I can't believe it is Thursday already! This week has just flown by. Yesterday doctor daughter had her Scottish interview, so she was the main focus of our thoughts. Now she and we have to sit back and wait and pray!
My group at school has continued to run with between 2 and 4 pupils attending each day. My two new pupils have both been attending regularly, both are much more developmentally delayed than the others and so the work I am doing is much more like that done with our younger Canaan kids. I've also been working with the three school pupils as before and the two lowest classes on an alternate daily basis. They all love working with songs which is nice. It's really nice having parents in with my young kids too as they too join in the singing! I produced a feedback sheet last week which I am distributing. It was translated into Tamil for me, but the two I have had back so far have both answered in English. The picture below is S who is 20 months old and arrived in our physio's hospital clinic the other week. Joel referred him straight to me and we are now working together with him twice a week, which is great. The authorities didn't seem to know of his existence till then which I suppose is down to the fact that there is not a GP system here, so families are not linked with a doctor unless they are sick and then they go to a hospital out patient clinic.

The wildlife here continues to amaze and delight me... usually - I'm not sure about the two inch long bee which I had to duck to avoid as it flew around my classroom today... I am not exaggerating its size either. It was a bumble type bee, most of the bees I have seen around are jet black and really quite sinister looking. Suddenly the world is full of chameleons - there was one sunning itself on the wall at Kovalum last weekend and I caught this one sunning itself outside my classroom today. The paddy fields around the school which were being planted when I first became aware of them, probably early December, have been harvested at some point over the last week without me noticing! Now it is full of birds searching what is left for food.
There are lots of egrets and crane type birds around, mainly white but also some black ibis which are large and extraordinary to look at. Keep forgetting to take a picture of the egrets because they are just everywhere, the picture is of a black ibis at Tuckerammalpuram, it was the best part of 2 foot tall! The birds of prey here are phenomenal, it is really strange to get used to eagles, kites and buzzards circling around above me all the time. Some of them are huge, I saw them mobbing some crows today as I walked home,quite a sight but no-one but me seems to notice them!
I thought that in spite of Mike's comments about jack fruit - which I really like the taste of incidentally - I would put up a pic of them growing, they really are extraordinary and look almost like a parasitical growth rather than the fruit of the tree they are growing on.These are still quite small only about 12inches long, so roomt o double in size yet, you can imagine how odd the tree looks by then! For your information, you can get them tinned in the UK in Asian grocer shops if you would like to try them!
The last pic is a sign I saw on the road the other day. It was next to a steam filled with some of the most pungent effluence I have yet come across and made me smile. The Indian people go in for signs and slogans in a big way and sometimes shorten them to just initials which is very confusing for people like me! You'll probably have noticed advertising slogans painted on practically every wall or bus or lorry which i have photographed.

The other news is that I have a pair of purple rumped sunbirds living near to my house and coming to the red trumpet flowers outside my window to feed from the nectar. I get a really good look at them and the male is stunning - purple rump as expected and iridescent green around his head which flashes is the sunlight, gorgeous. Perhaps I will yet get to see a pair with their young.  Photos will be no good though as there is a mesh covering the window. I don't think the birds would stand for me being that close to them either!
PS My nose is peeling!!

Today has been a very lazy one workwise! I had to be at the Tuckerammalpuram site (the post school provision) by 10.00am so had a leisurely start. The opening ceremony took place at around 11.30, we then had lunch and I came home. Not too stressed then! Tuckerammalpuram is around 10km from Tirunelvelli so about 5 from here. it is a small community on the road to Trivandrum. the school has had a site there for years with the groundnut farm on it. The site now has a large building... hall cum dining room cum multi-purpose. there is a new kitchen, the bakery has been re-sited there too. they have now got finance and approval for dormitories and work areas too. Today's ceremony was to officially launch the project. In some ways I'm glad it is over as it has dominated school life for the past few weeks. the principal and his wife were out at 11.30pm last night marking whitewash lines along the edges of the road to guide people there this morning! I was glad of them when I arrived in my auto, knowing the approximate area but not the precise location... nor did my driver!
As always in such events here the first to arrive were the children and staff, from 9.00am onwards.

Various local worthies all of whom are involved with the school and are regular visitors were next, then came 'The Collector' I can't quite work out what he does I think he is the equivalent of a provost or something certainly a secular appointment. He has a big house in Palayamkottai and travels with his own guard in a funny uniform. Next came the Tamil Nadu minister for Social Welfare (a lady), two other local big politicians were next and we finally began proceedings at around 11.45. It is really funny to see the pecking order here. The most important person is usually last to arrive. When their car is spotted everybody immediately stops what they are doing and rushes to greet them or to be seen. People leave their phones switched on and answer them in the middle of functions and while people are making speeches. they all have their secretaries sitting behind them and deal with correspondence while on the platform. Appearances are really important and it is vital that ordinary people (even school principals) are seen to be paying sufficient respect to the right people and not showing anything that could be interpreted as disrespect, while the worthies themselves act almost outwith these rules.
Some more pictures of the day follow.

