Where have I been in the last month?

Wow!  I've been back from India for nearly 4 weeks already and much has happened inbetween that time. 

To finish off my India trip...I flew back to Holland on August 12 where I spent the next four days bidding farewell to my family in Barneveld.  On Saturday my cousin and I celebrated our birthdays together with most of the family.  Along with that, came presents, candy and of course good-byes!  Then on August 16th, at 12:00pm I began my journey back to my homeland.  A little more than 9 hours later I lifted the window cover and shielded my eyes against the blinding sun only to see the mighty Fraser river beneath me and the majestic mountains all around.  Wow!  This is beautiful British Columbia!  What a nice welcome home!  As soon as we were close enough to the ground, I turned my phone on and texted Deedrick that I was beginning to land and I would be with him soon.  15 minutes later, I was wrapped in a tight embrace from Deedrick with jacaranda roses in my hand!  It's hard to believe that 6 weeks ago I saw him last...it felt like months.  At home I quickly unpacked my suitcases and a few days later all evidence of my trip was cleaned up.  Except, of course, the many memories: stories and photos that will stay with me. 

August 19
 That Thursday night I recieved an invitation to hike Mount Cheam, so I took the opportunity and on Friday morning at 6:30 we left Agassiz.  We hiked in the heat, we slid through the snow, we climbed the rock face and sat down to digest the beautiful views of the vallley.  After a scrumptious lunch, we began our descent, which of course didn't take nearly as long as our ascent.  By 3pm we were back in Agassiz. 

August 20
Hiking, again!!  Yes, the next day I went up Mount Frosty by Lightning Lake in Manning Park with Deedrick and some of his family.  Internet reviews had said that hike would take 8 hours, phew!  On the turn-off to the resort, I spotted cardboard boxes on the road, and as curious as I am I asked Deedrick to stop to look what was in there: blueberry pie, chicken strips, jumbo shrimp and veal cutlets!  We Dutch-men took the boxes, stuffed them in a garbage bag. hid them in the creek and began our hike.  From such a height beautiful views of the lake could be seen, a freshness hung in the air, sun blazed on our bodies and animals of all sizes and shapes called to us.  Four hours later we reached the 2,408 meter tip of Mount Frosty.  What an accomplishment!  Mountains surrounded us (as well as a herd of ladybugs!) and Alpine Meadows could be seen in the distance along with the Three Brothers.  Gorgeous!!  Three hours later we found ourselves tired, sore-footed and at the base of the mountain.  Remembering our garbage bag of food, we walked along the creek and slavaged everything except the pie.  At home, Deedrick divided the food and within a few weeks nothing was left!! 

September 3
With the nice weather that we have been having lately, Deedrick and I decided that on our weekend off we would take the jetski and cruise Harrison Lake.  Stopping in at Rainbow Falls and feeling the gentle mist on our faces, trying to catch the wakes from passing boats, launching the jetski in a cove and having a bite to eat amongst the decaying fish, skiing at an speed of 110km down the Harrison River, feeling the wind in our faces, exploring the "backwaters" of Harrison Lake, sums up our day. 

September 5
Sightseeing!  On Labour Day, Elsie and Brent invited us to come with them to San Juan Island.  At 4:30am the four of us drove to Anacortes and took the one-hour ferry ride for $11.50/person to Friday Harbour.  We stopped for breakfast, and by 9am we had our mopeds rented for $65/day and began to tour the island.  A map was highlighted for us with all the points of interest which included the harbour, lavender fields, sculpture park, sandy beaches, Cattle Point, Lime Kiln State Park, Roche harbour and breath-taking views of the island along the way.  Anyone ever wanting to make this awesome, fun trip, visit this website for more information: http://www.susiesmopeds.com/

September 9
We had not gone quadding for quite some time, so on Friday afternoon at 4:30 Deedrick and I loaded the quad and headed up to the second landing on Mount Cheam.  Even with the haze in the distance our views of the Valley were still amazing!  Birds chirped, bees buzzed, every now and then a gentle breeze could be felt: what a way to end a super busy week! 

Photos

Taj Mahal

Camel ridingBaji Worship Temple

Just for fun...or maybe not!

