As a little teaser into this post I will tell you about the day before India when my Mum and I went to see Take That at Wembley (think of it as a starter)....jealous much? The story is pretty self explanitory actually. Basics, me and my Mum were one of the 85,001 people at Wembley Stadium on July 1st 2011. (I like to think that I am that final 1 person). It was a long awaited trip as it was a present for my Mum for Christmas but boy was it worth the wait! We decided to sit, instead of standing on the pitch (mainly becuase my Mum's little old knees wouldn't have been able to cope for that long....hehe). Below are some pics to tickle your fancy....
Me and Mum in the queue. Mum is listening to the tennis and every 5 seconds she shouts 'Deuce' to the whole queue just in case they want to know.
In our seats
In our seats....in the spirit
85,001 people
Casual Pet Shop Boy (supporting act)
I CAUGHT ONE OF THOSE yellow bits of paper (unfortunately NOT golden tickets as I first anticipated)
Robbie diving off the stage during The Flood while everyone else took the lift
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Giant catterpillar during Shine....which on various occassions Mark Owen mounted
Can't remember which song...sorry. Patience maybe?
Standard. Just a 70 foot robot.
One of the funniest parts of the day was on the train ride home. While a girl was trying to get off someone else was pushing to get on so someone by the door shouted "she's trying to get off, have some patience" at that point the who train burst into song have......." a little patience"
Ok, so you have had lot of Patience listening to my Take That story but it really was the Greatest Day and Robbie does Rule the World eventhough Mark does Shine. We will now move on to India and talk about The Floods.... (excuse the cheap puns).
Ok, so you have had lot of Patience listening to my Take That story but it really was the Greatest Day and Robbie does Rule the World eventhough Mark does Shine. We will now move on to India and talk about The Floods.... (excuse the cheap puns).
As a quick reminder to y'all a couple of months ago I won a trip to India with school as long as while I was out there I did some research for an extended project. The competition was open to the whole of Year 12 and 2 people from Burntwood, Ernest Bevin, Chesnut Grove and Graveney got to go. It was a once in a lifetime trip and now I would like to share it with you (hopefully this is up your street and it won't bore you...I can only dream).
Saturday 2nd July
Me, being me, managed to miss both of the pre trip meetings so the day of travel was the first day that I got to meet all of the other students (apart from Annie from Burntwood obviously). There wasn't much chance to be shy as after 10 minutes of being on the coach...it broke down. Great start. Meaning we all bonded as we clambered onto packed tube after packed tube to get to Heathrow Terminal 5 (not as fancy as it sounds). Once on the plane I was quite antisocial as after watching Gnomeo and Juliet (favourite quote: lets kick some grass), I fell asleep.
Sunday 3rd July
*warning*warning* time zone confusion*warning*
So now it's Sunday (not quite sure how)
Waited quite a long time to get our cases as Mumbai airport has very small conveyor belts that move suprisingly fast. We leave the airport and Michael has already got his case being carried for him by an Indian man (he didn't really have much choice) and then we reach our coach. Hhhm that's quite small we think, where will our cases go? On the roof. Obviously. Straps? No. Don't be silly.
The norm?
After seeing 2 men have a fist fight over our tips we get onto our coach...with blacked out windows.
Casually driving along and see a sign saying "Prevent TB...Don't spit". Encouraging.
Casually driving along and see a sign saying "Prevent TB...Don't spit". Encouraging.
Once we reach our hotel we (get our cases off the roof) take a photo...
(Annie)
....look at our rooms
....then eat (obviously). I wanted to have the full Indian experience but didn't want to give my tummy a shock (if you know what I mean) so I go for a naan (the first of many). Safe bet.
After this some of us go for a walk on the beach, this is when we realised that we are the only tourists around and actually attract quite a lot of attention. One thing that caught my attention (among other things), was the state the beach was in but it was still packed with lots of (standing) people.
The beach floor
Another thing that caught my attention:
Casual monkey
Along the beach many people sold food. There were lots of corn on the cob stands (which reminded me of the places in Tooting where you can buy sweetcorn in a pot)
Perhaps the most original was the stall selling home made slush puppies, unfortunately we wern't allowed to have one as we couldn't drink the tap water.
