Pictures!!!!

Sunset at Mussourrie

Kids who greeted me on their way to school this morning!!!!

You need to look very closely but you can see the snowcapped Hymalayas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

India-Thanksgiving

As I write this, I am sitting in Mussoorie, in a restaurant eating dinner. I asked the waiter for spicy and he recommended a dish so I said yes that sounds good. Now as I sit with my eyes and nose watering like crazy, he is watching me like a hawk to see how I cope with SPICY!!!!!!

I arrived in India a week ago today. It has been a very interesting week. India is such a contrast from everything that I know and am familiar with. Although thanks to some very good friends, I was well enough informed prior to my arrival so as to prepare myself to a certain extent!!! Delhi is a mental city but I thoroughly enjoyed my time there with Kara, Atula and Mercia.

Kara and I flew to Udaipur. This is a very historical city built round a lake. We enjoyed chilling out and saw many a sight. We happened to see lots of preparation for weddings as this is wedding season in India!!! I got some beautiful pictures of the a bride and her closest family sitting by the lake. I just love the colours you see in India. It was here that I bought myself a saree for a wedding I am going to next month! Whilst in Udaipur we met a lovely girl from London called Laura (above). She was staying in the same hotel as us so it was really nice to meet up and have dinner together. We all really enjoyed our sunset cruise on the lake followed by a rather interesting dinner where we enjoyed our beer from an actual Mug!!!!! Laura is great craic and it turns our she is doing the same trip as myself only our dates in each place don't coincide! However we will meet again I am sure!!

Back to Delhi, just for a night and then off I came to Mussourie to chill in the Himalayan mountains! Literally chill and metaphorically relax!! It is cold here!! I am staying in a lovely guest house where Manoj will do anything at all to make my stay pleasant and comfortable!!! He says that I can just phone him anytime and he will pick me up on his motorbike!! Whilst I trust him completely and as much as I would love the thrill of the ride, the roads here are just too dangerous so I think I will stick to my feet, still rather dangerous but less risky!!!! I am here for another day and then back to Delhi.

I really love India and I am thoroughly enjoying the experience. My train ride to Mussoorie was an interesting one. We passed through the city for a while before we reached the countryside. The train set off at 06.50 so as we passed through alot of slums, I was watching as people were just getting up and starting their day. I have seen endless amounts of poverty since I began my travels but I think the hardest thing I have seen so far has been watching a little boy climb out of bed and waken his brother. This sounds pretty normal but instead of being a bed, it was what looked like a coal bunker and rather than having a mattress to sleep on, he had been lying on rubbish with only a blanket for cover. This was right in the middle of what can only be described as a landfill site. This breaks my heart and brings a tear to my eye every time I think about it. No child should be forced to live in such poverty. If I hadn't been on the train, I think I would have taken that little boy and his brother and tried to do something for them. But that train was not stopping for another 530 kilometres.


There will be plenty more Indian experiences as I travel through the country! Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and let's truly give thanks!!!!


Jane

Since I last updated the blog it has been a busy time. 

Last week my highlight was the safe arrival of my momma to Cape Town along with Heather, John and Chris. We had great fun cruising around town and of course it wouldn't be normal without mum teasing me!! Jamie arrived the day before and kept us amused! Jamie Trimble is one of the best photographer's in NI and flew out for the wedding. He did a great job along with Simone Scholtz on the day. Gavin Price did a great job with the wedding video and I look forward to seeing that!!


The drive to the Wedding venue (McGregor) was stunning, surrounded by mountains and vineyards. We had great fun getting to know Patrick's family at dinner the night before! Annette, Jerome, Jane, Michelle, Paul and Irene, thanks so much for your warm welcome into the family!


The day of the wedding was beautiful and Verner did a great job marrying the happy couple. The ceremony was beautiful and sincere! We enjoyed mingling over drinks and then a beautiful meal. Ali never ceases to amaze us as she spoke so well, again making us very proud! It was a beautiful day all round and we all enjoyed ourselves. 