Well it's Monday now and I've done my first days work of the week and a full day it was too. I had my usual group which fluctuates in numbers, 2 today of the 4 possible. I also had my new girl M who is coming in the afternoons. Then there were S, and G the two brothers who I see separately. the morning was interrupted by a visit from local Rotary Club members to see the clothes they had gifted at Christmas being worn.That meant that all the girls shot upstairs to change out of their uniform and into their posh clothes, then the reverse after the guests had left. Lunch was being donated by a family in memory of one of a daughter who had died two years ago of cancer aged 27. We had a veg biryani, with a potato side dish, onion pickle, the curd rice and paysam... a sort of rice/semolina/tapioca pudding which is a local delicacy. It was a lovely family occasion albeit a sad one, there were parents in their 60's I suppose, 4 daughters with husbands and children and son with his wife and children. A very happy gathering, but I did feel for them. This is the second year they have marked the anniversary in this way.
I had a great weekend in Kovalum, picked up my glasses on the way out of town, almost fell down the steps on the way out of the optician as the change in angle of the varifocal is obviously significant!
The pictures below are firstly of overloaded lorries, which often drive at night with no lights on as they are not exactly legal, and secondly of some fishing boats at the beach at Kovalum.

We got to Kovalum around 4.30, so I shot into the hotel, changed into my swimming stuff, put respectable clothes over the top, grabbed a towel and headed off to the beach where I stayed for about an hour. It gets dark between 6.30 and 7.00pm. I went out for dinner to Fusion and had citrus grilled chicken and chips, wow, really enjoyed that. I must admit when I am out and away from home I tend to go for the more western foods and really enjoy the change.
I had a wander around the shops, they have some really good leather shops with everything from Gucci to Dior, bags at very good prices, most under £20! I'm sure they are all genuine. There are a lot of jewellery and trinket shops, mainly from Kashmir - Indian jewellery tends not to be made for the tourist trade. It is interesting, in shops in towns, the gold and silver are charged by gram weight with a small making charge. Here they are charged as a piece rather than by weight and the design is very different. Indian ladies tend only to wear gold earrings and necklaces (one of which is their 'marriage piece' which they should not take off). The only silver I have seen them wearing is on their toes or ankles.
Saturday, I was up with the lark (for me!)at 9.30 a quick breakfast in the German Bakery of poori masala. I have to say their pooris are not a patch on Tirunelvelli ones, they make good coffee though!
Poori is a puffed fried bread a bit like a chappatti but as it is fried it puffs up into a hollow puff, masala means it was served with a spicy potato sauce cum side dish. We had poori at Holy Cross when Rachel did her cookery demo for those who remember. I remember being in the kitchen with the rest of the Mair family standing over boiling fat cooking 150 pooris so missed most of the demo. I seem to remember it involved the ladies of Holy Cross in chopping onions, potatoes and vegetables all morning to help prepare for the demo, we did though have a gorgeous meal for the entire congregation.
It was then down to the beach by 10.15 and I stayed there all day, apart from a brief sortie for lunch - till early evening again. Those who were with us in 1997 wouldn't recognise Kovalum these days it is much more developed, but not a real tourist resort. It is busy but low key, very much a local affair still with no big companies in and setting rules and regulations. There are sunbeds... much repaired and beach umbrellas and a constant stream of beach sellers... Lunghis, bed spreads, sarongs, cigarettes, wooden boxes, fresh fruit "Papaya, mango coconut, banana, fruit salad" is the cry of the ladies, they also offer to rub coconut oil into you to help the sun... deep fried Sally, no thanks! In 1997 we were warned it was not really acceptable to wear swimming costumes, so we all trooped down to the beach, fresh off the plane and swam in our clothes, not a pretty sight in my case nor a particularly pleasant experience either! I had dinner on Saturday in a restaurant called the Swiss Cafe... having a European weekend obviously! and had a chicken sizzler. Which is served sizzling on a hot platter with a spicey (never!) sauce and rice and veg.
Sunday it was back to the beach early, no church today I'm afraid but I did do my readings and listen to a radio broadcast later. I stayed till around 1.00pm, had a quick lunch then a shower then it was back in the car. we came back via Kanya Kumari, not at sunset though. I wanted a shell curtain for my classroom. It cost me 40 rupees for 24 6 foot strands of tiny, winkle shaped shells. Kanya Kumari is a sacred site on the very southern tip of India, used to be called Cape Comarin. Three Oceans/Seas meet there and it is called the Tri-Sea - Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. There is a huge Hindu Temple, a Mosque, two monuments on islands out at sea and a Gandhi memorial amongst other things. Away from the sea there is an enormous Roman Catholic church and another CSI one. this time I just went shopping though. There were around 200 small shops and stalls selling the usual tacky souvenirs, toy shops where everything was either 5 rupees or 20 rupees! 75 Rupees to the pound so work it out! Sarees selling for 100 rupees. An amazing election of fresh spices, cashew nuts, shells and so on! You can also get a ferry to the various monuments, but I didn't bother this time.