Out here in India so many people look at us and smile, wave, whistle, shout that after a while it gets rather annoying. We will walk into a shop and for the duration of our stay there will be several men surrounding us asking us: "You like?" "You want to buy?" "I give you cheap price." Or when we are walking down the street people call to us: "You need taxi?" "Come look at my shop." (all in their Indian-English accents) Did you know that here in India they drive on the "wrong" side of the road? When they say "yes" they rapidly sway their head from side to side, and this takes some time to get used to. It seems, as if they are uncertain when they do this. It's fun to negotiate a price in the shops even after they say that it is a fixed price. One of our taxi drvers told us this: "In India, a good taxi driver needs three things: first, a good horn, next a good brake and finally a good heart." Trust here is another huge issue: who do you trust? Each driver, each pedestrian, each salesperson says the rest are liars, cheaters and dishonest. Remember: every thing happens on Indian time. When they say it takes 45 minutes to get here, it may only take 15 minutes. Or they tell you they will be here at this and this time sharp, you can count on them being at least 10-15 minutes late or not show up at all! Everyone is in a rush here, but not everything happens quickly. Piet and Maryke, the newly married couple, have been asked the question if this is their first or second marriage. When you drive through the streets at night you will see people sleeping in the oddest places: on stone walls, against a tree trunk, in a bike carriage, or just in the middle of an alley. Jumping from brick to brick to stay out of dirty, toilet water along the road, dodging piles of human feces, and tip-toeing past a few sleeping men laying in an alley are just some of the ways one needs to walk here. In each bathroom, there is a little slab with a pit and a hose on the wall which you use after you have gone to the bathroom. If you are a gemophobe, I will warn you now not to come to India. After a shower, you will still stink because the water is so gross here. Once outside you will sweat so badly that everything sticks to you. Do not wipe your face off on your white shirt, it will be yellowish brown. Take a look under your finger nails, a black layer will be lodged inbetween your skin and nail. Grossed out yet? I wonder why there is a black layer at the bottom of my cup in a restaurant?! All over you see little puddles of yellowish/brown liquid. I finally figured out (after I seen it happen) that it is spittle. Disgusting! When one girl orders she says: "No spicy. Abosultely no spicy." What can you expect in India? On one of our flights to India, the stewardess asked one of us, after that person (due to embarassment, I won't mention names) ordered coffee, if they wanted poeder melk (powder milk) or normaal melk (normal milk). That person thought she had said: Moeder melk (mother milk) so s/he said: "Please, give me normal milk." During lunch one time, we were telling each other what we wanted to do and eat when we got back in Holland/Canada. Some of the responses: shower, wash our clothes, share our stories and pictures, eat normal brown bread, drink water and devour a quarter wheel of cheese. All in all this has been an awesome adventure into a now known land!

The last few days

August 9

"Bye Aunty" "Come again quickly" "I miss you"...these were some of the remarks we received on Tuesday morning as we bid our farewells. We awoke with a bright start at 5am and we're called to the front of chapel to say goodbye to the 500+ orphan girls of Michael Job Centre. We sang Psalm 121:4 to the girls which says that the Lord will preserve them in trouble and will keep them from harm and danger. With our suitcases packed and a thorough search in our room we were ready to leave for Coimbatoire airport. A few days before, but especially on Tuesday morning, we received many many letters from children of every age. "From lost of love". "This is me when I saw you (happy face) this is me when I don't see you (sad face)". "I will pray for you and your family". "I don't know you, but I miss you". "I like to play with your hair. It is soft". These were some of the notes that were written to me. At 9am we waved to the hundreds of girls that crowded the entrance to MJC and arrived at the airport about half an hour later only to realize (by then the taxi had alread left) that our flight was cancelled and rebooked (we were supposed to leave at 10:40pm) to 5pm. What? So we are expected to wait for this long? With 3 BIG suitcases and lots of hang luggage? With 6 upset, and angry travellers, we ran to each travel agency along the airport entrance to see if they could book us a flight. We found flight that was leaving in ten minutes so we quickly booked that and were about to pay but our credit cards didn't work. After discussion we decided that it was best to just wait the 7 and a half hours in the smallest airport in the world since you never know if you will be refunded! Well, to make it short, we were not allowed in the airport until 3 hours before the flight would leave which meant that we had to wait somewhere else: a restaurant a short walk away from the airport. At 2pm we finally managed to get into the airport and we sat there for another hour until we could check in and go through security. Two of our hand bags had to be looked through and when the security guy found that we had games in those bags he decided to show us a trick with some cards. After playing a few games, sleeping, eating a chocolate chip muffin and looking at the interesting orange-haired Indians we boarded our flight at 4:30 to Delhi. 50 minutes later we touched down in Chennai, filled up the plane and 45 minutes later we found ourselves ascending above the several layers of clouds and after 3 and half hours we landed in Delhi. With 6 ravenous stomaches, we filled them with...burgers, pizza and fries and then hailed a taxi to a hotel we didn't actually know would except us! The Smyle hostel was booked so we kept looking until the Double R hotel accepted us. As usual, most washrooms in India do not have toilet paper in them and so far we have boughten at least 12 rolls, but tonight we didn't have any left so two of us walked the streets in search and at the end they went in to another hotel to ask and came back with two rolls! At 1am each one of us was finally asleep.

August 10

"Chaj...chaj...chaj." Groan! Here came another mobile vendor through the sleeper class of our train. This morning at 6am the train left and we travelled the 3.5 hours from Delhi to Agra sleeping most of the way. When we stepped off the train, people surrounded us asking: "Taxi, ma'm?" Trying to get some room we told them to leave us alone and frustrated we walked in the opposite direction even though we knew it was the wrong way. They followed us for quite some time, but we kept walking with our faces in one direction. Finally we turned around and walked to the government info booth and booked a taxi. A half hour later we found ourselves riding a camel to the entrance of the Taj Mahal. Wow! What an experience. Astonishment came when we were told that foreigners have to pay 750 rupees entrance fee and Indians 20 rupees. After paying the foreigner amount we walked through the east gate and into court of the Taj Mahal. Awe filled us as we saw the white marble building which took 20,000 labourers 22 years to build! Click! Click! Two hundred photos and two hours later we hailed our taxi and were on our way to visit the place where they made and continue to make the marble for the Taj. Incredible how much work it is to make a square foot of marble with stone flowers and designs: 3 months. At certain times of day the Taj Mahal's white marble gives off a different colour, which is why tourists go at sunrise, sunset and full moon. Have you ever worked on a weaver's loom? I have! It is amazing how quick these Indian men are with their fingers. Anyways, I sat on my knees and the man showed me how to string one thread. It was super neat! At another shop a man wanted me to sell me a sari but I told him it took too long to put on so he said: "I do it." Within seconds I had myself wrapped in a large roll of fabric and a Hindu "dot" was placed on my head. We left this shop and headed over to a market where we bought fruit and snacks for the train trip to Delhi. Confusion and anger filled our minds as we found out that we were waitlisted on the train ticket. Here and there we ran around trying to figure what we were supposed to do. Everyone wanted to help (of course, we were white people), but that got very annoying. We decided we would look on the reservation paper, which is glued onto the side of the train as soon as the train reaches the platform. There we found our names and seated ourselves. Since we were tired we slept nearly the entire way to Delhi and then treated ourselves to naan, butter chicken masala, chocolate cream roll, cream of tomato soup. I have never seen anyone move so fast! I saw a mouse scurry across the floor in the direction of our table and instantly one of us screamed and the other had her feet up on another and then the mouse came closer and that girl was standing on the wall before anyone could blink an eye! Laughter filled us as the rest of us watched the scene play out. By 11:30 we were back in our hotel and after quickly interneting in a cafe we showered and by the time the clock ticked 12:30 we were sleeping.

