COUNTRY: India
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Care Work
WRITTEN BY: Mei Turnbul
Oh, my goodness! Where to begin?
The first day the volunteers arrived at the camp was nice and relaxed - thank goodness! Whether we'd just spent the last twenty-four hours travelling from Australia (or roughing it on an eight hour train or bus ride from Mumbai) we were all grateful that Idex didn't have an agenda set and we were able to have a little R&R.
As more international volunteers trickled into the camp, we were shown to our rooms, given a tour of the grounds and left to our own devices. Some of the volunteers chose to stay in to catch up on lost sleep, others chose to leave the camp and locate the nearest beach, Majorda, to try and escape the day's heat.
However any of the people volunteering chose to fill their day, all could agree that what we really did was set the foundations upon which new friendships will be built. An infectious sense of comradary spread and after a matter of hours we were all planning how we were going to spend our time off and weekends away together! After dinner, we all sat around playing ice-breakers like 'two truths and a lie' to get to know each other a little better.
The following day, the girls of the volunteer group woke up bright and early for our yoga class with the hilarious Dr. Kiran. Feeling invigorated and full of giggles, we went back to the camp for breakfast before we set out for a big morning of sight-seeing with the Idex crew. We saw temples, churches, and Old Goa, which was great because it really illustrate the complexity and richness of the culture here in Goa, and just how strong the Portuguese influence was in this area. Returning for lunch, we then left again to watch the latest big hit from the Bollywood Box office, Jab Tak Hai Jaan. I have two words for you: See It. Despite the fact that there were no subtitles in the film, English is so infused into the language that we were able to follow well enough to understand the drama affecting our protagonists. The songs are so catchy, we listen out for them on the radio and sing along on our way to our projects! Needless to say, all of the international volunteers will be returning to Australia with a copy of the soundtrack.
The third day at camp is based around orientation for the projects. After breakfast, we set off to look at where we could be working in the morning, followed by a brief outline of what we would be doing at each placement, when we returned to camp. The options are so interesting and alluring to all of the volunteers, and at each venue you could hear a handful of people exclaiming, "Ooh! I wanna work here!!" and later, "No!! Now I don't know where I want to work..."
The same was repeated for the afternoon projects, and when we returned to camp we officially signed up for our volunteer placements, ready to start the next day. We then set out to visit Dr. Kiran again, and managed to drag the boys along with us! No surprise, they too were won over by our yoga instructor's sunny demeanor and said they would join us the next time we decided to go (which would be fairly regularly, as it's only one hundred rupees per session!). After our yoga lesson, we were dropped off at Colva beach where there are restaurants and markets nearby. If you think you love shopping, wait till you start haggling! It is so fun bartering with the shop-keepers, and you'll be amazed how much lower you can bring the prices - the more confident you become, the lower the price is at the next place you go to. The volunteers were then picked up, and more-or-less crashed when we returned to camp.
It's been a busy couple of days, but we're all still so excited to be here I don't think we really feel affected. We're eating well, sleeping well, and (thanks to Dr. Karim) we feel balanced and ready for any challenges that may lay ahead in our projects.
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