Sari Time

Joyce and I were down at Freddie's again over the weekend and we are gradually getting things organised there. No small thanks to Freddie's wonderful friends. One thing though which has caused me some concern is her pond. There have been problems with the pump valve blocking and pumping the water out onto the grass rather than back into the pond resulting... obviously in a drained pond and some very unhappy fish.... fortunately someone has spotted the problem in time and mass fishicide has been avoided.
Well, on Saturday Jim and I drained the pond and checked out the pump and filter again. Thanks Jim, it was not a fun job - the water was freezing and the mud stank and the frogs - who had begun to hibernate at the bottom of the pond - were VERY unimpressed at being netted in error and showed just how well they could jump out of the net and back into the mud.
I've worked out what was wrong with the pump but have decided to leave it switched off for the winter period anyway. I did however decide I would not be able to live with myself if I was the cause of Freddie's fish all dying... so yesterday I rescued four.
I had a crate in the boot of my car, containing a bucket 1/3rd full of water containing the fish and covered with a poly bag tied with an elastic and a ribbon.... couldn't find string so a ribbon it had to be! Most fetching! Joyce gave me an old camping water bottle full of water just in case of further leaks and I set off up the A68. I don't know how well you know the A68 between Durham and Edinburgh, but a combination of the Cheviots, the mining country and everything else means that it has more ups and downs than any other road I know, and not just wee gentle ups and downs but amazing crowns and crests and blind summits where you can fly the car rather than drive it... crests they call them on the road signs and crest we did. After the joys of Carter Bar, I stopped for some refreshment at the Jedburgh Woollen Mill and to my surprise bumped into D&V there on their way back from a wedding. Nice to have some company! I shot away from them though and got back on the road and up and over Soutra, the views over the Forth were fabulous, clear cold evening skies a beautiful sunset and winter colours.
Somehow, eventually, I managed to get to Edinburgh with fish intact and very little water in the boot! I've now moved them into my pond with the 6 fish that are already there. I'm sure that being hardy northerners they'll be able to hold their own against my wee Scottish beasts! Hopefully the cold will make them so drowsy that they'll all just go into winter shutdown and by the time they all wake up in the spring they'll be so used to each otehr that they won't even notice that there are more than there were before. It was certainly cold last night -3 on my window thermometer when I checked it this morning before going to work. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. It is a nice wee pond though I'm quite chuffed with it.

We're all trying very hard to move on from our sadness of the past year, it's been quite a roller-coaster beginning with the death of our aunt in February, Stepmother in March, Dad in May and now of course Freddie. I've told my remaining wee sister Joyce quite sternly that she had better look after herself or I shall have to have severe words with her!
We've been up and down to Durham over the past few weeks trying to do some sorting and sifting and doing a lot of reminiscing. Freddie had a great bunch of friends and their support has been just fantastic. Come to that our own friends have been really supportive and helped us incredibly to get through things. There were only 9 weeks between Freddie's diagnosis and death, so we really have been, and remain, in shock.
To try to get a rest from things here, Colin and I had a trip to Marrakesh in the October holiday sadly the weather was not brilliant so we had to do a lot of drinking coffee and shopping! Tough but someone has to do it. If you want a nice place to stay have a look at the Riad Linda's website. Very comfy and owned by Edinburgh friends of ours.
Had a couple of visits to a Hamman... a Morroccan version of a Turkish bath, starts with a thorough steaming then a wash down by the attendant followed by a thorough ex-foliation all over, next is a warm shower and finally a full body massage, takes about an hour and you feel great after. The building itself is worth a visit. Men and women are kept very separate and the clouds of steam are so thick that the odd roll of flesh goes un-noticed.

We were amazed when we came across lots of men taking part in what amounts to a fairground fishing game, except they were fishing for Coca Cola, Spright and Fanta with wooden fishing rods with loops of wire on the ends. Alcohol was available, but not within sight of mosques and it was nice to be in a sober environment!

It was wonderful to walk around the main square of the Medina - La Place El Fna by night, there were orange juice sellers, snake charmers, restaurants which set up each evening and were gone by morning, monkey handlers, fortune tellers and medicine men as well as musicians and thousands of people local and tourists.

