Life in India Continues

Well folks it seems as though I have let a bit of time lapse between blogs. I guess since I last spoke I was detailing my first impressions of India. However, I guess I will now detail what I have been doing to keep myself busy. Many of you think I lead of life of leisure here in India...and well you are right. I kinda like this retirement thing! However for those of you who are cringing at my lack of "job", I have actually been quite busy.
First off I have been volunteering at this school for orphans and underprivileged children. The criteria for these kids to attend this special school is that either they are orphans or they come from families of five or more people who’s monthly income is 700 rupees or less. That is...let me see...about $195CND per month for a family of five. Anyways for these kids this school is a great opportunity to at least get a basic education and learn English. I am teaching a remedial class of five kids who need a little bit of extra help in English and math. Also these kids lack affection so having us volunteers at the school on a regular basis is great motivation. As you can see in the picture below these are some of the kids from Prakrama House who attended a football match (soccer for those of you in North America) at my Dad’s Canadian school. It was a really neat and life changing experience. I am even more thankful now for what I have and have accomplished in my life.

I have also been helping out at my dad’s school with the grade 7 and 8 Ultimate Frisbee team. Monday I held my first full practice to myself. We worked on passing and cutting (for those of you in the business). And then we played a scrimmage game...it is fun playing with the kids as it is easy to mark or guard a little kid. I have never been tall in my life but when I play with the grade 7 and 8’s I tower over them which give me an unfair advantage! I am however also playing on an adult team that plays once a week to keep my Ultimate skills up!
I have also been doing some day trips around including the Nandi Hills. This was a retreat for the British elite who were stationed in Bangalore as an escape from the heat. Now sort of a run down building was once a very splash place. Also located at Nandi Hills is an ancient stone Hindu Temple. After taking your shoes off to walk around the temple, you can buy flowers as an offering to the gods. These pictures of my dad, my new friend Carla and of course ME!! We are just exploring the temple and the VERY scenic vistas.

Now for my highlight of this past week, the Dalai Lama came to Bangalore to give a speech on secular ethics and environmental issues we face in today’s society. Luckily we were invited to sit in the VIP section of his presentation and with the ok zoom power of my digital camera I got a few good pictures. Although his speech was a bit dry (partly due to language barriers) the overall theme of his presentation was interesting and memorable.

Bye for now!!!
PS check out the next post as it details a great trip to Hampi I recently took!

All Aboard

And now for my great trip to Hampi. It started off last week with Carla and my trip to the Bangalore Train Station. After our driver told us to stand in the “ladies Queue” and not the “foreigners Queue” we were quickly shuffled forward to the front of the line to buy our tickets for our trip that wasn’t happening until the following week. We had been told train tickets sell out fast and to book them far in advance to ensure a good seat. We had to ask for two tier, second class, air conditioned bunks. The train ride was an overnight adventure that needed beds to make the 9 hour journey doable! And thus the adventure began.
Climbing aboard the train at 10:00pm we quickly found or seats. We were lucky to have a whole berth to ourselves but just as we were getting comfortable an Indian lady from the next berth over asked if we could switch as she had a young baby and elderly mother with her and they couldn’t climb to the top bunk. So as good Canadian’s we did our civic duty and switched to the more crowed berth. Now if you can imagine Indian trains, we were now in a little compartment with 4 bunks in total and 2 large Indian Men who snored all night and us 2 Canadian girls curled up on the top bunk. Needless to say we didn’t sleep all that well!

So Once we arrived (7:45am) at our destination (Hospet), we had to get a rickshaw to drive us to Hampi which was only a 30min drive. Once there we found Gopi’s Guest House, threw our stuff in to the room and had breakfast on the roof top. The gorgeous views from the roof top was inspiring after a long train ride. This picture is the view from Gopi’s.

We quickly ate our breakfast and wanted to explore this ancient town. Now for those historians in the crowd, Hampi was once the capital city of a Southern Indian empire in the 16th century. However another empire from the north came and overthrew Hampi and the entire town was just abandoned. Due to Hampi’s geographical location, its desert like climate wasn’t suitable for human existence. There was no longer an empire to bring in water and other supplies, so a city of 500,000 got up and left behind a pristine village. Nowadays the town is bustling and is a huge tourist destination not to mention a backpacker haven.

We spent most of the day walking around and looking at temples and doing a bit of souvenir shopping. The hot sun and early start to our day was beginning to tire us out so we headed to the “Mango Tree Restaurant” which was recommended in the Lonely Planets guide to India. Seeing as Hampi is full of backpackers who also carry the travelers bible, the Mango Tree was full of westerners. However the ambience of the restaurant was well worth it. Sitting on the ground with bamboo mats under us, eating on granite slabs with banana leafs as our plates and overlooking the river was too beautiful to explain. Here is a picture of Carla and I eating at the Mango Tree as well as me on a swing that swings out over the other patrons at the restaurant.

By this time sunset was drawing close and as the locals suggested, we headed up atop the stone hill to watch the spectacle. The red and orange hues of the sunset cast upon the ancient temples and ruins gave the city a real golden look. Temple music also played in the background which added to the real Indian experience.

As we discovered we had only explored the tip of the iceberg in Hampi on our first day. With another breakfast on top of Gopi’s we had an early start to our second day. We rented a scooter to be able to see all the remaining ruins. Carla who had once been on a scooter and I who had never been on a scooter decided to nominated her as the designated driver. A little wobbly on our way out of the main part of Hampi, we were second guessing if we had done the right thing to rent a scooter. However once on the open road all was fine...it’s just when people, cows, and other drivers swarmed us in town we were a little unsure. We saw lots more ruins and temples all sort of the same, but with each site it was a lasting memory.

By this time we thought we were pros on our scooter when we hit some loose sand...Carla did an excellent job but with a combination of sand, bad breaks, and wobbliness we had a small spill. Luckily no one was around to see us so jumped off and quickly stood the scooter back up with only a little bruise on our shins! We had a good laugh about it and now in retrospect it was actually quite hilarious! Carla did a fantastic job and jumped back in the drivers seat with no hesitations.

Oh, I forgot to mention the second day of our trip was my birthday and it was one the most memorable birthdays ever. After another long day of sight seeing we headed back to the Mango Tree for a late lunch and a birthday banana, chocolate pancake. Due to Hampi religious views you can’t really find alcohol, so a yummy dessert was my birthday celebration!
After a late lunch and back to Gopi’s to wash up, it was time to head back to the train station for another 9 hour journey back to Bangalore. We had a fantastic time in Hampi and I hope this blog will allow mental images of all my experiences.
Talk to you all soon and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as I won’t be able to post a new blog until after Christmas!
Jesse