, and everything shut down...you know how it is. So the event was an annual program where the kids performed some traditional African dances (???), some amazing Indian hip hop routines and paid tribute to the military by competing in an obstacle course. It was pretty cool. We were the official photographers, and we attempted to help the kids into the harnesses and helmets (key word: attempted). After Raj and the boys praised us for all our hard labour (sun tanning is a lot of work), we headed off to the Oberoi Hotel for lunch and into the mad downtown for shopping/battle. The following is a description of my first (and hopefully last) experience of Commerical Street.

When I first turned the corner and had a glimpse of Commercial Street, I didn't know how we would even get to the first store. There were people everywhere! There were dogs sleeping in the middle of the street, and best of all, there were still cars and motorcycles moving through the crowd, blazing their horns, as if people should not be walking there. At one point, a motorcycle came literally 1 inch from running over my toes (but that's my fault apparently!) We made our way in and out of stores, probably touching more than a million people in the process, and we decided to temporarily escape the madness by turning down one of the side streets. BIG MISTAKE. This is where a man with no arms and no legs hobbled over to me, asked for money and stood on my foot, trying to prevent my escape. Terrifying. After about 30 minutes of anxiety, I told Sam and my dad that I couldn't do this anymore. We grabbed a drink at Coffee Day and just barely made it back to our car. By the way, I bought nothing.

That night we decided to wind down by going to a movie. We walked past the building where we had seen monkeys earlier that day. We went into the theatre, grabbed some caramel popcorn and Indian cuisine and mozied on into our assigned luxury seats (seriously, they were like lazy boy recliners). Just as I was settled in for the film (Season of the Witch-- terrible), we were asked by the screen to stand for the National Anthem. WHAT!? About 5 minutes, and a lot of giggling later, we sat back down and the movie began. We were again taken aback when about 40 minutes in "INTERMISSION" flashed across the screen. What an experience.

After the movie, we arrived home safely, only to realize that our internet was still not working (it hadn't been all day). Being the procrastinator that I am, I had only a few hours to complete an online test for one of my courses. Uh oh. Long story short, and 50 questions later, I submitted my test via Blackberry. Not easy, not my best test.

Stay tuned for Monday.

Transvestites, Beggars and Garbage

I saw real poverty in India for the first time yesterday. We spent at least an hour on the back of motorcycles and drove into an area I hadn't yet been. The place we ended up was a wealthy part of town, but the drive there opened my eyes to stereotypical India.

We were stopped in traffic, and I noticed a few people drifting amongst the vehicles asking for money. One of them caught my eye. Being one of two white people on the road, I was bound to stick out as a tourist. This woman (or what I thought was a woman) came over to me and began poking me, asking for money. I had nothing with me, but I had been told not to give money to anyone anyway. As it turns out, the transvestite beggars are a major thing in India. When I didn't give her anything, she clapped her hands at me (some sort of curse) and moved on to Sam. Shortly after, a younger girl came along pointing at her stomach and her mouth, trying to explain to me that she was hungry. It was far more depressing to see than the first time.

This is what I've learned: if someone is begging, give them food, not money. If a child is begging, you shouldn't give them anything, since it encourages the beggar's lifestyle. If you really want to help, donating money to an organization dedicated to helping the street kids is the best thing to do.

In the West, we are trying to save the world with our "green" movement. The truth is, if global warming is at all real, whatever we are doing to help is being completely undone by India. They don't have garbage cans on the street. They dump their garbage anywhere and everywhere, and then when the pile is high enough, they set it on fire. It smells awesome.

Another thing about India is that they haven't quite figured out electricity. They have power outages everyday. When we were stuck in traffic yesterday, one of the overhead wires basically blew up. I saw fire come from the wire.

I also saw two motorcycles collide yesterday. When I told that to Jack he laughed. He explained that you'd never see that in Canada. The two smallest vehicles on the road getting into an accident. Oh India. Everyone was fine by the way!