He was crushing the ice in front of us
Somehow one member of the gang had already managed to get a dodgey tummy that night but recovered quickly!
Monday 4th July
*warning* warning* early start* warning*
I can't quite remember what time we had to get up on Monday but I know it was early (SO early that we didn't get breakfast at the hotel) We got up and jumped straight into a, different, coach (this coach was quite nice and the start of the trip but deteriorated from then) and drove to a Ryan International school in Khargar. You can read all about the Ryan schools here: http://www.ryaninternational.org/index.php. I will just tell you about our experience. From the moment we stepped out of the coach we were treated like royalty. Half of the school was waiting outside for us on either side of entrance, creating a pathway, singing and clapping. The gesture was lovely but we were all very shocked and embarassed and didn't know where to look.
From here we walked into assembley, where everyone was standing waiting for us, where we were escourted to our own special seats at the front and given some beautiful hand made cards. The school then put on amazing show for us, consisting of a very catchy song:
Thaaaaank youuuu Lord, Thaaaank youuuu Lord.
Rebekah giving her speech (behind her is the president of the school council...they get a different school uniform and everything)
To make matters even more exciting (scary) we then got to participate in a debate about waste management and population growth. On stage. In front of the whole school. With a very tempramental microphone. Great. Just great.
We then had a delicious home made breadfast consisting of samosas and other yummy food in an extremely air conditioned room.
We then had a delicious home made breadfast consisting of samosas and other yummy food in an extremely air conditioned room.
Following on from this we got to play football. Woooooooo. In 30 degrees. This is when we discovered that not a single member of our 'team' actually plays football.
Fighting stances: We mean business.
Action shot!
I feel that the time when the ball hit my thigh was a great contribution to the game. We lost 4-0
The school very kindly provided us with lunch as well as some delicious, very small (as demonstrated below), cups of tea.
Junior (looking not quite so junior)
This was also when we decided that Olivia looks like DW and Michael looks like Binky from the TV show Arthur and once again we had the debate about what animal Arthur is supposed to be....apparently he's an aardvark but lets agree to disagree.
We the spent the rest afternoon visiting lessons and takling to pupils. We found out that the younger years were participating in 'Environment week' and it was 'Green day' so they were all dressed in green and made some fab posters.
Is it a girl? Or is it a tree?
From one tree to another.
Before leaving we were honoured to be asked to plant some trees in the school garden as a lasting memory.
Before leaving we were honoured to be asked to plant some trees in the school garden as a lasting memory.
Fun fact! Ryan Students are referred to as Ryanites
I would now just like to thank all the staff and students at Ryan International School in Khagar for all the beautiful cards and gifts as well as the great performances and for the way you looked after us during our visit. Would be lovely to see all you guys again! (Sorry if I forgot anything) xxxx
Ride home anyone?
That night, after a good scrub in the shower, we went out for dinner at a local student theatre. It was here that we had our first experience of the language barrier as it took hours to order our food and even longer for it to arrive. This was also the night that Sylvain realised quite how funny Michael is and when Michael embraced his new status as 'the funny one'. From this night on if we were ever bored someone would always say "Mike, tell us a story" and he would never fail. However, as a warning, if Michael ever tries to tell you the quicksand story-I suggest you run!
Sylvain, Olivia, me and Dwayne at dinner (before Sylvain had to move across to the other side of the table and swap with Michael because having both Michael and Junior on one bench was causing to be a bit of a squash)
Tuesday 5th July
Today was the first day that we had breakfast in the hotel and it was also the last day that Mr Punt had curry for breakfast! I decided to pick up one of every sweet thing and take a bite out of each before deciding I'd rather have cereal.