It's a very clean town and we had no concerns about food etc which was nice. My school girl french had a good testing and it was quite reasssuring just how much of higher french 1971 I have retained. Archie Gilogley would be proud of me!

My lovely sister Freddie 12th June 1957 - 25th September 2009

Well it is hard to believe, but the summer is over and I am about to go home. It has been different this year, but very enjoyable. It made me realise how very lucky I was last year with my house in Perumalpuram, which was comparatively cool, this house was newer and although the fans were very good, I simply baked especially over night.
I had two new pupils into school as well as some of my existing ones. Anbu, who is 2 and a half, was absolutely delightful. Not yet walking and very reluctant to explore objects, still very much at the mouthing stage which was of concern to his mum until we had a chat about why he was mouthing objects. For the first few days he screamed when he was in school with us, but by the end of the time, he was happily playing in class with us and having his physio, (with Shanthi, the new physio) for almost an hour and a half without his mum being in the room, she was thrilled.
Banu (note the similarity of names which caused me great confusion!) is 6 and has never allowed her mum to leave her anywhere, but again, by the end of the time was doing so. She had just learned that people got really fed up with her screaming and so if she kept it up for long enough people would give in and get her mum. Once mum was with her, she would then constantly ask to go to the toilet and if not taken at once would pee! The longest we stood the screaming for before it stopped was around 35 minutes. By my last day however, apart from a coffee break when mum swapped in with me, she managed a 2 hour play session which was fab. She was a lot of fun and I think would have been outright winner in a girning (face pulling) competition, it was hard not to laugh at times, she could cross her eyes, and turn them up almost into their sockets while making facial expressions too.

Today is Wednesday, yesterday was a public holiday s no school. Sadly though I spent the morning at the dentist. I don't think I mentioned, but the saga of the teeth continues. The day Colin, Ali and I were due to fly north, the car had come at 10.30 to get us to the airport, when i went to brush my teeth and found I had lost half of a white filling in my front tooth. We had to leave by 11.00 to catch the only flight of the day and then our onward connection. I ran to the dentist next door and within 20 minutes, I had had the filling replaced and was on the road. Can't see that happening in the UK! Which reminds me I really must pay her.
On our return I went to see her about a sensitive tooth which has been getting gradually worse over the last 6 months or so. The upshot was it needed a crown and of course root canal treatment, which as many will testify is no longer economically viable on the NHS. Last Tuesday teh orhodontist came and drilled out the roots and put a temp dressing on them I left with pain killers, not required adn 3 days of antibiotics. I went back yesterday and the root work was completed, the post fitted for the crown and I go back on Friday for the mould to be made and the crown will then be fitted on Tuesday just in time for my leaving on Thursday.
I met Raja's wife yesterday for the first time and watched highlights from their wedding DVD. Their's is an arranged marriage they had only met once or twice before the ceremony, she seems really nice and a good match with him, they did a lot of laughing which was good.
Blessie came into school with her mum and dad today and will be back on Friday, you can see pics of her last year in the archives of the blog, she is still a beautiful child, sadly though not made a lot of progress, but she will be in most days till I leave, She has at least been having physio which is really important for her.

Can't believe it is August already! Saturday today so no school. I went out last night in Raja's auto, he's now back workng after his marriage on 13th July, I was really sorry to miss hs wedding but it was while we were up north so sadly we couldn't make it. I've got an invitation though, in Tamil, and apparently all went well. I'm going to meet his wife Beula on Tuesday and to watch the wedding DVDs!
Back to shopping, nothing much to report, went to Pothy's - see their website you can find it if you look it up on google, it is a glorious shop full of colour and residents out for a shop! Pothy's and RMKV, also available online, are totally different to any other shop in the area and they come with air conditioning!
Went to the Buhari restaurant to pick up some chkcne 65 and a nan for my dinner then backto phone home and have an early night. Today is just a lazy day which is a joy here!
Don't know if I have mentioned but Prem's brother and his wife live next door, she is lecturer in Coimabature, 3 hours bus ride away. She is not allowed to go to college by car apparently, as only the principal should do that! They are both ver nce and friendly asa re most folks here.
As a side line they also breed and sell tropical fish (well this is the tropics after all), and sell fresh chicken. this means that every day a crate of chickens are brought in from the country and sold as required, resulting in a loud clcking as the salesman's hands go in to grab the next unfortunate bird follwed by silence. At least there is no dreadful thud of the executioner's axe, not sure I could bear that all day long. It s al incredibly quick, from cage to plucked and cleaned and on the scales all within 5 minutes! I don't buy raw chicken here though! Only the ready cooked version!

