Sari Time

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.

After our 2 days in Kovalum, where it didn't rain and we made agood start to our tans, it was off to Tirunelvelli and old friends. We are staying in a flat belonging to Prem's cousin, in the same compound as Prem's opthalmic practice and also his parents and brother. Very luxurious but no AC so very hot. We borrowed a tower fan from Carrie to make life a little more bearable for Ali. Visited school briefly and had a wonderful welcome from  the kids, especially Viki, Hepzibah, Muutuselvis, Tamil Selvan and Subbaiyah, who watched me from a distance until I went over to him. The wee ones have not been coming regularly, but they are trying to keep things going as a drop in. I knida feared that might happen, however I can see the fruits of the work I did with the older pupils and the treachers who are definitely more child centred in their approach. The school is also looking fresher having been painted and is definitely less cluttered and dusty. We visited friends, shopped and explored the town in Tirunelvelli and saw Raja, my auto driver who is getting married (today actually).
Amazingly as we turned into the school compound, having been in TIrunelvelli for 2 hours, there was a shout and there, sitting in his auto eating his lunch in the peace of the school grounds was Ignesh, my morning auto driver. He was very surprised to see me and immediately checked I still had his phone number!
We visited the Bishop and discovered taht not only can pacocks fly, but they can fly to the top of tall palm trees!
We had 3 nights in Tirunelvelli, then flew via Chennai to Delhi, temp here is in the 40's! Two nights in the YMCA Tourist hostel, not to be highly recommended but cleanish and safe, then car to Agra today. We are going to the Taj tomorrow, Ali can't wait. We booked this hotel, The Howard Park Plaza from home and it is fab, we went straight for a swim on arrival and then a very fine buffet. To Ali's delight we have internet access too!

Well Colin Ali and I are back in India, monsoon in Kovalum and bless its cotton socks it hasn't rained on us. Ali seems to love the place as much as we do. We're staying in the Hotel Seaface (has a website)which is alittle more up market than the Rockholm and a little dearer but has a pool and as it is monsoon weather the sea is too rough to swim in, so a pool is a must.
Been lazing around, sleeping late, wandering those shops which are open and enjoying the sea food. Ali has discovered she enjoys prawns! We asked what one fish was in a restaurant today and they said they didn't know as it was the first time they had had it! Don't think it was a blow fish but avoided it just in case. They've enjoyed butter fish +++ and red snapper - but not quite so much.
Went in an auto to Kovalum junction today which Ali loved, really liked seeing a little of real India. Off to Tirunelvelli tomorrow via Kanya Kumari, Nancy's driver is picking us up in their new Ambassador, delivered just after I left last year, new driver too! We are going to be staying in Prem's cousin's flat near Palay bus stand. Handy for my dentist too if I need her. Weather says it has been 31 degrees today here, but we have had a cool sea breeze. Tiruenlveli is 32 tomorrow and Delhi currently in the 40s, Hot Hot Hot!