After breakfast we set off in the coach to see another part of the Ryan International Schools programme-the media centre. Here, we learnt that the schools have their own TV news programme starring a set of students called 'Young Jourknows' (later on in the week I was to find out much more about this), this is also where we met a student called Shamu who came with us on our next trip (after we waited for the coach which had a puncture)...to a Bollywood film set, we were originally told that we might have had the chance to appear in a film but unfortunately because it was monsoon season there was no filming going on (which is a shame as I could really see myself fitting in). However, we were very fortunate to have a look around lots of the sets including the set to a new film shot by some film school students called 'Love Express'. As well as a film set this place was also the home of 'Whistling Woods' which is a film school and after our tour we had a talk with someone who works there about the Indian film industry-I found this very interesting and may use it as the basis of my extended project. I only have one complaint about the Bollywood film set-the sandwiches!
Dwayne with a man who works on the set
The gang having a small rest and getting a bit too comfortable
On set
We had to rush off very quickly after the speeches as we had somewhere else to be so after some quick goodbyes we jumped back in the coach to head for our next destination. Once arriving at our next destination we realised that we now had truly seen the two sides of India. From an exclusive Bollywood film set and a film school to a local womans charity and a free school in a slum next door to a land fill site. We knew how poor and insecure the area was because our coach had a flat tyre (again) so we had to pull over and then take turns (in 4s) to be driven in a car to our destination just 5 minutes away. Being stranded at the back of the coach, me, Olivia and Dwayne were practically dying of heat, gasping for air and very, very bored. Until....Mr Punt stepped up to the plate to provide some entertainment and keep us alive! Marvel at this:
Brilliant or what? (that was a rhetorical question and so does not need to be answered...I know it was brilliant and will refuse to hear anything but)
Salvation! The car (WITH AIR CON) arrives.
We were at the head quarters of a women's liberation organisation called Stree Mukti Sanghatana (http://www.streemuktisanghatana.org/). Here, we had a talk with the head of the chairty who told us all about women who work as waste pickers as well as her free school. She was truly inspirational and we all donated money to her charity at the end. Just as we were about to leave, a lady from the charity gave us all hand made bags (to be used as pencil cases, make up bags etc etc) with beautiful Indian patterns on them (although extremely grateful I felt very bad as this lady would usually sell these but was just giving them to us). Seeing the conditions that these people were working and living in truly shocked all of us and worried some about what was to come the next day on our tour of Dharavi. Most of us found the speech very interesting and inspirational too (including Junior who asked lots of questions to be used as a basis for his extended project) (excluding Michael who kept falling asleep). I will now list some of Michael's techniques of how to try and keep yourself awake: 1) pinch yourself 2) bite the side of your mouth, and if all else fails 3) burn your tongue with hot tea! From here we went on to see a biofuel machine that turns waste into gas at a local university (this was also a good time for the driver to fix the car tyre...again-we clearly don't have much luck with coaches). Ms Clare was in her element here and even asked to go and see the compost heap where they use worms to help decompose and stuff.
The biofuel plant
We were in a bit of a rush after this so we had to go straight out to dinner without a shower (not ideal). In the spirit of being cultural we have dinner at a Chinese/Thai restaurant (haha no joke). I try and be as Indian as possible and have a Thai red CURRY (I opt for vegetable as I still haven't been adventurous enough yet to have meat).
This blog is so long I feel like I should give you guys an interval...and an applaud and a thank you for sticking with it and getting this far! Take this opportunity to make yourself a cup of tea.
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aaaaaaaand you're back in the room
Wednesday 6th July
Once again we had breakfast in the hotel (not so exciting second time round) before stepping outside the hotel and seeing heaven. Yes, heaven in the form of a new coach (little were we to know that it was only for one day). It was a proper coach (as opposed to the fake one we'd been in all week), not a mini bus. It had reclining chairs, working air conditioning.....and SEATBELTS (finally, civilisation). We all clambered onto the back of the coach (eventhough it was clearly large enough for us to seat wherever we liked on our own we still felt the need to all sit next to each other as close to the back as possible) and slept! An hour later we were awoken to be told we were near our destination. Today we were going on a local tour in the city of Mumbai (later we would find out why it was called the 'local' tour). Now, while in Mumbai we had seen and heard a lot of monsoons but never had we actually had to be in it. Well, there is always a first time for everything. I like to think walking round in pouring rain helped to provide us with the proper 'Mumbai experience'. Once off the bus we meet our tour guides (and 18 year old girl and 3 little helpers)(http://www.mumbaimagic.com/) and they take us to the first stop on the tour....
