FIRST SUNDAY

Sunday 20 December 2009

Up early! There is a new visitor in the house - Shoba - she arrived at 5.30 from Kuwait and will be staying a few days. A very jolly and sophisticated Keralan lady who puts me at ease straight away. She knows the house well and is an old friend of Babu's. She has a conspiratorial manner and we get on very well straight away.

I share a quick chat and am off to Mass at St Anne's Church near the airport -

right beside St Roch's convent. 8.45 am. Mass is held in Malayalam but exactly resembling the liturgy format I am familiar with.

A few differences. The large airy church has marble floors and everyone sits cross legged on the floor: girls and ladies on one side, men and boys on the other. There are a few plastic chairs for old ladies or those in elegant saris. Ceiling fans and open doors keep the breeze blowing and

the heat is just about bearable. PA system is powerful and works well. Volume is turned up MAX and can be heard in the whole neighbourhood. This is an interesting feature of life here. Religious organisations everywhere (whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian) seem to feel they have to promulgate their services to the whole wide world. Ritual prayers, rosaries,

muezzin calls all mingle together in a sometimes deafening din. Very in-your-face spirituality!

During the mass, there is great participation - children and adolescents are all active on the altar as servers, readers, offertory procession bearers. There are lots of jobs to do and all play their part conscientiously and with grace. All the girls are dressed in white and their very best sparkly clothes with head coverings. Boys wear white too. Just like a First Communion.

After Mass, many people come over and shake the sisters' hands. As I am sitting with them and the trainee teachers, I get introduced as well. Lots of staring and smiling. I keep my duppatta over my hair to be discreet. But I cannot hide!

We slowly wander back to the convent in a group. The sun is high in the sky now and it's hot! Hoping to have a chat with Sr. Mercy about the work I am to do with her. I am a bit taken aback when she says she has a meeting to attend all day, but I keep this to myself. I wonder how I will spend my time till 12.30 when Babu has said he will be available to collect me.

I have a brain wave and ask Sr. Mercy if one of the trainee teachers can spare some time and teach me the letters and sounds of the Malayalam alphabet while I wait. No sooner said than done. The half dozen girls are enjoying a day off and one takes me in charge. We sit in the courtyard under the tree and start. This alphabet is complex and not memorable. I ask a lot of questions and attempt to get the writing straight. She corrects me good naturedly and we advance. After about an hour she is visibly exhausted. A friend or two come over and we start to joke around, I ask the others a few more questions. They give me words to spell and write and I practice.

Then it's their turn to ask me many questions, They are VERY interested to hear that I have two sons and insist that whenever I come back to Kerala I MUST bring them BOTH with me. They ask me why I don’t have a husband! That leads into an interesting conversation.They glaze over a little so I make it brief.

Then we talk about their plans for the upcoming holidays which they are very excited about. I ask them where they live and we draw a map. I am also interested in their future plans for working and travelling. Most have moderately high ambitions. One girl admits she just wants to get a teaching job for a short time then get married. They talk about St Roch's teacher training college and how their parents have chosen it specially as it has a high standard and the nuns keep the girls safe from outside influences. They are proud to be students here.

12.30 rolls around soon enough and Babu picks me up. Shoba is in the car and as we are nearby, we pop into the airport to check on the suitcase situation. I manage to get past the police cordon into the departures area which is deserted. I find one chap who reluctantly informs me that no Emirates staff work after about 12 noon when the flights have cleared. I leave somewhat disgusted.

Home to lunch and a long nap. I seem to have no difficulty sleeping 2 hours every afternoon! Maybe it's because I haven't been taking my vitamins, maybe it's the effort of concentrating on every new experience, maybe it's just the heat!

The reward for the long nap is that the day has cooled off and the second part of the day now starts. The locals call it evening though it’s only 5 pm. And Shoba has decided that we are all going out to a buffet dinner at the Muthoot Hotel. We all get dressed up and it's a real treat. Air-conditioning is BLISS! I definitely eat too much. It's all quite delicious. Plenty of meat which is a good change from the largely vegetarian meals served at the Deepam hostel.

REST DAY 3

Was up half the night initially working on the blog and posting photos (each one taking 5 minutes - that's why I posted small versions). Then when I finally turned in at 2 am I was still wired.

So I picked up my book "The Life of Pi".

This is a book that was made for me - it is about India, about Canada, about spirituality, and about survival. I cannot believe that in all the years I knew about this book, I never knew what it was about. I have even given it as a present and still I didn't know. Quelle ignorance!

