Holy Cow! My 'tails' from India

Hey Guys!
So I just recently got back from three weeks of travelling throughout India and doing the Community work in Bangalore project from the company i-to-i for two of the weeks. I was assigned to the SKID project, which is teaching and working at a deaf and hearing impaired school in the city. Never having really worked with special needs children, or teaching children in general, needless to say I was quite nervous! I was worried I wouldn’t be able to really do much, help out, or get the full experience as if I was on a different project. But I can just tell you that once I finished my first day at the school I couldn’t imagine working at any of the other projects! India was definately a place that when I had decided to go I thought, "Hey why not? It was never on my main list to visit but I'll go, get the experience and then move on.." But having been there I never thought I would want to return as much as I do. Not only are there so many amazing places I didn't get a chance to visit, but the people, customs and culture are SO different it's a great experience. I have never witnessed so many different sights, smells, customs and more. It's hard to explain but maybe after this blog it will make a bit more sense and encourage someone else to travel a place they never thought of before--beyond the "top destination" list in their mind. I will go ahead and get to the day-to-day at the project later, but first I will tell you about my arrival in Bangalore, the orientation and housing.

On arrival:
After a long journey from Ireland to Bangalore, I was so exhausted but very excited at the same time. I had begun my day at 6 am July 4, and after a few airplane switches I arrived into Bangalore at 7 pm, July 5th. We flew Air India most of the way and I was nervous at first about the food, but was pleasently surprised. We had a variety of movies, music and TV shows to watch on the plane (like any other long distance flight) but what was interesting was the blurred out chests of women, especially any slight clevage that was showing. There were even points in movies where a whole conversation about sex was taken out. Once we arrived and after going through customs, sitting for hours in airports and airplanes, I was so overwhelmed when I went through the double doors. Even though I was travelling with my friend Stephanie, I felt lost as I looked up and there is a huge wall of people yelling around you. It’s as if I had a huge stamp on my forehead saying “foreigner,” and I had people left and right asking if I needed or wanted a taxi. But as soon as I looked straight ahead I saw the i-to-i sign that was waiting for us.

It was such a sigh of relief not having to deal with anything and having my pick up arranged for me from the time of booking the project. Right from the airport we were whisked away to our accommodation, but not before getting an inside look at all the driving Indian roads have to offer. Cars buzz around you so fast, and while we were driving in a three lane highway- there were about eight lanes of motor-vehicles filling up the lanes! It was like watching a big game of Tetris and seeing all the little pieces fit together where they had room: cars, taxis, rickshaws, motorbikes, etc. There was even a time when we were flying down the road and had to dodge out of the way from three enormous camels crossing the main highway! This was also the time when you notice a lot of trash and cows hanging out on the roads.

Accommodation:
It took about an hour to get into the city with traffic, and we dropped off one of the other volunteers we picked up from the airport at the Katary Villa volunteer accommodation. Stephanie and I where then taken down to road to the other volunteer house, Shirley’s. In Shirley’s, about 6 volunteers can stay there at a time (two sharing a room) and it is literally just down the road from the other volunteer house, which can hold up to about 7 volunteers. The accommodation was nice, two single beds in a room, each room has its own Western-style bathroom with shower, plenty of room and there was even a cabinet that locked where Shirley recommended we put our valuable things in when we were gone during the day- just in case. The whole time we were there neither house had a problem about things getting taken or missing. The Katary house had an issue with security and leaving the key to their rooms, but they addressed that with the in country team and were able to figure something out so that they felt comfortable and secure. Every day there was a boy who would come to Shirley’s house and clean the floors, so Shirley would have him come into the room and just wipe down the floor in our room, etc so it stayed pretty nice. It was here that Stephanie had our first encounter setting up and sleeping with mosquetto nets, which was very entertaining!

To be honest we didn’t live with much hot water, but you get used to it and it’s not too bad. Hey, at least there is clean running water which is a luxury! The shower head didn't have really any pressure (just kind of trickled out) so we mainly splashed ice-cold water on ourselves from the two faucets that are below the shower (kind of like a bath). Shirley has solar panels for hot water, which once she realized we weren’t getting any they cleaned them off and we had warmer water either very early in the morning or in the later evenings. But in reality I wouldn’t expect to have hot water and it’s just all part of the experience. (This is where the baby whipes came in REALLY handy!)

