Weekend past, week two. Simon signs in

Well, for the rest of Bangalore, the weekend has ended and all must return to work. As for Rein and I, as we have changed our work days we have another two days off. :-)

We had a lovely weekend and checked out some different things. I guess the most incredible thing we got to do was check out the Bangalore Queer Film Festival which took place on the weekend. It was just incredible to see so many Indian gays in one area. Most Indian gays did not even expect to witness it! For people reading this, you have to remember that India only recently changed the law on homosexuality, meaning you now will not be arrested for being gay! That said, India is steeped in history and tradition to this day and almost everyone we have met this past weekend are 'out' to themselves, though not even close to telling their families! They are still in the firing line of having their weddings arranged! Rein and I have been talking to people and they have been amazed that we are married and are able to marry and be together just like any other citizen in Belgium!

One great thing I also felt at the BQFF was how friendly each were to each other, open to new meetings and conversations. This for me made a relaxing mood as there seemed to be none of the usual 'cliques' of groups, bitches on one side, steroid pumped freaks to the other, queens milling around and not one sign of designer snobbery! It was actually relaxing and kind and friendly and people were happy to talk!
In spite of all the problems still associated with being gay in India, there is an upside in being such a small well knit crowd, which may have once been the same back 30 perhaps 40 years ago in most other areas of society in Europe or Australia, and that one day, they too will become the same tired excuse for a gay community we all witness today of which for me, tires me and makes me choose other people to associate with.

All that aside, the weekend was relaxing. Rein made some contacts with some people which we arranged to meet. Of everyone we met, not one of them actually comes from Bangalore. Most move here for work as Bangalore is the global capital of IT. This industry has just built this city at such speed that only in the last 20 years have they increased the population from a few hundred thousand to the current 8 million and they believe within the next two years they will easily be at 10 million. That is the population of Belgium and half the population of Australia. In one city! And this number DOES NOT include all the poor living in the slums and the homeless on every corner.

Too, yesterday we drove past the Bangalore Cricket Stadium and we could hear the crowd roar. Not sure if you know, but the World Cup of Cricket is being hosted by India and the game is currently in Bangalore. I for one have zero interest in Cricket but I just thought about my brother and father who would DIE to be in the stadium watching the matches, or just to be in any city to witness the obsession India's feel for cricket! What is funny though, is that like most gays in the world, Indian gays also have no interest in Cricket or sport in general. Most, not all! :-)

In general, Rein and I are settling nicely into Bangalore. We are arranging and rearranging our room to personalise it and have been constantly teaching the house boys how to do this and that, including how to wash clothes correctly, how best to make coffee, how to make a bed correctly and how we want breakfast everyday. This is good for both parties as they are learning new things which they have never seen or experienced (like crazy westerners and their even crazier habits) and we have confidence we are having our coffee tasting good and our clothes clean! The other day too, Rein and I wanted to open a bottle of local Rosé wine (in the end, this proved to be a waste of time and money and taste buds) and we requested a cork screw. Well, they produced the world's smallest (made perhaps for one of those little oil bottles) which obviously did not work, and resulted in only bending it out of shape. I ended up walking around the neighbourhood at the several aptly named 'malls' which are a world within themselves, to find a corkscrew. Well, no one sold one, nor did the local wine shop. Well, I spotted a man selling all sorts of crap and things and well, what would you know, he had TWO! At rupees 300, I purchased and ran home to open our bottle. The boys here had never seen such a contraption on both looked on in awe! After I showed them the opening action and that it could be opened in 5 seconds flat, they both had to hold it and witness it's action again! It was funny, but I guess back in Nepal they were not cracking bottles open every night like us drunken westerners. :-)

Well, breakfast is finished and I should shower and make a move. Until next time. :-) Simon

First Impressions, Volunteering - Simon

Well, I have completed my first 'week' of volunteering. Our 'work' week currently consists of three days Wednesday until Friday, 10am until 4pm. Lovely working hours which give us time to take it all in, though this first week only I worked Mon till Wed, hence the completion of my first week. :-)

I guess this first week has been slow as I'm am just trying to see where I fit in. The centre has hundreds of kids from ages between 8 - 18 of which all have been 'saved' in one way or another from a neglected or forgotten past. Whether they were abandoned by their parents, working in the sex trade, child labourers or just being abused by their family or carers and needed to be saved. This centre certainly changes their lives for the better.