It is a particularly GOOD book for me right now.

My situation is in no way comparable to Pi's truly heroic survival on the open seas with only his wits for company. The scale of his deprivation is almost beyond imagination. I read it and am inspired by his acceptance. This gives me a wonderful perspective from which to consider my own privations. "And what are these?" you might ask.

My suitcase is still untraceable through Emirates. We call the airport twice a day and meet with polite but bored sounding customer service reps. There are two flights a day from London to Trivandrum via Dubai and still this bag has not made its way onto this shore. The reps promise to update us and never call. Now I have asked for the manager - "He doesn’t work Saturday and Sunday' so Monday morning it is. Babu is insisting that I write an email. And so I have - a masterpiece of forceful memsahib writing!

The practical result of "NO SUITCASE" is that:

A - I have had to buy a few items of clothing to tie me over. I am not going overboard, but advancing one day at a time. Just what I need for tomorrow. With very few clothes I need to consider carefully what to wear every day and make sure the various elements are washed and dry, or buy something new. This is quite an issue in a city where sooty dust settles on everything and the high heat and humidity cause one to perspire heavily. One really cannot wear the same thing two days in a row.

B - I have run out of my supplies of daily vitamin supplements, which have been planned carefully to form the cornerstone of my health while I am here. Of course, I know very well that I can survive without them for a few days, but I don't want to weaken my system unnecessarily, at a time when there is so much change and unstability going on and I need to be in top shape.

C - I finally today had to buy a mobile phone charger…

Actually on the whole, I am welcoming this opportunity of letting go of my possessions - of getting used to the idea that they might be lost for good. I am in a new place and "camping" sort of.

Today was a slow start (thankfully) but Babu and I were once more in getting-jobs-done mode - so launched ourselves Northwards and completed the HSBC process. Next I bought some chappals (flip flops to wear indoors). Also fitted in some hand laundry (good idea Mad!) I'm slowly getting there.

Plan was to make my way South to Kovalam Beach and meet up with Aswathy, a teacher I met on Friday, who lives there. In the end, Babu drove me over (a mere 10 kms) at about 5 pm and we got to the beach in time to climb the rocks and watch the truly wondrous sunset.

Sadly for me, I couldn't swim as my swimmers are in the still-lost bag and anyway women don't seem to swim in India. My friend Aswathy and her son Ooni and I walked through the surf along the water's edge, getting our clothes a little wet and enjoyed that. The few Western women who did venture into the water looked decidedly uncomfortable revealing any flesh and mightily embarrassed by the crowds of men (resting fishermen and others) hanging around staring and ogling them up close.

Twenty five yards out, the sea was heaving with men in their none too clean undies, jumping up and down, screaming and splashing and generally behaving like 4 year olds. Not an appetising or restful sight at all! Now perhaps this was just because it was a Saturday.... who knows!

Kovalam Beach is actually a series of four beaches, very much on the Lonely Planet trail. There are plenty of Westerners gone native on Lighthouse B and Hawah B. Some well heeled Indian families as well. A 5 star resort the Leela Kempinski between Hawah and Kovalam B caters to better heeled types (who probably use the pool) and there are a plethora of ayurvedic treatment spas and hotels dotted about. The shops and restaurants along the strip are catastrophically over priced and provide no incentive to lingering.

So all in all, I think I may be looking elsewhere to bathe….

We concluded our visit to Kovalam with a visit to Aswathy's house to meet her parents and then back to TRV.

7.30 pm saw us attending yet another end-of-term Xmas entertainment, this time at St Roch's Convent. This was laid on by the trainee teachers this time, so more sophisticated in calibre. I was asked once again to address the assembled sisters and teachers and say something of meaning….. A little later I was also asked to sing a song! Luckily, Sr Mercy had her book of Christmas carols to hand so I sang "Angels we have heard on high!" They all joined in on the Gloo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ria…. That felt good! It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Right now, bushed and going to bed - no photos tonight!

Namaste

Mad

TGIF KERALA DAY 2

Friday night and I am curled up with my laptop catching up on emails, this blog and still dealing with bureaucracy from home. Thankfully there is wireless broadband here and an HP scanner-copier-printer. Also a very kind Babu driving me from one appointment to another saving me effort and time and hesitation.....

Up at 7 am in spite of the jet lag and downstairs for my first Indian breakfast - WHAT NO CURRY?

