Karunai Illam

The Illam

I’m starting to settle into life at the illam (illam means home).  Jean, it’s founder, and Mr. Khader, met me at the train station in Dindigul which was nice because the illam is quite far away.  I felt welcomed instantly as we arrived and the children were all waiting outside to greet me with a long necklace made of flowers and a bowl of red ink which they used to mark my forehead with a bindi.  

View from the main street in town

I ran into a goat herder with his charges on a walk

There are several other visitors at the illam at the moment although this I’m told is unusual.  There is a couple from New Zealand who are making a film about Jean and her work in India, and there was one other woman who has been a contributor for years and has visited many times.  Jean is here for the film and also to help oversee the beginning of construction of a new illam on a parcel of land that she bought years ago.  Currently the girls live in the illam and the boys live on this other piece of nearby land but they are working to consolidate it. 

Shops in Nilakkotai

I spent some time getting to know the girls and then we all gathered in the dining room for dinner.  Each meal begins with a prayer and chanting in Tamil and then Nagarathana, or 'Madam' as the kids call her, gives the children instructions or chides them for not completing their chores.

Nilakkotai Town

The food here is fantastic, and all vegetarian which is great.  We normally get some sort of rice or bread / pancake like chapatti or dosai, and then sauces or vegetables.  I do feel like I need to start running though.  Too many carbs!

The illam's guest rooms were all full so I spent my first two nights at the home of one of the foundation's staff right down the street.  They were so kind, and excited to have me, I really felt like one of the family.  When I first arrived they were all sitting around a mat in the living room eating dinner.  And eagerly asked me to join and peppered me with questions about where I'm from.

Local pigs scavenging across the street

In Indian culture it's perfectly alright to ask questions that in Western society would be considered inappropriate.  My host's daughter was especially inquisitive.  Within the first two days she had asked all about my work and salary, if I was married, had any children, etc.  They were mystified that I am unmarried but have lived alone and supported myself.

In these small villages, many generations of a family will live together.  I didn't quite catch who everyone was but there were about ten people staying there the first night including the children of my host, and their children, and their spouses.  I felt a little bit awkward because I went to bed earlier than everyone else and when I woke up I realized that they had given me the only bed in the house.  They were all sleeping on the floor in the bedroom and living room.  

Milk man

The day starts early here because of the heat.  The girls at the illam wake up at 4:30AM to do yoga and get ready for school and then spend an hour doing homework before prayers and breakfast and finally heading off to school.  I didn't have to get up quite that early but I did want to be up in time to walk over to the land with Jean.  Before I left my host insisted that I have a cup of tea.  The tea here is made with fresh milk and sugar in apparently a relatively complicated process because they won't let me make it for myself.  People don't have refrigerators here for the most part, and the milk isn't pasteurized, so a man comes by twice a day on his motorbike and a large metal canister of milk and people come out with small bowls and get them filled.

A typical coffee shop

The land is only about 15 minutes walk from the illam, through a small and relatively poor village. There are a few public toilets but no one uses them, they just go off in a field or on the side of the road.  Most of the houses have electric lights, although the houses range from small cement cement structures to shacks to tents.  Apparently the government just got them all TVs though, which I don't really understand.  

The people here are quite poor, especially now because the main industry is farming and this is the second year of a drought.  The people who do work normally work as coolies, or per diem workers, and have trouble supporting a family. This is one of the ways that children come to the illam.  

Primary school

I went over to the school where I met the principal and head of school.  I got to observe one of the classes for a few hours and it was interesting how different it was from the US.  It was really loud, everyone, students and teacher alike.  When the kids are asked to answer a question they don't raise their hands they just shout out the answer, over and over.  Although I noticed the main teacher for the 5th standard runs her classroom much differently.  The kids are (relatively) quiet, and she doesn't let them scream and repeat answers like the other teachers.  It was a nice break from the chaos.  The school is supposed to be 'English medium', which I assumed meant that it was taught in English, but aside from the reading and writing it seemed they still used a lot of Tamil.  I spent about ten minutes of a geography class completely clueless as to what subject was being taught.  I didn't figure it out until she pulled out a map.  I spent a few hours on Saturday working on a project for Children's day in a month and will probably help out with a few other projects and hopefully also get a chance to spend some time in the classroom as well.

