Thursday August 13

Today work was slow again. I was given a story to do on a new book on short stories by M Koshy which didn’t take long.
I also attempted to buy an Indian sim card. A process which I found to be impossible and the sales guide was not in the slightest bit helpful.

That night we went to cooking class where we learnt how to make.            

Lemon Rice

1. Put pan on gas with sunflower oil. Add mustard seeds.
2. Add ½ teaspoon of black gram dal and same of Bengal gram dal.
3. Add 1 tsp of ground nuts.
4. Add one hand of cashew nuts.
5. Mix with spoon
6. Add curry leaves
7. Add green chillies
8. Add ½ tsp of tumanic powder
9. Add cold rice.
10. Add 1 tsp of lemon juice

Channa masala

1. Fry ½ cup of desiccated coconut in oil.
2. Mince 1 onion
3. Crush garlic and ginger in blender
4. Add garlic and ginger paste.
5. Cut up 2 tomatoes
6. Let the coconut go golden borwn.
7. Add the tomatoes to the onion mix.
8. Boil potatoes
9. Add ½ tsp paprika and some coriander to the mix.
10. Add chickpeas
11. Add salt according to taste.
12. Bring to poil then add coconut paste.
13. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
14. Add ½ tsp of green masala powder and pepper powder.

North Indian dosa.

1. ¼ kg of wheat powder.
2. Add a little salt.
3. Add 3-4 tsp of oil.
4. Add a pinch of sugar.
5. Mix it all up
6. Add water and make a dough.
7. Add onions
8. Add tsp of chopped coriander leaves.
9. Add 1 inch of grated ginger.
10. Add above to potatoes.
11. Add salt to taste
12. Add a pinch of green masala powder.
13. Add ½ tsp of chilli powder
14. Add 1 tsp lemon juice.
15. Mix together with fingers
16. Roll out dough
17. Put oil and flour on the dough.
18. Add the filling
19. Wrap the dough around the filling and roll again.
20. Fry in pan.

Wednesday August 12^th

This morning we woke up to burnt toast after Mrs Katary described the toaster as “a moody teenager”,

Today was a long day. Having completed my Josh Kornbluth story I waited for hours for my next story. I got one on the launch of a planetarium which turned out to not be too great a story. Then I left and went home for a much nicer dinner.

After dinner we went for a walk to get saris for Independence day. Then decided on another early night. At about 11.30 we woke up to Mrs Katary screaming at the top of her voice. Apparently the people who went out to the beach brought strangers back and she was not to happy. Phrases such as “you hooligans”, “Shirleys people are not welcome” and “get out of my house” were screamed and those of us who were ignorant to the goings on were convinced there were robbers. The next morning we learnt the story and while Asha and Neena and Shirley and Mrs Katary lay into the others we were lucky to be on the good side of Mrs Katary who apologized for waking us up.

It will be some time before she forgets about it and for now we aren’t allowed have volunteers from Shirley’s house over so no more games nights.

Tuesday August 11^th

Waking up tired from the weekend I dragged myself to work where I waited and waited for a story to do. Eventually I was given a preview to do on Josh Kornbluth’s play Citizen Josh which will premiere in Bangalore next week. Attempts to contact Josh failed miserably so I did my research and headed back to Thippasandra to type it up. It was good to have time to myself to work without being sat at a desk.

I ate my toasted cabbage sandwiches and also some mango juice and Cadbury chocolate. Both of which I soon realized were months out of date. A later inspection of Bangalore shops proved that it is not possible to get anything in date. Everything from a bottle of coke to a packet of biscuits are all out of date.

Before I knew it it was time for dinner and today was the most surprising dinner. Mac and cheese with some weird curry sauce. Not the most pleasant to be honest.

 After that we went to the internet café before having a quite night in with top trumps and guess who.

Monday August 10th.
Today was the same as any other apart from the fact that I hadn’t slept since Thursday night. Arriving home at 8am I didn’t have long to get ready for work.

Work was at first slow while we waited and waited for the editor. After a while we realized that the editor was not coming in and that we had a new temp for a couple of weeks. The new editor quickly gave me a chance to prove myself and sent me off on yet another swine flu story.

The first case of the virus was confirmed in Bangalore so I was challenged to find 3 pharmacies and see if they stocked the drug. I was also to ask parents of school kids what they felt and also ask doctors if they were prepared.

I took an auto back to Thippasandra where I quizzed the pharmacists all of whom had zero interest in swine flu and none of them carried the medication. None of the parents would comment and none of the doctors were open so it was time to move on.

I decided to head to Commercial St to find a third. On my way I passed Frank Anthony school where the case was confirmed I decided to abandon Commercial street and instead got my answers from outside of the school.After that I headed back to the office to complete my story.

That night we went to a temple. This really angered me. The temple cost 3rupees to get in. Then 25 rupees for a pass to take photos then after that it cost more and more every second. They promised if you paid you would be cured. I for one was not parting with my money. I don’t believe in giving money to any religion and they were just playing on peoples weaknesses.

After that it was time for some juice before turning in for the night.

Sunday August 9

Today we got up early and made the most of having a hot shower. Then we went to Café Day for some breakfast. After this it was time to head to Fort Kochi to see the market and then we went to Mattancherry to see the old Dutch architecture.