Instead it was PUTT - a chunk of coconut-rice cake mashed up on the plate with crushed poppadums on the top all bound together with hand-squished banana and eaten with the right

hand.

I had some to try but focussed mostly on two fried eggs (protein for the day) and a cup of weak tea. Luckily I did too as lunch wasn't possible till well after 2 pm.

We had an interesting morning meeting with Sister Mercy, ICM and visiting the Poonthura Fishermen's community playschool and tailoring workshop end-of-term Christmas celebration.

There were songs and dancing and recita-tions. Lots of proud mothers clapping, keen teachers urging, shy children singing their very best (fo-ur calling birds, three French hens.....) . It was quite delightful. Everyone was dressed in their gaudiest finery and it gave the small concrete schoolroom a carnival air.

Unwittingly, I fetched up being a guest of honour, sitting on a plastic chair in front of a sea of dark Indian faces - each one

more beautiful than the next - and was made a huge fuss of.

Thank goodness I rushed out to buy that Kurta last night. I looked a lot more presentable than yesterday! And yes there were plenty of photographs.

I was even asked to give a speech. With exactly 2 minutes to dream up something worth saying, I spoke about Christmas, which I have to admit is very hard to think about at the moment in the heat. I reminded them of Mary and Joseph traveling to a foreign place and not being welcomed warmly at all, nor having any friends when they arrived. I observed that I had come from very far away also but was being very well welcomed by them and that I was glad to have them as my new family and friends. This was translated and somewhat embroidered by Father Rex.

I was invited to participate in lighting one of the wicks of the traditional Indian light.

Not sure what it is called, but it was a great honour.

Here you see the youngest lighter, doing a very competent job of dealing with the recalcitrant wick, and the finished product

Then came the dances by the older girls, the tailoring trainees who were quite cheeky at the end and dragged me up to dance with them.

When I gamely joined in, this brought the whole house down.

Thank goodness I am no stranger to the dance floor and quite happy to ham up a situation. I think in fact they got more than they bargained for. CADS in Kerala do I hear you say? They would have loved the Prince Charming outfits!

Finally it was time for cake and cups of milk and our goodbyes.

Babu and I drove off - in the trusty Maruti - giving various people lifts along the way. Then we were on our own, discussing the projects and his vision of the progress that should be happening and some of his frustration with the staff and the lack of desire for change. This line of conversation was brought to an end when he pulled over to a coconut stand, a local gathering place at a busy roundabout on this two laned highway. We each watched our coconuts being shaved and beheaded and a straw stuffed into the top. After the refreshing drink, our respective vessels were cloven in two with an extra final hatchet strike creating a "spoon" out of a small section of the outer husk. This detached easily and was the perfect shaped implement to scrape out the coco meat. A delicious and sustaining snack.

Next stop - back to the Northern part of the city to the HSBC bank, to finally open the account. After 20 minutes of paperwork I still couldn't deposit any money, as an "account number" could not be issued. This might take 24-48 hours and they would ring me when this was OKed by some higher power! Good grief!

Very frustrating for Babu as he is accommodating me by driving me somewhere that would otherwise take me an hour to get to on public transport. And we still have not completed the pass after 2 visits! He cannot understand why it is worth all this hassle to open an account. I only managed to silence him by saying that I had a secret agenda.

Back home through the busy traffic, in the heat and dust of the day, to Deepam (the name of the house) where lunch was waiting. Various tasteful yet not scorching veg curries and the most

delightful poppadums. Interesting rice they have here, much larger and fluffier grains than basmati or any other rice I have ever tasted.

After this, I could hardly keep my eyes open and crashed out for nearly an hour before our next engagement. I blame jet lag and the heat.

Four o'clock seems to be the recognised beginning of the afternoon's

activities. And today's was yet another end of term variety show - this time by the Cheru Resmi Centre, at Valiathura - before an assembly of a dozen teachers, fifty primary school children and a few dozen teenagers.

Song and dance routines again. These were interrupted by a brown out when the CD accompaniment stopped dead in the middle of a number. The MC took this in stride by calling upon a number of children who stood up and spontaneously performed good natured solo acts of entertaining the crowd with jokes and stories and songs.

Quite touching and very natural. I was impressed. Thankfully the power (and the fans) came back on and the girls carried on with their performances. Finally cake and chai was circulated and it was time to say goodbye.

After having been cooped up in dusty classrooms all afternoon, I asked if I could walk to the sea from the Centre as I could see the sun going down and wanted to walk the beach and see what was happening down there. Three children were found to accompany me and eventually lead me to a pier where Babu would collect me in the car.