I got back to Tirunelvelli at 8.00pm, tired but having had a great break and battery recharge!

Not been a very eventful couple of days, I'm really looking forward to my trip to Kovalum. I'm leaving at lunchtime tomorrow from school. The school is in the throws of getting it's 'post-school' project established and the Principal has been missing at various meetings for most of the week. The first major event is the removal of the school bakery... tomorrow apparently, although the first we heard of the imminence of the move was today. Indira the bakery manager is very much a part of the school staff and is not particularly looking forward to the move, but if it is to be part of the work experience then it makes sense that it is situated out of school. Tuckeramalpuram is about 4 miles out of Tirunelvelli in the countryside in a very small community whereas at the moment, we are in the middle of a town so she will notice the difference, staff pop in all the time at the moment and that just won't happen. the first pupils are not moving out to live until next year, although some will go out each day. I'll miss the convenience of being able to pop in and have a bun or veg puff any time of day too!
I bought a couple of ready made churdi das suits this week which are cotton and better for the hot weather which is coming. Here are a couple of pics of me wearing one with class 1 and with some of the staff. I took jasmine flowers in today for everyone (well all the ladies)for their hair. people are always bringing me flowers so I decided to return the compliment! Please note I did not by choice stand next to Jasmine, the assistant next to me who is so gorgeously slim! She's lovely and I would stand next to her at any other time but not for size comparison!
I'm just about to have dinner, then I'm off out to pick up my new glasses from the optician. It's very useful shops being open till 9 or 10 pm here.

Grrrrr! I've just come back from a wasted journey to pick up my new glasses! I got there to be told there had been a technical fault and they were not ready. When I pressed about the nature of the technical fault had the lens cracked, were the frames not strong enough for the lenses...? I discovered that the courier had not brought them this morning so they were not ready. I really want to take them this weekend, so fingers crossed that they meet the next promised deadlline of 12 noon tomorrow!

Just to let you all know that the server has been down all day and it is now after 11pm so I am off to bed!
First though I'm off for a shower, I go through a regular hokey cokey every night. Having a cold shower is like that you know... a real dilemma, which bit goes under first, then out again quickly, before it gets too cold, then the next bit and so on! I do have hot water from my bucket wash, but I try to be economical with that so get wet first with cold water then enjoy the hot as a follow up rinse so to speak... I suppose it sounds a bit like a car wash actually, I'm sure the last phase of that is a hot rinse, I draw the line at the final wax finish though!
Goodnight!
PS Found a frog in the kitchen again, about 3 inches long and chunky... how on earth they are getting in remains a mystery. I caught it and set it free outside to try again tomorrow!

This morning a child brought me a present.
A purple rumped sunbird nest with two eggs in it.
Guess I won't see them hatch now.
I couldn't be cross, he has a severe learning difficulty, but I was very sad.
All the rest of the morning, the poor female bird has been searching for her nest and chirping loudly. I've put the nest in a clump of branches further up the tree, but I doubt she'll find it or accept it. I hope she had laid all her eggs or she will be very uncomfortable as well as distressed.
I have been watching them working on that nest for around 6 weeks and now all for nothing. Nature can be very hard sometimes. I have however had the chance to have a quick look at the nest, it is amazing, the outside is animal hair all woven together and last week I saw them lining the inside with either cotton fluff or down.
In Memoriam!

I went for my eye test and after 1 and a half hours ended up at the opticians, they wanted me to choose new frames... after having my pupils dilated I couldn't see a thing in focus. They seemed surprised when I said I would come back later when I could see properly. maybe that is why some people end up with horrendous frames, they couldn't actually see them when choosing them.
I then went out into blazing sunlight onto a flight of white marble steps with no hand rail and no edge of step marker band as we would have here. I could hardly see where I was going, and had to shade my eyes with one hand. My photo-chromatic lenses don't change here, as the air is so dry, it was very frightening! I made my way to a row of autos who are obviously used to people feeling their way across to them with one hand over their eyes! I decided I deserved a coffee before going in to school. You would think someone would have mentioned to the eye hospital the need for good visual contrast on stairs to aid depth perception and the need for a hand rail before now. I feel a letter coming on!
This is a dilated pupil for those who have not seen one before! Scarey!

