Here we are!

Hello from India

We are all alive and well, hot, tired and very full up. We have nearly completed our first day in Chennai! We landed, after a LOT of flying, at about 12 last night (that’s about half 6 for you guys in the UK). It took a while to get through customs and collect our bags so we eventually got to the YMCA at Vepery about 2 I guess. We were picked up by the YMCA guys in two buses, one old beast for the luggage, Rob and James, and an air-conditioned luxury bus for the rest of us!

The YMCA has been newly built and our accommodation is amazing, much better than I had been expecting! I am sharing a room with Sarah and we have our own bathroom and balcony, a ceiling fan and…air conditioning, luxury! I do feel quite at home though as there are buckets in the bathroom for water, in case the water is off.

We started this morning with a team meeting, and then met with Mr. Ebenesan a head guy at the YMCA to meet each other and have our first try of Indian coffee (very sweet brown milk- as opposed to Mozambican coffee which is very sweet brown water- with a slight hint of coffee). After discussing things with Isaac, Rob and Cathy he took us out to lunch at Breeze ( I think anyway), a really posh hotel, where we ate loads (in our defence we hadn’t eaten since the plane last night and it was buffet!). Then off to Spencer Plaza to change travelers’ cheques and buy water in bulk, then to the train station to try and get tickets to Cochin for our mini-break. Unfortunately we couldn’t, what with Independence Day holidays; all the trains were booked up, so we are revising our plans.

Feeling a leetle bit tired now, but you have to be awake when walking anywhere, traffic is all over the place, there are no rules, everyone has right of way and to cross the road you wait for some sort of gap, pray, and walk out, apparently we will get used to it. I hope so as we will b doing it everyday for breakfast and dinner and general going out and about-ness.

Tomorrow we are off to visit the boys for the first time for a two hour programme, along with some other stuff. But first we have to play Uno and sleeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

Oh by the way, it is very hot!

Bye for now
xxx