I am in transit again and as I write this I am stopping over in Bangkok on my way to India. I am really looking forward to coming back here next month for a week at the coast! I am also very excited about India!


I got to see my friend Doug again as I passed through Nairobi. I really like the work that is going on there in the slums. If you would like to know more about that and the ability to make a difference to young lives, please ask me about that. I am now the European representative for Kigigi Life!


A few special mentions must go to Mercy, Kate, Barbara and Nicole. Keep the faith! Thanks to Irene, Kevin and the beautiful Gaby! So glad to call you guys family now. I am so excited for you and your plans to travel! Thanks Chico for being you and keep up the good work! Mike who makes the best sandals in Nairobi!


Thank you Ali and Patrick for having me stay for three weeks and I apologise if I caused you worry at times lol!

Third and final week in Cape Town

This week has been busy as we prepare for the wedding on Friday!!! Obviously it is a much busier time for Ali and Patrick though!!!!


Patrick, Ali, me and Paul (P's Brother) climbed Table Mountain. It was a really nice climb and we came down in The Cable car! Unfortunately the tablecloth of mist was over the mountain so we didn't get the spectacular view from the top!


I have been spending most days just hanging out at the beach which has been good when the weather has been nice!


Last Sunday, I set out to go to church in Ali's car. I realised I was going to be too late for the service so I turned round to go to a more local one. Wouldn't you know I got lost!!! I ended up in an industrial estate on a Sunday morning of all times! As if that wasn't bad enough the car broke down!! I hoped for someone to stop and God was looking after me as three different people stopped to help. The first couple were doing their best, the second guy offered to tow me home and the third guy knew what the problem was but he didn't have the right parts to replace! I was starting to draw a crowd by this stage as a security car pulled up, they had seen this all happen on a security camera (which I hadn't even seen!) Anyway I got on the phone to Ali and a very kind man towed me to safety. Thank the lord for keeping me safe!


That evening, we had a nice dinner party at the apartment to celebrate Patrick's Birthday!!!Close friends, good food and a few beers followed by a lovely cake of course!!


I had a lazy day on the Monday. We decided to go to an Indian Bazaar. Basically a big long hall with numerous stalls selling Indian Food.  You order at the counter and take your receipt to whichever stall cooks your food. This all sounds great only when we went to place our order we were told they had run out of curry!!!! Imagine that, take the curry out of an Indian restaurant and your not left with much choice. We made do and as we were sitting eating our food (which wasn't great it has to be said) we saw people starting to sit down beside us with- yes you know what's coming- CURRY!!!! When we went back to the counter they said it has just arrived- why didn't they tell us they were expecting some to arrive!!!! This is Africa after all where things just don't make sense! Then Patrick took us to see a movie that he thought we would like cos it had Ali's favourite actor- Sean Penn staring in it. Well let's just say it was the weirdest, artsy movie  I have ever seen.  So not the most successful evening!


On Wednesday we met up with Ali's girlfriends for her Hen Party and went to the most beautiful hotel I have ever been in. Our room opened out onto the pool and bathing area. We bathed in the sun overlooking camps bay main street and the beach across the road with the beautiful mountains behind us! Check out my pictures of that beautiful sunny day on Facebook! We had sundowners on the deck and then out for dinner to a lovely little quirky restaurant where I had a chocolate chilly sauce over my steak! Yum!!!! It was great Craic and Margi (Ali's maid of honour) kindly treated us to a night back at the hotel!!!


On Friday, P took us to Mzoli's in the Township. I loved this place. We basically go into the butchers, buy our meet, give it back to them to cook it on the brai (BBQ) and then we get it back nicely cooked and marinated. We sit, beer in hand and eat it with our hands and the atmosphere is great!


We also visited the Amy Biehl Foundation.  Visit: http://www.amybiehl.org if you would like to know more about her life, legacy and this charity.


Next week Mum arrives with Heather, John and Chris. Pray for a safe journey for them and a great time of fun while they are here!!!


Blessings
Janey