When I got to school I was glad I had not rushed when I discovered that in spite of checking 3 times and for a final confirmation at 4.30 yesterday that school was open as normal today and that only a few staff would be going to the conference being held in Junction, the place was empty of all teachers and senior pupils. I had arranged for 2 of my pre-school pupils to come in though, one of whose birthdays it was. I waited for them and we had a lovely session with a wee birthday gift for Ra of a cup and a card. She on the other hand ( or at least her parents) had brought cake for the whole class, a bag of sweets for the whole school to share (seems to be standard procedure here that when it is your birthday you give to others... nice!), and for me, a carrier bag full of goodies. I said I would share them with Metilda tomorrow and they went and found someone to translate to say that this bag was ALL for me. Ra's parents have a sweet and savoury home made snack stall in the next town and this was a selection from there for me! There is enough to last me a month! I think I'll be sharing them out around my neighbours. For size reference and to help you realise how much there is, each piece of cake in the box is around 2 inches square! I also found I had missed off a bag containing 250g of Bombay mix, it was still in the bottom of the carrier bag! Here is Ra. enjoying her birthday cake! D

I came home after they left as there would be no more children coming in, a nice unexpected half day for me. I've been drawing up a questionnaire for parents to get some feedback about how things are going and how they see their child doing. Agnes is translating that for me so should be ready by the end of the week. I've also been writing up a brief paper for staff which will also be translated to try and explain more about what is going on. Although they have all been watching, I'm sure that hearing it in Tamil will make it a little clearer.
One other nice thing which has happened is that the parents of little A, the smiley child from last weeks pic, have asked if he can come in every day now instead of alternate days which was all he could really cope with before. He has really come on well being with the other children so I was delighted when they asked.

Today I had two new pupils in for assessment and one of them is actually a child with MDVI (multiple disabilities and visual impairment). The day started with the arrival of a child I had been expecting referred by Joel one of the physios. The little boy is just under two, severe CP, vision and hearing affected, but useful vision. He needs physical support to sit, can hold himself up with a rail if put into standing and can roll over, makes some sounds but no real speech as yet. Child two, a little girl, is 6 in June, attends a clinic run by the other physio, but found out about my class from a colleague. A sad story, 32 week pregnancy, emergency section then born asphyxiated, was revived after 30 minutes. She has some sitting balance and moves by an adapted crawl/roll movement. The saddest thing of all is that only immediate family and no friends or neighbours know of her existence. She is taken out in a car in the morning to the clinic, back for lunch then out again if necessary. She has an obvious cerebral visual impairment, light awareness and is able to fix on objects, but I'm looking forward to doing some real assessment with her to see if I can find out more. Child one is going to come twice a week initially and the other little girl, every afternoon for 30 minutes or so to start with.
I have made two appointments today for myself. I am going to the Aravind eye hospital tomorrow morning to have my eyes tested. I find I am constantly taking my varifocals off to read or use the computer, only wearing them for distance which is rather pointless! It opens at 7.30am and apparently if I turn up by 8am, I should avoid most of the queues, as well as an eye test they also do a dilation to allow full examination of the eye. Don't think I've ever done that before. The whole thing takes between 1 hour 15 minutes to around 3 hours dependent on the queue.
The other appointment is a trip to Kovalum.... I've booked transport and a room at the Rockholm for the weekend. I'm looking forward to the change.

We haven't seen the monkey for two weeks and what happens, Penny asks me about it so yesterday there it was strolling bold as brass in front of my window as I sat at my computer! It had the cheek to make a face at me as it walked past too!
The other picture below is of a man making lily flower garlands, I mentioned the flowers for hair a few days ago. This man... wearing a daringly short lunghi... is individually knotting together the flower heads to make garlands which are used either to welcome special guests, to give at weddings etc or to take to the temple. I mentioned the other day that I always try to ask before taking pictures, and this guy not only said yes, but gave me some lily flowers to take home and now the whole room smells gorgeous!

I found myself today making that strange figure of eight movement of the head which Indians use which looks like our headshake of 'No' but actually means 'yes go on then!'or is an informal form of greeting.
I thought you might like to see some of my kitchen gadgets! The first is an aluminium milk boiler, it is like a double boiler, you put water in the nozzle thing at the side, milk in the bowl, then when it is heated , the nozzle at the side acts as a whistle. You then boil the milk for 3 mins. The brown thing is an aptly named lemon 'squasher' much more fun than squeezer and describes what happens.
To make the perfect fresh lime (or lemon) soda:
Cut lemon or lime, place one half, cut side down, in squasher. Place over glass, squash! Add 1 teaspoon sugar and soda water, stir carefully and indulge... I'm afraid it's even better than the ones I get in the 'Canny Mans' back home.
The funny yellow things are a local delicacy.. why?... palmyra shoot. Dug out of the ground, the outer covering removed and boiled in salty water. the are then split lengthwise, the very tender inch tip of softest shoot is eaten then the rest is stripped of its outer cover and chewed as a snack. A bit tasteless but ok I suppose.
Went to church last night and was thrilled to be asked to read the lesson at evensong. Mark chapter 9, the healing of the boy with an evil spirit and his father's faith. that made me really feel I had been accepted into the congregation. next the guest preacher was called form behind me and who should it be but Carrie's husband.. I hadn't noticed him there nor him me, I don't know which of us was most surprised when the other got up and went to the lectern!

For anyone who couldn't spot the goat yesterday, click on the picture with pink flowers and a pop up will open of a large version of the picture... goat is dead centre tucking in to the bush!

