Fort Cochin, dolphins, etc

Well here we are in Fort Cochin. Some of the immediate things that I feel need mentioning are that this morning after we had our breakfast we went to the coast where the fisherman were pulling in their Chinese fishing nets and as we watched them fish, not even 100ft from us there were dolphins feeding in the water. Occassionally I have to pinch myself so that I know it is real.

We have drank Kingfisher beer which we have both decided does not compare to our old Sri Lankan friend Lion beer.

We have had men masturbate on bicycles as we walk past...hello India

We have bartered in stores until we were blue in the face for clothes that we hope will be cooler than what is currently in our wardrobe and will hopefully put an end to the bicycle action I mentioned above.

We have eated marsala prawns which make my mouth water just thinking about.

We sweat just sitting still.

Soon we are going to venture out on a 5hour bus trip inland, where hopefully things will be a little bit cooler

Good bye Sri Lanka...hello India

Deb and I said good bye to Sri Lanka yesterday morning. I have been trying to post photos of the work we did there, but you can view it at www.tripca.org as posting to the blog seems to be a problem right now.

We arrived in Trivandrum yesterday morning...and our hotel which is setting us back about $10/night (which is a little expensive actually) has a tv with several movie channels. So instead of exploring which would have been too much work in this heat, we plunked ourselves down and watched 4 hours of tv. How heavenly is that? Now don't go thinking we are staying at the ritz. Our room might have a tv, but it doesn't have sheets on the bed, towels or toilet paper. It is pretty basic. My friend Ben in Thailand sent us photos of his new house there and Deb and I almost went right out to teh airport and booked our ticket there because his place looks so nice.

What can I tell you about Trivandrum other than it is HOT, busy, and dirty. Not the most appealing discription I am sure but both Deb and I are holding back judgement on it until we have had the chance to explore it a little more this afternoon. First order of business is to get our Indian cell phone working, check out the train station and then do some sight seeing.

We are both craving some good home cooked meals right now. The last thing I want is another plate of rice. But while we are in southern india I am not sure we will find much else. So as you all sit there eating spaghetti, pizza, steak...heck I would even take a burger; think of us...eating more curry.

India Bound

Well I was trying to post some photos, but for whatever reason it didn't work,so I will try again once I get to India. So stay tuned because there are some good ones coming.

We are done house bulding. Yesterday was a sad day...saying good bye to the workers and theother volunteers. I am a little amazed and a little surprised at how much affection I felt for the workers after only a couple of weeks spent with them and with most of them having very little knowledge of English. On our 2nd last day we split up into groups and went and visited about 6 of their homes. Got to meet their families and see how they live. It reinforced for me how lucky I am to live in Canada as some of them lived in homes without windows and doors and had only 2 rooms.

It was a great experience. I had a lot of laughs with both the workers and the other crazy Canadian volunteers. Now Deb and I are back in Bentota getting prepared to leave for India on the 30th. We are heading to Trivandrum and I think we will park ourselves there for about a week so we can get acclimatized to the culture and the people. A touch sad to be leaving Sri Lanka. The people and the country are gorgeous.
I also think that Deb and I feel pretty comfortable here, so heading to India will be taking us out of our comfort zone again...which can always be a little unsettling.

Let the sweating begin

Well we just finished our first week of building houses and I don't even know where to begin to describe what a completely incredible experience it has been. It is HOT here, so Deb and I drink about 80 litres of water a day. The work is hard and the days are long. So far I have mixed and poured cement (by hand) for the floors in 4 houses. The Sri Lankan workers are impressed with our strength and our work ethic and have told me that I could get a job in construction here. I have climbed on top of a roof and put up the ceramic tiles. How to explain that the roof is made up of tiny pieces of wood, smaller than a 2x4 and that the Sri Lankan workers walk across them like they are on the ground, wearing flip flops and sarongs. They are incredible.

WE have sifted sand for plaster, we have dug foundations with nothing more than hoes and these crazy picks. The tools are rudimentary at best.

The workers...lets just say if I were to see half of them on the street of Tangalle late at night I would probably be afraid. Some of their nicknames (which of course I have made up) are pretty self expanatary and give you an idea as to why I might be afraid of them. My favourites are "one tooth" and "cheech". But after working with these men for a week I have totally fallen in love with them. Even though they speak very little english we manage to communicate with them through gestures, etc. I am even getting married to 1 of them on Tuesday. He is already married and has a 12 yr old daughter, but I am told that I can be the 'white wife'...sounds interesting enough for me. It is my first marriage proposal, so I feel pretty good. Ha!

I know I have thanked the people that donated already...but really you all need to know that the money you gave was SO worth it. TO have met some of the families that will be receiving these homes it makes me want to cry every time. A couple of them came to the site this week and worked along side us. It was wonderful to see the little children walking among the houses, you could almost imagine what the place will be like once everyone has moved in. If you haven't donated and think you might like to you can go to the TRIP website. Search it on google as I can't recall the url. Some really wonderful stuff happening here.

Deb and I are both good. Mom got off ok, even though it was a few days later than planned. WE have only a week left in Sri Lanka and then we will be heading to India. Just have to book and buy the ticket.

A few more pictures

Mostly of countrside and beach...but the man standing between mom and Deb is Upali...our wonderful driver.