August 11

Lovely! This is the first day that we were in India that we slept in, and we sure were rested. Leaving our luggage in our hotel and taking only our valuable, we walked a short distance to a cafe where we ate a delicious, filling breakfast. What a sight! 6 of us piled into a 3 person tuk-tuk all thinking the same thing outloud: what happens if this three-wheeled thing tips? Quit imagining! Our driver brought us to a music store which had about 5 musical instruments and for the rest clothes, jewellery and picture frames. Irritated with the salesperson in the clothing department, I walked into the jewellery store. Mistake. Big mistake. Nothing caught my attention so I started walking out but then a man called me back in: "Madam, I have something that look cute on you. Come, look." Since the others were busily looking around I decided to take a look at what this man had to offer me. He pulled out a huge silver ring and told me to put it on. The ring covered half of my finger but he told me: "Ahhh beautiful!" I shook my head to let him know that I was not at all interested and then he asked me where I was from. I told him Canada and he said: "When you leave?" I gave him a random date and he asked me to take him with him. Disgusted, I told him no. He said: "You take me with. I open shop. I make money and you come with me." I was so shocked, that I just stared at him and finally said: "I have a boyfriend waiting for me in Canada." He gave me the look that "who cares". I walked away from him so fast that you would have thought I was running from the police! After hailing a taxi, going to a music store and buying a guitar and violin for a really good price we make our way back to our hotel where we eat lunch sitting on a rug. All very interesting here and so much to see and take in that it's no wonder at the end of the day we crash in our beds. Baji Temple was a sight to behold in the daylight but also a night! Outside the temple gates we had to wait for quite some time to find a taxi, and then we decided to take the metro to the airport. What a contrast between the slums of India and central Delhi. At around 10pm we arrived at the airport, headed straight to the bathrooms and "showered". I have never had such a "shower" in my life and I have never felt so dirty and so clean in such a short time! Honestly, if you would have seen us, you would have fled in embarrassment. Pacing back and forth several times in the same one-kilometre distance, we finally seated ourselves in a restaurant

Colourful keychains

What a hit! On Saturday we organized an activity for the girls from Grades 3 and up (ages 8 till 20): keychains! Back in Holland we bought multicoloured felt and key rings and transported them to India. Then we cut each piece of felt into 10 pieces and gave each child three pieces. The classes were split up into different hours starting at 2:00pm until 5:00pm. A variety of coloured ribbon and sparkly "eyes". Each child had to bring her own scissor and dark pen. We had cut patterns from cardboard so the children could trace them if they couldn't think of their own ideas. Some neat key chains were made! The expressions on the childrens' faces was priceless, and we managed to capture some images. Cutting the felt Helping the children

The children busy at work

Comments

As per the comment: "Don't they complain...etc" - they don't complain but they sit in the fetal position for quite some time trying to warm themselves. Most of them are willing to take a "shower", but some need a considerable amount of encouragement. If any complaint is heard, it is often ignored and the child just has to learn to deal with it by themselves or with another child. However, the children rarely complain here, and it's amazing that they don't considering their backgrounds and life situation.

Where have we been? (August 3 & 4)

