Our second week in Bangalore

Rein checking in -

"It is interesting to experience how quickly you can get into a routine of sorts in a new place, no matter how foreign it is. We seem to have already started to do so, even if we've only been here two weeks.

It feels like the honeymoon is over. We are not as keen anymore on visiting the local (tourist) sites and don't feel in the know enough just yet to venture out of town to explore the surrounding countryside. Beside that, Wednesday was a government holiday, so we only had two days of volunteer work this week. We ended up spending a lot of time at the flat, relaxing, reading books and reflecting on our move.

The truth is that I feel we are somewhere half way between travelling tourists and settling into our new home. It is making me feel somewhat displaced in my new surroundings and not quite sure about my next steps.

The weekend was quite full, visiting the well organised Bangalore Queer Film Festival, which was held at the local Alliance Française, where we saw several excellent movies and also met several interesting people. On Saturday evening we went to one of the festival parties, which was good fun. It started at 8 pm and by 9:30 the party was in full swing. This is so, because of the strict curfew laws here, which dictate that all pubs, clubs and parties must close before midnight! This doesn't stop the locals from having a good time though - they just get into to it a bit earlier than what we're used to in Europe.

My second week at Spastics was one of getting better acquainted with the place, trying out new activities. I got involved in the actual education process, joining a class of 10 year olds. I helped out with reading, mathematics, computer class and arts & crafts. These kids all have CP (cerebral palsy) with various degrees of associated disorders (both physical and mental) and therefor need special care and attention. A lot of the teaching actually happens one-on-one. So this allows me to really get involved in the process and I love it. The kids can be so clever, artistic and naughty at times and they demand constant attention. After two hours I am exhausted and I have huge respect for the permanent staff who do this day-in-day-out.

This week I also sampled Ayurvedic medicine. There is a clinic just around the corner from where we live, so I just dropped in to enquire after treatments against back aches and to help sleep (as you know I haven't been sleeping well due to the mattress which has been causing me a lot of muscle aches in my back). Before I knew it I had agreed to a four day treatment of massages and tonics to cure me from all my gripes. The treatment saw me lying on a bare wooden plank, covered in litres of oil, while two attendants pounded, herbal hot packs on my back. The packs were heated on the spot by frying them in a wok with boiling oil, which was cooking right next to the massage bench. I can assure you that at times I was screaming out in pain as the packs were leaving burn marks on my skin or I was  stomped into the wooden table, but the result is there. I sleep much better and my back is no longer sore (as much).

And of course we did a lot of exploring through town again. We wondered the streets of our neighbourhood and visited Bangalore Palace, summer residence of the former maharaja of Mysore.

These guys roam the streets of well to do neighbourhoods
for kids that fancy an impromptu camel ride!

Here are some random shots of our trips across town during the past week.

Our local corner shop

The metro, in construction,
can you believe it is due to open
next month...

Bangalore Palace