That’s it the end of the India experience is nearly over.  We have taken over Capt Thackers house.  Suitcases and hand luggage all over the place.  People sleeping in his bedrooms.

Just waiting on a delivery from Pizza hut must give it a try before our return.

It is now 8.00pm we leave for the airport 12.30pm, our flight to Dubai is 4.15am!!!  We still have a long trip ahead of us, but knowing our loved ones will be waiting for us keeps us jolly.

The game we created last year has been resurrected.  Remember the game where a word is made up and everyone has to come up with their own made up defenition of a word. 

We only have 2,887 pictures on the computer and more taken today to show you so get the kettle on.  We have 4 video tapes waiting for Owen to edit.

The team have been remarkable, as mentioned in previous blogs.

Anyway, that’s it over and out.

Lilias and David

:o)

Aloha! Stacey here.

Wrong language, but yeah…my Tamil still only stretches to ‘Vannakam!’

Coming to you live from Captain Thacker’s sofa, where we’re all settled around watching the Olympics while Minty and Sharon play chess. It’s like a big dysfunctional family gathering. We’re all just hanging about at Captain Thacker’s house for a few hours until we get picked up to go to the airport at 12. Two weeks have passed so quickly! It’s weird to think that this time tomorrow we’ll be almost home. It’s with kind of mixed feelings that I think about it. I’m looking forward to getting home and seeing my family and friends, but I know I’m going to really miss my little adopted family and way of life over here.

I know I haven’t updated any blogs recently but I had a little incident with a dodgy tummy. Just my luck after slagging off Jackie for it! So while everyone was gallivanting around Dindigul for the last few days we were there I was hugging a toilet bowl. Typical me. Alls well now though! Captain sorted me out with some Indian medicine because western medicine is rubbish. I’m as fighting fit as a bag of cats again.

Had a great time when we went up to the mountains. I think the others gave a more thorough explanation of what we did there but I’ll suffice to say ELEPHANTS!!!!!! But it all seriousness, it was a really amazing place. The scenery was like something straight out of the Jungle Book. Made my little heart gleeful. We had a go on some speedboats out on the lake and the others had a ride on an elephant. I was too scared though. I’m a big chicken. Prefer to spectate.

When we got back to Dindigul we stayed at the Hepzibah Mission field with honestly the nicest people someone could ever meet. Just when we thought we couldn’t feel any more welcomed than by our friends in Chennai, Pastor Abraham and his family made us dinner and told us the most amazing stories. Dindigul was so lovely and peaceful after the madness that was Chennai. It was like a little holiday away and gave us a chance to relax a little. There’s just so much I could talk about that I really don’t know where to start. I need to sort everything out in my own head first.

And now we’re back to our home away from home. Now for much longer though. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be back in good old sunny Britain. Hopefully. Assuming I manage the three plane trips.

Stacey signing out. See ya on the other side!

Xxxx

Hi, this is Sharon from India writing about the wonderful time I had with people who visited my country from Scotland. Clearly, words can’t describe how wonderful it was to have them here. But I’m too excited to share it with all of you so I’m writing it all down anyway! ^.^

When I saw Lilias and David arrive at the airport with a bunch of absolutely lovely people (Kirsty, Laura, Stacey, Owen, Iain and Minty), I knew I was going to have a swell time with all of them! The very same day, they were at my Church (Christ the Rock Church) for the evening worship. There was some sort of voltage problem and the power got cut for a long time. The group lightened up the entire place with their lovely smiles and cheerful charming faces SO much that we didn’t need electricity after all!! The church was privileged to listen to them sing and dance for us. The children at our Church did a bit of dancing and singing as a part of the entertainment too..^_^.. Dinner was as good as the chats we had while eating. Saying ‘bye’ just for the night was hard!

But then they were back in no time at all to visit the tuition centres and to interact with the children AND to entertain them some more. The children loved it and it was nice to see their smiles so wide!

Then we visited with the ladies at the tailoring centre and the girls got to try out their newly stitched salwars! I can’t possibly forget to mention how gorgeous they all looked in the salwars ‘cuz it fit them perfect! After a bit of shopping it was hard to say ‘bye’ to them again. This time it was quite hard because they were leaving to this place called Dindigul, which meant we wouldn’t be able to see them for more than a week! But when we met up again, it was a wowser experience because apparently it was my birthday that day (08.08.08). They made sure they were full of surprises and charm and it worked!

I’m sure that I’ve found myself some GREAT friends to add up to the existing ‘Scottish’ list. I’m also happy that God’s blessed their entire trip because they were a big bunch of blessings to so many people out here.

We exchanged a lot more than just gifts and hugs. We exchanged love, care and mutual thoughts. That made getting to know each other the BEST part of them all!