Since another group of volunteers were at the orphanage the same time we were, there were many hands to do the work here at MJC. However, with 10 volunteers and 5 staff members helping at the wash area and in the dining hall it is becomes crowded so we decided to take a 'holiday' from the orphanage and travel about 5 hours from Coimbatoire to Munnar. At 5am Wednesday morning the taxi was already waiting for us, we rented him and his taxi for two days, and sleepily we plopped ourselves down on the comfortable seats. About two hours later we stopped in a village for milk tea and coffee and then made our way through a desert-like jungle. With our heads peeking out of every window we kept our eyes open for various types of wildlife, but especially for tigers! "Look...shh.." came the excited voice of one of the 6. We all flew to one side of the vehicle and the driver stopped. To our amazement there was a herd of elephants merrily making their way through the forest. Monkeys! The driver stopped the vehicle and we opened our windows and of course began to feed the monkeys. These hilarious animals made our day! As we were snapping zillions of shots of these funny creatures, other tourists came along. But the weren't taking photos of the monkeys, but of us! What do you expect: 6 white people taking pictures makes for quite a scene for the Indians here. For about two hours we travelled through this terrain and then we began the climb into the mountains. Lush, green landscapes called us from right, left and centre. Tea plantations lined the road on either side filled with colourful Indians picking from their green bushes. Now in India it is monsoon time, but little did we expect that it would be raining and that it would be cold! Back at the MJC the temperature was warm and muggy, so we packed t-shirts and flip-flops! Our windows were soon shut and we pulled on all the clothes we had because it was so cold! Once in Munnar our first stop was...THE CLOTHING STORE where we bought sweaters and socks. At Sunya Soma we ate our lunch and then continued to our rental house where we dropped off our belongings and then made our way to the vendors along the road. This posed for some drama as one vendor sold Maryke a broken clock and when Maryke realized, five minutes later, she went back to the vendor and asked for her money back. The vendor got angry and told her that she broke the clock and quickly glued it. After much squabble between Maryke and him, Maryke won the agrument and got her money back. Some of us had also bought items at that shop so we analyzed our purchases and sure enough, Petra's item was also broken. With everything resolved we had dinner and then went to our house for the night. Thursday morning we awoke at a little after 8:00 and were on our way to begin another exciting program: visiting a tea plantation and factory, a spice garden, a gorgeous waterfall, and then ending the day by eating at the highest tower in Coimbatore: Cloud 9. By 10pm we were back at MJC and shortly after we found ourselves tucked in bed and dozing off. The first day that we arrived at MJC it was around 9pm and when we pulled up to the hostel everything seemed quiet, until we stepped out of the taxi. Windows flew open and children began shouting our names and calling to us. Of course, I didn't know anyone, but neither did the rest of the group since it was too dark to distinguish between children.

What actually happens in MJC

DIIIING!!! DINNNGGG!! 4:45am...I still have 15 minutes to sleep yet...but by 5am the bell rings again and this time I slowly get out of bed. I stretch and yawn...time to begin another interesting day. After pulling on my clothes, washing my face, and brushing my shoes I glance around the room: lights off, fan off, windows closed. I am ready to go to chapel. At 5:30 am we are expected to be in chapel where the children sing songs, pray and read until 6:15am. As I walk to chapel I hear children calling: "Aunty....how you?" "Hi Aunty Hen" "You come to chapel, Aunty Hen?" I smile and answer each one of their questions and then I grab ahold of their tiny hands which, even in the morning darkness contrast with mine. I take my flip-flops off and follow the rest of the 500+ girls inside the building where I seat myself on a lawn chair. 45 minutes later, I have 4 children hanging on my one side and three on the other and I take them to the soccer field where we first run the 1km track and then begin exercises for 20 minutes. As I walk into the Sabina hostel toward to wash area, I call the children, that I see and pass, that it is time to wash up and get ready for school. I help the children undress and walk them to the hose which flows with cold water. It’s 7am, not the warmest time of the day to have a bath and for all not a cold one! No wonder several of these children have continual flues and sicknesses. A girl was diagnosed about one week before we came with tuberculosis, which means that she will be in isolation for another two weeks. Where was I? Oh yes, I am now on my way to the dining hall, it is 7:50am and breakfast is served at 8. Songs are sung and we pray for our meal and then a stainless steel plate is put before me and a few seconds later chappathy (similar to naan), rice, or idli (steamed cake made from fermented rice and flour) is on my plate and I begin to eat with my right hand. Eating with your left hand in India is apparently disgusting because that’s the hand you use in the bathroom. Most of them are already wearing their navy pants, sky blue blouses and red and yellow striped ties for school, so after breakfast they go to their rooms, clean them and finish up whatever other chores they need to do. By 9:00 all 500+ children are in line and ready to do the daily march. It’s neat to watch and hear: "Left, right left. Left, right, left." Their feet and hands are in perfect unison with the person in front of them. School begins immediately afterwards and then we are free until 1:30 (lunch). Lunch is usually rice with a delicious sauce and the children wolf it down and by 2:30 they are back in their classes faithfully studying. By 4:00pm school is over and we play games, talk and read books to the children. They love all the attention they can get, even if it means walking around aimlessly holding our hands. At 6pm supper is served and by 7:00 the doors to the Sabina hostel are locked. From 7-9 the children have study hour and they must be in their room studying. A bell sounds fifteen minutes before each event so as usual at 9:45 a bell sounds and at 10pm the final bell sounds: lights out. In our room, we are still reminiscing about the day, showering, reading and some of us are already sleeping. We are lucky, in the other guest rooms the showers are cold and in the children’s rooms they have no showers or only a trickle of cold water as their shower. Washing by hand is not as bad as it looks, although you really need to think about what clothes to wear the next day especially with only three sets! The beds here are not as comfortable as in Canada, but a bed is a bed and if you’re tired you sleep anywhere! At night we need to keep all the doors to our room closed or else we will wake up with zillions of mosquito bites and a cold because of the weather change and air pollution that comes over night. Last week we went out to buy items for MJC from the sponsor money: clothes, shampoo, medicine, soap, shoes, gloves for the kitchen, aprons, and several other items that is needed here. When the girls receive their "gifts" they are so happy and thankful: it is such an experience! Thanks for all those who gave supported this in various ways!