Meals in Shirley’s House:
All meals were provided with the project and depending on when your project started in the morning, Shirley would make you breakfast accordingly. Breakfast would consist of fried Eggs, plenty of toast with selection of butter, jam, tea or coffee. If we were on project for lunch, Shirley would pack a lunch to take for us which normally is something left over from dinner, or normally a wheat wrap type thing with either veggies, rice, potato filling or meat. (Never always knew what it was, but it was good!) Then dinners varied but normally would have different rice, curries, meat, potato stuffing, sauces, etc. The different foods ranged from spicy to mild to no spice at all, so there was definitely something for everyone. But, we also had a few vegetarians and a vegan on the project, so Shirley would always make sure that either breakfast, lunch and dinner would be okay for each of them. In that case, the breakfast and lunch meals would vary- but any dietary needs would be addressed fine.

**But I do just want to note that I came to India not being able to handle barely any spicy food, and by the end of the trip I had definitely adapted. If you absolutely can’t handle spice then just know that you would be able to get on just fine, but maybe with a few surprises along the way. But a lot of the fabulous local food has a kick to it, so I would suggest going out on a limb and trying it. You never know, you may come back like me with new taste buds!**

The very next morning we had our Orientation at the in-country Coordinator’s house- Asha Dev. We were able to meet all the volunteers who were starting the same time we were, and spent time hearing about India and how the different projects started and how Asha became involved. We got a welcome binder with LOADS of information from things to do and see locally, plus some of the most popular places to visit on weekend trips. Asha went over all security issues and any problem we had she made sure to address everything. After getting all settled we went to a nice buffet lunch at a Hotel nearby, where all the other in-country volunteers came to meet us. From here we went into the city to do any shopping, money exchange or just to look around and get our bearings. We had that day to do anything we wanted to or get anything we needed before starting our projects the next morning. Some volunteers needed to get more traditional-style tops to where at some projects which were more strict, but they are very easy to find and really cheap! Any information like that was provided by Asha and we knew for the most part what to expect for the project. In addition to Asha, Mina is also there who is a good friend of Asha’s who came on board with i-to-i to help out with all the volunteers in country. Mina and Asha split up who would pick up which volunteers (dependent on start times and locations) so that we wouldn’t have to worry about how to get to the projects in the morning on our first day.

So the next day, Tuesday, Asha came and picked us up at about 9 or 9.30 am and showed us the way to our project. She made sure to have the driver go the way we would walk, and when there were one way streets she made sure to clarify the fastest route we would take. This was really helpful since we would be walking home from the project, but also because if we took a rickshaw (street taxi type vehicle) they might want to charge us the Meter price instead of haggling down to a set distance price. This sometimes can be the best way to go, but ONLY if you know the best/fastest routes to have them take or else they will take you for a long and pricey ride. (Even though when you convert it back, an expensive ride would only be €1 - €2!) The SKID project was about a nice 20 minute walk, and we started most mornings between 8.30-9 am. School ended around 2-2.30pm so the times were really nice, giving us the whole afternoon to explore. Since we generally would go out and do things at night with all the volunteers, we normally wanted to sleep in as long as we could, so after the provided breakfast we normally caught a rickshaw ride to the project and then would just walk back in the afternoon. Since the project was pretty close, some drivers wouldn’t want to go since it wasn’t that worth it, but you shouldn’t pay any more then 20 Rupees to get there one way (Meter price is 14 Rupee…either price is still under €1).

The Project: SKID
After setting foot onto the school, I have never felt so needed in my life. There was no big dress code for our project, but mainly just have to your knees covered, and your chest if you are a girl. We were able to wear tank tops, but normally had a scarf to wear around our neck to make sure we were as respectful as possible. But I felt the most comfortable in sandals, capris or linen pants, a lightweight T-shirt or even local Kameez top I bought there. Jessie, the Principal of the school, welcomed us after Asha dropped us off and asked if we had any preferences to where we worked or what we did. Stephanie and I didn’t mind if we were in different classrooms, we just wanted to help where we were needed the most. So we split up and I was taken to a classroom upstairs where I worked personally with Nadisha, a boy in the class who was a bit slower at English and Social Studies then the other kids.