God bless St.Andrew’s and the wonderful people from it. The memories of two different cultures synchronizing so well will be NEVER be forgotten by the ones who hold it. That certainly includes me. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. God bless you. ^_^

Sharon

Man, this week has flown by!

But then I’m not all that surprised. We started out in Dindigul (I now know the correct spelling!) last Saturday in the early hours of the morning, and then staying at Parsons Court Hotel – very nice!  We were only there for two nights, while we visited our friends at Hephzibah Mission Field; Abraham, Ruth, Danny and the family.  There we received a warm welcome at the Abraham’s church, and visited the Martha Medical Mission – an establishment for medically assisting those who live in poverty in the surrounding areas in Dindigul.

So after 2 nights, we then set off into the mountains in the state of Karla… a good 3-4 hour bus trip – as if an 8 hour train journey from Chennai wasn’t enough.  But it must be said the views along the way were spectacular!

We met some tribal folks in the mountains, as well as visit 2 schools set up by two sisters with the same vision of opening a school to educate the children of the mountain tribes.

So after a night in Karla we came back to Tamil Nadu (Dindigul) for another 2 nights before coming back to Chennai.

I won’t go into details… since there aren’t any details to go into.  We spent yesterday sleeping after the all-nighter train journey, which we followed with a celebration at Christ the Rock Church for Sharon’s 18^th.  Happy times!!!

And today… shopping with Sharon, Raj and Vanitha.  So we’re sitting at Captain Thacker’s just now, just chilling.  And to be more detailed – just for the banter – Kirsty’s watching iRobot on Lilias’s iPod, Stacey and Iain are playing chess, Minty, Sharon and Lilias are watching, Laura’s sleeping, as is David… and me, well… Typing this blog – what else?

So yeah, not much to report since our arrival back in Chennai.

I’m looking forward to going home, but am sad to be leaving.  The past two weeks we’ve been engaged in almost every aspect of the Indian culture and lifestyle, and it will be a shame to leave it all behind to get back into our own.  But I have no doubt that through our lives we won’t forget how we’ve been touched by the citizens of India, and how they’ve been tremendously happy to invite us into their lives.

If you think you know India from what you see on the news or in a documentary; I guarantee that you don’t.

See the world for what it is – and see it with your own eyes.

Thanks for all your comments and support while we’ve been here, folks – muchly appreciated!  See y’all soon…

Owen x

Hi Dad,  I’m fine.

Well…we’re at the end of the experience of our lives – but we can smile at the thought that it will all happen again.  We may see it as the end but in my eyes this is only the beginning of our fantastic friendship with everyone here.  There’s no doubt that I’m coming back- whether it is within 2 years or 10 years I will step on Indian soil again.

We have all seen things we could never comprehend, sat before scenes we could have never dreamed and established friendships and bonds that will never break.  I give special mention to Pastor Raj, Vanitha, Sharon, Captain Thacker, Pastor Abraham, Sister Ruth, Danny (and his bike), Benjamin and James May (who’s book kept me sane all fortnight.) 

I’m aware that my last blog was from the Kennedy Experience- so its been a while- but I feel that I just wanted to soak everything in, and read over them all from the words of my friends rather than pour everything out before I had even taken it all in.

It is however sad to be leaving as I am going to miss the people I have met here – we have been welcome and treated like family here and it is always difficult to say goodbye.  I must note that it has been good to have Sharon here with us too - as having someone our age that we can relate to has been refreshing- so it’s a good thing we all have Bebo.

We have all had our ups and downs, good days and bad days, mornings for some!! But all of us have come out the other end as strong friends as ever- if not stronger.  I know I’ve certainly had a rocky fortnight- name an emotion and I’ve probably been through it, but I have not been alone which has been a key help for me.

In the words of Minty

These kids don’t need broomsticks to fly

Iain

We have literally just got off the overnight sleeper train from Dindigul.  It was very comfortable.  We booked a hotel but when we arrived to check in they didnt have a note of our booking.  We drove around Chennai and found a nice hotel called Hotal Abu Palace.  It is comfortable, only here for one night as we will be camping out with Capt Thacker until we leave for the airport tomorrow evening.

Although everyone has enjoyed our trip to India.  Its homeward bound we are all getting excited about now.

We have Sharon’s birthday party this evening.  She will be 18 so we are all looking forward to that.  A good night to end our India experience.  

CU when we get home.

Lilias

:o)

Hey Kirsty here!

Its been a while since I’ve written a blog. Our stay in Dindigul has been fantastic! The people here are lovely, so hospitable. The hotel, Parsons, is amazing, complete luxury. Room service only a phone call away. The only thing not available is internet access.

