'Bittersweet visit' ...our version of events!

Some thoughts from home on 'An English woman abroad!'

It was great to:-

• see Katie once again after 7 months;
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• observe how Katie had grown in confidence as a result of her experiences;
• be chaperoned by our tour-guide (clearly she has picked up useful tips from her Dad in haggling, map reading and finding hotels and restaurants ... or should that read never forget your 'Lonely Planet!'
• meet the locals who have been so kind, welcoming and supportive of our daughter;
• feel re-assured that she and Jess had become a very good team and were in a safe place, that is so much calmer than the cities of Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and even, Ongole;
• be used as a teaching aid! It seemed that every class had to ask us difficult questions orchestrated by 'Katie Madam;'
• be welcomed by the local community and to feel part of Katie's world for a few days;
• witness the enthusiasm and passion for dance and music as the school prepared for its Founders' Day Celebrations;
• confirm that the school is really next to a farm, local temple and in a peaceful, rural setting.

And what more did we learn about Sri Chaitanya High School, Tangutur ...

• that teaching in a small classroom made of breeze blocks, with no fan and tiny windows in 35 degrees C requires huge stamina but no complaints from the pupils!
• daily power cuts are a higher order challenge than having no computers;
• an acrostic charter for a good student made a big impact on us!
• that Indian English is so important in a land with so many languages;
• that Hindus, Muslims and Christians live and work harmoniously alongside each other in the same community;
• and that Katie has developed an engaging but firm style of classroom management with her large classes of pupils.

And what did we discover about South India ...

• people are generous of spirit, appreciate visitors who show respect for their social and cultural values and offer a warm welcome;
• appreciating and sharing of food is an important part of daily life and for us, being welcomed in to people's homes was a memorable experience of our visit;
• that there are some truly amazing historical and cultural sites and we particularly enjoyed visiting the temples at Mahabalipuram and Mysore Palace;
• driving should be avoided by tourists as only the locals understand the rules of the road and how to negotiate speed bumps!
• that economic growth is rapid but this clearly presents additional challenges (domestic power cuts, traffic jams, pollution and how to deal with the trappings of consumerism) - and to quote Bharavai, Katie's Indian Dad, 'Everyone has a mobile phone but not everyone has sanitation and clean water. This is clearly a development issue.'

Katie's posts have been severely curtailed by the lack of power and internet access. More recently, she has begun her travel adventure into North India during the summer vacation. So far she has enthused about Hampi, a world heritage site, and has reached Mumbai, where there are many more tourists and prices are much higher than in the rural south. We too look forward to receiving some travel updates as her adventure unfolds, whilst we attempt to tackle the student finance application!