MUMBAI

Namaste everyone!

Our journey is nearly coming to an end, as we all prepare for the long trip home. Our time in Mumbai started with an early morning visit to the Laughing Club, where we participated in a form of yoga lead by an elderly man who had been doing it for 25 years. After this experience we hit the shops, by this time in our trip everyone has got developed some impressive bargaining skills, particularly Jermaine who regularly asks for the Indian price claiming to be a local.

We've all had the chance to sight-see some of Mumbai's attractions such as the world's first and only billion-dollar house, the washing ghats, the Taj Mahal Hotel, a temple that we were unfortunately not allowed to see completely, and some of the less attractive sights like the Diravi slums with 1.4 million people in the space of 1.75 square kilometres. One of the most interesting places that we have visited is Mahatma Ghandi's house, full of facts and models detailing the life and achievements of Ghandi to inspire our group.

The group have been shopping hard both for family and friends back home, and themselves, with a group of five boys managing to spend 40,000 rupees in one go at the Lee shop. The main street near the hotel is again showing the massive contrast that exists in India, with genuine Adidas, Nike and Levis being sold inside the shop, with fakes costing only a fraction of the price sold directly outside the door. Mumbai has shown again the contrast between the different regions of India, with Mumbai and Goa being much more Western than cities such as Delhi and Varanasi.

On a sad note, last night saw the departure of one of our adult team leaders, the much loved Mitch. Mitch left last night to continue his travels into Vietnam and Cambodia with his lady friend Mary. Mitch was farewelled with the Mother House goodbye song, which left him without words and on the verge of tears as he hugged everyone goodbye.

Everyone is now excitedly awaiting the return to family and friends back home, but at the same time sad to be leaving the place we have called home for five weeks, where we have experienced things that we never imagined and grown both as individuals and as a group.

To finish we have Michael's favourite Ghandi quote:
True morality consists not in following the beaten track, but in finding out the true path for ourselves and in fearlessly following it.

Lots of love and see you all soon,
Michael C, Loren H and Sam J
xoxo
(with hindrance and distraction from Joe, and Kieran modelling his new favourite vest)

Namastae everyone,
After arriving at our hotel in Goa on New Years Eve we headed straight for the beach, just in time to celebrate the New Zealand New Years at 4pm. We made ourselves at home at the beach shack which is where we spent most of our time for the next few days. We spent the rest of our New Years Eve swimming, lying in the sun and dancing. It was a perfect way to spend our last day of 2011, entering the New Year with a haka from the boys. New Years Day was much the same with everyone enjoying the beautiful environment and the small escape from the harsh reality of India. On the 2nd we were lucky enough to visit a local spice farm where we got a guided tour of the spice plantation and to climb some coconut trees. Unfortunately there was not enough time to ride the elephants but we were all able to touch and get photos with them. After the spice farm we visited St Francis Xavier's church and a few others in old Goa before heading off to a evening river boat disco. Here we got a taste of Indian music and the Indian party atmosphere. The next two days we were back to the beach, making the most of the relaxation and sun before beginning our train journey back to Mumbai.
By Georgia T and Kerryn O

Calcutta to Goa

Namaste Everyone,
What a busy week it has been. We have been through many trialing and tiresome times but we have finally made it here to Goa.
To start our last day in Calcutta we had our 530am start for the last time. Heading down to Mass as usual followed by our regular breakfast and prayers. We went to our respective homes for the last time which was emotional for some but it was such a great experience everyone felt uplifted to have had made a difference. After work we had to prepare ourselves for the 36 hours we had ahead of us on the train. After our 'last supper' at our favorite Blue Skies Cafe' we were all packed and ready to depart Hotel Emirates. We got to the train station on schedule for the 815pm train only to find out that it was delayed 9 hours. This meant we were in for a rough night staying in 'first class' sleeping on the floor and wooden luggage racks. Just a regular night for many millions of Indians but a huge experience for us. After little sleep the train arrived and everyone caught up on some much needed R&R. The train ride was quite enjoyable with lots of card games, sleeping, eating and just chilling. We arrived in Mumbai to sweltering heat, amazing high rises and sky scrapers. We taxied to the YWCA Hotel for a quick freshen up before heading to Maccas for some well deserved kai! We were then off to our next stop which was the Mumbai Central Bus Station only to find that our bus was non existent. After waiting two hours on the side of a busy Mumbai street, we finally found a bus that would deliver all 34 of us to our next port of call. Our anticipated travel time was extended 5 hours because of a road accident 15km ahead. Bouncing, swerving and speeding through the hills we began to understand why India's road mortality rate is of 22 people an hour. We arrived to the sunny, beautiful and boiling 42 degree heat. It was like entering into a different world. We were so lucky to spend our last day of 2011 in such a beautiful environment which was a nice reward after a long and hard year in Christchurch.

Happy New Year to you all!
Love Hamish S and Hannah P :)