The Association for the Promotion of Social Action (APSA) has been doing this great job for 25 years and it has just grown from strength to strength. They provide accommodation and all their meals, healthcare and counselling and a great 'Dream School' where they are educated. Taught in English, though also Hindi and the local dialect, Kannada, these kids just love being in an environment which just lets them be themselves and it shows.

Additionally, APSA has developed their own training centre for the elder kids teaching them such things as tailoring, screen printing, computers and a few other technical things. They produce lots of goods through their training and these items are often sold to clients which include many Four and Five star hotels. Items such as business cards and laundry bags for rooms are produced here.

My first three days were, I felt, unproductive, but hey, I guess it will just happen in time. They have asked me to produce an impact study on one of their other successful projects, the Self Help Groups (SHGs; I will not go into detail just yet about this). I am a little bewildered by this as I have NEVER done an Impact study and can not imagine how best to commence. I have started as best as I can and will find out more next week. Together with our friends of Better Future Rein and I have started a co-coaching group (intervision) and through that I now have a few suggestions which I think can make the impact study the best that I can (APSA provided me with another impact study produced 6 years ago which resulted in a very detailed report consisting of 107 pages, this, I assure you, will not come from me).

Another task which I am helping with is to produce a power point presentation to show to Corporates in the hope of obtaining financial support. This I can do, but it again puts me behind a desk which I guess is not what I want.

They feed me, along with everyone else at the centre and the food is simple, yet great! Rein and I are yet to come across any dish which we have classified as 'too spicy' which means we are pushing the boundaries in the hope of finding it. But this also lets us know that we can handle the level of 'masala' they are adding.

Today was a relaxing day for me whilst Rein is still for one day at his organisation, Spastics Society of Karnataka. I went to check the centre out for myself and had lunch with 'Uncle' (Rein's nick name by the kids) and check out their centre. As Rein may had mentioned, he only needs to walk 15 minutes to reach his, whilst I have to take an auto-rickshaw for 25 minutes!

Tomorrow Rein and I will sneak back into the Leela Palace swimming pool and have a couple of hours by the poolside. Rein did a recon the other day and managed to just walk straight in and get comfy. The Leela hotel is an incredible oasis, the surroundings of which show you that even with all the poverty which still exists, there is a lot of money being made and spent here. In fact, Bangalore is apparently the second fasting growing city in the world!

Day two at Spastics

Rein checking in -

"Today was my second day at SSK. Their centre is located on a peaceful, green campus about 10 min.

 walk from where we live. 

I started the morning assisting the physiotherapists in getting the kids ready for class. They are picked up from their homes by a school bus and there are several that arrive in wheelchairs. Some of the kids require special assistance to get them from their wheelchair into the school seats. This is called "positioning" and involves lifting them from their chair onto mats, some stretching of their limbs and then binding them up (comfortably) into specially designed seats to get them upright so they can actively participate during class. I found this very rewarding work.

The second activity on my schedule took me to the "home school". Here I assisted the special education professionals in training autistic kids in several basic life skills, such as focus and concentration as well as eye / motor coordination (not sure if I got the wording right here). This was very challenging work as it is really hard to communicate with these kids.

The last activity on my schedule was at the school bakery, where mentally retarded kids join in the production of bread and cookies which the centre supplies to several big clients and the general public. The kids and I had a great time baking and chatting away.

As you can imagine it was a pretty full-on day, what lots of new experiences and impressions. So it was good to have an "intervision" session scheduled with our friends Jai & Cheryl on the rooftop terrace of their wonderfully calm and serene offices. It was a good session in which we all got to have a good debrief of the week past.

Tomorrow another full day at Spastics..."

- Rein checking out.

Start of our first "working week"

Rein checking in -

"Yesterday Simon and I each had our first official day of volunteering. I met with Cheryl at Spastics just before 10 am for our meeting with Dr. Hema, the Society's Head of Research and HR. We had a brief chat and then she took me to the Society's Chief Executive, an elderly lady who's been there almost from the start (some 25+ years). From our meeting I could immediately ascertain that she is the driving force and source of inspiration of the 60 or so staff that look after the 350+ children in the centre's care. Such passion, such wisdom and drive, and that for a 78 y/o lady. I hope I will have plenty more occasions to sit and discuss with her, but seeing how much loved and in demand she is, our encounters will probably be few. She understood me completely, in terms of my reasons for volunteering, what I am looking for and how I can be of best use to the centre, so together we decided that I will start of with hands-on assistance in the care for the children.