We were taken up in to the mountains and the views were breath taking. We spent the night up on the mountains. On the second day, after staying in the Poopada, which was very basic, in comparison to the luxurious places we have been used to staying in. Stacey and I were anxiously waiting for late afternoon so we could phone home to find out our exam results. It was really weird to sit on the bus and think that we have lived half our day and people back home were just getting out their beds.

As we were driving along we saw an elephant on he side of the road, we pulled over to take pictures ended up going for an elephant ride. Owen Minty and Iain went on one elephant and Laura and I went on another.

After lunch we visited the secondary school for the tribal kids. When we had finished there Stacey and I managed to phone home to get our results. I thought that being in India would make waiting worse because I would have to wait until the afternoon whereas if I was at home it would just be a case of waiting for the post to arrive in the morning. It turns out that being here actually made waiting for them a lot easier, we were so busy, it kept your mind off it.

Laura pointed out that we only have 3 nights left here. Although it feels like we have been here for months, the two weeks have flown in. We will all be sad to leave India, but also so glad to get home to see our loved ones.

Much love Kirsty xxx

If Chennai was like a massive Glasgow then Dundigal is more akin in size to Blackness. It is very relaxing and is the most rural area that I’ve ever seen anyone live in. I think that we’re even more of a novelty here than we were in the city. It feels like Ive been living in India for more than a month and I could probably stay here until this time next year. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this in a previous blog but I’ve feel as if I’ve learned a lot about myself here. This trip is good for all of us in so many ways.

Today we’re going up to the mountains, which will be one of the highlights of the trip for me personally. I’ve always enjoyed hill walking but it’s the chance to see some of India’s wildlife that excites me most. Once again we’ve been treated so well and I feel grateful for that because before I arrived I was under the impression that it was going to be the T in the park esque ‘roughing it’ for two weeks.

Another new experience we had yesterday was when we tried Jackfruit. On the palm like tree it looks like a giant green hedgehog and inside is a rubbery looking yellow fruit. The taste is best described as banana mixed with peach. Apparently eating a lot of it can make you ill. Laura had about two tons of it and is fine. Indian sweets are also very strange, such as the orange swirls that taste like greasy sugar donuts. They also have flattened cashew nuts rolled out like pastry and then covered in silver dust and cut into diamond shapes. It’s fairly difficult to get European dishes here, even in hotels but especially outside of them. The closest we get to things we eat at home regularly are salads and soups. Mostly it’s curry based or Chinese dishes. Change is always refreshing but I really miss my Mum’s cooking (it’s better than anything G.Ramsay could muster). I miss my Mum too of course but we are busy enough to not let it get to me.

 Another thing I’m grateful for while we’re here – even though the others might not be – is the weather. It’s been overcast a lot of the time and my fair skin is less at risk because of it. The heat and humidity I can easily deal with, as well as the wind and the rain, it’s just that the sun is probably my worst enemy in terms of aging my skin hence my factor 300 sun cream.

Like anywhere I go, I always hope to meet some interesting characters. Abraham fits the bill. He spent a lot of his free time yesterday making sure that we we’re enjoying ourselves and that we were well taken care of (as everyone here does) when he didn’t need to. He told us a fascinating story of how he came to be in Dundigal. I learned some history of Tamil Nadu in the process. I’d love to reiterate his story to you but it would take the length of a Harry Potter book to fit every detail in.

The mutual respect, thanks and appreciation both our small clan of Scots and the Indian people have for each other along with the hospitality we have received and the vast amount of culture to learn about is quickly making India feel like a second home.

Minty

Laura here…

Every project we visit touches my heart in a new way from the last one.  I keep thinking my heart cannot grow anymore! Yesterday we went to visit Sister Jansi and Freedaat Pearls Tribal School.  The stories we heard here were unreal!

The children come from Tribes living in the mountains, the girls and boys are separated at the age of 6, the girls never speak to their father and the boys never speak to their mother.  The women live in huts ad the men in caves.

These children are never educate, so can never move away from their tribes.  They are social outcasts, not allowed to visit the surrounding villages, they are not accepted anywhere.  It’s heartbreaking!

In order for the sisters to educate these children they have to go looking for them in the mountains, once they find them they need to seek the approval of the tribe chief.  This is quite a task!  The sister told us one of her stories.  She met with a chief and he told her; if she wanted to discuss taking the children she must first eat with them.  She agreed.  During their time together each member of the tribe spat in a cup and the sisters were told to drink it, which they did!  Hearing the story is upsetting enough for me, never mind having to do that. 

That’s what gets me; these sisters do not have to go through this.  But they do, for these children, who without the sisters and schooling would grow up in the tribes and never know any different.  Please remember the staff and the children in your prayers.  They need it!