I’ve tried to put up the pics from the other day, I’m working on Prem’s laptop in his eye clinic just along from the house and the connection is much better.
To school today, came not the child Jeya that I was expecting, but two other children, one a boy of two and a half who howled for the first half hour as we tried to talk to his mum, then once he stopped crying and looked at the things I was playing with he calmed down and didn’t want to leave! He has CP and is fairly delayed in all aspects of his development, we’ve arranged for him to come in tomorrow for an hour to see how things go. The other is a young girl of 6 with an unfortunate alopecia condition which has resulted in her hair growing in clumps around her head, so the parents have been keeping her head shaved to try to minimise the strange appearance, she came in wearing the most beautiful sun bonnet. She has CP too and some very strange abnormalities of her feet. I cannot see her weight bearing at all at least for some time until something can be done for her feet. She has a habit of throwing everything within reach and at 6 has some strength behind her throw, I can also testify that she has a strong grip and enjoys pulling hair! She too is coming in tomorrow but at a different time to the little boy, I’m also seeing Sanjay on a daily basis too. Along with his general lower body weakness in his muscles, he has weakness in his bladder muscles too and they don’t wear pads here! I am getting very good at jumping off the mat as another flood happens! The physio is working with us to try to look at his muscle tone in general and develop an appropriate exercise programme!
One plus is that I have managed to get the new physio interested in working with Thilagavadi and I which is great and may help to keep her own professional enthusiasm up as otherwise her job is very routine and I don’t think much of a challenge for her, in fact she has already asked if I am aware of any physio positions in Scotland!
Language, and my Scottish accent can sometimes cause problems and I have realised that it is easier for people to read English than to talk in it with me on a professional level, so I have written two short essays in the last few days in response to requests! I’ll see how they have gone down next week. One is on communication and the other on the multi sensory approach! Though my essay writing days were over now I’m a depute!

I went back into school yesterday, and had a bit of a mixed day. There are currently no pre-schoolers attending although there were up until May when the school broke for the summer. My group of last year remained steady, at 5 attending most days. That core group has now re-joined the class at the speech therapy clinic in the town and one other, Sanjay who had just begun last year when I finished in May, has joined class 1 as he is almost 5. I don’t think developmentally he is at that level, but hopefully some of the stuff we did last year will continue. Jeyakodi has apparently put out feelers for new pupils to come over the next few days, there is a two year old coming on Thursday. Methi has as I feared been moved away from the group, and Thilagavadi, who was keen towards the end of my visit, has taken over. She will be working with me this year while I am here. We spent time with Sanjay this morning, and one of the most difficult things, is responding to the question ‘What sort of training do you recommend for this boy Sally?’ Those of you who are familiar with the ways we work back in the UK will know that there is no standard or magic answer, but it is what is looked for. The answer is really, ‘Well I’ll spend a lot of time playing with him and watching him and at times interacting with him and at other not interacting with him, and we’ll see how he responds and then look at what his development levels are and then try to help him to continue to develop the skills he has and acquire new ones and all of this will be at his own pace.’ Sadly the environment here will not allow that to happen, so the answer is probably, ‘Well we’ll observe him and play with him and try to help his confidence to develop.’ I’m very aware though that when I come back next year I am likely to be told how far he can jump, how many beads he can thread and whether or not he is toilet trained, which he may well be. We sat down together and got out some of my stuff from last year, he huddled in a corner, but when I got out eh bongo drums and started to play with them he came across and started to play with me, he then had fun with the bells and within an hour was digging in my toy boxes seeing what he could find and having lots of fun. During the afternoon, I went to Subbaiah’s class and tried to persuade him to come with me but he was having none of it until I had a brain wave and went and got a couple of tumblers and a spoon and started to tap out some sounds. He was up like a shot, grabbed the spoon and ran across to my classroom. After 10 minutes or so he suddenly jumped up, climbed onto my knee and started to vocalise and rock the way we had done in our movement sessions last year. Great. The most difficult thing was getting him to go back to his class again later in the day. Pictures: Here are some rainbow chicks which we spotted when Ali and Colin were here, looks like Cursillo has taken over the poultry market here. These were on sale outside the cathedral, haven’t a clue why they looked like this. Also, here is the Tirunelvelli Town temple elephant, Ali was offered a ride on it when we were there but declined. She hadn’t realised that when I said we might see the temple elephant that I had meant a living and breathing one, she had been used to me talking about elephants and seeing statues and pictures of them. This one is out for its nightly stroll around the town. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw these emus for sale at the market in Bangalore, specially imported from Australia and apparently not heading for the butcher’s block! For Holy Cross folks here is a picture of Sham and family, Shyama is now into her final year at school so tough exams and decisions are ahead. It was lovely to see them in Bangalore. Oops looks like pics will follow as upload is very slow today.