The art de triumph (I joke). The Gateway to India!
From here we see many other sites including the Regal Circle, the Prince of Wales Museum, Kala Ghoda, Bombay University, the High Court, Oval Maidan and Churchgate. Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable as well as friendly. Next stop, the bus stop! (Yes, this is what makes the tour 'local'-local transport). We quickly hop on the bus and I make my first mistake-sitting in the wrong seat. Buses in Mumbai have designated seats for women and I sat in the wrong one-oopsie.
The gang on the bus (apart from the fact that we stick out like sore thumbs you can also tell that we are tourists by the way we start taking pictures on the bus)!
When it is our turn to get off the bus we soon learn that Mumbai bus drivers have very little patience as the bus starts moving again while 2 of us are still trying to dismount! He didn't stop even when he noticed! Awkward.
(I forgot to mention that at some point between the start of the tour and getting on the bus one of our gang was casually sick against a tree in the middle of the street! I shall name no names but thought you guys shouls be kept up to date with how our bodies coped during Mumbai).
Once off the bus we visit a Ghandi museum (this is where me, Annie and Dwayne had a debate about whether Qatar is a country or just a city....I won't shame who was wrong) before a quick stop for lunch. Lunch is at an (award winning) restaurant called Swati Snacks (which is all vegetarian-this did not go down well with some members of the group-including Junior and Annie)! (I was ok as I have yet to embrace Mumbai meat). Here, we experienced many Indian cuisines including pani puri and dosa (I think that's right).http://www.sailusfood.com/2010/03/01/indian-street-food-pani-puri-gol-gappa/ -we filled the puris ourselves. Such fun! I even did as I was told and shoved it in my mouth in one!
After lunch we went for a walk through a market called Bhaji Gully before heading to the train station. This is where it gets exciting (scary)! Once on the station our tour guide splits us up into small groups (thankfully she stays with me) and tells us we have 15 seconds to get on the train (yes, you read correctly-15 seconds. If you hang around too long or if you are hanging on, the train will go either way)! Transport is ruthless. Once I jump onto the train (while it is still moving) I hang on to the nearest pole for dear life waiting for the doors to close (oh yeah...they don't)! We stay on for 2 stops and then the same rules apply (15 seconds). I am then told I have to get off people people start getting on because other wise I have no hope so I get my elbows out and push my way to the front and jump off (while the train is still moving a bit-I'm getting the hang of it by now)!
Once we are all together again (and shared our, very similar, train ride experiences with each other) we walk to Dhobi Ghat which is Mumbai's version of a laundrette.
That little girl is Mumbai's Dot Branning (hehe no she just got into Rebekah's photo-cute though)
From here we depart into our last form of public transport-a cab. Pretty standard really. The only strange thing about being in the cab was that usually in our coach we are high and above the traffic so it is fun looking down onto it whereas in the cab I actually felt like part of the traffic-very scary!
Our final part of the main tour was to see the train station where the final scene of Slumdog Millionnaire is shot (Victoria terminus). Unfortunately there is a lot of security here and you are not allowed to take photographs so I have got you some off of the internet instead just to refresh your memory!
Jaiii hooooo
Awww
And that was that really! (for the tour-not the whole week)! Just another massive thank you now to everyone at Mumbai Magic (at the very rare chance that anyone who works there is reading this)! We all had an amazing time and it really was great to experience Mumbai from an insider's perspective. xxxx
Back on the good old (well quite new actually) coach! Next stop Dharavi. On our drive to Dharavi we drove through middle class and textile mill areas of the city (thankfully we were all actually awake because we had a tour guide on the coach at this point)!