There is a range of different ages in the school and different hearing abilities as well. Some of the kids have really good speech while others either haven’t begun talking or don’t have a great hold on pronunciation and sound yet. Many of the children can read lips but for the most part you are almost acting out the things you need to communicate. It sounds more difficult and harder then it is, but the kids are so eager to work with you and teach you sign language that you pick up things very quickly. I worked with Nadisha in a separate room to make sure he finished filling in the missing word in a sentence, or did all his writing. In addition to working with Nadisha, I would help out in the Arts and Crafts room with the really little kids, or help draw posters or pictures the teachers needed for lesson plans. Not to mention just run around with them during Play Time!

After spending just a little bit of time there, you definitely see the need for volunteers at the school. The school provides hearing boxes for each child, which is like a hearing aid that is attached to a little sound box that fits into their pocket and helps them pick up sounds and the teachers use it to speak into, and then the kid would repeat the sentence- working on speech. The sad thing is that the children have to leave the sound-boxes at school everyday because the families don’t realize the worth of each one, which can lead to them selling it on the street or it getting misused and broken. The SKID school is one of the only schools for hearing impaired children, and there was even a boy at the school who travelled 4 hours on the train every day with his grandma to attend. The school uses basic American Sign Language, but there are adjustments they make to certain words and letters in the alphabet. I didn’t know a drop of sign language before going, but you pick it up so fast and by the end of the week I already knew how to sign the full alphabet and a few phrases to get me through the day. Plus, you aren’t really at a disadvantage if you don’t know any signing because the school has its own version that can’t be found online or in any books. It has become special to that school which means everyone (even the teachers) have been in the same position as you!

Roughly 100% of all the parents and families of the children do not know sign language and either don’t care to learn the basics to communicate with their child, or encourage signing or English in the home. The school openly encourages parents to come to the school any time they can and sit into the class to learn some basic ways to help their child, or see what their child is learning in school. During the whole time we were there I never saw one parent come into the school. To be fair, a lot of the families are busy working and trying to earn money to get by- but a lot of the students are sent to school mainly to get out of the house, or be kept off the streets.

The class numbers vary but there is roughly about 10-15 students to each class, and the students who are a bit slower on certain subjects are sat in the back of the class- out of the horseshoe shape seating of the other students. The normalities of being in country are very different from that of home, and sometimes it was hard watching and observing these things. The children that are considered “slow,” or “behind,” are actually incredibly smart and just need the right attention and motivation to work. That is where the volunteers come into the picture and can really help out. You get to struggle with them trying to find some way to communicate the sentence, but as soon as you do and you see that face light up with the right answer it just makes your whole day. This is the same for any project and it was great coming home every evening and all anyone can talk about is their day at the project and what success they had. As volunteers you get to bond over a lot of things together, and even get the chance to visit each other’s projects if yours ends early, etc. I could go on for hours about all the kids I worked and fell in love with: Veesim, Mamatha, Elf, Chandon, and the list continues on and on. I also learned a lot about the other projects in the area from the volunteers with me, so if you do have any questions feel free to ask me.

I have never had so many hugs, hand-holding and high fives in my life like I experienced during those two weeks. My time at the school could have easily been a few months and still fly by so fast. I have taken loads of photos and videos of the students at the school, so please feel free to look through them! The last day at the school was literally heart breaking. Most of the students understood that we were leaving because we could use sign language to explain we were going on a plane home to our families. The look on their face just dropped but then came over and gave us a huge hug. She even pointed to the calendar to ask when I would be back. We picked toward the end of 2010, so now I better start saving money again! Being at that project has to be one of the best things I have done, and while it was challenging as long as you have a sense of humour and love new adventures you will do just fine.