I've been around the world

Hi, my name is pink suitcase and I have quite the life. I was bought last year and never used until July 23, boy was I ever excited! I was to begin my first travel experience. Little did I know, that I would be doing quite the amount of travelling. 20 kilograms of clothes, hygiene products, medicine, and food was carefully placed inside me and then ziiiiip! My locks were shut with a heavy padlock and the key kept inside a wallet. Into the car I went and I zoomed along the highway to Schiphol airport. Once there, I was pulled along by a blonde girl of about 20 years old and then I was placed on a belt and weighed. No one likes to get weighed, especially when they told me I was overweight! Nonetheless, I was rolled down the conveyer belt and dropped onto a cart. Oomph! I landed on a luggage cart and then I was again rolled up a conveyer belt into the belly of a huge KLM plane on my way to Moscow, Russia! This is exciting, I thought. In Moscow, I was supposed to be transferred with my friends, the black suitcase with the blue belt and the green suitcase with the yellow belt, but I didn’t follow them. I tried to tell the airport workers that I was to go with them, but they didn’t hear my cries. This part of my life I cannot remember, but somehow I got lost in Moscow. When my owners arrived at Dehli airport they waited and waited for me, but I did not come. After filling out forms and explaining what they had put in me, my owners made their way to the hotel. They could not call the airport the next day or the next because the office was closed, so they called on Monday. Several calls here and there and about 12 hours later, Aeroflot told them that I would be sent to Dehli (I had flown back to Amsterdam and then I had to fly to Moscow and then to Dehli….AGAIN!). A day after my arrival in Dehli, an email was sent to my actual owner saying that I was waiting to be picked up. My owner was far away from Dehli so she asked if I could be flown to Coimbatore since she would be arriving there on Thursday. She did not hear from Aeroflot for a day or two until finally an email appeared saying that I would arrive in Coimbatore at 9:45am on Thursday. Little did my owners know that the office I was staying in would close at 4, but they were still on the train at 4:30. As quickly as they could, my owners hailed a taxi and immediately drove to the airport, only to find out the office was closed and I had to sleep over night next to the Air India counter. At the heat of the day, I heard my owners’ voices asking where I was. When I saw my owner, she screamed and began to laugh with joy! Placing the key in the lock, she unzipped me and began searching for her birthday gift. When she found it she opened it and boy was she glad! Now I am safely resting underneath her bed in the hostel at the Michael Job Centre. Although I was brand new to start off, I am now beat and worn and happy to be near my owners. I know they are happy to have me again, because they instantly unpacked their belongings kept inside me and put them on!

A million memories...

Lighthouse beach...Kovalam, India

Nettayardam: (left to right) Nathalie, Susanne, Henrietta, Maryke, Piet and Petra (upfront)

Rubber sheets hanging to dry

Henrietta feeding several bananas to the elephant

Elephant ride: Henrietta, Maryke and Piet

A vendor showing us his wares

India

July 24

After our first night sleep in India the 6 of us wake up at a reasonable time and begin to make outselves ready for the day. At 9:30am the front desk calls our room and asks for our breakfast order. We quickly order something that looks like it will taste good, and not too spicy! They told us our orders will be ready in 20 minutes. So at 9:45 we head down to the dining hall and wait for our food: pineapple and mango juice, poori (a deep-fried cream puff), bread toast and water. We need to be careful in India with eating but especially drinking. Not all the water that is set before us is drinkable water, so we need to ask if it is bottled. Our breakfast arrived at 10:15am, and the girls from the SF project came to pick us up at 10:20. With 10 minutes to gobble down breakfast and get ourselves ready for church we finished and followed the girls to the bus stop. After a 20-minute ride on the bus and a 10-minute walk we arrived at a large white building, called "The Everlasting Life" Bethel church. Making our way to the front again many eyes follow us and we seat ourselves on lawn chair. Within a few minutes the service begins. We were asked to stand and a woman came to the front to pray: louder and louder as the prayer grew. Near the end of the prayer, the band joined in and the woman left. Many songs were sung, more than usual so that the people who were delayed by the construction on the road could also have a few minutes of worship. Then the pastor literally jumped onto the stage and began to burst out in chorus with the rest of the church. When worship ended the pastor began to deliver his message. All around me everyone was intently listening when the pastor said, with these exact words, in the middle of the service: "It's way too serious here. Church is supposed to be a place of joy and dancing. I'm going to tell you guys a joke." So he began his line of jokes and the seriousness of the people around me lessened. I was shocked! While he was explaining how the man by the pool of Bethsada arose, took his bed and went, he showed us that he didn't walk like Michael Jackson or Beyonce but like a normal man. The service ended and we took the bus back home. Three girls from the SF project stayed behind because they had worship class. After freshening up in our hotel, we walked to their house where we had a delicious lunch of boiled then pan-fried eggs, a pasta-like dish, white rice, dosa (salted puffed pastry) and of course toast (wrapped in newspaper to keep it warm). From 4-6pm we listened to a sermon in our hotel room with the six of us and by 8pm we were back at the home of the SF project. As usual, at 8:15 they began their prayer meeting with several songs, then reading a few chapters from the Bible and finally ended with a long prayer where everyone prayed out loud and one person prayed louder than the rest.

July 25

We spent all day today with the SF project people at a water park about one hour from our hotel in Bangalore. It was a great day of fun and bonding with all of us and them together.

