Kate's Diary III

continued .....Monday, 5th

After a good nights sleep on the comfortable beds I was eager for the day. I was up first so I got to the shower before anyone else. It was lovely having a shower head, hot water is unnecessary (neither is electricity, the room was lit with an oil lamp). We then had our breakfast and finished our packing. We were invited to visit the (only) high school on the island (of 60,000) to talk to the class 10. We asked them about marriage mostly. More than half of them were already married (turns out the red dots on their foreheads are for married people). They were all arranged marriages and we asked them if they ever chose who they married; they all had a good laugh at that. We then went for a tour of the school. It’s a total mess, the roofs are collapsing above their heads and they have no benches of desks. We then went back to the hostel, grabbed our bags and hopped on the boat. It was a brilliant feeling being on the boat again. The driver was very interested in my mp3 so I gave him a listen, I don’t think he liked it. We arrived at the eco-concentration camp with the hopes of seeing tigers. We were disappointed. We did see a couple of deer though. After about an hour we piled back onto the boat for the 4 hour journey back to Diamond Harbour. When we arrived at the harbour a few of us went to the shop. On returning to the jeep, Thomas, Anna and I got lost. We had to ask one of the many Indians staring at us where the other white people were. We found them eventually. We got a flat on the way but the guy was ridiculously fast at changing it. The villagers greeted us warmly by standing outside the gates and putting dots on our foreheads as we went in. We then went upstairs to call our beds. They were a table and a thin mattress but surprisingly comfy. We were called for dinner and enjoyed the Chinese food they so kindly cooked for us. Then, wrecked, we headed to bed.

Tuesday, 6th

Once again awoken by a foghorn.
Today was our first day of work and as usual, eager for work, we set off. At about 7 we left for the site. It took about 20mins to get to the site from the hostel. On the way we saw a goat give birth, it was the cutest thing ever. We arrived and headed straight to work. We started by moving a pile of bricks abut 3metres. It didn’t take long and we were out f work straight after, we then went to the restroom to chillax. The rest of the day was like that, sometimes there was work and sometimes there wasn’t. we finished up after a long day and went to bed early.

Wednesday, 7th

Today was more of the same at the building site. After work though the lads organised a soccer match against the Indians. They played in their bare feet but they were rock solid. I jumped in after half time and at first was worried about stepping on their feet, but that worry left when they started playing easy. When they passed us the ball we ignored it. We caught up to them and nearly drew, but they got a last minute goal and won 5-4.


Thursday, 8th

Last day of building. The lads played another soccer match and lost 2-1. We played musical chairs, Cecelia won 2nd, well done. Sorcha and David Akers left today, they shall be missed.
We also had a campfire, mighty craic, though we were all a little tired



Friday, 9th

We hopped on tuc tucs to get to the train station in Diamond harbour. Cecelia and I were hanging out the back of one and we were extremely hyper, we screamed the campfire song song the whole way. We took a train back to Sealdah and spent the day with the rainbow children and stocking up on chocolate for the 12hour train journey to Puri. The train journey was fine, we were hardly waiting around at all and the train itself was nice. I was stuck with all the adults though, ah they’re grand. Got a free samosa too. There wasn’t much to do so I just went to sleep nice and early.


Saturday, 10th

I woke up just as the train was pulling into the station, I grabbed my things and we headed for the rickshaws. I couldn’t really see much on the way to the hotel as I was holding on for my life. But from what I did see it was heaven. People didn’t look at us as much; we got a second look but not a third. A nice change. The hotel was nice, it was under construction so they dining area was a little cramped but nobody minded. We ate, settle in then headed for the beach (not without calling my mum and bragging of course). The water was amazing, cool but not too cool. The waves were big but not too big. Perfect! The rest of the ay was spent mostly between the beach and with the girls. We hit the hay fairly early as half the class was sick.


Sunday, 11th

We left the Victoria Club hotel and headed (on rickshaws) to the Mayfair. This time I did see everything, I was already dreading leaving. Walking in the hotel we were nearly crying it was so amazing. We dropped our bags in the lobby then went off to find the pool. It was gorgeous and there was a bar at the pool as well so you didn’t even have to leave to get a drink. The walkway to the beach was like something out of the Garden of Eden, there were flowers covering the walls and a big arch on either side. Stepping out onto the beach is like something you see only on TV, white sand and huge straw umbrellas. We were immediately bombarded by men trying to sell us pearls and diamonds. I just ran. I spent the whole day in the pool and ordering room service, a true holiday. I also went to the market with Vivienne, Jack and Cecelia, we bought a lot of rubbish. That night I got mocktails and played pool with the girls.


Monday, 12th

I got up early to go and visit the Konark temple with some of the class. The temple was amazing, built in the 1250s it is still there. They are restoring and its in pretty good nick. The whole building is covered in carvings on various, ahem, ‘things’. We got a guide to take us around the building and tell us what everything meant. I couldn’t understand a work he was saying though. I know a little about it from reading up on it though. After that we went to the market outside and I nearly attacked a man for trying to get me to by random stuff. We then went to the beach there, we got some stares though, they made a semi-circle around where we were swimming. We then headed back an had a normal day lounging about the pool, ordering room service and having a laugh. We had a barbeque which was pretty cool. We also arranged a campfire but no one showed up. Some of us were having to much fun throwing things at the fan. - Kate (maybe more to come.... )