The children are so shy!  They find it hard to make eye contact.  And some of them sit with rather grumpy faces, but when we smiled at them their faces lit up.  I think it was quite daunting for them to have visitors and one wee girl was crying, I’m not sure why, perhaps she was scared.

One boy looked a fair bit older than the others.  He seemed so confident compared to the others, and when they were singing to us his voice was clear and he seemed to be leading the others.  He had a beautiful smile and looked genuinely happy.  We asked why he was so much bigger than the others, we were told he was waiting to get a place in school, he had just passed same exams, I’m sure the sister told us he wanted to go on to study medicine.  We asked how much it would cost for him to get into school and without a word to each other (we were all thinking the same) we managed to get the money together.  Now we can only pray that he gets a place and that he is accepted by the other pupils. 

We left the school and headed through the tea plantations in the mountains, we stopped off to see some goats… these are special goats that can climb the rocks… very impressive! We stopped at a restaraunt which is run by the captains friend, here we tried ghee roast dosa – HUGE crêpes, had an early night n started with Dosa again this morning.

Today has been awesome! I have ridden on an elephant, been on a speedboat, and saw a family of elephants bathing in the water.  It’s paradise! We’re on our way to a school just now, the students are on strike though – not really sure what’s going on with that.

Love to you all, have really been missing your e-mails etc since coming to Dindigul.

Laura xx 

Hello everyone from Dindigul. The train journey was amazing.  From the outset an experience I’ll not forget in a hurry, from turning up at Chennai station with all its bizz, bustling through the sea of faces, the police search point and one of the best bits sharing a cup of hot sweet milk with our adopted grandfather Capt Thacker, a great man indeed.

Although the journey was on the 7 hour mark it took no time at all. While some of the others lay down on their bunks to rest, I couldn’t there was just too much going on outside the window. The change of landscape, the wildlife, the dried up river beds, the people and the mess that goes with it.

Arrival at Dindigal we were met off the train by Pastor Abraham and his family then onto the Parsons Court Hotel to book in.  After settling in we headed to the Martha Medical Clinic. This is a small clinic which is currently offering medical assistance to the local villages. From there onto to the Hephzibah Mission Field for dinner.  The food was excellent along with hospitality.

After dinner we headed back to Parsons Hotel for the night.

On Sunday morning we were picked up at 7.30am for the church service at 8.00am.  What can I say about the service?  It was loud and noisy full of enthusiastic people praising God.  Slightly different from our normal Church of Scotland services.  People openly praising without holding back, or wondering what the person next to them is thinking.  The service was translated into English by Pastor Abraham and he is the type of pastor you could listen to all day.

After church we all spent some time with the Sunday school children who come along from the local villages which are made up mainly from Muslim and Hindu backgrounds. Afterwards onto the Clinic. It had been advertised that the clinic was open for business and an open invite had been passed to the villages. Over 100 people came along with a variety of ailments.  This medical camp will happen once a month where medicines will be given away free.

Monday we left for the mountains with Danny, Pastor Abraham and Sister Ruth’s son.  He along with Capt Thacker were with us the whole trip on the mountains.  Talking of mountains,  what can I say other than SPECTACULAR. I never imagined India being what I saw over the 2 days in the mountains. The scenery was breath taking you really have to experience it, no photo or video can do it any justice. We visited the tribal mission centre which totally opened my eyes to the fact that we are so grateful for what we have. I’m sure others will add to this part we have all been touched by the sacrifice of the brothers and sisters have made to work in this field. The fact that the tribal people are treated as the lowest of the low. Children separated from the family at 6 years. Boys not speaking with mothers and girls not speaking with fathers totally alien to what we in the west are used to.

We then went further into the mountains up through the hairpin bends and miles of tea plantations staying in a lodge at Munnar. There we went to a café where we were treated to the largest pancake I’ve ever seen along with fantastic coffee.

Next morning we did the touristy bit, BRILLIANT. Elephant and speed boat rides, yes elephants and to crown it we saw real wild elephants at the side of the lake we were on you must see the video.  Monkeys running along the side of the van too.

This part of the trip was in a way quite relaxing we did need a charge of batteries however we must again stress the fact that here in India there are some truly special people doing amazing work in the of the Lord in some of the harshest environment not just the climate either.

We have been looked after so well and at all times kept safe from any harm. Please pray for all the projects we have visited, the people we have met, India, Scotland and the world as a whole.

See you all soon with the stories, video and photos. Can’t write it all down. I would just like to add that the young adults with Lilias and I have been outstanding. Their behaviour, the way they conduct themselves and the way they are representing not only Bo’ness St Andrews Church but all of Scotland has been just BRILL. They are a credit to all so thank you to all their families for the trust you have put in us.

David.