July 26

I flipped open the cellphone and glanced at the time: 00:12. I better get some sleep as 4:45am comes quickly, especially when you’re on holidays. I knew at some point during our short night, Rita would call but when the phone rang at 2:30 I ended the call. I did this twice! Realizing it was Rita phoning, I sat up in bed holding the cellphone in my hand, opening it several times, when it rang. Reception was poor, so I beckoned to Petra and we wrapped ourselves in our bed sheets and darted out the door and down the hall. That night, if you would have crossed our path you would have thought it was two ghosts! After explaining to Rita what our problem was we clambered back into bed, unsure if we should sleep or stay up since by then it was 3:30am. Of course, we fell into a deep sleep and jumped at the sound of the alarm at 4:45am. Knock! Knock! Who could this be? I quietly walked to the door: breakfast…on time! By 6:30am all six of us were piled into the taxi and we began the one hour journey to Bangalore airport. At the airport we checked in our luggage and went to Gate 11, only to be redirected to Gate 8 and from there we were transported by bus to board the plane. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen, your flight to Thrivandrum will be approximately 1 hour and 5 minutes" and so our flight began. As we walked out of the airport about an hour later a taxi chaffeur was waiting with a board in his hand: ‘Pappakutty Beach Resort. Petra Achterstraat.’ Since he only had room for three people we had to hail another taxi, and 1 hour later we were walking on Kovalam Beach. When we booked our hotel on the internet it all looked very nice, but when we had to pay it came to about $13 per person per night: this made us question the reality of the pictures. Much to our relief, our hotel was situated two meters away from the sandy beach where waves slap the sand, palm trees sway and a warm breeze carries the call of a distant seagull. Opening the door to our hotel, I saw a gekko scurry across the stone floor and up the wall. I felt the bed: the sheets were clammy and sticky, but what can you expect with the Indian ocean two meters from your door and the +30 degree weather each day? As we strolled along the walkway near the beach, vendors beckoned us from all corners with the Indian accents: "Madam, you like?" "Ooh ladies, come look at my shop". "You want buy blanket? Skirt?" "Food? You hungry?" To all we smiled and to each we browsed in their shops. It’s so much fun bargaining for souvenirs and clothes here on Lighthouse Beach. The rest of the afternoon was spent lying on the beach catching a few rays of run, feeling the waves crash over and over again on your body or meandering about.

C-R-A-Z-Y spells......

...CRAZY!!

Yes, the last few days have pasted by in such a blur, but yet so many memories, experiences and stories are in my head. Since internet connection has been hard to find, and now as I type this in an Internet cafe I must make this quick. In India they say: "Five minutes. Five minutes." (but if you know India time...you'll know that five minutes usually ends up being 15 or even 2 hours!)
Well, with me five minutes is five minutes so let's see how much I can share within that time slot.

There is so much to say...where should I start? Although delays, turbulence, cancelled flight, and lost luggage caused quite some problems, we have arrived safely in India. We hope to make 7 flights in total and have now completed 4. On the weekend we went to an Indian market (you think it's busy on the roads where you live? Think twice, listened in on a service in an International church, celebrated Petra and my birthday (this is very interesting, but, sorry you got to wait!), enjoyed an awesome day with a group from the SF project (I shall explain in another blog) at a water park, and spent a relaxing day at the beach in Kovalam.

32...25...17...9...2...

...so the countdown began! 32 days and now finally 2 days! Wow, time sure flies. Over the course of the last few months, many preparations were made and are still being made: searches on the Internet for the best prices on flights and hotels, our itinerary for the three weeks that we plan to be in India, activities and games for the children in the MJC (Michael Job Centre), tourist attractions and much much more! We are nearly ready to begin this 3-week journey.

My cousin, Petra and her friends: Susanne, Nathalie and the married couple Maryke and Piet will accompany me on this journey. Two years ago they made the trip to India for 5 months and 3 weeks, so they know a little bit about India.

On Friday morning at 8am we hope to take the train from Barneveld to Schiphol, Amsterdam. Our plane plans to ascend at 11:55pm and then we hope to touch down in Moscow, Russia for a three-hour stop over. Our final destination is New Dehli! From there we hope to make our way slowly to MJC, touring India as we go. Since we are only allowed to volunteer for 1.5 weeks in the orphanage, we hope to spend some time helping out with other projects in India. In total we have raised nearly $4,000 CDN! Last Saturday a little boy knocked on Petra's door and handed her an envelope. When she looked in there she counted €600! A few days before that she found an envelope in the mailbox addressed to her with €50 but the sender wanted to remain anonymous. Thank-you!

The time difference between New Dehli, India and Chilliwack, B.C. is: 12.5 hours ahead. New Delhi is 12:30 hours ahead of Chilliwack, that means when it is 6:00 am (morning) in Chilliwack, it is 6:30 pm in New Delhi.

You can follow our blog by clicking on: http://kindertehuisindia.waarbenjij.nu/?page=profile&intTravelId=328858. This will bring you directly to our profile page. (for those who cannot read/understand Dutch, I will be sharing my travel story on this blog).

Wok

Have you ever "wokked" in your life? It's neat! And I don't mean how some people with accents say "walking" or "working", but I mean actual "wokking"!! On Saturday night I went to a Wok Restaurant with the Kooyman family. My aunt, Eline, asked me if I liked wokking, and I told her that I loved it. (I thought that wokking was eating at a Chinese buffet restaurant) Well, that part is true except wokking is when you chose raw food and hand it over to a chef behind a counter and they cook it up for you in a special pan or on a special grill. It's so cool to watch, that after I did it once, I went back to video it. (I wanted to attach the video to this blog, but the upload didn't allow me to do so). Yes, I'm sure my cousins were embarrased, but hey who cares? The people at the restaurant will never see me again!

Odds and Ends

July 11

The beginning of a new week and, if you know me, I had plans for this whole week and the next five to come! Today I took the train (what an awesome system if you know how it works and if you have a discount or student card) to my aunt, uncle and cousins. I had a great day visiting with them, and trying to get to know them in the little time that we had together. At the end of the day, after a pot of home-made spaghetti, I took the train to my "home" on the east side of the ocean.