With the children holding both my hands and chattering away, (one of them - "Driza" - in very good English), we threaded our way rapidly through a maze of small huts interspersed with no less than eight Marian shrines and small chapels, brightly illuminated paper stars strung up in bushes and trees everywhere. When finally we debouched onto the beach we were met by loud chanting and a stage suitable for a rock band but where an unrecognisable form of religious ceremony was being celebrated. The children said: "Oh it's just a lot of old ladies praying."

As we walked, the sun was setting and children were popping out of

houses to wave or join our group and say "Hello" to me and "Happy Christmas". One of the boys was very proud to point out to me HIS boat lying on the sand, in a row of others, pulled way up the beach.

It was a magical time, and the chat and jolly companionship made me feel very safe and very much part of this place - in such a short time.

Babu did in fact meet me at the pier and I bade farewell to my escorts who rushed off home skipping and laughing. And then I was home - in no time. But not to rest - quite yet!

With still no news of my suitcase, I still needed some fresh clothes for tomorrow!

"No problem" Babu said. The laundry girl (whose name I cannot make out yet) would take me to a good shop. So we jumped into an auto-rickshaw and made our way into downtown TRV. Hellish Friday night traffic but quite buzzy all the same. Found a department store and after trying on about six outfits finally found one to fit that I liked the look of. Quite a pretty cotton churidar (a long shirt with slits up the side over very loose drawstring cotton trousers). Very Indian and very comfortable.

The next challenge was the more delicate issue of finding a cotton bra! This was less obvious than you would think as the whole department was manned by - well - men! You'll be glad to know I brazened it out! They were hopeless and had no clue what was what. In the end, I found an Indian brand and I took a gamble. As it only cost about £1.50 I figured I could give it away, if it really wasn't up to much.

Once home and after a richly deserved shower, I am delighted to report that the whole combo fits extremely well!

Day is done!

Talk of tomorrow will have to wait. Too tired to even think.

Thanks for reading. (Gosh these photos took ages to upload!)

Mad

SAFE ARRIVAL 17 Dec 2009

Just to let you know I have arrived safely in Trivandrum.

Journey was long - in two chunks via Dubai. I met some fascinating people along the way. A lovely mother and daughter pair travelling to Ghana. I fetched up having so many coincidental similarities with the Mum, it was eerie. We chatted for three hours during the lie over and became firm friends.

I never would have imagined Dubai's new terminal 3 being so full of life between 1 and 4 am! Heaving with travellers and all shops and restaurants doing a roaring trade!

Sleep on board was not easy - very crowded flights and much too distracting number of films.

Emirates managed to mislay my baggage due to the connection, so exit from terminal was delayed. When I finally emerged,
I was (thankfully) met at the airport by BABU my coordinator over here waving his GVP signboard. It is HOT! Close to 30 degrees and humid. But after the snow at Gatwick airport I was smiling!

A quick trip home and I was settled into this concrete two storey, functional rented building. It reminds me in so many ways of old style Hong Kong housing (St Anne's Church rectory for one). The style is simple and well worn. Fans in every ceiling and very basic metal sleeping cots. Très missionnaire!

I have had time to crash out for a couple of hours which was very welcome. Then, after the heat of the day wore off a little Babu took me round the town in his car - a humble little Suzuki Maruti cruising through the choatic traffic (he is unflappable) doing "errands". Street scene is a lot like Bangkok and Manila rolled into one.

Errands constsed of - Registering me at the Police station, changing my money at a Thomas Cook (lousy rate at 73.50 Rs to the pound), making preliminary overtures to HSBC bank re opening an account, getting a new SIM card for my mobile phone and of course picking up some spare knickers and a top while I await the arrival of my precious case!!

Tonight I am bushed. Trying to keep up with emails and prepare documents for clear and present bureaucracy!

Am well in body and soul. Namaste. Mad

----------------------------------

All my new postal and contact details are below. Take note.

Madeleine Wheare
TC 49/127 Deepam Kamaleswaram
Manacaud Post
Trivandrum
Kerala State 695 009
INDIA

Indian Mobile: +91 99 4653 5092
Email: mad@wheare.org

MAINTENANCE WEEK

The week following the Pantomime focussed on maintenance of two kinds.

First - my health both present and future.....

Monday, I saw my nutritionist extraordinaire, Lisanne Davidson, and had my three monthly check-up. We tweaked the doses of supplements I am on now and planned ahead for what would be needed for India.