Being here with the founder and the film crew is a lot different than if I were here by myself.  They have been taking trips for filming and I've tagged along on a few.  We went to a hill which overlooks Nilakkotai to watch the sunset so that they could film Jean talking about the village.  

Angela, the other Kiwi, left yesterday, and the children had a farewell ceremony where they all danced.  Jean and I took her to the airport in Madurai, a small airport, with a new building and not very many flights.  We had to buy a ticket to enter the airport which was a bit strange.  On the way home we stopped in town to visit the DHAN foundation offices.  DHAN does all kinds of work all over India, and is a partner in the illam.

Filming the sunset

Chennai

I've finally made it to India and I'm so excited to be here!

My journey started in Kuala Lumpur where they have a very convenient KLIA ekspres train that goes straight to the airport in only 28 minutes. If you're flying Malaysia Airlines or one of its partners you can even check your bags at the train station... I flew Air Asia though, the budget airline.
Kuala Lumpur is a bit confusing because they have two 'terminals' although in reality they are separate airports but share the same airport code. The low cost carrier terminal, or LCCT, is a half hour ride away. I was glad that I had plenty of time because I had to take a bus from KLIA to LCCT.
LCCT was a lot better than I expected. The terminal didn't look as pretty, but there were still restaurants and, in typical Malaysian fashion, many other shops. I had chapatti and an ice cream before changing my remaining ringgits to rupees.
Flying Air Asia wasn't much different than the budget 'no frills' airlines at home. I was charged astronomical bag fees (partly my fault because I didn't do it online, but I wasn't sure how much my bag weighed). I ended up paying about $60, or a third of the cost of my seat. The flight was short, but felt longer due to the numerous young children and crying babies on board. Before we landed the flight attendant sprayed the cabin with some kind of bug spray. I'd never seen that before.
I had my first minor problem when I got to immigration. They wanted a full address for where I was going to be staying but since I was planning to be picked up at the airport and later when I arrived in Dindigul, I only knew towns and not street addresses. I tried calling my couch surfing host with no luck and my contact at the illam. I was worried I was going to be stuck at the airport! I was finally able to get a hold of my host and got some sort of an address. Although I could barely understand him over the phone, and when I got back to the counter they almost refused me again. They asked me what language the address was supposed to be in and I told them I had no idea, I only speak English. They took pity on me.
There's a small cafe outside of the arrival terminal where I had a tea and samosa while I waited for my host.
He drove me back to his house on the back of his motorbike, an experience that was similar to Thailand, except much louder. Everyone was constantly blowing their horns. There was the same mixture of cars, buses, motorbikes and rickshaws and the same organized chaos with everyone weaving in and out.
I had a lovely evening with my host and his family. He has one brother, whom I met in the throngs of a very intense Fifa football tournament. His parents were incredibly welcoming and his mom made us a delicious dinner of potatoes, and a tomato lentil soup poured over rice. After dinner, the brothers took me to the beach, the second longest in the world, which has a small carnival every night, although we missed it. There were lots of people out though, enjoying the night.
We woke up early the next morning and returned to watch the sunrise although it ended up being cloudy. My host's father kindly made me a cup of tea. My tea at the airport had come in a small metal cup served on a strange looking saucer with high sides, like a bowl. I hadn't understood why until he showed me how they mix the tea (and cool it off) by pouring it between the two.
I took an auto rickshaw (like a tuk tuk) with my host's brother to the train station where he helped me buy a ticket and made sure I got on the right train.
The ride was beautiful. We passed by women in colorful saris herding cattle and working in the rice fields, small decorated shrines, and interesting villages. I sat with a group of army men. They weren't as friendly initially but after watching me struggle to pay for my lunch with a purse full of ringgits, baht and rupees we talked some about where we are all from and places I should see in India.

