Matt, Anna and Ingrid in Pali and Jodhpur!
Our second week began with some eventful trips to the Pali market, firstly for some essentials like toilet paper (which is proving strangely elusive) and secondly to acquire bicycles that would allow us to navigate the town. One lost Ingrid, some traffic-stopping incidents and a fall with bloodied results later, along with two return trips to the bike seller to fix some teething mechanical problems, Anna and Ingrid have come to the conclusion that the streets of Pali are far too hazardous for mere mortals who are unaccustomed to the endless obstacles of bovine, canine, human, and auto varieties. Matt, however, has entertained the locals on several occasions by zipping through the streets of Pali on his two-wheels at top speed with true Indian dexterity.
On the work front we’ve spent the best part of the last week meeting some of FEGG’s success stories (rural girls recently re-enrolled at their local schools) and churning their experiences into a feature article for the NGO’s upcoming digital report. After a long and bumpy drive out to a remote village nestled within Pali district’s tribal belt we were introduced to five young girls, their local teachers and some FEGG field staff. We learned that all the girls’ had been pulled out of school by their parents, either to assist their families with menial labour or in anticipation of being married off, before joint initiatives by FEGG and local community members helped return the girls to education. We saw that by convincing the girls’ parents of the importance of schooling, a step undertaken with the assistance of community leaders and conducted through village meetings, FEGG had helped these girls foster greater ambitions for the future; each had an ambition to become either a teacher, doctor or local health worker in later life.
This weekend we once again donned our tourist hats and pants and took off to the ‘blue city’, Jodhpur. The primary purpose of this trip was to visit the local ‘Reliance Mart’, a towering glass complex we had witnessed on our original trip from Jodhpur to Pali, and, had convinced ourselves (and dreamt on multiple occasions) over the past couple of weeks was an Indian style Woolies where we could pick up the essentials that are near impossible to come by in Pali – toilet paper, tea and chocolate. On closer inspection Reliance Mart had shut down due to poor business. We did however manage to find most of our necessities at the National Handloom (an indoor, multi-level market, closest thing to a supermarket), including one skipping rope – we are becoming a bit soft round the edges, exercise begins tomorrow. Which of course brings us back to food. The weekend was again an eclectic culinary delight consisting of several famous ‘LP Reco’ (Lonely Planet recommended) omelettes, Baskin Robbins ice cream, an indecent quantity of masala dosa and a Chinese Maggie two-minute-noodle dish proclaiming to be chow mein. Despite our first hankerings for western or non-Indian food we did manage to stay well away from the great golden arches, Jodhpur’s very own McDonalds. Oh, and we also squeezed in a visit to the majestic Mehrangarh fort and palace complex, still ran by the descendents of the Maharaja of Jodhpur.
We’re looking forward to meeting some of FEGG’s staff from the Mumbai head office this week and planning our next weekend journey as we sign off.
Slightly worse for wear,
Anna, Ingrid and Matt.
P.S. Matt's cow patting tally stands at a paltry 13, Palinese cows appear edgier than their brethren in Udaipur.
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