It's the Weekend!

Saturday

Well, I didn't get up until 1pm today. Last night's warm up party in Baga went a little too well, and we didn't get home until 5:30am. I'm still suffering as I write, and I think so is everyone else. These volunteers sure know how to party! ( when I first moved in to the Volunteer house I wonder how we would all get along together, since the volunteers in both houses are mostly in their early twenties, however, we are all very chilled and have a good laugh together, and help each other out ).

We are all chilling now before we go out again. Later in the afternoon the people from both volunteer houses will go to Anjuna Beach for the New Year's Eve celebrations. We want be there before the evening as we are going to Curlie's Beach Bar and all the clubs and bars will start to charge admission when it goes dark.

Ps.
On Sunday we will most likely move out of the new volunteer house and move to the original house, as we will have less people when the Finnish girls leave tomorrow, and it won't be cost effective to operate two houses.

Sunday evening I will prepare my course notes for teaching the orphans at school on Monday

All for now!


Chris. 

Spice Plantation, Elephants, Lake and Temple

Friday

Today is the last day of our Introduction Week.
We have been on a spiritual and cultural journey through India (well just Goa), from Yoga to Indian history, religion and cooking.

You might wonder what all this has to do with helping children in an Orphanage. Well, in order to feel part of of country and its people you have to live and experience the country, and integrate with the people.
(during the week I seem to have spent several hours each day with my nose pressed against someone on an extremely crowded bus).

Back to today. We are going on a tour to visit a Lake, a Spice Plantation with the possibility of taking part in an elephant ride or bath, and finally on to a temple before returning home.

More to follow.....



Pics for now....write up later!

In the morning we visited a beautiful lake about 30km from the volunteer house Assonora. We went out on the lake in pedal boats. It's was a very tranquil atmosphere, and surprisingly  hardly any other people were there.

After the lake we drove to a river crossing point at took a small ferry to the other side.

On the other side we drove to Spice Planatation.

We were given a guided tour around the plantation ans shown of the exotic spices growing there, including saffron, vanilla. After lunch some of the girls wanted to do the elephant bath. It was lots of fun, and after it was possible to ride the elephant.

On the way back to the volunteer house we stopped off at a nearby temple.


Tonight we will all go into Baga ('party city') for a night out. The people from the other volunteer house will also be joining us. Tonight will be the pre-party to get us in the mood for the big party at Anjuna Beach on New Year's Eve.

Chris.

Wow - I now have my Orphanage Project

Just when you were thinking I came to Goa only for a holiday.............

This evening I sat down with volunteer leader Shaan and we discussed my options for working with the children next week.

There were several projects to choose from and it would be far too detailed to discuss them here, suffice it to say I chose working at St Anthony's Orphanage for boys.

From Monday to Friday, 1:30pm to 6pm, I will teach English based topics to the boys.
The idea being:

"to help the boys with their studies by giving them tutorials in a creative manner"

I am really looking forward to starting my project......I'm so excited and also apprehensive !

Chris :-)

Panaji and Bollywood

Thursday

This morning started at 6am!!  Time for Yoga class.
I'm starting to like Yoga. Perhaps I will go to classes when I get home.

Later, we will visit Panaji, the main town in Goa, and after sightseeing watch a Bollywood movie in the local cinema.

More to follow! (8:30am)


9:00am
Well, I had just gone back to bed after doing Yoga when I got a knock on my door and told we would already be going out for the day to Panaji. So much for a lie in :-)

We took the bus to Panaji and headed straight for the fruit and vegetable market. It was a cool experience, such a diverse range of fruits.

After the market we had lunch in a recommended traditional Indian vegetarian restaurant. The food was excellent and only cost the equivilant of 3 Euro per person.

After lunch came the event we had all been waiting for, out first Bollywood movie in India. We saw an action film: Dan2. It wasn't quite what we were thinking of i.e. we wanted to watch a traditional, all singing all dancinf film, however it was good fun.

Later we walked along the nearby river bank, and then to the bus home to the volunteer house.

After dinner I discussed my project with Shaan (see next Blog!)


Chris.

A few words about my work at the Orphanage

Perhaps you are wondering why, so far, there has been no mention of my work in the childrens orphanage.