It's hard to believe how quickly Sunday comes around again. Today being Saturday I was free to do as little as I chose and I'm afraid I did very little. I finished updating my report to date. Checked out some toys and school equipment from a Montessori company I found on the web did a little shopping and read. Spoke to the family of course, Skype is a great blessing when you are far from home. there are plenty of phone centres... about 1 in every row of 6 shops! which you can phone from. It's not the same as calling from home though. An Indian person I know said to em that India had leapt straight into the mobile phone age but had largely missed out on landlines and that is true. Practically everyone has a mobile, or cell phone, but I would say only around 30% have landlines.
Nancy very kindly brought me some chappattis and potato for breakfast which I kept for lunch as I had already eaten. I then went out to the post office to buy stamps and to get milk. I realised I have often mentioned goats but I don't think I've put up a pic. here is a solitary goat, I'll find a herd later and put that up. they wander the streets with sometimes some really tiny kids with them. They are generally far more attractive than the cows but still wander all over the road causing havoc! the milk we buy from shops here is apparently a blend of all sorts... cow, buffalo and goat... do oxen give milk?.. they are probably in there too if so!

On the way back from the milk shop, I came across a group of men cutting down a Neem tree which was intruding on some shops... have I mentioned my local shop is called Christ Stores?...I asked if I could take their pic which they found hilarious and agreed happily. I try always to ask people out of politeness if they mind and occasionally end off running off prints on my printer to give to them. neem is a tree which is very valuable to the Indians - the leaves, fruit and bark are all used in effective medicines.
The guy up the tree was holding one end of a saw which was about 4 foot long while the guy on the ground was pulling on a rope to provide the other end of the sawing action. Very effective as you can see form the branches below. The one they were cutting was about 12 inches in diameter. As you can see the man in the tree is wearing his Lungi. It's not really a towel chris, its around 2 metres long sometimes sewed in to a tube and sometimes not! They are usually of quite nice cotton and I have used one as a sheet before when travelling by train and not sure about the bedding!

As you can see the weather has dried up again thank goodness. I went out in the evening to the Sri Janikaram at Junction which has a very pleasant roof top restaurant and I usually relax there with my book and my dinner. On Fridays and Saturdays they have local Tamil singers so it is very pleasant. Tonight though I arrived and found a table fairly easily, settled down and the place filled up. First the head waiter came over and said did I mind a man sitting there to eat as there was no room with his family... of course I didn't. Next I was half way though my food and a group of 3 and a tiny baby sat down too... that was ok too, they didn't order though and after a while I had this uncomfortable feeling and sure enough when I turned around there were more people hanging around behind me waiting for me to finish and leave. Well that put paid to my relaxing evening and I just decided to finish up and come home which I did! The head waiter was most apologetic, sadly though most of their tables seat 6 and having me alone on a table is not very economic for them. I think there had been a big wedding in town so the hotels were all full.

Friday again, I don't know where all the days are going to! I have been priding myself on having lost a little weight, but I think Nancy, my landlady who lives upstairs, is determined to build me up again... I'm not exactly a 10 stone weakling, but there you go! She very kindly keeps bringing me down breakfast. So for those of you who ask if I really eat curry three meals a day, the answer is YES! Moreover, as one eats with one's fingers they are frequently turmeric yellow all day and smelling of spices. At least that way it is easy to remember what I had to eat last. Here is a picture of idli with sambar (local veg curry). Those who know me will realise it was a particular act of love to eat idli. Like Dosa, they are made with a dough which has been left to ferment overnight and idli are then steamed - dosa are fried like pancakes or Chappattis and I really don't like the sour taste of either. Along side is a vadai. The vadai looks like a doughnut, but don't fall for that one as some I know have, it has the odd chilli in it!
I think India invented the fast food stall, at every corner and sometimes in the middle of the street as well, there are tea stalls which sell snacks too. You can buy: Vadai, Murrukku (like chick pea noodles), banana chips, potato chips (crisps), fruit prepared for eating, breakfast and tiffin items. If you want tea to drink there, it comes in either a glass, a steel tumbler or a wee plastic cup. If you want it to take away they put it into a poly bag and tie the top then another bag to carry it away in. Everybody uses these stalls from the highest to the lowest and it is not unusual when in a shop, to be offered a cup of tea 'on the house' if a boy is passing in the street with a tea urn strapped to the back of his bike.
I realised that I have not put up a street sign for a long time, so here is one about the dangers of driving whilst using a mobile phone! This is taken on the main road from school out towards my house - Trivandrum Road. it is the main road from Kanya Kumari on the Southern tip of India to Madras and points north. There is a bypass which misses most of Palayamkottai now, it cuts off just before Perumalpuram and then cuts across the town roads just by the river which separates us from the Tirunelvelli side of town. Unfortunately, the traffic therefore still has to cross the main town road at a very busy roundabout, at least the heavy and through traffic doesn't actually go along the shopping streets though. Note the scaffolding poles which are in fact, in this case, advertisement hoardings, and made of bamboo.
My bird is sitting on her nest, I do hope she manages to produce a brood, I'd love to see that before I leave.

