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 waresJuly 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.
...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).
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!
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"!
Sleeping was no problem....I saw: 'Time remaining till destination: 7:22 hours' and then the next time it read '1:32 hours'. 