*warning*warning*Michael tells me and Dwayne the quick sand story*warning*
As a keen geographer I was extremely interested in seeing Dharavi and was shocked at what I saw (shocked in a way that I did not expect to be shocked-is that contridicting?) I had done a lot of reseach about Dharavi at school and seemed like an utter fool when I leant over to the person next to me and asked "So are we IN Dharavi now?", he looked at me and said "Yes, you're quick" (sense his sarcasm). I was overwhelmed by how developed this slum was. For a first our massive coach was easily driving along one, of it's many, roads and secondly there was a school (which I knew about) that had uniforms and everything. This is when I noticed how different it was from the conditions we witnessed in the small slum the day before. I was quick however to notice the outcome of the 'Dharavi Solution' with lots of high rise buildings and apartment blocks to accomodate more people but take up less space. We wern't suppposed to take photos in Dharavi so I don't actually have any. There was however a casual Vodafone shop perched in the slum. Once out of the coach we were allowed to walk around and see some of the ways that people make money, including making pots and fine fabrics. (Here we witnessed one of our teacher's useless haggling skills)! I must stress however that we didn't travel into the centre of the slum so I did not get to witness all the conditions. It had been a very tiring day and it wasn't long before we were back in the coach on our way home.
Why the italics? I hear you ask. We were going to a home but not our home. Nope. Next stop on this very long day of stops was dinner (as a group) with a host family. This is where we met our good frinds Shivvy and Kriti (Hi guys! If you're reading). This night was quite a milestone for me as it was the first night I ate meat! (the funny thing is that I thought I was eating a sausage when in fact it was chicken)! Yummy though.
Rebekah, Annie, Kriti, Shivvy, Olivia and me in Kriti's room (from Shivvy's album called -'Keep Calm and Carry On Londonites'-aww)
At dinner
Karen (an English lady who moved to India who helped us out a lot on our trip), the hosts, the teachers (Ms Clare, Mr Punt and Ms Gerrard) and Anoushka (a very nice Indian lady who also stuck by us during our trip) (all envious because we are currently eating before them in the room next door)!
After making friends, eating a lovely meal and a quick check up on Facebook it was time to go home.
Thursday 7th July
So most of us are awake when the teachers come and tell us that today we can have the morning off and have a lie in. For Annie whom actually hadn't got out of bed yet-this is easy. However, I am awake and fully dressed and don't really want to waste a whole morning (in India) in bed. So I decide that I will stick with the teachers (mainly because I hear they are getting in a rickshaw and I haven't been in one yet) (excuse me if this makes me a geek)!!!
My view from the back of the rickshaw (even scarier than a taxi)
Rickshaws casually have no seatbelts or doors and weave in between all the other traffic. Now may be a good time to tell you about the traffic. Traffic lights are more of a suggestion that a law. The way to get noticed: beep your horn! You think London is noisy? You think the traffic is bad in New York City? Think again. You have not seen or heard traffic till you have been to Mumbai. At one point we were in 6 lane traffic (all in one direction) and there was not a single painted line on the floor!
A couple more 'laws' (suggestions)
When we got out of our rickshaw Mr Punt and I paid 10 rupees whereas Ms Clare and Ms Gerrard somehow managed to pay 200 for theirs. From here we booked our cinema tickets (tell you all about that later) and had a quick look round a shopping mall. Ms Gerrard bought a skirt and Mr Punt bought some Indian wine and said to me "It wasn't that nice and wasn't really that cheap....". Hmmm...good overall purchase then sir! Again here we witnessed an apparent devleopment gap within a country as on one side of the road was a massive multi story shopping mall selling Ray Ban, Mac and Clinique and across the road is a man living in a shack. After this we popped in a rickshaw (the thrill had worn off by now and I was more just scared) and went back to the hotel.
We all (everyone now, not just me and the teachers haha) had a little chat on the rooftoop terrace (fancy) about our extended projects before ordering room service for lunch (we confused the waiter very much by ordering asparagus soup and garlic naan three times but on seperate phone calls because people kept coming in the room and wanting food)!
Seeing as we have a bit of spare time we take a little walk around our area (Juhu). It feels nice to actually walk around as we are usualy cooped up in the coach with the blacked out windows. On our walk we come across 2 temples and we go inside, take our shoes off, and have a look around. In one we all get blessed (which seemed quite rare as everyone gathered round) and I was given a flower necklace. It was a lovely experience!
