Work is Worship

Heylo my little chickens!

Well I am writing this on word at the moment because I am cheap and the internet costs money lol! So I am not exactly sure where I left off last time.

The week has been long; I spent Mon, Tues and Wed in Zakira and Thurs and Fri in Mayapuri. Generally we get boys in the morning and girls in the afternoon – 13 calsses a week. I remember writing in 2006 in my journal that Kalkaji was oddly beautiful, both through spirit and even physically in some ways. I haven’t been into the slum at Zakira yet, but I get the same feeling from it. However, the same can not be said about Mayapuri. It is set in an industrial area and holds the biggest scrap market in Delhi. So the thin veneer of dust that covers most of India is turned into a black layer which even permeates the air. John finds it very hard to sit outside because of the unclean air – you really can taste the pollution. It is one of the most horrible places I could ever imagine living in and I feel – like Fiona said once – that I am in the geography textbook at the section on poverty. It affected me more than ever, which was weird to me.

“work is worship” – written on one of the kids textbooks…However, all five classes of kids seem willing to learn and are good fun! Even when we cant remember their names – we both even thought that one girl in Zakira was a boy until we tried to say larka (boy) at her instead of larki (girl). The girls shouted at us until we realised…that was embarrassing…Fun is being had, and we are keeping the lessons active I think – sometimes just making random noises for the hell of it. The kids are very good at repeating and copying, however, after their first test we have realised that some are much better than others already. It could be about to get tricky…Though the copious amounts of sweet, spiced tea that the women give us certainly do help!

We saw the funeral of a lady who was 105 in Zakira on Wed too – the procession was full of colour and noise – typically Hindu I believe – and was quite a spectacle. There are also some small girls in Mayapuri who come in to find us now during lunch and bring us outside to play games. And she is so cute! She always wants to hold our hands and has quite taken to “What’s the time mr wolf?” – it relaxes you so much but it’s going to be awful going round the slum later and seeing the conditions that she has to live in.
So it has been a week and I feel quite normal living in India. Jon and I were even so surprised to see a white person as we walked back from the market, that we had to stop and cross the street to say hello, in a most untactful fashion “It’s so cool to see a white person!” HA! anyway – we have met some great people, Paul, Felix, Krishna, Rakesh etc etc and tonight we go to Freddy’s with the Southampton team for dinner – can’t wait! We haven’t starved but we have got 5 cans of baked beans in the house:P Freddy has been great, couldn’t survive without him. Anyway, must dash – hope you all are good back home. It’s weird to be here cause it doesn’t seem so far away (still cold!) but I’m very glad I am!

Peace out. talk soon!

G

PS thanks to everyone who has emailed me! keep them coming! i_know_where_you_live_mate@hotmail.com

The air we all breathe

Heya! Lol I apologise for not blogging before because it is day 4 for me already but I have been very busy already! I will try and keep this all brief because I'm sur you don't have year and I need sleep haha. After all "Time is tissue"

Anyway, the flights were OK and staying at Ruth's was fun even though I still felt a bit weird but I saw some people I hadn't seen for ages and a general good time was had. Flights as I say were fine is not restful - I just wated movies. But as soon as I stepped off the plane I felt like I recognised the place again. It was very easy to settle in, and - though I miss home - I feel very comfortable already. I'm staying with Jon, who is a great guy and has lived in Canada, Kyrgastan spelt incorrectly and England. Impressive. We have managed to scrape together a big pile of fodd and made meals so far which were very edible! Power to us!

SO what have I been doing? Well I got ot the flat and collapesed basically on Tues. Jon was waiting and made me scrambled eggs - an instant bond was formed! Especially after lugging my luggage around when the taxi driver couldn't quite find the right apartment...The to the ASHA Polyclinic where we got frightned by the amount of work it is going to take to teach these kids ENglish! We are in two slums teaching 4 hours a day five days a week, starting on Monday. And apparently we have kids who have no english, and are quite young. O and did i mention we have only my TEFL course as a guide. O and useless textbooks apparently. And two days. AHHHHHHHHHHH! Lol it's exciting anyway! We went out for dinner with Paul and Felix, two workers and slept like babies. Today was spent with a team from Southampton in a slum they will be working in. It was weird going out to visit because it was much like Kalkaji, small and cramped. But the people get on with it and so whilst you feel so guilty, you have to think that that is why you are here. To help. Cheesy but simple and we both think that we can so lets go for it! However, one thing did get me. THe women told us a story through Kiran which basically involved their councellor doing nothing to help them. She was only in it for the money. Quote Dr Kiran "THe very air we breathe here is corrupt." Gives you something to think about...We also visited a market and did some food shopping for riduclous prices. It feels a bit more like a home now lol.

OK I am tired now so sorry that wasn't overly stimulating but it brings you up to speed, I can write in more detail later if you can be bothered. All is well anyway and after meeting Dr Kiran and Freddy Martin (wife and husband founders of ASHA) again, I remember how immense and just how human they and everyone a ASHA and in the slums are. It's gonna be great. Unless I don't get sleep so Namaste for now and will blog soon!

Love and coconuts =)

G

The first - 11 days to go

Hello everyone! This is the start of a new blog, which, fingers crossed, will chronicle my adventures in India and beyond. Eleven days to go until I leave for London, stay overnight and hop on a plane to Delhi the next day, I'm not very organised as yet but I think I'll be ready - so long as i can leave with this dratted snow storm. For anyone who has read my blogs before, I'll try to make this one user friendly shall we say lol. But for now, to work!

peace man

Graham/Duff - don't get confused, I'll use both lol