Tomorrow, Sam and I are helping out with an adventure competition for some school kids over here. It's going to be a lot of fun. Indian kids are crazy cute. As for today, we're staying in and working on some stuff for The Fisherman's Trust.

Greetings...

My dad came home from work a couple nights ago with a very tragic and bizarre story. He received a text message in the morning from a business friend whom he had recently made plans to meet up with next week. When my dad opened this message, he was completely taken back when he read "greetings from beyond". This man had sent out a mass text informing all his contacts of his suicide that had taken place 2 hours earlier, and continued the message by requesting their presence at his memorial, which is taking place today (Thursday, January 20th).

It's not often that you'd receive a text message like that to start your day. However, in Bangalore, I'd imagine that's not the first time it's happened. Bangalore is the suicide capital of India. Most of the suicide statistics belong to farmers (that's what Sam wrote her Master's MRP was about).

The Fisherman's Trust is the organization that Sam and I are working with and they are in the process of opening a youth drop-in centre to address issues such as the high suicide rate. Sam and I hope to contribute to this project (although we really don't have much to offer!)

In other news, I saw a dead dog today. It was disgusting and very sad. We popped by my dad's office, and we will shortly be dropping by a school that The Fisherman's Trust is involved with to see what that's all about!

I still have not adjusted to sleeping in this country, but that's what 4pm naps are for!

I miss you Canada!

no water...

Woke up early again, feeling ok. I got to chat on skype with Jack, Mom, Gemma and Wendy. So nice!

Sam and I headed out on our own today to meet Raj and get a heads up on what we'll be doing as volunteers. We tried to bargain with several rickshaw drivers, until one finally said he'd go the distance and put up the metre. The rest of them were trying to charge us far too much. They think we're these white chumps! We showed them!

It took half an hour to drive 6km. That's how insane the traffic is. Raj and Nandoo met us at one point, and we hopped on their motorbikes and drove the rest of the way. First time on a motorbike, not so bad!

The meeting went well, and it was great to chat with the guys. I started feeling tired, so we headed home, and finished watching Eat, Pray, Love-- a must watch on this trip.

I took a whole bunch of pictures today; mainly of the traffic, but I caught a couple cows, some dogs and even a chicken! I know it's a major city and I know I have access to "anything", but it's still so different. The food you get here is so different-- a warning against Indian honey nut cheerios. I'm still adjusting. Sam and I are trying to stay awake today. Oh, and we're waiting for water to arrive. We're running low, and we can't drink it out of the taps, so we hope to get some soon! Or else we'll have to venture out into the traffic again. Once is really enough for today!

Church Day

I woke up at 5am. It was a bit of an improvement. I skyped Jack from the bathroom, as to not wake up Samantha, but with all the racket, she was bound to wake up soon anyway. I'm very homesick today, but my stomach isn't so bad!

We went to church this morning. I'm not sure if it's because I come from Affinity where services are usually about 45 minutes, but 2 and a half hours of church seemed a little long. Song, speaker, more music, dedication, prayer, special music, offering, a longer speaker and finally a song. Wow. It was our first time there, so of course we had to meet everyone. They were all so nice and seemed excited to have us there. 

My favourite part of the entire service was a song that two guys sang "Your Grace Still Amazes Me". The younger guy was probably about 12, and seriously, move over Justin Bieber (and I love Justin Bieber). He was so incredible. I wanted to record him, but I didn't want to be that weirdo on my first day there. 

Our cousin Cynthia is coming over soon. I've never met her, but Sam just adores her, so I'm looking forward to it. I think I really just need to start doing things! 

Oh, and I saw some cows today. They were just chillin' in the middle of the road...which is totally normal here! Crazy India!

Missing home. 

Ohmmmmm

The weekend has brought me some relief. I am feeling much better and was able to eat something. Sam and I slept pretty much all day again, but I think it's the jet lag that's been making me sicker, so I just sleep it off. I'll adjust soon.