As you can imagine, at the top of my mind is how to stay WELL during the whole ten weeks I am in India. How to prevent Delhi belly and how to recover from it quickly if I am unlucky enough to succumb!
I can honestly say that, after our session, I feel totally confident that everything we discussed and all the advice I have had should see me through any rough patches. I have stocked up with all the right stuff and now face the fact that my luggage will be quite heavy in the way of pill pots! We are allowing for some local Ayurvedic remedies to be prescribed while I am there.

Wednesday, I saw my wonderful osteomyologost-coach Patrick Deguara who checked me over and gave my overall condition a pretty good rating. He is pleased (as am I) that the two hand surgeries I went through in August and October have healed up well and, more importantly, have resolved the original Carpal Tunnel problem. The rest of the body seems to have settled into place after the intervention. Patrick has been instrumental in helping me to focus on and clear out a lot of old mental rubbish during the past year and to close some important loops in my life. The effect has been felt at every tissue level.

Thursday, I went for my last travel inoculation: Cholera (second instalment) - a raspberry flavoured fizzy drink. Quite nice tasting actually.

Surprisingly, I was able to get all my jabs and potions from the Charlbury Medical Centre and only had to pay for one. Janet Monk the ace nurse there was amazing in providing full written information for me to keep, a high level of personal interest in my trip, very thorough checking that I was getting everything I needed and that I was fit and well enough to do so. She knows how to give you a needle so you don't feel a thing! She made such a pleasure out of something I was really dreading! I am relieved I am now through all those hoops. Thanks Janet!

And now about the Other Maintenance... the house of course!

Miracle of miracles - Carl Gorton arrived one evening and mended the boiler radio controlled thermostat. That was great!

Tuesday, I picked up my re-made and re-lined burgundy brocade curtains from Katie Townsend. And these are now hanging very smartly in the extension to keep out the winter darkness and create a rich snug interior. The material is older than I am, My mother had it hanging in every house we ever lived in while I was growing up and with very little alteration I have been able to keep the heirloom panels almost intact.This is very satisfying indeed.

Thursday Graham Palmer, my electrician, came along to fit the triple circuit track lighting to the ceiling of the extension. I was his assistant in holding the 3 meter long piece of metal up at the top of the second ladder. You get the visuals I am sure!

This job has been outstanding for over a year and no fault of Graham's. I had great difficulty sourcing the elements I needed and it was only recently I faced the fact that I couldn't have everything I wanted - low voltage AND dimmable AND triple circuit compatible light fittings. So - I compromised and let go of the low voltage! After much online searching, I also found a great (new-to-me) lighting distributor called NATIONAL LIGHTING, whom I recommend highly. The final cost was half of what I was quoted last year and the service was efficient and thorough.

So how do I feel after all that? Pretty marvellous actually!

The house has been a major concern for me as I get nearer to my departure date. I need to know everything is working smoothly, the fabric is in good nick and that I have closed as many loops as possible. There will be friends and family using the house while I am away and it all needs to be self explanatory!

I think I have mostly achieved this.

CINDERELLA WEEK

I seem to have got behind in my posts. Apologies to my happy band of followers!

The last week of November was a trifle hectic with the final run up to the Pantomime. I got totally absorbed in this - rehearsals, set build, performances.

Here is a weblink showing photos from the Dress Rehearsal. It tells the story just fine.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AmDramPics/Cinderella#

See if you can spot me..... the cross-dressing principal boy in fishnet stockings (silver) and the elegant court wig and tricorn, otherwise known as PRINCE CHARMING.

It was great fun and not such a large part as to be too exhausting - which was just as well!

Not too much was done that week, in the way of preparing for Kerala.

I always knew the Panto would be one of the hurdles I needed to concentrate on and negotiate well, before I could let my mind be distracted by all things Indian again.And it is now successfully passed providing great pleasure all round.

I must share with you that I did wonder, originally, whether it was wise to commit to this production given the journey I was planning ahead.

But looking back on it, I can see that it provided me with a steady focus in the here-and-now to balance all the planning and living for the future. It also allowed me effortlessly to keep in regular contact with my friends and chat about developments in a casual way. These catch ups always happened in the pub after rehearsal and were very helpful and encouraging. I thank Glena and Marion in particular for their support during this time.

