Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Didn't think I'd have anything to write this week as thought it'd just be routine few days with a bit of sightseeing, but once again I've underestimated how much I've left to see! Temperatures are now beginning to push 50C, but it's amazing how everyone just gets on with it here in conditions that would have most of Britain completely incapacitated if we had to put up with it! However, it does mean that, come the middle of the day, I try and establish myself under a tree or in a restruant until the worst of it is passed. Despite this, however, and despite drinking what feels like most of Dehli's water and diet coke supplies, I tend to exist in a general state of dehydration, which isn't so bad once you get adjusted, but makes me increasingly grateful we're going to Australia in the middle of winter!
Otherwise, had a lovely, but slightly surreal, day meeting up with Kerry, Sian and Harry (from St Cats) and have also managed to meet a vast number of lovely people on my various sightseeing excursions. This included two very nice Indian guys, one of which, it turned out, was a Muslim and the other a Hindu, so I don't remember a huge amount of what we were seeing but it was a very interesting conversation! Also, headed down to hear the Muslim sufis singing on Thursday evening in this crazy little mosque/temple place, which took about 10 minutes walking down this completely mad bizaar absolutely packed with people and where I don't think I could have stood out more if I tried. As foreigners in general attract beggars, salesmen, and anyone else, it's quite hard to walk purposefully past all the people trying to get your attention when you have absolutely no idea where you're going and have to walk equally purposefully back past them in the opposite direction a few minutes later!
I also went up to see the center of Delhi where all the Parliment buildings, and the president's palace are located. Is much grander and imperial than anything in London and in complete contrast to everywhere else I've seen so far.
Finally, the hospital and school are still going well, except my plan of trying to make everything interesting and fun through more hands on activites, has backfired spectacularly in that they now want to spend the entire time doing wordsearches and not learning anything. If anyone can think of any games that can be played using no more than paper, pens and blue tack then any ideas would be more than welcome! Still, it's amazing to see how appallingly they are taught at their regular school in the mornings. In the English Comprehension exercise, the teacher just gives them the answers which they then copy down, and the quality of English is very suspect. Had a big discussion with the children as to whether "toop" is a word or not.....
x
- comments