a recap of the first 11/12 days

okay, hello to anyone following this. first things first. im okay. i miss you all. and to everyone whose emailed me i dont have time to reply but keep writing as i appreciate it lots. i should be able to update this once a week from now on. i will try to write my diary on here from day one, and so might repeat myself a bit from last time.

3/8/2010 met everyone and got to know a few people. definitely feel like one of the youngest. plane was huge, people on it were praying. there was a bit of a bomb scare literally on the seat next to me. but everything was ok as proven by my being alive.

4/8/2010 a woman spent two hours asleep on my shoulder on the plane. it was disgusting. in the end i gave her a good talking too and she stayed awake and sat up then. chatted lots to the volunteers. when we arrived my stuff along with another lads nearly got sent to antigue, luckily it didnt so were ok. the 7 hour bus journey showed us alot of the country. people were trying to sell my coconut in the middle of the motorway. indians are NUTS. and seriously this place is so over populated. finally got to our homestay/ big family, huge beautiful house. i mean, it was like a little mansion for gods sake and im not exaggerating.

5/8/2010 struggling to eat because in india you cant use your left hand for anything (they wipe their bum with their left hand) the state of indian loos is another story which would take too long to discuss. we got a taxi to our meeting point which got lost. there isnt much law on indian roads, everyone just does what theymean, its scary but there are no crashes. organised chaos in the extreme. apologies for all spelling mistakes AS ALL ELECTRICITY IS SLOW AND  RUBBISH HERE. spent 3 hours at a school, bought clothes and played games with the kids. i  danced with them and did headstands and played cricket. one kid gave me a best friend bracelet i nearly cried :( we went to some godawful slums. they are wretched. we were all quite saddned by it. they kept trying to rob us and i dont blame them. weve been treated like celebrities in most places. had a bucket and scoop shower, it was lovely. and the only time in the day you can be cool as its about 45 degrees or something silly. seeing many rats frogs cockroaches cows monkeys elephants geckos you name it, its here. tea was nice, played cards for a few hours with the lads staying in my family home then went bed.

6/8/2010 got another taxi to meeting place. kept nearly crashing again. had a hindi lesson. there are 2000 versions of hindi, so its hard. there are so many volunteers its hard to learn names. spent most of the day learning about the rules and all that boring stuff which has to be done. i crossed a busy indian road which is much braver than it sounds, i was proud to a high degree. theres hardly any women but theres men veerywhere, they wee in the street freely. even the wealthy ones. the culture in terms of religion clothes traffic gendr priceand shops is a complete opposite to england. its like another realm. there is so much poverty but they areso welcoming and smily. the level of english is excellent in general. my family gave me ice cream. yum. we have a finnish man named lorrie staying with us. he is a mean person i dislike him alot. i had an indepth chat about hindu and muslim politics with one of the house elders. it was interesting. early night tonight, i had loads of aubergine at tea which mum if youre reading i expect you to be proud of.

7/8/2010 showered. said goodbye to host family. got an overpacked bus to the amer fort. we were told it wasl ike a double of the taj mahal and oh my god was it. i was overwhelmed at the scale and beauty of it. i suggest you all google it. so many beggers selling stuff. i just kept saying bog off in indian basically. i enjoy using my hindi knowledge. i rode an elephant with another group member it was so much fun i was giggling like a girl. spent a while round the fort. had a lot of great conversations with the other volunteers. i understand why we were picked now. weve all got teaching experience in some way. in my case sports leader. most have degrees and we all spend hours discussing music, politics, war, religion, life. just unbelievably intellectual discussions which makes me feel like im around special people. its been nice. were all very passsionate people which is why i guess were here and not the ones who were rejected. who knows, i know im lucky. apologise once again for the spelling. this keyboard may aswell have a jar of honey on it. i kept trying to rip the beggers off which made everyone laugh. i held a bloody cobra. only 3 of the 44 had the guts to do it and it was frighteneing. there are thousands of stray dogs, but there is a high risk of rabes so we have to stay clear. we went tosee a bollywood film. outside theyre all really quiet because the culture and religion makes them be that way but in the cinerma they were all laughing n clapping it was funny. wandered off half way through to a market with some of the other teachers but girls couldnt go in so we all had to leave. (girls have a shit life in india, excuse the language but its true). saw a mcdonalds, there are cows everywhere, as theyre sacred. there are cows on all the motorways but you just drive round them. we waited for the train. i had a huge like 4 hour chat with some volunteers. a one armed man was sick on me. it was not nice. i heard a french family talking, so i used my yr 9 french and had a full conv in french with them. dad, and mum, please be proud because i pulled it off with the accent and everything. magnifique. spent ages getting shuoted at on the sleeper train cause we were all just messing about and laughing hysterically while the indians were trying to sleep. train was disgusting, narrow, and huge. got about 5 hours sleep. 14 hours later we got there.