Penny asked me two questions... the blue machine thing at the back of the classroom in many shots is a paper pressing machine... apparently it used to be used in the workshop and was supposed to be removed in November. I've given up on that one. It is a lot safer now that the only moving part, the cast iron circular drum, has dropped to the table surface. Fortunately I spotted it was about to fall and flew across the room to rescue the fingers of the hyper active child who was busy exploring it while in for assessment... I was talking to mother and father was watching the child at the time, No harm done fortunately!
What happened to the monkey... your guess is as good as mine, probably heard the rumours of what might happen to it and went back from whence it came, nothing has been seen of it for about a week now, so fingers crossed!
Finally congrats to my niece and her fiancé, who got engaged on Valentine's Day... I haven't heard yet whether it was seeing that pic of her on the Scotsman mag cover last week that finally swung it. Time to buy another hat!

Well it's raining again and the locals are up in arms. Funny thing is they keep asking me if I like this weather and are surprised when I say 'No!'. There have been fantastic thunderstorms for the last two days because there is no real drainage though the puddles quickly form. there is a picture of our front gate below. As one wears open flat soled sandals, walking is not much fun and you just know you are going to have wet muddy feet all day. It does bring out the fashion disasters though! Today I have seen:
1. A man with a carrier bag on his head.
2. A man with a hanky (wet!) on his head.
3. A man wearing a woolly hat.
4. A man wearing a yellow, flowery, plastic raincoat.
5. A man holding a tray over his head while riding his motor scooter.
6. A child being carried with a crash helmet on her head... they were walking along the road at the time.

On the subject of dress, it does seem unfair that women have to be covered up in Sarees or Salwar suits at all times. (except in their own homes when they can change into a nightie... which is common day wear here and not a sign of slovenliness or of having slept in). men however seem to wear as much or as little as they wish. I have seen three piece suits (must be unbearably hot), slacks and open necked short sleeved shirts, open short sleeved shirts with lungis, t-shirts with shorts (which look more like boxer shorts at times), lungi only... I presume there are underpants underneath but have not checked! Lungis can be worn full length, when they resemble an ankle length skirt, they can also be worn folded in half (up the way so that they can be easily dropped again)to about knee length which is more practical for wandering around, riding a bike/motorbike or working. They are used for day or night wear and are usually checked or patterned including floral patterns!
Older men often wear dhotis which are usually white, and silk or cotton with a border around the bottom edge, often in gold thread. White is also the colour for formal wear for weddings, (you can wear a dhoti formally, but not a lungi) functions etc. The picture of the youth festival has a reasonable selection if you look closely. )If you click on any picture, a larger version will open in case you didn't know).

When it comes to shoes, people wear them or not, you will see people walking around town with no shoes on also cycling bikes, driving autos and motor bikes. It is customary to take them off when entering a church or temple and in some cases especially Hindu temples, this is compulsory. It is courtesy to take them off on entering someone's house to avoid trailing dust everywhere - polite but not compulsory - this is also the case in some shops. Women are expected to cover their heads when praying with the tail of their saree or the scarf of their salwar. Men do not cover their heads. Most people remove their shoes when praying, quite subtly without any fuss, just slipping out of them, one advantage of slip on shoes.
By the way, the wee bird I've been watching (see yesterday's post) is a purple rumped sunbird! Can't say I've noticed the purple rump but apparently it's not its most distinguishing feature unless you happen to be another purple rumped sunbird!

A bit of a quiet day today except for my pre-schoolers who had water play, after the 12 noon prayer time though - as seemed sensible! The chaos was as you might expect, but they all had spare clothes and had a lot of fun... mum's who wear beautiful sarees get very used to being wet and to drying quickly in this weather, I however can never got used to that and my heart always sinks as I get wet and imagine, as in Scotland, that I am going to be cold and wet for the rest of the day! As a matter of interest, Carrie has now settled into Toronto and is finding that compared to -17 which it has been since she got there, Scotland has a warm sunny climate!
Over the past couple of weeks, I have been watching closely as a pair of small birds of as yet unidentified species, have been making the most intricate nest outside my classroom window. At first I thought they were simply collecting nest materials from a lump of windblown rubbish which had got wrapped around a branch, but gradually the truth emerged. The nest is perhaps 3 inches from top to bottom and of an enclosed variety, I though of weaver birds but I'm not sure and my bird book is woefully inadequate, I have ordered another, but in the mean time I wait. Agnes tells me they are called 7 sisters as you rarely see them without a crowd of relatives. I hate to tell her, but one of these two is not a sister! the birds are about 2 inches long, both have yellow breasts, the male has a glorious blue/black back which glows in the sunlight, the female has a dowdy brown back, they have long beaks of the sun bird type, and tails which are a similar shape to that of a wren but longer.
The only problem is the position of the nest,as yet no pupils have noticed the nest, but it is in a spot the whole school goes past constantly, being on the veranda outside my room. I hope it lasts, I'd love to watch and see the outcome! I might add that that is not my finger across one of the pics, but the bars of the classroom window space.