I was then paired up with Maxi, the head of the rehabilitation centre. Maxi is a great guy, a little younger than I, with a thorough education in paediatrics, children psychology and physiotherapy. Before being able to take me around the campus, he asked me if I would assist him during his 11 o'clock appointment. Of course I was; and so I assisted in the assessment of shaving skills of two intellectually challenged adolescents'... (the two boys had been instructed not to shave for a week and perform the act in front of Maxi, so he could assess their skill at it and if they would require extra training in this - all this is part of the life skills program which aims at making the kids at the centre self reliant and capable of independent living).

What I learned that day was that the Association not only has a research and rehabilitation centre, but a school for elementary and vocational training for kids with special needs as well. Initially, this school targeted children with cerebral palsy only, but due to its success (and no doubt the passion of the staff and association's management) it now includes children with all kinds of learning disabilities (such as autistic and intellectually challenged children) as well!

Due to the centre's schedule of activities, we decided that it would make most sense that I would be there at the end, rather than the beginning of the week. So my volunteering hours will be Wednesday through Friday, 9:30 - 15:30. I will be mainly assisting the professionals in group activities, which include sports, arts etc. I am still not sure what exactly, but I will surely know by the end of this week.

So my changed schedule meant that I was off today. After a third and luckily final visit to the FRRO in the morning, where we received our official registration, I took a tuk-tuk to the Leela Palace, a beautiful five star hotel, probably the best in town, where I crashed the pool :-) I was really gagging for a good swim to work-out my back muscles (due to the rigid mattress of our bed, I wake up sore with muscle pain each morning :-( We had been to the Palace on our first evening in Bangalore, having been invited for dinner there by our dear friend P. from Brussels, who was visiting Bangalore on a business trip. He showed us around the magnificent grounds of the place (the hotel is set in a lush purpose-built tropical garden) and I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to bluff my way into the pool area; which it wasn't.

So I had my swim and read my book until it was time to go home in time for Simon's return from his second day of volunteering and to get ready for our evening appointment, with a fellow Nijenrode graduate who started an Indian import consultancy, based here in Bangalore, together with another Nijenrode graduate. I haven't met him before, but we got in touch through our Alma Mater's "network" and decided it would be nice to meet up.

Then back to work tomorrow...."

- Rein checking out.

A restful Sunday in Bangalore

Simon signing in;

Waking this morning at a decent hour to get an early start to our day, we succeeded in leaving the house at around 10.30. Three hours after waking. We tried. We had decided that we wanted to get out and get started a.s.a.p. to get a few sights in.

It was a lovely morning and Sunday seems to be the overall rest day for all Bangaloreans as it was very quiet and few cars on the roads. Our first destination was the Government Museum which claimed to house wonderful portraits, miniatures, jewellery and other items. We had decided to walk as it was Sunday and well, we had no need to be anywhere else so why not take our time. As is customary with travel with Rein, the walk went on for around 8km in which many a detour was taken. I personally like direct routes, but I guess I have learned to trust Rein and go with the flow (well, there was the sewer incident).

Although it was Sunday, and that the streets were much quieter than normal, it was still NON-STOP. People everywhere, noise, smog, cars, bikes and all of the above. Taking the detour meant leaving most of this behind. It was a pleasant walk past many a local market stall. One in particular looked lovely and Rein asked the little old lady if we could take a pic. No problem. Well, the stalls around us wanted to know why they did not have the privilege so we took some others. One in particular saw an old lady run into the picture, grab Rein's arm to throw around HER shoulder as if they were best buddies! Too funny. Contrary to what we expected, people actually like their picture taken in India.

Rein's new best friend

The walk was lovely but I was glad to just arrive at our destination. The building was a remainder of the Raj period and could have as easily been found in the UK or even Australia as it just screamed British.

The imposing Government Museum of Bangalore

Upon entering we were happy to see the entry fee for adults was just 4 rupees which is around .08 Euro. Any museum in Delhi had foreigner rates which were twenty times the local fee. Well, the museum sure had fallen on some hard times and it seemed that what ever treasures there once were must have been shipped off to a better museum somewhere else. The building itself was worth the walk around plus we ended up having lunch in the garden.

After lunch we took a leisurely walk through the adjacent gardens of Cubbon Park which links itself to the High court and the parliament buildings for Karnataka, the state in which we live.