Well, the reason being the orphans have actually gone away to be with their relatives (grandparents, uncles & aunts, adult brothers and sisters etc) between Christmas to New Year.

Some of the orpans have no relatives at all, and they are being specially taken care of.

I hope to start work in the orphanage on Monday 2nd Jan.

In the meantime, I am taking part in what is called the Introductory Week. A week in which we are introduced to Goan and Indian culture, and also given time for sightseeing. 

Visit to Anjuna Beach

Woke up around 10am today. It was the best sleep since I arrived in Goa. The volunteer house (I call it the Big Brother House) is cool, however around us there are lots of stray dogs howling at night, and cockerels crowing at down, so it can be a little noisy during the night. But I think I am used to it now.

After breakfast I went to 'Martins' place and got my internet dongle sorted. Martins is a wooden shack in Assonora village, however he sells mobile phones, and internet accessories....not what you would normally expect in a wooden shack, in a small village in the countryside :-)

Before lunch Schivram our volunteer leader gave a really good presentation on Indian Religions: Hinduism, Budhism, Jainism, Sikhism.

India has a fascinating history with a culture going back 5000 years.

During lunch the 3 sick girls: Vera, Maud and Lisa arrive back from an over night stay in the hospital.
The felt a lot better, but not well enough to go sightseeing in the afternoon.


After lunch Hanna, Lote and I took the bus to Anjuna Beach.

Anjuna is a cool place...a Hippy Beach.

You will find an eclectic mix of Goan, Indian and western (mostly Russian) people on the beach, all enjoying the sea, sun and trance music.

The one thing you don't expect to see on a tourist beach is cows roaming freely, but you will find them in Anjuna.

It's very cheap at Anjuna (compared to Europe), a cocktail costs around 3 Euro, and a meal 4 Euro.

We sunbathed for a while and swam in the sea.

Later we went to Curlie's bar to watch the sun go down and have dinner.

http://www.facebook.com/curliesgoa

Chris :-)

Adjusting to Goan life

26^th  Dec

Woke up rather late after a little jet lag.
In the morning Shivram our volunteer leader gave an interesting presentation on Indian and Goan history.  We also had a presentation on Goan food.  I now have the recipes !!!

In the afternoon we all took the bus to the local town of Mapusa. We visited the market which was quite large. It’s possible to buy anything from clothes to fresh fruit.

At sunset we took the bus back to Assonora where we are actually staying.

In the evening our cook made us Vegetable Biryana for dinner. Afterwards a few of us went round to the local internet cafe where I wrote my first Blog in Goa. I also bought an Indian sim card for my mobile phone.

When we got back the girls and I sat on the balcony and talked before going to bed.

During the night I was woken by lots of noise coming from the girls room. In fact, Vera, Hanna, Lisa and Maude were very sick. Shivram was contacted and the girls were taken to the hospital.

The only people not affected were Lota and myself. We think it was because the other girls were given fresh fruit to taste at the market, and the fruit contained bacteria.

27^th Dec

At 6am in the morning Lota and I were woken for Yoga. All the volunteers  were suppose to have a Yoga lesson, but only the two of us were left at the house. The other were still at the hospital.

Yoga was very good, even though I struggled with some of the positions

After Yoga I went back to bed. Later when I woke I was told the girls who had been sick were still at the hospital. That meant Lota and I were the only people fit enough to go on the planned visit for the day to Old Goa.

After lunch we took the bus to from Assonora to Old Goa with Margale, one of our volunteer leaders. However we had to change bus in Mapusa, and again in Perjim.

Old Goa is basically two old churches set in beautiful surrounding. We took lots of pictures including one picture taken with an Indian family who were very excited to have their picture taken with westerners.

Later when we got back to the volunteer house we found Hanna had arrived back from the hospital. The other girls had been kept overnight in the hospital.

After dinner Hanna, Lota and I went to the local internet cafe. I bought an internet dongle so I could connect to the internet myself. However, when I tried it back at the volunteer house it didn’t work, so back to the internet tomorrow to find out why.

Chris

Goa is cool !

Well, this is my first Blog from Goa.

After just two days I already have some excellent experiences.

