A few observations - Toni

Alison and I came to Calcutta with 2 enormous great big suitcases full, for the most part, with resources for Future Hope.  This meant that there was little or no room for clothes - which in turn meant that we would HAVE to go shopping - hurrah!

We were taken to a lovely clothes shop which specialises in 'westernised' Indian clothes and it will come as no surprise to learn that we were easily able to find many things which we just couldn't do without.  The clothes are very comfortable and cool to wear, and fascinating in terms of what goes where - see below.  I have never before worn such tall trousers or looked more like Nora Batty in the ankle area.

The diet seems to be working...

These are BIG girls' trousers

The finished look - note wrinkly ankles.

The school day starts with assembly at 8.00 am - there are 6 x 45 minute lessons until 1.30 pm punctuated with a break for Tiffin at 10.45.  We take in our mugs and are served hot, strong, sweet tea by the Cha Wallah - he makes it in a great big aluminium kettle rather than a teapot of any description.  Those of you that know me well will realise that this is a far cry from the weak and wishy washy Earl Grey that I favour made with lots of skimmed milk - am so in need of a cuppa by then that I actually don't mind too much, but will revert to normal when I am back!

I think I have already mentioned that it is a fairly common sight to see men relieving themselves at the side of the road - even in the most built up areas?  Had a bit of a crisis of confidence today re. what is the correct etiquette when you know the person who is doing the relieving...  One of the little Future Hope boys was peeing at the roadside as I walked by (actually had to step into the road to avoid him) - he was with his little sister and 2 other younger siblings and his Mum. I had my sunglasses on so thought it best just to feign ignorance - I heard shouts of 'Auntie, auntie..' so turned back to be given a big hug by the little girl, but narrowly managed to sidestep shaking the hand of the young gentleman in question... there are limits!

We watched the last episode of Pride & Prejudice last night and decided that a stiff G & T was required to soften the blow of its finishing.  We had forgotten that we still have no bottle opener (where are screw tops when you need them?) Alison remembered being told that you can get a bottle top off by wrapping it in a tea towel and going at it with a spoon.  we were so desperate that we gave it a go - I managed to get a tantalising little shh out of the bottle but that was about all - Alison however was far more determined/desperate and could be heard threatening the cap - 'come on, you're going to come off, so  you may as well come quietly...'

Needless to say the cap was no match for my lovely friend and we were able to enjoy 2 very strong G & Ts - a lot of the tonic ending up on the kitchen floor.  It was worth it!!

That's it for today - tried to upload the most moving video of the kids singing Abba's 'I have a Dream' but sadly it's too big to upload :-(

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