The original woman herself, Victoria

By this stage I was starting to just get tired. Partly from the walk, but just as much by the constant stimulation of everything around us. We ended up finding an auto-rickshaw and escape to the gigantic Botanical Lal Bach gardens for a rest.

The gardens seemed to be a popular place for everyone to escape as it too was busy but being so big, we were sure to find some quite spot to sit and nap.

The gardens were lovely indeed and we could see why the locals loved to be here, although it looked like ALL the locals decided to pop past too. The park was massive yet you would be sitting no more than 10mtr from the next group! Rein was loving the escape of the city smog and noise and I guess I too was enjoying the escape.

Karnataka Parliament

This is the motto on the local government building;
did they get it from Belgium?

Gob smacked Bollywood Lion

Finally we both had enough and decided to just return to our apartment. On the way, we AGAIN stopped for our favourite sweets and am now sitting on our terrace with Mohaan, our Nepalese house whalla is helping us with our chai.

Mohaan, just after being asked for yet more chai,  change of the sheets, Mr. Rein's  pillows to be fluffed and did he have to have a sleeze mo? He is a sport.

Simon out.

Day 5

Rein checking in -

"We had another two full days since I last wrote. Yesterday morning we visited APSA, where we met with the coordinators of various of their activities, such as the "Child Line", for children in distress,  their children's residence and various teachers of their school, as well as the Director of APSA Bangalore. We were very impressed with the good work that takes place there as well as the warmness with which we were welcomed into the community by the kids and staff. Simon will start there on Monday and I'm sure he'll be well at home there and able to apply all his creativity and organisation skills, so stay tuned for his stories on this blog.

After APSA, most of the remainder of the day was spent at the FRRO again trying to get our registration sorted. We were sent from one queue to the next, from the application forms counter to an entry-check, to scrutiny-check, to registration officer's desk then up to the asst. director's office (because of course we are such a special case it has to be reviewed by the hierarchy) and finally the actual registration desk. We need to go back there a third (and hopefully last) time to pick up our registration cards.

All of this of course serves the purpose of slowing down and going with the flow. We both handled the waiting very well, sitting back, relaxing with a book or chatting with the various other registrants from all over the world, each with their own fascinating stories. This is what a sabbatical is all about. To have time and "space" to be open to new interactions.

When we finally left the building we decided to take a took-took (auto rickshaw) into town to check out the local pub scene, have a few drinks and a bite to eat.

We made it to the intersection of Brigade and Residency Roads, which is in fact the "Times Square" of Bangalore, where we discovered the fabulous rooftop terrace of, Chin Lung, a dive of a place which serves as a restaurant, cum gay-bar (yes, I kid you not, it is an out and proud gay bar) cum rooftop lounge. We reckon we will have a few pints there, yet!

Today we took it easy in the morning, checking out our local area, did some grocery shopping and after lunch made our way to the Better Future office for a workshop with W-Ish, a music & dance group that consists of former APSA children that are now inspiring other kids to get engaged in the performing arts.

It took place on the wonderful rooftop terrace of the BF office, where we already spent many inspiring and relaxing hours with our wonderful partners (J & C) and look forward to many more.

Then it was more walking and exploring the streets of Bangalore with all the wonderful sights, smells and sounds they have to offer until we reached home again for some pre-dinner drinks (and blog writing) on our terrace overlooking the park in front of our flat.

A Bangalore street impression,
look for the kids playing in front of the temple

This wonderful flower lady let us take her picture for a rose

Spectators watching the cricket match at a local TV shop

Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to our first day of true "sight seeing"; we're off for an early morning start to one of the many Bangaloree museums and then an afternoon in the Lalbagh botanical gardens, which were planted in the 18th century (I need a bit of fresh air after a week of breathing in pollution....)"

- Rein checking out

Bangalore - Impressions from a different perspective

Rein checking in -

"After three full days in our new hometown, my head is spinning with new impressions! This is such a vastly different territory than what we've been used to over the last 6 years. I guess, that's what we came for, and we're getting it in bucket loads!

Our new address in Bangalore, intersection of 15th Cross & 7th Main; we are in the apartment on the  second floor

Where to start? Our new address maybe? We are on 507, 15th Cross Road. Easy to remember I thought when we got here. But then it turned out that there are literally hundreds of 15th Cross Roads in the city. I didn't realise that the Cross actually refers to a part of the coordinates of any address in town.  The city is divided into dozens of "colonies" (neighbourhoods), which are in turn divided into quadrants (called stages) and each of these has a grid of main roads and cross roads; so our full address is 507, 15th Cross, 7th Main, Indira Nagar, Second Stage, Bangalore; get it??? 

