Greetings from Ayikudy

Dear fans,

We apologize for the delay in updates - our watches have been delayed to Indian Standard Time! Starting from where we left off: Houseboat Shopping. We settled on a boat called Shalom. The crew took us on a two day (60km) excursion through the backwaters of Allepey. Along the way, the houseboat stopped at a few small villages where we explored and met some of the locals, along with the wildlife. Our houseboat excursion ended on Canada Day, which we spent touring Allepey and its numerous jewelry stores.

Our journey to Amar Seva Sangam began Saturday, July 2nd. We took the train to Trivandrum and from there a taxi to Ayikudi. The taxi ride requires some explanation: it was a 3 hour rollercoaster of narrow, winding roads in which our driver passed all vehicles we came across no matter how life-endingly small the space to do so was. The taxi driver distracted our attention from the excitement outside, which was inducing nausea for some, by putting on a cheesey, dubbed Bruce Lee movie. Finally, we arrived in one piece at our destination regardless of everything.

At Amar Seva Sangam, we are staying in the midst of palm trees, mountainous ranges, and cool breezes. Here we have been able to experience: Village Base Rehab, wound care, aid with spinal cord rehabilitation, physiotherapy, medical clinics and rounds. Along with all this hard work, we have somehow managed to find time to relax and learn a few Tamil words with the local residents and children. It is currently 8:12pm, which means supper time! Thus the blog ends here until the next update. (Pictures soon to come).

Tata for now,
IHI