Update 7

Hello all

its been almost another week since the last update, so plenty has been going on. well, in india terms that is.....

since then, well theres not really much to report. tomorow is our last day working in the community for 2 hours each day. i cant say im distraught though as it is exhausting and ive run out of games to play and they are bored of them all! my repetoire of games has grown to 20+ games. well, that was the amount approximatly i found on the interent which were possible to use. tomorow i have my first jacobs well lesson since they returned from their holidays, and i haver just realised that i havent planned it out at all yet....and its getting late....oh dear....im not looking forward to it at all. of it was geography i was teaching id be well up for it, but as im no an language teacher, the prospect is pretty scary! we havent got a new lot yet, still the old group. the jacobs well girls are al from the local community. i live i what i guess is a middle class block of flats, on the edge of a poorer community and a built up main street. im not sure entirely how poor they are, but they are always well dressed themselves. the community houses are quite well built, mainly of wood and scraps. not sure about loos etc, but there are some public ones on one side which stink! and there is a river which runs thorugh which also stinks and seems to be the happening place for household rubbish! most rivers in the city seem to be used as dumping groups for rubbish, especially used/eaten coconut husks/shells/whatever the word is for them at this hot time of year. they are aged from around 18-21, and are all girls. they are poor, but not the poorest. maybe around halfway between rag picker standard and 'middle class' (living room +2 bedrooms approx). [lifted from an email so i dont have to write it again and because it has lots of info in and took me ages to write!]

so thats tomorow and wednesday, then no more for quite a while as next week we are having a football camp at the scripture union camp south of chennai for a week. just seen the schedule and each day is from 5 30-11at night!!!!!! im down to etach them rugby at 6 on the wednesday. not decided whether playing rugby makes up for the early morning yet....

as for what ive been up to since tuesday, i cant recall too much. luke has bought a chess set, and i am now 2-1 down in games, having won pretty convincingly in our first game. more visits to the fruit shop. today we got a smile and a nod as we entered, progress in making friends!! the girls in bangalore apparently have loads of friends, so we make a big deal about each minor aquaintance we make trying to catch up with the girls! steve's dad has visited for the last week, i may have mentioned it before. on saturday he took us all out to a beach resort beyond the SU camp (approx 1 hours drive from inner city chennai in a slow taxi)and we swam in a nice pool and had a really great day. he paid for us to have lunch aswell, which was very generous of him. the waves hitting the beaches are huge! massive rolls, or whatever the correct term for them is, come right up to the shore then crash down and soak anyone paddling. for quite a distance away from the shore most of the subbery and plantlife has been destroyed by the tsunami so its pretty baren in places as you drive through.then we went back to chennai after playing a few games of pool at the resort, and went to the most incredible amazing flashy hotel to watch the fa cup final (myself steve and his dad that is, luke had gone home). no joke, this place was the nicest and most mind-bogglingly expensive hotel i have ever seen or am likly to ever see. i got mild culture chock from it i think! anyway, had a great hamburger, and watched the game with an english businessman who had the largest hands i have ever shaken hands with, and an english/aussie family originating from hull, who turned out to be christians in chennai for 4 weeks working for the church of south india (CSI). another few friends! man utd lose blah blah blah rubbish. though england doing great in the cricket a very nice surprise! the menu was very expensive in indian terms, my haburger cost 425 rupees, but realised thats like, 7 quid! this is probably one of the most expensive hotles in the south of india and one of the top meals is 7 pounds! very strange. loads of rich indians walking about, the wealth distribution here is incredible, from the rag pickers to indians who visit these hotels in thier free time.

sunday went to becky our co-ordinator's church instead of powerhouse. a methodist church, very wealthy it seemed and plenty of glori patri and old hymns and a very boring sermon! wasnt too bad, a nice change, but dont think well be going back! then after that went to the youth service (steve and myself, luke went home) and met some youngs guys. becky has arranged that we join them for their camp going up into the mountains between the east and west of south india, and stay in a hill station etc, which will be good! then sparkys as usual. very tired so then slept for a few hours, and went for a run in the evening. i have calculated that i will have done approximatly 15 hours of runnings by the time i get back, if i keep doing 20 mins 3 times a week.

thats about it for now, im too tired to write about more random happenings that happen all the time here, but what ive written is plenty!

back soon,
josh