Then there is the traffic… It's manic; the honking never stops, and as a pedestrian you are literally at the bottom of the food chain, way behind cows, who can roam the streets (and even high ways) freely, in doing so adding to the general chaos. As you have read from Simon's last entry, the sidewalks are not safe to walk on, which means you are free game for all motorised (and even unmotorised) traffic as you try to make your way along the sides of the road.  But this hasn't stopped us from walking to the Better Future office and back each day.

And it is worth it! We have been taking different routes each time and are constantly surprised by what we find along the way, ranging from beautiful temples, to wonderful candy stores, bazaars, beautiful colonial buildings and lushly green avenues.

After all these daily impressions, it is good to get home to our nice flat in a (relatively) quiet neighbourhood and sit on our balcony, having a cup of afternoon chai; which is exactly where I am as I'm writing this post.

Tomorrow will be a big day as we have our first meeting with APSA for Simon to find out what they have in store for him. I won't have a chance to have a pre-meeting with the Spastic Society (SSK) and will go in cold on Monday morning! I am sure we'll both have many, many more impression to share with you after that!"

- Rein checking out

Bangalore - First Impressions

Simon signing in -

Well, here we are, in Bangalore finally. On first glance, it appears to be a very green and lush city and not as intense as Delhi (albeit we were in Delhi for only 6 days).

The guys, Jai and Cheryl, here at Better Future have also welcomed us to their city with warm open arms and have just been incredible with their valuable guidance and assistance. This is where I'm sitting right now typing this blog, under the canopy of the roof terrace surrounded by fabulous palms with the sound of a thousand cars going past in the distance.

Our accommodation is not far from Better Future (around 25mins walk) which is great. The area we are staying, Indira Nagar (named after Indira Gandhi), is one of the four 'posh' areas of Bangalore (so we are told) which means we have a lot of good amenities close by. Our room is within a serviced apartment and at first we were given a small back room with tiny bathroom. The room and bathroom were okay, though the following day one of the other rooms came available so we jumped at the chance to move ourselves to give us some more space. This of course came at a small rate increase, though we think it is worth it. Within the apartment are two young Nepalese guys of which only one speaks (!) English. They try to be of assistance where possible.

This week, Rein and I have just been taking it easy and working together with Better Future to set up our next three months of volunteer work. Me, working with APSA (Association for Positive Social Action) and Rein, with the Spastics Society of Karnataka. We both have a meeting with APSA tomorrow at 11am where we will meet our contact, Sheila, and be introduced to the organisation and all of its staff, workers, students and children. Rein will go directly to SSK on Monday to start off his volunteer assignment. Other than these, we have also just been trying to get other 'items' set. Phones, wifi (which remains unreliable, so please don't expect a blog update on a daily basis ;-), registering with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office and just finding out where best to buy shopping items and food. With this, there is a lot of walking which saw me have my first accident.

Last night after dinner, Rein wanted to try a new direction home which would have been quicker (I do believe him, but none the less). Walking along the road I was just going straight, looking at the homes and people as I passed when all of sudden I vanished one meter into the ground! Shocked and scared I screamed and pulled myself out. Rein had ran over to help me too as did a couple of locals (at first watching idle by the side amazed at this fat ass Westerner being dragged from a hole in their neighbourhood). Well, I was in a little pain and I could stand up. I had in fact fallen into the sewer. LUCKILY, this part of the sewer was dry. LUCKILY AGAIN, I decided at the last minute to change from flip flops to shoes. The hole which I fell in was actually along the footpath. In most places here the sewer actually runs along the footpath and is somewhat irregularly covered by walking tiles and all over the place there is big open holes some with 'mush' which you can only imagine what that is and how it smells. This answered my earlier question to Rein as to why people walked on the road and not the footpath (a habit Rein had already copied).

Arriving back to the apartment by auto-rickshaw, I rushed to the room to inspect my war wounds and Rein helped me to get started on disinfecting and bandaging. The two smaller gashes were not too bad and I have a scrape bruise the size of a lunch plate on my ass.