The flight from Manchester to London wasn't very full and I had three seats to myself. On the flight over from London to Mumbai I met a really nice guy called Rustin, who works in the UK but grew up in Goa. His family live in Goa and he was travelling home for Xmas. He helped me with the immigration officers in Mumbai airport, and the two of us celebrated Christmas morning by drinking a beer in the airport lounge

On the flight from Mumbai to Goa I sat next to two Spanish girls: Lena and Elena. They were flying to Goa to meet their boyfriends who were Indian professional football players playing for a Goan team.

When I arrived in Goa, I met up with Rustin again and he stayed around just to make sure my driver arrived to take me to the volunteer house.

The driver collected me and took me back to Assonora (Thivin). I am staying with five girls. I am the only guy. The girls share two bedrooms and I have a bedroom to myself (because we are not allowed to mix).

The girls are Dutch and Finnish. They are: Lote, Maud, Hanna, Lisa and Vera

There are two volunteer houses in Goa. We are staying in a newly rented house.

For Christmas evening, Lote and I walked over to the second Green Lion Volunteer house and had dinner with a German guy called Jim who is staying there. He is also the only male in his house amongst several females. 

Chris :-)

Thank You!

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone involved in raising money for the Orphans in Thivim appeal.
 
The appeal started just three weeks ago, as a little idea to raise a few Francs/Pounds to buy Christmas presents for children who are experiencing a difficult start in their young lives.

I am so pleased that you contributed, and feel all the hard work putting the appeal together was very much worth it.


….and now to the TOTAL AMOUNT RAISED: -

Ps. Keep reading my Blog!!  

I will be in Goa from 24 Dec to 11 Jan, and will try to Blog every day.......feel free to comment!


Thanks !

Chris :-)

Got it!

At last, I now have my Visa to enter India.

Chris :-)))))

Phew - At last, my Visa was approved.

Today I got an email confirmation that my Visa has been approved....phew and relief!
It would have been a terrible situation if, after booking my flights and paying for the volunteer project, and lots of people making donation, the Visa request had been rejected, or delayed in bureaucracy (red tape).
Next step, go down to Birmingham to collect.

Chris :-)

Visa Stress - Part Deux!

Well, today I thought all my Visa problems would be over. I went to the Indian Consulate-Birmingham (Manchester branch) to get my Visa approved. However, I was told it would take 7 days to process the application because they would have to post it to Birmingham and wait for it to come back. For me, that would have beeen far too risky, what if it didn't come back on time? and I couldn't fly to India on 24th Dec.

I was told the alternative option was to make an appointment in Birmingham, where the process only takes 3 days. Agghhhh!!....if only I'd known, I would have gone to Birmingham directly instead of Manchester.

So, now I have an appointment in Birmingham for tomorrow morning, 15th Dec.


Chris   ....keep smiling! :-)

On-line Visa Application - Soooo Stressful !

With only one and a half weeks to go before travelling I was leaving it rather late for my visa application, and starting to stress at the possibility of not being granted entry. It's not possible to simply turn up in India and pay on entry. An on-line application must be submitted, after which it is possible to make an appointement with the Indian Embassy and go pick up the visa. Today, I spent more than one hour fighting with the Indian Visa on-line application system. Knowing that an application can be rejected if the details are not entered exactly to certain guidelines, I agonized and stressed over making all my data entries clear and precise. Plus, the system kicked me out a couple of times and I had to start all over again. However, it was all worth it in the end becasue I now have an appointment to collect my visa - on Wednesday, 14th Dec, Phew !

Chris :-)

The Appeal

It's nice to know that after all the hard work I have put into raising awareness for the Orphan's appeal, and time spent on the web site and blog that people have now responded by making a donation. Now I feel it was all worthwhile.
If just 10 people were to donate 10CHF it would mean 100CHF to spend on presents in a region where the cost of living is not that high, and therefore the money would stretch a long way.
(obviously I am excluding the high cost tourist areas from this example.)
Thanks,
Chris.

Goa Preparation

So far, I have booked my flights:  Manchester - London - Mumbai - Goa.
Next, step is to get a Visa for India. The Indian Embassy visa web site actually states not to book flights until the visa is approved, However, with the cost of flights going up daily I decided to go ahead and take the (hopefully, small) risk. Fingers crossed!.
Chris.