First step outside Maharashtra..

I sit here all alone in my shed, listening to Maria Mena, Ilse de Lange Stevie Ann and some Dutch cabaret, looking out on my freshly washed clothes and a sky that gets greyer with the minute. In the background there is the faint noise of thunder. Power has gone already today, so I now can be almost sure that I will be able to finish this postJ

Yesterday I did it. I booked my train ticket to freedom, hihi. In this case Warangal in Andhra Pradesh where really isn’t that much to see or do if I listen to other people, but hey, it’s the first step to 4/5 weeks of seeing more of India. Paying 400Rs (€8) for a 3 hour train journey in 3rd class air condition isn’t too bad. Anything below 3AC is said not to be safe for a women travelling by alone.

From Warangal I most likely will go to Hydrabad, since Ravi (an Indian friend) likes to show me his hometown. Hydrabad is said to be the city of bangles (bracelets) and other kinds of jewellery, so I actually should not go here till last if I want to keep some money in my pocket haha. Well first I have to find things I like, since Indian style is not always my style and the second problem is the size, since the Indian women are a lot more fragile than European women.

It’s kind of strange having to pack all my things in 3 different bags. My small pack and newly made travel bag to take with me and my big pack to leave in the Shed or at friends in Chandrapur. I am not sure yet, since last weekend my big pack got eaten by a rat family, it’s not necessary to store it somewhere else in case this would happen. Learned a lesson once again, don’t ever leave anything in your bag a rat likes, like biscuits (or Indian candles). Even though it’s in a sealed pack!

The education project goes the way it should. Ramrao has visited one or two schools almost every day and the children enjoy making the paintings. The only difficulty is that the lower groups, 1 and 2, don’t know how to cut things and can actually only make paintings by drawing instead of sticking waste materials on paper. Oh well, they can collect and like doing that, so getting them involved that way and have them make a drawing doesn’t seem a bad idea to me. Vishwas could only visit 7 schools this month, since he had to go on foot, bus or find other means of transport.

The other assignments are also going well. The results of the interviews with the handicraft employees of SCF are ready to be sent. The interviews with the people of Moharli are done, but the answers need to be translated to English before I understand. Ramrao will do that at the end of this month or the first week when I get back. Nice straight back to business!
The inquiry about the influence of TATR on villages is done straight after the school visits and need to be translated too before it’s of more use to me. Me going away obviously only is a short brake because there is nothing that needs my immediate attention.

There is only one thing. The last month it hasn’t rained all that much to my opinion, even though the statistics say 60% of the rain has fallen already. I wonder if this is a dry monsoon or if I am in for a surprise.. Lets hope the rain will only come at night, like it mostly did this month and I am happyJ