This morning I woke to still be able to stand and walk and got going to our first appointment for the day. The Regional Foreigners Office. This is where anyone who is from outside of India must come to register if they are staying here for 6 months or more. Well, it was crowded and we saw more Westerners in there than our whole time since being in India alone! The process was not too long, though as was expected, he were missing one or two documents so we will have to try again tomorrow!

This weekend, relaxing and perhaps check out a few of the sights of our new home.

Simon

On the train from Delhi to Bangalore

Rein checking in -

"I'm writing this on the train (there is no internet connection of course, so I'll just upload this post to our blog next time we can) somewhere in between Nagpur and Hyderabad, while the lush, green country side, alternating between wet lands and cotton fields, rolls past my window. It truly is an incredible experience, training right through the subcontinent from the North to the South.

I have to admit it was all a bit of a shock as we got to the busy Nizzamudin station (the "gare du midi" of Delhi). We were really grateful that our friends G. & S. had sent their car and driver out to bring us there. The driver expertly dealt with the flocks of coolies, picking a reliable character, ensuring he will get us on the right train, compartment and seat, and also agreeing a fair fee for carrying our 7 (!) bags there…

All went well, getting to the platform and waiting for the train to arrive. Then when it did, there was mayhem all around. We soon lost our coolie (with our baggage!) being stopped by a train official who tried to send us to a different carriage than the one we had seen our porter board the train into. Luckily we managed to convince the official to let us on board at the same entrance, only to find a long, narrow corridor with people scramming to find the best spot for themselves. As we pushed through the throng we found our porter again pointing to our 40 cm wide berths, above each other, in the corridor. What happened to the 4 berth compartment we were promised? Panic started to set in, considering where we were going to put all our luggage in the corridor and still have space for both of us to sit for 36 hours (let alone sleep…). We double checked the ticket. There was no mistake. We were placed in the corridor, separated from our fellow passengers walking past, up and down to the toilets (which on my inspection all appeared to be a filthy gaping hole in the floor over which one scats to relieve one's self), by an old, browny (was that its original colour?) curtain attached to our berths…

This is where Simon gets into his own (scarily similar to his mother). Instantly, while I stand numbed as if shell shocked, he takes charge of the situation, figuring out a way in which to place our large pieces underneath the berth and hanging up the other bags on various hooks and suspensions to free up the sitting space for us to plonk down. We managed to settle in some what and orient ourselves on the train. We appeared to be the only non-Indians on the entire thing. All around us are hundreds of happy campers, ranging from trade travellers, business men, students and whole families, settling in for their respective journeys. It dawns on us that it will be virtually impossible to get any peace and quiet for the next 36 hours, wedged in between our items, having to remain vigilant and with roughly one square-meter of personal space. This is when we see an equally bewildered group of travellers scurrying past us in the opposite direction with their luggage and it occurs to me that, maybe, just maybe an upgrade to the next class may be possible.

The conductor comes past to check our tickets and I politely enquire after this. He sternly investigates his reservation lists, repeatedly confirming that, indeed we are travelling all the way down to Bangalore, the terminus of his train. When he starts wagging his head we both get a jolt of anticipative excitement and yes, if we are happy for two upper berths only, then we can move to the one and only carriage on the train with individual double and 4-berth cabins. I ask him if I can have a look and make my way to the very back of the train to the last carriage where I find a four berth cabin with a single, corpulent, bare footed, paan chewing government official, but hey the luxury of space, even when shared with this gentleman, is too appealing to let go. So I hurry back to agree the upgrade with the conductor and start hauling our bags along the train corridor, over legs, boxes, crates and what have you to our new "luxury retreat" on the Rajdhani Express!

Once settled in, we relax and enjoy the three course dinner service, which is brought to our compartment by two dedicated valas, before settling in for the night on our berths suspended in the air. Even the fact that our compartment companion has turned on his music box to play non-stop Bollywood love songs does not faze us as we doze off on the rhythm of the train into a deep, and contented sleep.

The next morning we wake up around nine for a breakfast of coffee and omelettes and are enthralled by the views of rural India gliding past through our window. Around mid-morning we stop at Nagpur, where our travel friend gets off and is replaced by a friendly, young professional, on his way home to Bangalore, a city of which he speaks with lots of love and warmth. I realise that's what Simon and I are too, on our way home to Bangalore! Life is good."

- Rein checking out

We've arrived in Delhi!

Rein checking in -

"Dear all, we have arrived in Incredible India!

