The Indian Adventure

Aaaaaand now an introduction to Timbaktu! http://www.timbaktu.org/ TA DAAAA! I'm done now! Joking. I have completed my first full week at Timbaktu and my second week on placement. I am not entirely sure what I have learned but it has been an experience. Before I continue I would like to apologise for the lack of photos. I went through last night and selected a few photos from the last few days in Bangalore and from SEDS and then realised I had selected about 80 photos and they were uploading at about one every 5 minutes so yeah... I am not sure what the data limit is on the internet router I'm "borrowing" and have decided you can wait for more extensive photos when I visit Bangalore sometime in August. I will try to be more constant with posting photos on Instagram and Facebook but we shall see what happens. Anyway, Timbaktu! I got given an annual report booklet to read when I first arrived at the Timbaktu Collective offices. Apparently the "Collective

I just realised I made a grammatical error in my last post. I used ‘to’ when I should have used ‘too’. I probably should not have started with that and instead gone in and edited it so nobody would ever know. I am clearly a disgrace to the English language (fun fact: I got told today that my English was very good and I speak it very well…. Uh… thanks?) I last let off at our imminent departure from our guest house in Bengaluru. We got up Thursday morning (19/07/18) and finished packing the last little things we needed. At some stage since Wednesday afternoon I had started feeling extremely sick. No it was not Delhi Belly (at least I don’t think it was), it was a combination of what I think was severe hayfever and my cough returning with a vengeance. Ever coughed so much you threw up? I’m sure you all really wanted to know that :D So my breakfast consisted of 3 cold jackfruit seeds (I discovered fresh jackfruit while in Bengaluru and it is delicious! And you can boil the seeds and th

So, I realise I start a lot of sentences with “so” and probably should train myself out of that habit. My bad… I feel like my posts are all over the place. I have updated you all on my whereabouts (which is Timbaktu not Timbuktu, and yes both are real places), and posted about my happy place in Bengaluru. I think I’m missing information from Sunday until Saturday when I wrote the update about Timbaktu but to make things easier for me I’ll do one about the remaining time in Bengaluru and then make another one about the adventures since leaving. Placement officially started on the 16th but we had a few unofficial chats with Augustine on Saturday and Sunday, which continued into the week. Most days we’d spend the morning listening to Augustine explain Indian political history, Ghandi, the caste system, the emergence of community development and many other things. And when I say morning I mean he would say he’d see us in the morning and then show up anywhere between 09.00 or 11.30. Af

On Wednesday afternoon, after having my first meal in India and a trip to the local grocery store, I bailed on further exploring as my head was swimming. Alex and Debbie set off to Commercial Street to do some shopping and I stayed behind to settle into the guest house. As part of their adventures they ended up in a little shop owned by a man from Kashmir, talking and sharing for hours. They were invited to return the next day to have a traditional saffron tea and I was invited to go with them. I have lost track of the hours we have spent inside that little shop perched on an odd assortment of chairs, being offered Kahwa (Saffron tea), milk chai (tea) and snacks whilst discussing anything and everything, learning about Pashmina shawls, Indian gem stones, Islam and Kashmiri food. I figured out I was there Thursday, Friday and Saturday and I may have had withdrawals on Sunday when we did not go in. We returned on Tuesday to say our farewells before heading bush (I do not know if that

Blog posts Greetings from Timbaktu! So I have made it to Timbaktu! I realise that I still have quite a few things to catch up on but I am making this post to update you all on where I am. Timbaktu Collective is a grassroots non-profit organisation which works towards the sustainable development of marginalised people across 172 villages in the drought-prone and ecologically challenged Ananthapuramu District in the state of Andhra Pradesh. And yes I just copied that sentence from their “about us” in a booklet I was given when I arrived. They have a campus (where I am living) and an office (where I have internet access) near Chennekothapalli village which is about 2.5 hours outside of Bangalore. I am honestly unsure about how often I will make updates because it is around a 10 minute drive from the office to the campus and despite being told a few times that there is internet access somewhere on campus I am yet to find the wifi… so if this is posted I have made it back to the offi

Some photos from Friday - we had a lazy morning at the guest house waiting for Augustine to visit and then went back into Commercial street for some more shopping Aaaaand more traffic shots from the back of a tuk tuk  Alex makes a friend I discover the roof of the tuk tuk is pretty Just another typical traffic shot  Would anyone like an Eggelette? One example of a footpath in Commercial Street district Angie, I found you your next handbag Cow and baby cow! Shoeses One of the many mosques in Commercial Street district A temple Street shots A church More street/market shots Why must my photos hate me? I discovered a fruit stall around the corner and went overboard Returning to the scene of the crime so Alex could take photos Meet Alex, Debbie, and Sherrie in a terrible photo from the back of a tuk tuk Dinner Friday night - we were recommended this restaurant by Baba and did not realise it was g

And now, what you've all been waiting for! Actually, if you have just been waiting for photos I'm offended you don't like reading my ramblings. Regardless, some photos: In my first Tuk tuk Just some traffic outside the tuk tuk Out the other side Entrance to the Gardens The walkway through from the gate Inside the gardens The granite hill The shrine at the top of said granite hill Our rejected friend Cool trees, also my first failure at trying to photograph a squirrel Kites soaring overhead (bird Kite not kite kite) One of the families Alex befriended that we took photos with Sean befriends a topiary deer (?) Not actually sure what this was. We were trying to walk away from an overly enthusiastic potential tour guide at this point Some carvings This was a giant peacock that presumably will have a floral tail come August A fountain The rose gardens. There were no roses in bloom