It appears to be autumn here or probably more well named, fall, as the leaves are coming off some of the trees at a rate of knots! The almond trees have leaves 8 inches long by 4 inches wide and as they fall they actually make a thumping sound. I say almond, and they tell me they are almond, but the nuts don't quite look right, and nor are the leaves to my mind! I'm sure I remember picking up almonds from under a tree in Rome which were as we buy them in the shops. These have a green fleshy out covering to them. I keep being promised that someone will open me a ripe one, and I wait in anticipation.
I had a fresh mango from the tree in the school yard today, lovely. They tell em though that it is not mango season, yet the tree is full of them. I do not understand!!!

Somehow, I didn't quite get around to writing yesterday, but be impressed as here I am at 8.30 in the morning all organised and ready to go to school and the auto doesn't come for another 30 mins!
Those of you who got the Scotsman on Saturday may or may not have noticed the stunner on the front page of the magazine section, for those of you who did not, the lady in red was my niece Michelle.
Monday in school was relatively quiet, of my pre-schoolers, only two came in, but one of them A, who spent much of his early time with me either crying or hanging on to his mum was just amazing, just look at the smile on his face. He is not yet 3, but was anticipating and laughing for most of the session! Great.

During the afternoon, i was working with class 1A which has the most difficult and diverse group of pupils. The principal is very keen that student teachers should all see the school and thus widen the awareness of its existence and remit.  Unfortunately they tend to turn up by the coachload, without warning and process through the classrooms with a chat from each teacher explaining what is going on. they are usually diverted away from my class, but this lot found their way. First of all I looked up to see one male student looking in my window, as I looked up he called 'Sir, Sir' and his lecturer too came and stared in. I felt like a monkey scratching itself in the zoo or something! Then the rest of his group, then they came into the classroom. At that point Metilda had been called away, I had 8 pupils all ready to go into orbit at the slightest excuse and 30 students all in the classroom. I tried to carry on, but the  they started asking questions at which point the kids reached ignition point and chaos resulted. I felt such an idiot, but it was just impossible to carry on with such interruptions. We survived the first 3 groups, but then Metilda came back and we managed to divert the rest... AArgh!
It rained again last night absolutely bucketed down. That means there are big puddles everywhere, and as one wears flat sandals that means manky feet all day!
One nice thing, last night Mrs Lydia, widow of Bishop Jason came to visit me, she is very sweet and kind and gentle always and last night was no different. She sends her regards to those back home who know her. The 2nd anniversary of the Bishop's death is in April and she is publishing an English version of the memorial book of his life and has asked me to proof read it.
Time for school now! The auto is here.

Seeing as how it is Sunday today and also the first Sunday in lent, I thought today I would give up doing things! Only joking but I did have a lazy day and for those interested I've bought myself an Every Day with Jesus to add to my daily readings book for Lent and probably the rest of the year too. My long lie went for a Burton when Nancy rang my door bell at 8am to offer em some iddyappam for breakfast, from the street seller who comes around every morning, ringing his bicycle bell and calling his wares. They are a rice flour sort of vermicelli looking thing which one eats cold with grated fresh coconut, and milk with or without sugar, they are quite nice, something I've eaten often, but she has been keen to get me some and today was the day... could have done with a long lie though, still mustn't grumble must I.
The pics below show today's offering and also an old picture taken in 2003 of Carrie's home help. She is making iddyappam in Carrie's kitchen!

Having finished A Suitable Boy (Vikram Seth) last week, I have been reading The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka, which either Ruth or Mike sent me as part of a bundle - very good, quite a quick read but really interesting, set in Sri Lanka and Malaysia and spanning most of the 20th century.
I went to Evensong at 6.00pm, I thought you might like to see a picture of where I go, It is called Christ Church Military Lines and celebrates its 150th anniversary on 23rd February. It is of course in Lenten array at the moment in spite of the silk carnations on the altar which I am sure the eagle eyed amongst you would spot. As a piskie, I somehow seem fated to attend what is known as the "English" church, not only here, but also in Scotland! Anglican Communion yes, but CSI (The Church of South India) is no more Church of England than is the Scottish Episcopal Church.

For those who don't know there is a Lent Blog being coordinated by a group of Episcopal Church members, it is called Beauty from Chaos and is at http://beautyfromchaos.wordpress.com/.

I had a bit of a quiet day today, it's so nice to have some time to myself. everyone wants to fill my time for me so some space is good! I did a little shopping, so I've lots of street scenes to show today.
I had a leisurely 'get up' dropped off my ironing at the laundry, I thought you might like a pic of the guys doing the ironing, they have very big brass and steel irons, filled with charcoal, what a job in this heat, ironing from 10.00am to 10.00pm every day including Sunday.