Finding Internet access for our laptop is appearing more difficult than we anticipated, hence the absence of blog updates... In fact not sure how long I have to type this so better get something posted quickly.

Delhi is an amazing place. All you 'd expect from a big Indian city, the colours, smells, food and sites. we're taking it all in and get exhausted by the end of each day. So we are so happy that we are staying with our good friends G. & S. with all the comfort their lovely flat provides.

Hope to be able to write more soon. Probably not before we arrive in Bangalore, after our 36 hour train ride. We leave tomorrow (Sunday) evening and arrive in Bangalore on Tuesday morning.

Please bare with..."

It's the final Count-Down!

Rein signing in -
"Two more days to go in Belgium before our departure to Delhi. We are now stationed in the woods of Kapellen, just north of Antwerp, in my parents' cottage. It feels a bit surreal to be in the middle of a park, surrounded by peace and quiet knowing that the hustle and bustle of India lies only a few days away.
We spend our days finalising our preparations. It's amazing how much there can be to do if you have the time for it; I mean how many more times will we have to be dealing with telephone providers, mail services, banks, insurers and removalists  before it's all in order. I realise that it will only be done when I finally decide to let it go and get on with the trip.
While I am dealing with the above, Simon is busy with packing and repacking, trying to get the final luggage down to the bare essentials.
And then of course, there are more good byes. We've had our goodbye Brussels party last Saturday and yesterday we spent the day with my sister's family at their house near Maastricht. It was good to take some time to relax and enjoy with them.
In the meantime we're also getting a better idea of the kind of volunteering we may be doing - me with the Spastic Society of Karnataka and Simon with the Association for Promoting Social Action - and how we may be living there (maybe sharing accommodation with other foreigners there for different purposes).  But it looks like nothing will finalise before we actually get there... Exciting!!! "
- Rein signing out

Homeless in Belgium.... could be worse. :-)

Okay, it has happened, it is official, reality is really sinking in. Rein and I are homeless in Belgium and our life (in the form of furniture) is in storage somewhere in the The Netherlands. We hope.

The packing and move took three days. Starting Sunday (after the party) we cleaned and started to collect items for easy packing etc. We did have the movers coming in on Monday but learning from the last time this happened, we knew a few tricks which was best for both parties. Apart from the movers forgetting a few draws to pack within the LAST 10 MINS of departure (Rein and I got a little worried for everything else) which then had to be hurriedly packed not in boxes (these had ran out about 10 boxes ago), but in our Carrefour bags to be packed correctly later. Again, we hope.

Rein and I were not emotional about leaving the apartment. We do not really know why, we had many a happy times there, we had met and will remain friends with many people, so it was not Brussels, but something told us both then that the move was needed, the time had come (we also got word other 'outsiders' moving to Brussels, And from Berchem of all places, so it is probably for the best). With the house empty, cleaned to a high level, final inspection completed and keys handed over, Rein and I drove away in a heavily laden car to our temp home in Kapellen, Antwerpen.

Today, waking around 10am to the sound of the cleaner trying to gain access the house of Rein's parents, Rein and I awoke to a new start. Surrounded by the 500 peices of 'crap' surrounding us, the journey had begun.

All this 'crap' is what I planned that we needed to last us for the 10 months (probably even longer) ahead. With this one week still in Northern Europe, the three to six months in India, anywhere in between, we had to think what was best. It turns out I think I have packed thinking I had four people coming. I had visions of me and Rein dragging all this luggage down some busy streets, realising at the train station we lost one on the way, loading it one the train, arriving 36 hours later with just one suitcase and getting to our new home with the suitcase containing the northern Europe clothes. Think rationally Simon. My task therefore is to unpack the ENTIRE lot here, and half it completely and repack. I have been told this is the trick and never fails. Yeh, right. Were these people aware of the shoes which cannot simply follow this 'half measure' rule! All in all, Rein and I currently have one massive case each, two large carry bags and our 'man-sacs' (personally coined expression, combining Dutch and French. Politically correct no?). I will come back to this subject when we have made these changes.

Too, this morning, I received my first official email outlining what tasks I will have ahead of me. Well, a little daunting I must say,  but exciting at the same time. They listed around 9 different tasks ranging from preparation of some power point presentations for some of their different charity arms, to conducting surveys and visits on Microfinance, etc. Will keep you posted also.

Okay people, signing off and will be in contact soon.
Simon