A new home

Simon signing in

Well, these past couple of days we have been living within our new studio in the area Koramangala. It is an oasis of calm in the heart of Bangalore. The only noise which we have interrupting our thoughts is birds, people in the far distance and the occasional noise of the pump giving us water. Heaven. The house is in the middle of a garden far from the closest street so it is great.

The studio gives us the upper sections of the house with windows facing towards the rear overlooking a large open field containing nothing but emptiness. I truly do not know what the area is used as. The studio has a large living area and separate large bedroom and bathroom as well as little terrace, though not big enough or nice enough to sit.

We have a communal area down below which is spacious to say the least and there is another 6 people living down here, though some travel constantly, others work all day, and all together we al get along fine. The residents living here are all from the west, and all here for their own reasons.

We were just glad to be out of the other place which turned out to be a little nasty. The guys who own the place seemed just to be wanting to make money and did not really take on board the concept of a serviced apartment. One of them was nice enough, the other though, would sell his mother for a decent buck.

This week too I have enjoyed more my work at APSA. Wednesday was a little frustrating though Thursday there ended up being a great group of MBA students in their last year of studies who came for the entire afternoon to be with the kids, talk, have fun, and dance. Ultimately they also brought a truck load of items for the kids ranging from games, clothes, flip flops, treats, and various other items. This group raise money at their college all year and buy these items and once per year they bring it along, along with the fun. They have been doing this for the past two years and I too had a great time. They dragged me up to dance though I had no hope against Indians. These people know how to dance, and well, they do it to have fun and care not what people think as opposed to home (both Europe and Australia). The kids just loved it.

Too, today (Friday) 10 kids were ‘passed out’ as they had passed their government exams which enables them to go into the mainstream school after the summer. These kids came from various situation and APSA’s Dreamschool helps teach them the basics and helps to prepare them for this exam. Their success is a big success for APSA and today they had a celebration which included the religious offerings, lighting incense and congratulating the students. I too had some applied to my forehead. I enjoyed it. J

This weekend will be a relaxing one in our new home and even more, thre of the people are away in Kolkatta which will not make it better (as they are lovely people), but even more peace and quiet.