Home, Sweet Home

I'm Back!

It's official. I'm home! Actually, i've been back for about a week but i've been so flat out that my poor bloggie has been neglected. But i've got a few spare hours this arvo, so i'll catch everyone up.

Basically, i had an absolutely fantastic time. Although it's good to be home, the longer i'm here, the more i wish that i was back there. I miss the kids, i miss the simplicity. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as declaring that i want to go back and just being there. So, at least for a few more years, i'll have to settle for the complications and such that go hand in hand with being home.

In lots of ways, i think Lauren and i were on the verge of being too young for the trip. We got lots out of it, for sure, but i think what we learnt would've been different if we were older. I wondered at times what the older people on the trip thought of us and of how we handled things. I'd be interested to know. I think next time it should definately have a strict age limit, either 18 or a year out of school? I don't know. I just know that there were times where my youth was a disadvantage. Just something to consider next time i suppose.

We kept a blog while we were away - www.malvernmission.blogspot.com - so visit that if you want lots of detail about what we got up to. For the hovel, i'll just give you the basic run down.

Culturally, India wasn't anywhere near as much of a shock as i expected it to be. That's not to say it wasn't insanely different to anything i'd experienced before. There were people everywhere and cars or buses everywhere else. Driving was a near-death experience. Lanes were guidelines, honking was crucial and over-taking was an ordeal. It was sort of like the feeling you get when you go on rides at the show - you just know they're not safe and there's every chance that the Mad Mouse carriage will fly over the edge, but it's just fun anyway. Some of the others didn't adjust to the driving so quickly though and there were a few feminine shrieks from the guys. Our bus driver, Santa, was legendary though and we didn't have a scratch on our bus by the time we left that hadn't been there before :P

We spent most of the trip in Ikkadu, a country compound about an hour and a half out of Chennai/Madras. The compound had a hospital, a number of schools, hostels for the kids to stay in, a church, kindergarden, old age home, mango farm, crops... it was actually quite large. Our main task while there was to paint the boys hostel - we painted their study hall, dining room, courtyard and kitchen. It was quite a task, seeing as the paint was completely different to anything in Australia. It was called 'supersand' and was the consistency of water, going onto the wall in one colour and drying another. Pretty cool. I am not officially able to paint walls. The boys seemingly didn't go to school while we were there and stayed to help us out, which frustrated some of the team but i loved it as they were absolutely legendary.

The kids were, for me, the highlight of the trip. I love most kids, but these took the cake. They were friendly, cheerful and they absolutely adored us! I tell you, one of the things i miss the most back home is the constant crowd of little kids following me around and telling me that i'm 'beautiful' and 'have a cute smile' or that they like my eyes and my laugh, constantly calling for hugs and to be blown kisses and have their photo taken. People over here just aren't as free with the compliments unfortuately. I got a few 'are you married' and 'i love you' comments, which were pretty comical. It's a pity, it was good for the confidence! I've got a million photos of them all, which i faithfully promised to send over to them. It was hilarious; on the day we left, they ran around frantically to give us addresses and 'personal gifts' (things like matchbox cars or necklaces) before asking for one in return. I bequeathed a pen and Brad donated a box of tissues and they were stoked. I cried when we left and when we saw the kids on out video on Sunday night i got teary again. I'd go back simply to visit them. You know how attatched i get.

While we were in Ikkadu i got a bit of a scare. Thanks to someone who managed to give me his cold, i got pretty sick with the usual stuffed up nose, sore throat, cough thing. Then i thought i was getting better. However, a few days later, i stumbled up to Benj seeking panadol because i felt freezing but thought i was quite hot. Apparently 'quite hot' was an understatement, as Benj freaked out and put me straight into Brad's bed. I stayed there for the night and the next day, with Benj and Josh being good little nurses; Benj got up everytime he could hear me shivering uncontrollably to give me more drugs, josh was a Nazi about my having a cold compress on all the time... Lol, at one point Benj asked me if i was hallucinating; seeing as what i was seeing at the time was a boy in a head torch reading porn from the bible, i was seriously worried. Scarily, i wasn't hallucinating. I missed out on lots the next day as i couldn't get out of bed but that night my fever hadn't gone down enough to keep people happy, seeing as i'd already overdosed on the panadol. So i was taken to the Ikkadu hospital. Against my will, i might add - Benj had said something about Malaria and i REALLY didn't want to find out that i had that!! Luckily, it just ended up being a bad throat infection. Half fainting, i was allowed to return to the boys room - where the kids had brought up a whole nother bed all the way from the girls hostel! With my prescription drug cocktail (i was on seven different things :P) i got better, but still missed heaps as i had to stay in bed for a few more days.

Other than me, the only sickies were Mark, who just ate too much, and Josh, who had a run-in with a wall :P Luckily, the gastro thing didn't really hit our group, though we all caught that damn cold!

Back in Chennai, the main thing that we did was visit various institues run by the CSI in Madras; old age facilities, kindergardens, universities, schools. At each place we got force fed tea and biscuits. Did you know that Indian tea and coffee are almost indistinguishable? It was fun. You know how addicted to tea i am, after a year in our common room. Everyone was thrilled to meet us and we toured a number of facilities, saw countless presentations and dances and sang innumerable songs to the kids. Good times. Though i must say, i don't ever really want to sing Over My Head again.

We got to do lots of shopping! And one night the Bishop of South India came over and we had him dancing. That was classics. Oh, and we had a room! Sort of like a third story, on top of the house. It was heaps cool up there, i went out most nights, coated in RID, and just sat. We played a few games of Truth or Dare, which were slightly scary :P

When it came time to leave, we were all incredibly upset. Well, some more than others i suppose. A few of use were at the point of flat out refusing to go. The plane ride was a pretty dismal affair and the 6am arrival at our KL airport did nothing to improve spirits... nor did the incredibly bad sunburn i got the next day; i could barely sit on the plane and now, a week later, i'm still red and peeling. Lovely.

Eventually, we made it home, through customs and back to our families. It'd been a long trip in some ways, but in other ways it felt like it had been only two days ago that we'd left. The difference in being home was intense; there were no more constant beeps on the streets and no random cows. All of the noise here is much more electronic; radios, television, computers, lights... And it seems much brighter here. India was dirty and dull in many ways. Here is much whiter. Does that make sense? Even so, i think i almost prefered India. The simplicity, surprisingly, sat well with me. I'll definately go back.

So, there's the 411 on our first Malvern Mission. I'm really glad i was a part of it, it definately was something i learned lots from and will never forget. I'm glad to be home though!

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Annie