8/08/2010 i helped about 20 girls unload their cases. the lads have been helping alot, 8 lads plus nearly 40 girls = hard work for the boys. it was hot. and hard to carry stuff but after a long bus journey we made it. kind staff, volleyball nets. huge grounds, unpacked. boys have a far bigger and better room. things generally wowrk this way in india. spicy pasta for tea which went down well. girls were all going nuts over the bugs which was funny. there is no electricity which means. darkness after 6, no fans, no runing water apart from a little well. ( in the future there will hardly be any electricity). played footy for ages with thelads it was good. and frizbee. the loos are gross, full of maggets. there are beetles and hornets and wild dogs everywhere its ran. my mosquito net has bloody holes all over it. there was a kind of monsoon outside. its like terrential rain and a lightsshow, it lasted hours it was beautiful to see on our first night. its hot and sweaty in the room.

9/08/2010 toast for breakfast, could be worse. about 20 people are seriously ill. im ok atm but most people are in need of hospital attention. again i must stress im not exxagerating. i had papaya at lunch. again parents please be proud. played cricket with the staff but noone else did as theyreboring. im more relaxed than most people so far. i had a dance tobob marley with somevolunteers which wascool. we went into jaisalmer for a look round. kind and friendly people. lots of european tourists. lots of the army too, i kept nodding at them pretending i was some sort of millitary presence. been learning some dance moved off people. played lots of silly games and had hours of amazing conversations. people say theyll have a party for me and amy ( other 18 yr old) on al evel results day which would be top!!! one girl saw a wild dog in the dark and screamed. there was pandamonium cause none of us could see so we thought it was something scarier.

10/08/08 omg, we have elctricity for the FIRST time. mood in the camp is much better. even with electiricty there will never be internet so i cant get on until weekend really. i appreciated thechance to charge stuff up and sit under a fan and use a tap quite alotthough. most people are ill now, im one of about 5 who has held out. i went to a private hut on my own and sung for about half an hour to try and calm down a bit. did some kick ups with the lads, got put in my work group. im working in a school called jhoda. its 3-10 years old. theres me one lad and 4girls to about 40 kids bt some times less. we went to see the school. the kids are mental. i was a bit down when i got back but many volunteers arel ike 6 years older than me and very very good people so theyve looked after me. louise if youre reading i really am in good hands. also i will point out that most of the camp know about yourl ife story as i dont shut up about you. anyway, i talked for hours with people and then some indian kid did a singing show for us, then sleep!

11/8/08 - pancakes! mmmmmmmmmmm. first day of teaching. it was nuts to be honest. kids are mental, have no respect. theyre the same as english kids, hyper and naughty. except they speak a different language, they all asked if i was married as by 15 most of them tend to be. i said no but i have a gf called louise and they seem satisfied enough. the staff kept hitting the kids, it was not fun to see. had lunch, spent a few hours in the hut listeing to music and chatting. went back to do construction work. ( moving rocksfor an hour and ahalf) again, im serious. so you all know i work 3 hours in the morning teaching, and 2 hours in the afternoon doing stuff like moving rocks. the middle of the day is too hot to work. i have weekends off. the coach driver killed a goat by accident. 6 of us were on the coach, 4 girls me and one other lad. we were all gutted but only i cried. i cried for a bout an hour, all the other teachers were very niceabout it though and give me tissues and that. had a really good night chilling with the volunteers, after 6 at night we have to use torches tosit outside. im of a rare breed of people that havent been ill yet. its like a war zone, people keep going hospital. there are gross bugs EVERYWHERE. its hot, its rubbish, i went to bed!

12/8/2010 got about 7 hours sleep which is the most ive had up to now. there are thousands of flies everywhere. youdont even notice now, theyre just EVERYWHERE. samas the frogs, dogs, beetles and anything else youcan think of. went to teach again. bit better kids have no respect but i tought them acouple of shapes so im getting there. played a few games at lunch and then learnt about aids. had a massive bit of pinapple and loved it. i now love pinapple. again i would like to invite parents to be proud of me for trying newstuff. had a shower outside with trunks on everyonelaughed at me butidont care because i cba being shy.

13/8/2010 had a big sleep. i tought for an hour by myself today. it was so hard. but i taught thekids alot more than i thought iwould. i did adding subtraction shapes, cars, youname it. i am reallty strict because im not there to be there friend. the sunsets annd the stars areb eautiful. lots of shooting stars. im hoping the wish i made on my chinese lantern i did with louise comes true! had a big group meeting it was poo cause every1 argued so i just chilled out. played volleyball with the staff who were sooooooooo good at it, the lads lost 15-12 so we gained alot of respect from them.

14/8/2010 well thats today and i havent wrote mydiary yet. all there is to say is that its my first day off. went into town with two other teachers. ate western food. im SICKof curry. its curry and rice for two meals every day and its making us all feel sick to eat it. ive had really bad diarrhoea today, but im like 3rd to last to get it soivedone well. i may go hospital. im ok, this is normal out here. ivebought moreclothes, im pissing the shopkeepers off cause i barter too much. i went with some random strange indian in to the middleof nowhere just to see some peoplehouses,, scary but fun. andhe didnt rob us so its all good. up to now im about to go buy a pinapple, get ataxi home and go bed as im ill.

CONCLUSION FOR NOW - im ok. im safe. everything is dirty and doesnt taste good. the people are very kind. and im workng very hard and getting alot out of it. it couldbe worse it could be better. but this will surely be the hardest thing i ever endure. once again i miss all friends andfamily, youre on my mind lotsand as usual special shoutout to louise i love youso so much and i wish you goodluck on results day, same with all my other osfc friends. ill update nextr week. bye xxxxxxx