I then headed off into town at 2pm with Santosh, the auto driver that Augustina, who provided my cooker recommended. He picks me up occasionally and always asks why I didn't phone him...answer.. I'm never actually that organised and tend just to head off when the whim takes me! We went first to the tailor who had been fixing the hole in the knee of my red trousers which I tore when I fell last week... knee is much better, purple and beginning to scab over.. yuck! Then off to Tirunelvelli town, over the two tiered bridge. I spotted these ladies with a huge load each on the way. We went through the market are in town, massive array of fresh fruit and veg... here are some onions, one of about 15 stalls all selling onions. All seem to be red onions here, I don't think I have ever seen our white variety in shops.

I went to Pothy's as I have realised I need another double sheet - most of my sheets are singles and I am now using the bed which Chandramohan and Agnes lent me... it is a small double about 3 foot 6, so not really big enough for two bit nice for one. Pothys is extraordinary, it is like a big city store in Tirunelvelli Town which is otherwise full of small shops and businesses. It has always been big but renewed it's frontage in the last couple of years and now looks out of place. However it has a very good selection. It sells all clothes.. men's women's and children's, household textiles and lots of fabrics, silks, cottons, trimmings etc.. Sheet bought, I then went to Junction where I picked up some things for the classroom and had a wander, Santosh had stayed with me to act as transport and safe deposit vehicle for my shopping. The street scene pictures which follow the one of Pothys, are taken in its immediate area and show a sugar cane crushing machine (to extract the juice which is then drunk with ginger or other spices). A stand selling jack fruit pieces, Jack fruit grow on trees, they can go to around 2 foot long by about 18 inches diameter, inside they are segments, so a little like pomegranate in that they are clearly separated, but obviously in proportion to the overall fruit size they are much larger, yellow and fairly sweet. There is a whole fruit on the back left of the stall. I put a pic of a lorry load a few days ago to give you some idea.

The next pic is of a cycle load, it was enormous carrying what look like scaffolding poles... except they use bamboo as scaffolding p;oles here and these were metal! Finally for Mike, a Silver shop... actually selling stainless steel. Everything is made of steel here from pots to dinner plates to tumblers and all variety of things you have never seen all of which have their own uses. I may say as well that although the streets look quiet, I was actually rising life and limb dodging the traffic! That bike, for example is actually going the wrong way round, there is a one way system, around the town centre, which is actually built around the town temple. The auto drivers hate it as there is a huge detour and most of them are going to the Pothy's area which is back where they come in. they always try to do a sneaky right turn if the policemen aren't looking.

Then it was back into the auto and to Palayamkottai to the Aaryas supermarket to pick up some groceries, this used to be the only such shop in Tirunelvelli/Palayamkottai but now several have sprung up. It's a bit strange, staff are so desperate to help that they get in the way shadowing me and standing between me and the shelf I am trying to look at, ready to pick things up and show them to me. I try to remain polite as they are presumably doing what they have been told, but I feel like a shop lifting suspect!
I then called Jeyapaul Abraham and his wife Snowfia, they are people I met through Cursillo and very, very kind, but almost overwhelming. He is in the tribunals dept. of the local transport and fairly powerful man, she is head of the IT dept. in Trans World Radio (India) a Christian broadcasting station. They have been pressing me to visit so today I was organised. Snowfia's mother was also there but doesn't speak much English. I had a delicious Guava - fresh picked from her Mum's tree! They have moved into a house in the centre of Palayamkottai, in fact I have seen it every day as I go to work but of course not known it was their house. The house is immediately behind a building site which is progressing every day. When I say immediately, I mean it! If you go through the door out of their kitchen, you are about 8 feet from the hole in the ground which is the foundations, to your right are shelves! they knocked down Snowfia's kitchen to build the new shop and will rebuild it when they are finished the new construction. It's a rented house so they didn't really have any say in the matter.

Today, I had two really nice sessions in school.
Number 1 was S who has been with me since day 1. his normal occupation is sitting in class in a corner tucked out of everyone's way repetitively twiddling a toy. He has been doing well in interaction sessions with me and has gradually begun, in my room, to explore and play with objects. The picture below shows him exploring some of the things I have on the A frame which was made by the local carpenter. He was putting things in and out of the bucket, pouring into a tub, putting the bangle on and off his wrist, taking my arm and putting the bangle on me!... that is a real 'wow' for those who are in the know about children with his sort of needs. He has also been doing more in his own class and actually stood at a table, playing (alongside, not with) a child who had a toy he likes.

Number 2 was my group of pre-schoolers, I had 4 today as the boy who normally comes earlier on his own, today, came at the same time as the other 3 by mistake. We ended up after our song time, out on the veranda playing with sand. a lot of fun and this time when A tried to catch the sand streaming out of the jug he was able to do so... learning point ... you can catch sand but you can't