It was really hot here so we soon decided on lunch. Stopping at a nice busy family restaurant we gave our orders to the waiter (who was aged about 8 at most) enjoying the freshest food since arriving in Kerala we rested for a while before deciding to go to do a backwater tour.

Costing about 450rupees each for the door we really had a bargain. The 5 of us had our own private little boat and tour guide.

The first stop was to a little house where two old Indian women were weaving coconut strings to make rope. The process was really outdated but very cool to watch none the less.

The next stop along the way was to a spice plantation where we were shown nutmeg, pepper, cinnamon and more. We got the chance here to purchase some freshly picked spices.

The final stop on the trip was to a coconut plant where we were given fresh coconuts from the trees. After drinking from them with a straw we then were able to eat the insides. The drink tasted pretty horrible but eating them was pleasant enough.

Because our bus was leaving we had to end the tour there but it would have otherwise lasted another 90 minutes.

The driver kindly dropped us at our hotel where we picked up our bags and headed to the bus station. Before leaving we feasted on some masala dosa and then boarded the bus back to Bangalore. Thankfully no music or movies this time and we all fell asleep for the night. The next morning we arrived back in Bangalore just after 7am.

Quote of the day.

Calum – “its amazing how all these things grow in a jungle”

Tour guide- “its private property”

————————————————————————————

Differences between Bangalore and Kerala

The streets in Kerala are a lot cleaner and the footpaths a lot better. The weather is a lot warmer also. Auto drivers take pride in their vehicles and decorate them with stickers and signs. The clothing is a lot different also men wear wrap around skirts over trousers in Kerala.

8th August 2009

Arriving in Kerala we separated into two autos and made our way to the port. Unfortunately the autos got us lost. We were split in two groups.

Our group hopped on a boat to fort cochi (costing 600rps) and then too an auto around the island only to be told that our hotel was on the main land. Still having no contact with the others we had no idea what to do. We got a boat back to the mainland (this time only costing 7.5rps) and finally found our hotel. Thankfully the others turned up minutes later.

The first step was a nice hot shower. A first for all over us since arriving in Banglore. Then whilst Nadia and Calum slept me, Lydia and Ann went to Coffee Day to get some brunch. After this we wandered around before returning. Later that day me and Ann went to the Kerala museum of history. The first room consisted of copies of famous works such as the Mona Lisa. Not very impressive. The second room was pretty cool though and featured some Indian dolls in dressed in traditional state outfits. The final room consisted of original works by Kerala artists.

That night we went for dinner at the first decent place we could find. Ordering for five was a challenge but our demand of 12 drinks 7 starters and 6 mains only came to 12euro which was an excellent bargain and tasty too.

After that we returned to the hotel to play top trumps and guess who before turning in for the night.

August 7th 2009

Today I was lucky enough to have the day off. In the morning I headed off early to explore the city by myself. First stop was Commercial Street which I heard was pretty good. It may have been good but other than finding some overly priced t-shirts I didn’t have much interest in the place.

After that I decided MG road was the place to be. Along the way the auto convinced me that shops there didn’t open till 11.30am and insisted on bringing me to ‘his friends shop’ this is a process whereby the auto drops you at a shop and even if you do not buy he gets a free tank of petrol and you get the auto for free/at a reduced price.

So I visited the shop and looked at horribly expensive and ugly pashminas. Then I saw a bag for 850rps but refused to pay that much. In the end I left with the bag, 2 x packets of incense and 3 little boxes for 300rps.

Of course just my luck the auto was gone when I got out and I had to get another who wanted me to bring him to ‘his friends place” here I was shown the same stuff and told my friends were there the day before. Yes they were but how he knew they were my friends is still a mystery.

Next stop MG road which was not very successful either. Then finally I wanted to go to Garuda mall. The auto insisted on dropping me to “his friends place” where I bought nothing. He then insisted on dropping me to his other friend’s place which was the same place I visited first.  When he dropped me to a third friends place I just got out of the auto and got a different one home to tippasandra.

Back there I walked the streets before showering and packing for Kerala. We all left for the bus at 4pm. The bus left at 630pm.

Boarding the bus was a pleasant surprise with warm fleece blankets and complimentary water. Unfortunately though our seats were in the back so our chairs could not recline and the movie of  the night – Jurassic park 3 in Indian was blasted in our ears followed by some Bollywood music which made sleeping next to impossible.

We finally arrived in Kerala just after 730am

August 5th

Day 3 in the paper and was not very exciting. I asked for an article but was given the “but you don’t know the city response” so I just had to work on what I did know which was swine flu. Obviously this was relevant given the first death in the country.

After that was done there was no much to do but later on there were celebrations for International beer day and also a going away party.

Before I knew it it was time to leave and more confident of where I was going I made my way home. Yes this was indeed a challenge. There are in fact two forth crosses in the street and I went down the wrong one. What’s worse is that no one knew where I was meant to be. Asking for directions after directions I made my way there and was overjoyed to see the Cadbury sign but there was a guy on a bike following me that didn’t know the meaning of leave me alone. He followed me all the way down the road and almost to the villa. I walked faster and faster and eventually I think he got the message that I did actually know where i was going and left me alone.

Dinner was again really great lots and lots of food and then another early night. Because of it being a national holiday the other volunteers had the day off from school so were gone to Mysore for the day.