The Hindu temple is super close, and you can see it from our bedroom window. Since about 6am, there has been a constant (and I mean it literally has not stopped) Ohmmmmmmm. It's not very loud, but it is crazy irritating. Every now and then the Mosque attempts to compete with their call to worship, but it doesn't last very long. We're only staying at my dad's apartment for another week, but he's got to live with the ohmmming every single day. My mom is coming in February, and she's already dreading the noise (I guess she remembers from when she lived here).

So we found a place to live! It is absolutely the most perfect situation. It is close to where Sam and I will be volunteering, it's cheap, we will each have our own room, and we basically have our own apartment. We will shop and cook for ourselves, which is amazing, because I have a low tolerance for food at this point, and the most exciting part of it all is that they have a Western toilet, THANK THE LORD! Indian toilets are nothing more than holes in the ground. It will still be interesting though because their bathrooms are quite different from what we are used to. They consist of a shower head, a toilet and a sink. There is no separate shower and everything gets wet! We'll see how that goes.

On the upper floor of the house lives the youth pastor and his wife. They have a separate apartment, so we're living with wonderful people, but we'll have our own space. It's so ideal! Something to praise God for-- good health and a safe place to live.

I start my placement orientation on Monday, and I can't wait. There are still some issues with my school, but I know that God and Raj will take care of that! Happy to be here, but I'm missing home! And I can't stand the Ohmmmmmmmm.

Friday, January 14, 9pm

I know I probably won't blog everyday, but I also don't know what God has in store for me here, so it might be worth it!

Before I went to bed, my dad had warned me that at 5am the Muslims and Hindus will begin their worship and it will probably wake me up. So when I woke up this morning to a song that sounded like it was in my bedroom, I assumed it was either the Muslims or Hindus. That was until I head the words "shine Jesus shine". It was the dang Christians! There's a Catholic school right outside my dad's apartment. My dad told us to come look. It was amazing. Hundreds of young girls lined up, facing our balcony, beautifully singing "Shine Jesus Shine". The most incredible part of it all is that "Shine Jesus Shine" was my grandpa's favourite song, and it always makes me think of him. He's part of the reason I'm in India. All my grandparent's were missionaries in India, and now I have the opportunity to follow in their footsteps.

Sam and I went back to bed until 1pm, at which point we forced ourselves to get up. My dad's little helper friend, Tege (I need to get the proper spelling), made us some delicious Indian lunch. It tasted amazing, but my stomach hated it. After going for a short walk with Sam and my dad, we had to get a rickshaw back home, and I slept the day away. I'm feeling better now, but I have to watch what I eat.

We're looking at apartments for Sam and I tomorrow. Something a little closer to where we'll be volunteering, because we start Monday. I am so excited for that.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to see more of Bangalore tomorrow. So far it's been traffic, temples and stray dogs!

I'm in Bangalore

Day 1: January 14, 3am (Bangalore time)

My first thought as I entered India was, "I bet it stinks". I was surprised when I entered a classy brand new airport and then stepped outside in the refreshing cool Indian air (12 degrees). My dad and his entire entourage came to greet us. They were so sweet. Raj brought us flowers and the men took our bags to the car. Awesome first impression India! Second impression... not so awesome. Driving in India may be the most terrifying thing ever. Move over China, India takes the lead for world's worst drivers. I'm not sure why they have lanes or stop lights for that matter. I do however know why they have car horns-- to tell people to move or die.

Anyway, Sammy and I arrived safely after about 18 hours in the air with one transfer in France (by the way, Paris is overrated). 3am we're sitting in my dad's apartments and we decide to make some Skype calls, since it's 4:30pm in Canada. Mom and grandma are happy to hear from us. I called Jack, and he stuttered over my name "C-C-Carly?????" (almost as if he doesn't want to say the wrong girlfriend's name). He was surprised to hear my voice on the other end of his cellphone. Skype is amazing!

I've already asked God to remind me why I'm here! I'm such a home-body. I know he has something incredible in store for me and for Sam. He opened door after door to get me here, so I know I'm in the right place!