hii :] so saturday night we got the night train to goa... that was an experience. we were in 2nd class so it wasnt tooo bad but it did feel more like a refugee camp as there were bodies sleeping everywhere, even in the doorways & by the toilet so you an imagine us all trying to climb through with our big rucksacks. there were bunk bends that pulled out of the wall to sleep on but there were 3 beds to a wall so you couldnt even sit up on the bed let alone have your bag on the bed with you, i did manage to padlock my bag to the railing though so felt a little safer. the 3rd class carriage was even worse with 6 beds to one wall so the people just had room to slide in and the next carriage along was like the tubes in rush hour except it had people hanging out of the doors so i can imagine that would be a fun journey for 11 hours !

finally arrived in goa, there is less poverty here compared to mumbai but a lot more begging. we got settled into our house which is really nice, there are 3 rooms and 4 girls in each and we have a living area and balconies ! had a look around the different work placements, the areas where we would be teaching are in really bad condition, in small dark rooms & they smell quite bad, but the children are so cute it breaks your heart. we went to a school in the slum area and as soon as we got off the bus the kids were shouting 'teacher teacher !' and some even ran over and hugged us, they were all so friendly and have taught us a lot of new songs !

i started off today working in the school for handicapped children, but it was a bit of a disaster, when i asked the teacher what kind of things to do for a lesson plan she said 'oh you dont need lesson plan' and when i asked for a list of the childrens names she said 'oh you will learn you dont need list' she even walked out of the room and left me with the class of kids for about 2 hours, and you can imagine they went a bit wild ! after about an hour of trying to keep them occupied i went out to try and find someone to help but the other teacher just told me to hit them with the stick (a piece of bamboo cane) if they were too naughty. i wasnt prepared to do this so i spoke to the idex staff and they have let me move to the construction school instead, this is a school for children of migrants that have travelled to goa and the majority of the children are between 3 and 5, ill be working with 2 other girls so hopefully it wont be as stressfull ! we also have lots of fun games and activities planned with them ! (we are making easter baskets & painting hard boiled eggs tomorow !) so it sounds like a much more ideal situation.

we have the afternoons off so have been going to the beach & swimming in the sea lots asit is only about 20 minutes away ! monday there was a night market which was amazing and i have been bartering lots as they love it out here ! anyway better go as have to head back for dinner !

byeeeee