Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Monsoons & Monkeys

It is definitely monsoon season. Today it started raining while I was on the rooftop washing my clothes, by hand. Yes, luxuries like washing machines and dryers are not part of life here in the volunteer house, but if you time your washing just right you can get it automatically rinsed. My clothes are half washed. And the clothes that managed to get hung up are on an-extended rinse cycle.
There are
Monkeys here. Not just the odd one. I would compare them to squirrels at Stanley Park in Vancouver. Our Didi (housekeeper) will chase them away from the house with a slingshot or a big stick. She is not the only one. I have seen an old lady on a neighboring house yielding a slingshot as well. I think the Volunteer House must be located on a main monkey thorough fare. Yesterday we had about 50 or more passing through. Today, two lucky monkeys found their way into the bedroom of a couple of volunteers. Apparently, they scored some candy. Sweet!
Our room has "monkey bars" on the windows, so my stash is safe.
I didn't spend too much time with the girls at Gauri Shankar today, as I've come down with a chest cold and am sounding kinda manly. Don't feel 100% either.
Right now I am laying in bed and I hear a lot of dogs sounding very anxious, barking and yelping. That is usually a sign of the monkeys being active. I have witnessed a couple monkeys try to take on the dogs at the neighbors house. Luckily slingshot lady broke if up.
I know that thus far I have written very little about the kids. Between getting settled into a new culture, meeting all new people, and now being sick, I haven't spent a whole lot of time with them. During the times I have been with them, I've been surprised at how normal they are. When they heard I was from Canada, it started the debate about whether Justin Beiber is from Canada or the USA. Anyone?

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