Life in Bangalore:
While living and working in Bangalore, there are plenty of things to do and see. There are amazing Temples, museums, Botanical Gardens, salons, and gorgeous public buildings. In the welcome binder that Asha and Mina provide for you, there is also a bunch of good places to eat out, bars and even contact numbers for cooking and Bollywood dance classes (two favourites of volunteers). The cinema also is definitely something to experience, and most nights there are multiple events going on that volunteers all head out for.

For the most part, every weekend will be spent travelling outside of Bangalore and no need to book anything before you arrive. Even though we were there during monsoon season, it was still a popular time to travel but we were fine to book things that week we wanted to go. The in country team will help and advise you on good places to go and prices. We went over to the East Cost of Pondicherry with all 8 of the volunteers at that time and had a blast. We caught the Friday night bus (about 8 hours) and arrived in around 6 am. We just went around to the different hostels and guesthouses to find the cheapest rate and best rooms, and then caught the late night bus back on Sunday night. On arrival into Pondicherry it was about 90 degree at 6 am! So it was definately a change from the nice temperate weather in Bagalore, but was also nice to get some sun! It ended up being cheaper to book one massive room for all of us volunteers, which worked well considering we all got along great and were around the same ages.

We arrived back into Bangalore early Monday morning with enough time to get back, nap for an hour or two, then catch breakfast and head to work! For most trips you will want to catch the night bus since the destination will probably be quite lengthy, and this way you won’t miss out on any daytime there. The overnight bus was definately an adventure. I lucked out, but the majority of our seats were in the VERY last row of the bus (about 5-6 seats across) and it was a nightmare. Because the roads are SO bad, and I'm talking basically no pavement, potholes and more, it was the most rediculous and horrible ride of my life. The bus driver would speed over any bumps SO fast that it literally knocked the wind out of you and there were times half asleep you would go flying and fall out of your seat. Stephanie came back with at least 5 battle wounds just from the bus ride! After about 8 hours one way you would expect to have a few...

When my project was over I headed up to Goa for about 6 nights, as many volunteers will plan to do more travelling as well. Even being there for 3 weeks wasn’t enough time to see all the places I wanted to in India. Two of the volunteers I had met who basically saw the most of India were there for about 6 weeks—and even cut a week short of volunteering in order to travel. Because there is so much to see and the country is so vast, you could at least use 8 weeks up and still wish you were there for longer!

Goa was beautiful but SO quiet during the off season. It is definately a place to visit but if you do go when it is off season be prepared to entertain yourself, and if you go during the busy season- be prepared to spend lots of money. The good thing about off season was that we could haggle down to cheap, cheap prices because for them any service was good service! Steph and I spent the days hiking, exploring, getting pretty in salons and even renting a motorbike! Since Goa is the beach area, everyone has motorbikes and it really is the best way to get around. It took some time getting used to driving it because it's was so heavy to turn (which is why i ran into a wall once), but I was a lot better then Stephanie. She got another battle wound after she accelerated the bike instead of breaking and put her feet down to stop...not smart. We basically crashed a bit before headed right into a bus and Steph hobbled away with a torn up foot. (But it is much better now but still recovering!)

No matter if you are in Goa or Bangalore, anywhere in India has the same attitudes in regards to cows...they rule over anything. It's not so much the fact they are sacred that is in your face or noticeable, but more that they have roam over everything. They literally go where ever they want, whenever they want. This includes the middle of the road during high traffic time, your front yard, the beach, dumpster, etc. Because they aren't raised for food/meat purposes, it was weird to see them so thin and boney, but also hard to see them eating out of trash bags or on the side of the road. They definately have major attitude and this includes the bulls that will also be walking on the sides of the road. In Goa there were a few times where Stephanie and I thought we were going to get run down by them. We were even chased down the tiny and narrow street by a bull and had no where to go because on either side of us were just water filled rice fields. It's very bizzar but really does put you in your place!

I really do hope to get back to the school and would love to spend two months with the kids again, teaching and traveling. While India is a harsh country, with some extreme poverty, it is one of the most amaxing places I have been. There is so much depth and history that goes untouched, and as lucky as I was- I only had a breif moment of touching it's surface.