Gathering in the knowledge

End of a long and interesting week. Many developments

Sharing 1
Had tea and a chat with Catherine G, a well travelled friend here in Charlbury. I knew she had lived in India for some time a while ago but I didn't know very much about that phase of her life. I wanted her to give me some advice and recount some of her experiences. What I hadn't realised was that, while she was there with husband and two babies, she also worked in Urban Community Development and participated in a project in Hyderabad. She has lent me the book which she co-wrote about this project called CHANGING SLUM COMMUNITIES. I have started reading it and am already educating myself on so many levels. The book stresses self-help and self-reliance as essential concepts to get across to communities who want change for the better. Also how one gently gets the message of participatory community building across through hours of meeting and building rapport with individuals and small groups to find out WHAT THEY WANT. It is all quite time intensive and incremental but over time yields a great harvest.

Sharing 2
Had lunch and a long chat with Joan B who, since retirement, has travelled many times to a volunteering project in Nepal with her husband Hugh. She has had a great deal of experience in teaching situations and gave me not only useful advice but also some laminated materials she had prepared. We talked about what to bring (she had made me a typed up list) and what simple games worked well with children not only in the classroom (vocabulary building etc) but also in the playground. She mentioned in particular the elastic game, a game I remember playing myself when at primary school in Montreal. Do some of you remember this? The long piece of elastic tied in a loop, which two of us would stretch into a rectangular shape with our ankles while a third person jumped in and out of the space, landing on or avoiding the elastic lines. Was this also called Mississippi? Somebody please remind me!

News from TRV (Trivandrum)
Have had a series of newsy emails from Babu Menon answering the first avalanche of questions I unleashed.
He explained that volunteer accommodation is actually the second floor of his house where he and his wife live. This is convenient from lots of points of view. There is a cook who will prepare meals for us all and will be happy to teach me Keralan cuisine. I will also be allowed to cook my own food if I want to. So the best of both worlds.

The work placements are all quite nearby in that area of the capital city.He suggests that the best way to get around is not by bicycle (too dangerous) but rather by auto-rickshaw!

His concern right now is to find me the best posting to match my CV.... Cheru Resmi Centre won't need me till first week of January (holidays) but there are other places which are interested including the Sree Gokulam Medical College and Research Foundation.

http://www.sgmc.in/

I am particularly interested in this place as it offers Ayurvedic treatment. The traditional Indian art of healing - "Ayurveda" - is something I want to explore in greater depth, both by experiencing it and by taking some training in it. (Sounds like I am going to need longer than 10 weeks!)

Other preparations
I went to St Mary's Church Bazaar last Saturday and was given a box load of unsold children's educational games and DVDs to take with me.

Jobs round the house are getting a good degree of attention - the remaining 3 weeks have sharpened my priorities. The track lighting (for the extension) I have been trying to source for the last 14 months, has all finally arrived TODAY so this is good news! Electrician will be pleased to finish the job and close the loop!

Spent 4 hours today gardening over at Stable Cottage, my rental property. Also keeping an eye on Glen, my intrepid and fearless builder who was climbing over the roof to repoint the chimney. The day was balmy and sunny and warm for November and perfect for our various occupations! I filled the car with garden waste and made a trip to the tip (dump). I always love going to the tip. There is a great sense of satisfaction in clearing out vegetation, old packaging or accumulated worn out stuff from the garden, the shed or the loft and tossing it into those huge containers then driving home with an empty car!

Tomorrow is the Set Build for next week's production of Cinderella (the pantomime) up at the Memorial Hall. So it will be another day of manual labour for me, but a lot of fun too with other members of the company! Rehearsals are finally bringing the whole show together and three more crucial rehearsals in costume, on the stage, will seal our fate. We open to the public next Thursday - November 26th 7.30 pm! Come one come all! (Oh yes! I forgot to say - I get to play Prince Charming!)

Mental state
Excited and focussed on getting lots of jobs done. Thinking ahead a little to what will happen in Kerala but still feeling confident that things will unfold as they should without my having to do anything much. Enjoying a lot of attention and encouragement from friends and family for which I am most grateful. And I am finding lots of Kerala stories from unexpected sources. I feel blessed.

Health matters
Had another round of inoculations this week with no side effects at all. Cholera is now an oral dose (raspberry flavour!) to be taken in two episodes. Next and last episode will be in two weeks. Decided against having rabies and Japanese encephalitis, but covered all other angles. Renewed typhoid and DPT also Hep B. Malaria is not an issue thank goodness, as it's not a malaria zone and it's the wrong season. If I need anything further I'll get it in Kerala.

I think this is enough for one entry! What do you think?

Namaste !

Mad