Bit of de ja vu now as we went back to the mall. The boys (well, mainly Sylvain) were in their element! Us girls wanted to go market shopping instead (that was to come another day) so we had a little look round before having a little sit down in a cafe where Rebekah bought some chewing gum for less than a penny!. Later, Sylvain came strolling in, in his new Ray Bans! Mr Punt wasn't very happy because he couldn't find any to suit (fit) him!
After dinner (in the cafe) we went upstairs to the movie theatre. We had tickets to see Delhi Belly. This Bollywood film is very different to all previous as it breaks the conventions of a normal Bollywood film as it is not about love and romance and it only has 2 musical scenes! Never the less the film has been declared a hit!
The film is in 'Hinglish' (Hindi and English), it was mostly in English but parts in the second half were in Hindi (with no subtitles) which proved to be quite a challenge! Shivvy came along to the film with us and was translating the Hindi and passing it down the line like Chinese whispers but it didn't ever reach me! I experienced 3 weird things that evening. 1. Having to stand in the cinema while the Indian national anthem played. 2. Watching a film and not understanding parts (and not just because I am slow and confused) and 3. Cheese popcorn (courtesy of Shivvy).
After that-straight to bed.
Friday 8th July
Breakfast in the hotel is getting quite repetitve now. (1. because we have had it 4 times and 2. because it is taking me soooo long to write this blog) (I could write a blog about writing this blog. Don't worry-I won't)!
Today we are visting 2 schools, going shopping and going out for dinner. That's a lot to do in one day and a lot to write about too!
First things first a visit to another Ryan International School, this time in Malad. We get out of the coach all in macs looking very silly and we are greeted again by the whole school clapping and singing for us. (I feel like we didn't look like great representatives for England). Once again, we sat down and enjoyed another talent filled assembly. Including a beautiful rendition of My Heart Will Go On. We were also given some more lovely gifts, cards and flowers. After assembly we went upstairs to have a chat with some students. But before that most of our group joined some of the younger students in a rain dance (dancing outside in the rain), unfortnately I missed out on this but it looked like great fun.
There was one thing that made our visit to the Ryan International in Malad very different to all of our other school visits and that was that we all became Young Jourknows for a day. Young Jourknows is a scheme set up by Iceplex media to get Ryanites to become journalists. They present news on their own slot on TV. And look!!!....they have their own blog just like me http://youngjourknows.blogspot.com/2011/02/yjs-on-on-sahara-one-network-from-13th.html. And basically we all had a topic to talk about (mine was 'Coming to India' so I spoke all about my expectations of India) and thankfully we all had a YJ (young jourknow) assigned to help us! The Young Jourknows have their own Facebook page which I suggest everyone should 'like' and here you can see what we got up to! It was one of the most nerve racking things I've ever done and I hiccuped in the middle if mine which was really embarassing! Furthermore, apparently I am too pale for TV so I had to wear my blue scarf round my round my shoulders because otherwise my pale skin was blending in with my white T shirt and it didn't look right on the camera! Hahaha.
Before we left we got one final gift. RYAN SCHOOL TIES.
Now I feel like a proper Ryanite!
(Dwayne, Sylvain, Rebekah, Junior, Olivia, Michael, me and Annie)
Quite embarrassing when someone had to tie my tie for me
Before we parted we planted a few more trees (as you do) and the school gave us each a box full of Indian edible goodies.
Now it is time to say thank you to everyone at Ryan International School in Malad! You treated us amazingly, one student said to me "We treat guests like Gods", that amazed me. Thanks again guys, sorry if I forgot anything. Would love to visit again soon. xxxx
Never fear we still have one more school to visit! Don't worry this one is different. Ryan GLOBAL School (wern't expecting that were you)? By the time we got here school was over for the day but there were still some lovely students waiting to show us around including our friends Kriti, Shivvy and Shamu! The Ryan Global School looked a lot more modern and more like an English school would look like. Karen was here to show us round and even though we were only there for a short space of time we were given more gifts! (It will be strange going home and not getting gifts from everyone, hehehe). It was lovely walking round the school and seeing lots of art work on the wall and a very impressive library and science lab. It would have been even better to have been there during school hours and seeing the kids using all the wonderful facilities. Time for another thank you. Thank you to all the staff and students for letting us look around your amazing Global school even though it had only just opened. It was an honour. xxxxx
Even though we were all very tired we somehow managed to perk up for market shopping! And to make things even better Shamu came with us too. On the bus I ate Jalebi from our food pack from Ryan International in Malad and Anoushka was very impressed with the variety of Indian food I had been eating while on the trip. Woop woop. Even though it was pouring down with rain we all still enjoyed the market shopping (well, mainly the girls. The guys said there wasn't much for them to buy. I didn't notice). Me and Rebekah bought lots of jewellery and Anoushka helped us to haggle! Thanks!