July 12

SHOPPING!! Well you can only guess what this means for a girl in Holland. In the morning, I did a little shopping in the village where I "live", but that was not enought. My cousin picked me up after lunch and after 3 hours we stepped out of our last clothing store with several bags, sweaty feet and we both looked like we had run a marathon! I had changed into probably 50 shirts, skirts, blouses etc, walked 50 kms and spent...(well I wish) 50 Euros! We headed to her house and after supper spent the night chatting to a few of my relatives.

July 13

The intention of this entire trip was to not only visit family but also spend three weeks in India. I had never met any one of our travel group, besides my 23-year old cousin. Tonight was the night that we decided to meet and greet. We also had to make plans about what to take, how much to take, who was going to bring us away, what sort of games and activities were we going to do for the children in the orphanage and so on. Since the weather here has changed from hot, blazing sun with temperatures of 27-29 degrees to pouring rain and 15 degrees, biking is not the best option. I was allowed to borrow the car from my oma. Hmm...driving in Holland is fairly different than in Canada. RULES: Most of the time bikers have the right of way, people coming from the right hand-side often do too, watch out for the several round-abouts in one block, and drive the speed limit. Well, I thought: "I can do this", so I walked to my oma and first drove with her. I love my oma dearly, but please remind me not to drive with her! Just think: an old lady in the passenger seat and a grand-daughter driving in an unknown land.......

Later on at night I took the car to where we were going to meet. We had Indian food, chatted about each other and then got to work planning our trip and the activities and games for the orphanage.

July 14

Weather does a lot when you're on holidays. I wanted to visit the Oude Veluwse Market here in Holland, because of the rain the activities were cancelled. Although I did stroll through a little part of it, it just wasn't the same. After spending a lazy morning doing little things here and there, my cousin and I packed our bags, put on our ponchos and made our way to the train station, a 20-minute walk. We caught the train to Zwolle where my aunt picked us up. After quickly unpacking our belongings, we headed to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for supper. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing at my aunt and uncle.

July 15

With holidays comes sleeping in for some of us...including me! I never was much of a "sleep-in" person, but today it was 9:15 before I stuck my foot outside (the right side!) of my bed! Currently, I sleep on a mattress on the floor....within two nights I will lay in a comfortable hospital bed. Breakfast was slowly eaten, the off to the market again! After making a few purchases (not as many as the first shopping trip!) we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house. My cousin and I cleaned their car and then we three went to town again. A few hours and a ice-cream later we were back at home and then before we knew it we were sitting in Peter-Pan's pancake and burger restaurant! Yum!

July 16

Since this is our last day at my aunt and uncle it was time to pack up and head home. Before heading home, us four went to visit the smallest city in Holland: Bronkhorst. You can't be in Holland and not eat a kroket, so we stopped for lunch to eat exactly that! A little after 4:00pm and we were back "home"!

The last few days...

July 8

Wow! It sure has been crazy here and there and everywhere. I thought I was done at school on Thursday afternoon when I locked my office doors, but I unlocked those doors again on Friday morning for 3 hours. After waking up at 4:30 that morning to begin packing, then rushing over to school to work, then coming home to finish packing, I was finally on my way to the airport at 12:30. A few stops along the way delayed us even more...but at 2:15 we safely arrived at the departure drop-off at YVR. After checking in luggage (I purchased an 'Options Plus' ticket, which I would recommend to anyone who travels with Air-Transat ($60): it gives you 10kg more checked luggage, seating near the front, a comfort kit (blanket, socks, eye cover, headphones), wine, champagne, and a shot of other alcoholic beverage) which was 3kg over, I made my way to the security and was sent to the front of a line-up (all because of Options Plus) and was through security in no time! I waited for an hour or so in the waiting room to board the plane, and because of Options Plus I was one of the first passengers to board. I found my seat, 5k, near the exit and began making myself at home for the next 9.5-10 hours. Sleeping was no problem....I saw: 'Time remaining till destination: 7:22 hours' and then the next time it read '1:32 hours'.

July 9

Although Options Plus tagged my checked luggage as 'priority' I still had to wait 45 minutes before I had collected those two pink suitcases. I walked passed rows of people who were waiting for a passenger, until I met my aunt and uncle and two of their children. Driving the 1-hr distance to their home, I put down my suitcases, sat down for a few moments with my cousins and aunt and uncle and went off to visit my omas and opa. Once back at 'home', the family piled in the excursion and we enjoyed icecream together!

July 10

I enjoy Sundays in Holland for the fact that I am always welcome to eat by my opa and oma: Roast (rolade), cooked pears, potato salad, chicken soup, apple sauce and not to forget the double vla with...whipping cream! So this Sunday was no different than most Sundays in Holland for me. My oma walked with me to church, after church we walked to their house and coffee and apple pie and then lunch and by 3:00pm opa was getting tired so I left. Once back 'home' I had more food and drink (it seems like all I do here is eat, drink, sleep!) and then I went to church with my aunt and uncle.

