WORDS ADDED TO PHOTOS

Arrived back in Iqaluit this afternoon and was surprised I didn't feel colder. Ah well, it was only -20 so what did I expect. Spent a HUGE portion of my afternoon and evening sorting through the over 1700 photos taken during my trip. Upon first run have eliminated about 300. Still some questionable photos but they will no doubt stay until I get really bored some day.

Here's a few photos, minus commentary to get you started.

Chicken at the airport in Toronto waiting the flight to India.


First stop on my Golden Triangle Tour...a temple...name, etc escapes me. I arrived at 4am and this was 11am the same day...so memory is a bit fuzzy.


Human rickshaw, not as common a site as you might think. There are lots of them around, but they never seem to be in use.


Signs at my first toll booth. Isn't the language interesting to look at?


Hitching a ride in the back of the truck. This site would become more common than I suspected.


A group of women coming from a ceremony at the local temple. They made a very colourful sight crossing the road.

Greetings from PEI!

North of Nain arrived on PEI Tuesday, hit the stores for a short period of time yesterday and has hit the wall. She is tired, so very tired.

Managed to get my photos copied to a disk (ok, three disks) yesterday so my folks now have a copy of them, but I don't have the energy to do a good update yet...have included one teaser photo and will hopefully be full of energy in a couple days.

May not be able to do a get together with any/everyone. My apologies, would love to see you all, but sometimes these things are not in the cards. If you hear of someone walking around town with odd 'tattoos' on their hands, that's me. I had mendi (henna) done in Pondicherry on both sides of my hands and the tops of my feet before I left...and no, it isn't just for weddings, it is for any kind of celebration.



The details on the trip will need to wait for a few more days.

Hard to believe I am leaving today. It is 11:28am on Sunday. By 10:30pm tonight I will be at the airport making my way back to Canada. Sigh. I will miss India. I have had an enjoyable time...and that is so mild a term but will do for now.

I have many wonderful memories to take back with me. I made 16 new friends. I experienced a lot of what India has to offer. I have taken at this moment over 1300 pictures (note a lot are blurry taken from the bus shots). I have wonderful pieces of India to take with me as well.

I was not able to fulfill all requests for gifts...in fact, hardly any. My apologies. I got a bit selfish and used up the space in my backpacks with stuff for me. I'm sure you understand.

There are no regrets from this trip and I am already making plans in my head for the next build I will go on. And I think I have recruited a number of people to come North for the build in June 2009!

When I get back on Canadian soil I will contact someone in Charlottetown to arrange a lunch or coffee break get together. I only have 4 full days on the Island so time will be tight, but I will do my best.

Next update from Canada...sniff....sniff.

It's another day almost over in India. Another hard day at the build site shoveling sand for about 5 hours. No wonder I am tired tonight. Tomorrow there will be some India Habitat bigwigs out to visit the site and some government officials...yawn! But we should also get a tour of the village to see where the people we are building for currently live. Thursday is an R&R day. Massages and reflexology for me and then some wandering around town. It sounds devine at this point in the day.

I continue to buy too much for me...but it is so hard to resist, especially when it is made to fit me!

The colours, smells, and sounds of India continue to excite me and I wish I had more time to tour more of the country.

j.

One week today I will be back in Toronto....yikes! Time is flying by. Another great day of building. Tonight we are celebrating one of the team members birthdays. She asked if she could help cook the meal and they said yes so she is busy right now in the kitchen. I am about to go to my room to change into my sari. We are all 'dressing up' for the occasion....basically a fun evening in store. But we still all expect that we will be in bed by 9pm. The heat and the work seem to drive us to the sheets early every evening.

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow and cold back in Canada.

I am still alive.

You simply cannot imagine how much fun I am having....I will share it all when I get back. For now...here's a quick update.

The Build...
We are working on a number of homes instead of one or two (though that may change in the am) we have dug holes for foundations, poured foundations, bricked walls and filled in basements. The whole team is working together very well and there is no conflict, but one person seems to be getting on everyones nerves. Ah, youth.

The homes are red brick, not concrete blocks and we seem to do a lot of moving from one spot to another for dirt and bricks. I have been mostly digging and moving things. Apparently I am not a great brick layer--so I offered to not do it again. Shovelling all day is very rewarding believe it or not.

Spent Saturday and Sunday touring temples and the surounding areas outside Pondicherry. I will tell you more about these later.

The food is fantastic and with one execptions I have eaten Indian food at every meal. The team opted for oven baked pizzas one night...from a real clay/brick oven and I ordered vegetarian musakka (sp?) one night. The whole team is laughing that we will need to buy all new clothes when we return home as all it seems we do it eat.

The heat is intense. It hasn't been below 30 in the days and it reaches 34 on a regular basis...plus the humidity. I am sweating constantly. When I get really hot I try to think of home and the -35 temps...but it doesn't work. A light rain for less than 5 minutes twice and that has been our only relief during the day...and that was of course on our day off.

Back to work Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday is a free day...we all have massages booked and then shopping. Then work Thursday and Friday. Saturday will be a closing ceremony with the village and then a wrap up supper at an expensive restaurant.

Everyone is having issues with the cost of things. It is so cheap. I had a pair of pants made for me this afternoon (in less than one hour) and the cost was 750 ruppees. Which is about $20 Cdn. When you hear the prices you are shocked but then reality hits and you say...OK. We have found ourselves argueing with tuk tuk drivers (Indian taxis...sorta) over 10 rupees...which is pennies.

A tuk tuk is a small vehicle, three wheels. The driver sits up front and passengers in the back...also known as a auto rickshaw. They are great and fast. We can cram 5 people in if need be and it only costs 50 rupees to get from one end of town to the other.

I have taken over 1000 pictures thus far and will take more Monday from the build site. I have been asked by one of the instructors from the Japanese team to go over at lunch one day and tell them about Nunavut. Apparently they think of two things when they think Canada...NOrthern lights and Anne of Green Gables...so I've got this covered.

Must run. It is 10pm here in India I think 12.5 hours off from where most of you are and it is past my bedtime. Those of us laborers need our sleep.

j.

Another great day at the build site. Just on my way to supper. We are touring some temples and other places outside Pondi this weekend...will write more then.

j.

Ok...am in Pondicherry.

We are building brick homes. I spent part of yesterday digging a hole. Today I moved bricks and cement. The team is terrific. 16 of us...all ages from across Canada. We were joined on site today by a group of 32 Japanese university students. They are in a slightly different area, but are a habitat group like us and we will be hanging out from time to time.

There are 20 homes in various stages that we are working on. Exciting to see them at all stages, from holes to roof.

Food is great. People are amazing. Having the most wonderful time.

We have only been in Pondi for a couple days but now that we have our feet wet and have been able to find a couple of places with internet should be able to update more often.

Had my hands done with henna before leaving Northern India, it was wonderful and is rubbing off under my gloves...oh well. And yes, I bought a couple of saris already.

Taj Mahal was truly a wonder to see. I sat and just soaked it in. Truly India is an amazing country...at this point I can not even begin to describe.

Have arrived in India.

No time to update. Only comment thus far is WOW.

Remote updates may have glitch.

Will write more when I get to Pondicherry.

j.