Kanchanaburi

I've had a busy few days, or a lot of traveling at least.  I went to Kanchanaburi for the weekend, one of the cities on the Death Railway, and home to the bridge over the river Kwai.

I found a guy on the street who was selling bus tickets.  I thought the trip was going to be in a minibus the whole way but I ended up switching to a larger bus about halfway there which meant that I got dropped off at the bus station instead of in the area where the guesthouses are.  I think it was fate because on my walk I discovered a great little homestay on a side street which I never would've known about otherwise.  It's run by a really sweet Thai couple who speak very good English.  They seemed quite surprised to see me.  Actually everyone on the block did, apparently they don't get many foreigners.

Kanchanaburi was really interesting.  I went on a walk my first day and discovered a Chinese cemetery and a temple / fitness complex where I found a group playing cricket.

The Death Railway museum was very informative and is attached to a project that is researching all of the soldiers who died.  One of the other women in the museum ran a search for her uncle and was able to find information on where he was working and what he was doing before he died.

The museum and cemetery were moving, especially when I walked through the cemetery reading all of the names and ages of those buried there.  Most were only in their 20's.

I visited the bridge over the river Kwai, although the bridge is actually not the original bridge, as that was destroyed by Allied bombing.  Nor is it the bridge from the movie, that one was built nearby and is now completely gone.  Even more surprising is that Kwai is not even the name of the river.  The river is actually called Mae Klong but this section was name Khwae Yai, to sound more like the movie.  

There are two cemeteries in Kanchanaburi, the main one in town, and then a second one across the river and a few km away.  The hospital used to be right nearby and the cemetery was so large they didn't want to move it.  After the war, bodies were exhumed from the many smaller cemeteries and moved into these two.

On my last day in Kanchanaburi the couple that I was staying with had their son drive me to the bus station, but on the way he took me to see a muay thai camp and beautiful Chinese and Thai temples.

I'm going to India!

Kanchanaburi was great, I got into Bangkok yesterday and as soon as I connected to wifi I saw an email from the visa center so I headed back out to pick it up. Traffic, as usual, was brutal, but 4.5 hours later I returned with my brand new Indian visa! Such a relief!
Now I just have to hope I can get out of the country without having to take out anymore baht.

Pictures from Bangkok

Oh look it's Starbu...ng?  I used to suggest to my Starbucks barista friend at home that they should have coffee trucks and he always laughed at me.  But fortunately this enterprising young man has filled the obvious gap.

There is a huge field near the palace that I ran at a few times.  It's almost a mile around!  During the day people relax on the grass and fly kites.

I also found a nice local market where I got a 120 baht ($4) thai massage in a structure made of repurposed metal and old vinyl signs.

I'm all about saving money but... I like the nice sterile feel of a real dentist's office.

Need something?  I'm pretty sure she has it.

Now, I've seen fried insects in markets before, but the only time I've seen scorpions is at markets serving alcohol.  Looks like a dare to me!

I found another great night market nearby.  The best part was that in the two hours that I was there I only saw a couple farangs.  Part night market, part yard sale...

Guitar picks

Hair Straighteners

Halloween props?

Old T-shirts

Hair cuts

Remote controls

Fake nails

Assorted phone chargers

Baby dolls

This is the best I think: cups, you know, the ones you get free when you buy a Jumbo size popcorn at the movies.

 Travel supplies!  Unfortunately the waterproof bag cover wasn't large enough for my bag.

And yes, you can get tattoos and piercings in the market too.

Video games for consoles that haven't been made in 10 years

My friend from Phuket came to visit with her husband. We made friends with a pet squirrel.

I stayed in much cheaper places this time around.  Unfortunately they came with ants and this lovely guy.

I stopped at a mall in the city that looked like a spaceship.

Dessert: coconut milk with various fruits and sweets