July 11

Talk about long 'lost' cousins....well I went to visit them today! I haven't seen this family for 13 years. However, after breaking the 'shy' barrier, it felt like I had seen them last year. My cousin picked me up from the train station (I had taken the train most of the way) and we drove to their house. After questions and answers, and more food, I went to town with my two cousins. A few hours later we returned, made spaghetti and I was back at 'home' at 7:30. A note to travellers: when buying a train ticket, try using someone's OV Chipkaart because then you get 40% off...however, the OV Chipkaart holder must be with you at all times. If not, just play dumb to the conductor. Here is how my story went: My cousin has such a card and she decided that she was going to buy me a full ticket with her 40% discount. So I merrily take the train there, the conductor asks to see our tickets and he smiles and walks away. One the way back 'home' the conductor was not so full of smiles as he walked away. I handed him my 40% card and he asked when the OV Chipkaart was. I told him: 'My nicht heeft gekocht. I uit Canada." (my cousin bought. I from Canada). He looked at me and said: "Do you know that you can get a ticket for that?" I just looked at him nodded. I actually didn't really know, but at the next train station I bought a new ticket!

Fundraiser

Several months ago I decided I was going to do a bottle drive (collect empty refundables) for the Michael Job Centre. It took a few months before I had a date set and someone (Jolanda, a good friend of mine) to help me collect. We began at 4:30 in the afternoon until about 6, it seemed like it was going fairly well: we had two truck loads plus more! A few days later we started the awful stinky sticky job of sorting them out.

Little by little we filled up bag after bag until finally we had sorted all the bottles. After this bottle drive I did a few little ones by myself and collected $133. A few weeks slipped by until we thought it was high time that we brought them away to the bottle depot in Agassiz. After filling up Jolanda's car and her dad's Dodge we drove down the highway, hazard lights flashing doing 40km. Once at the depot we unloaded the truck and car and began giving out numbers to the man in charge of the depot. When we counted the bottles, we wrote down the number that was in each bag and this definitely helped us now! The man began to enter in the numbers in his computer: 720 beer bottles, 78 wine bottles, 409 beer cans...and so the list went on. As he typed in each category we suspensfully watched the numbers climb higher and higher on the screen: $5, $47, $123....we had guessed $130 but the screen showed otherwise: $167! Jolanda and I looked at each other, quickly doing the calculations in our head: $400 (including the extra money given to me). This was way beyond our expectations. With a pocket full of money and a grin on our face we made our way back home. The money for this bottle drive will go to the Michael Job Centre to buy supplies such as medicine, textbooks, clothes and food for the orphans. Thanks everyone!

The Michael Job Centre

The Michael Job Centre was started as an orphanage for persecuted girls in India; and was founded by Dr. Job after his son Michael, who was only 21 years old, was killed by Hindu fanatics in 1999 because of his father's Christian work. A year later, Dr. Job accepted a small piece of donated land in order to take care of only a handful of children whose parents were persecuted or martyred Christians. However before he knew it, Dr. Job found himself with fresh water, electricity and enough concrete to further build a school and a chapel. Naming the centre after his son, he was supported by generous friends and churches around the world as they bought up adjoining land for his cause and helped equip the building's with the basics.Only 10 years later and the 31 girls he started with has amazingly turned into 541 and it continues to grow in numbers. These girls come from all over India and neighbouring countries, many orphaned due to their parents beliefs, whilst others were abandoned just because they were female. In many areas of India, it is still believed that being born a girl is a crime, they are believed to not be as valuable as sons, they are simply an extra mouth to feed. For this reason many are aborted before they even get a chance to live, and those who aren't abandoned are often greatly neglected and ignored.Not only are these girls housed and fed, but now they are also educated through the schools that have been founded, including a Higher Secondary School, Arts and Science College and B.Ed College of Education which allow the girls the opportunity to leave the centre with a secular degree, so providing them with a great advantage in life and much more hope for the future.

Piece by piece

Little by little, piece by piece, I'm nearly there! What's next on my list: India Visa. This is about half the part of stress for this trip (the rest comes when you are trying to go through security). The man I directed my questions to at Visa Services Canada told me that I had better fill everything out to the max because they are especially picky about British Columbians. So I filled in every possible line, wrote "IN BLACK INK" and sent it off to Quebec. A few days later I received an email regarding an error with my Visa. Great! The first thing they tell you when you apply for a Visa is "Do not book your trip prior to obtaining a visa". Well, of course Henrietta did it backwards: she booked her trip and THEN applied for a visa! Not a very smart thing to do! Anyways, I sent an authorized letter stating that I wanted to apply for an India Tourist Visa and now all I could do was wait. Each day I would log onto my email account and scan the ever growing list of un-read emails looking for "Visa Services Canada", until one day the little guy in the corner of the screen popped up and said: "YOU GOT MAIL". The email told me that my Visa was ready for pick-up! So I drove to Impaqt Computers in Chilliwack and picked up my envelope. Before I got into the car I had already torn the envelope apart (never mind carefully tearing the perforated strip and gently opening the packaged) and out fell my passport. I flipped through the pages passing my Brazil and Paraguay visa and finally stopped when I came across:

Planning, organizing, and preparing

For a few months I have been busily planning my trip to India and Holland. Since I found that it was not only more "gezellig" to fly from Vancouver to Amsterdam and then to India, I also found that it was alot cheaper! My flights have been booked: I leave Vancouver on July 8th and arrive in Amsterdam the following day. After spending two weeks in Holland visiting family and friends I head out to New Delhi, India on July 22nd with my cousin, Petra, and a group of 4 young people from Holland (Piet, Marijke, Susanne, and Nathalie). For the first 1 1/2 - 2 weeks we plan to work in the Michael Job Centre, an orphanage for girls. Our last week in India will be spent visiting the Taj Ma Hal, trekking through the jungle, and other exciting adventures India has to offer. On August 12th we hope to return to Amsterdam where I will stay until August 18th and then fly back to beautiful British Columbia!