Well I’m on my own here in Tirunelvelli again, C olin, Ali and I had a great time touring around the north, but they’ve gone home now. We didn’t manage much internet access over that period which is why the blog was abandoned a bit. I thought I might even have found a nearby wi-fi connection which I could have used here but it has disappeared, so I’ll write up sections and post when I get access which may mean a few instalments appear at once.
I’m staying in a very nice flat belonging to Prem’s cousin near to teh bus stand in Palayamkottai so very central. I’ve a bedroom, kitchen and sitting room as well as a shower room. It’s a modern house, next door to Prem’s brother and mother. It’s very up-market, however it is also much hotter then the house last year so I am finding that a bit tough at times.
Prem’s mum who is in her 80’s, has offered me breakfast while I’m here which is very kind, so , so far, I’ve had iddiappam, (she called them string hoppers which is the Sri Lankan name apparently) you have them with coconut milk and sugar, a bit like soft cereal, they are made of steamed rice flour and look a bit like spaghetti. Next day was dosai, with coconut chutney and ‘greens’, today was idli, which are made in the same recipe as dosai but steamed rather than griddled, they are made with a fermented dough and anyone who knows me, knows that I am not fond of either of these two, so eating them is a labour of love.
Today is Saturday, a fairly lazy day so far, not helped by a 3.5 hour power cut, which means no fans and as the temp is a steady 32 degrees, in the shade, it means that I am hot! I’m off to junction shortly to pick up the shirts Ali left to be made, hope they look good. Later this evening I’m off to Carrie’s to use the internet and post this piece.
I’ve enjoyed being out and about and have been stopped by lots of folks who recognise me. I start school on Monday but will have a late start on Tuesday as I shall be going back to the dentist as my sensitive tooth had hit crisis level, she says there is nothing for it but root canal and a crown, so it’s a bit of déjà vu here. At least I know that her work is good, the bridge she made last year has been fine.
Looking forward to going to church tomorrow as well I’ll be going to evening service though, the 7.00am start is really not my best time for the Eucharist!
BTW thanks very much to Ali who left me her notebook PC to work on while I’m here, very small and lightweight especially as I only have a 20kg checked baggage allowance and 7kg hand baggage allowance. It’s a bit like cutting off her right hand to leave it with me so is much appreciated honey!
Tomorrow is Colin’s and my 34th wedding anniversary, sorry not to be with you love, we’ll celebrate when I am back and btw Happy anniversary to Caroline and Colin on their 1st anniversary tomorrow too.

We've had a wonderful couple of weeks travelling, lots to see, taste, smell and generally absorb. We've been in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Bangalore and are now in Chennai, yesterday we went to Mahaballapuram and today shopped, Ali and Colin are as good as I am at that!
Here are some pictures of us having fun before the work start in Tirunelvelli next week.