Well, that time finally came. The last supper. Our last meal took place in a very posh fish restaurant in Juhu (it may have seemed unfortunate at the time but it later came in very handy that neither me or Annie like fish...cliffhanger).
Olivia and her bitches
I patiently waited while the fish passed me for 3 courses until the chicken curry and vegetable stew came out!
That night back at the hotel we all finished packing then were graced with the company of Kriti and Shivvy, who bought us dohnuts. It was a lovely was to spend our final evening. However, the next day wasn't quite so great....
Saturday 9th July
The dreaded day of the 9 hour flight. Wanna know what made it worse? 9 out of 11 of us were will. Yes thats 82% of the whole crew! I'm not going to go into details but when I say 'ill' I think you guys all know what I mean (some would call it Delhi Belly)! At first it was just one person but gradually as the morning went on everyone I spoke to was ill. The 3 remaining survivors were me, Annie and Mr Punt so I (being the Sherlock Holmes that I am) concluded that the problem must have been the fish from the night before as neither me or Annie touched it and Mr Punt must have a stomache of steel (must be all that curry he had for breakfast). So I did the best that I could to help everybody including making sure they got out of bed and even carrying their suitcases down stairs. To be honest with you the coach and the flight wern't great and I felt really bad for everyone but the thing that annoyed me most was that the air steward didn't wake me up so I missed food on the flight!
All in all I had a pretty amazing trip to India and most of that is down to all the amazing people we met out there and everyone who helped to organise. Thank you!!! (yes, even the teachers-thanks).
Eventhough it was a trip of a life time, highlights including the reverse music when our minibus reversed and the countless times I called Junior, Michael, there was an awful lot of sleeping going on....
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I'm going to stop talking (typing) for a while now (you're welcome) and show you some of the more light hearted photos from the trip including some iphone fun (that don't really have anything to do with India itself):
The famous Flopsy
Sylvain as 'Paul' the alien
Michael
Rebekah as 'Paul' the alien
Ginger, fat Olivia (before the fish had set in)
Fat, Father Christmas, Annie
Giner Dwayne
PHOTO OF THE HOLIDAY?:
SYLVAIN SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well guys I think I have told you all that I possibly can about my trip to India. Thanks for getting this far! Missing Mumbai and all the people already!!
On a serious note since we have all returned to London, Mumbai has been in the news a lot regarding the terrorist attack and we would all like to say that our hearts are with everyone out there and hope that everyone is safe and can get back to normal life as quick as possible. xxxxx
Ok so you've had your starter (Take That-feels like ages ago now doesn't it?), you've just finished your Indian main course, got time for a quick dessert? I'm gonna tell you anyway.
Just want to quickly advertise the fact, and congratulate that my sister graduated from the London School of Economics on Thursday the 14th of July. Well done sis! Now, I'll show you some pics (everyone prefers pictures):
She's actually more happy that she's got her own section in my blog than the fact that she graduated!
I literally have one more thing to say then I'm definately going. (its like when you're at the panto and the actors say goodbye and the curtain goes down but it keeps popping up and you have to keep clapping).
I just want to say CONGRATULATIONS to Dwanye and his friends who on Friday the 15th July broke the world record for the world's longest rap, they lasted over 8 hours. Well done guys! (pretty awkward if he doesn't get this far along the blog, or even worse doesn't start at all) ahahaha
Well I am going now, mainly because I'm tired. I'm not sure when I'll next blog because this one took me like 4 days to write so I'm going to need some serious rest. Have a good Summer y'all.
Bon voyage peeps
Lucy
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