Straw to Brick: Habitat for Humanity Build

This was our village build. The people live in the traditional straw houses and we were building brick ones for them (my house is on the right of this photo).

The mortar for the bricks is simply mud. The girls had to wade into it and shovel it into buckets for us.

So - the plan was to build the walls up to the level of the roof in just one day.  My first attempt at bricklaying happened here - I was helping to build the back wall of the house with one of the students and a couple of the locals.

The students were simply amazing. At this point the house is about half built.

In the afternoon I moved onto one of the finished houses. We were painting it a lovely bright turquoise with some terracotta trimmings.

Looking forward to her new house!

A Blue Weekend

Lots of great music going on in Mumbai - and February saw the Mahindra Blues Festival.  Lex and I went with Jenni and we had a great evening.

This was followed the next day by Spanish Flamenco and Rajasthani Caravan at the Blue Frog. 

I heard that flamenco music originated in Rajasthan and was carried to Spain by gypsies. Looking at the dances together you can really see how one evolved from the other - so many things are similar but interpreted in different ways by the individual dancers.

A weekend in Alibaug

We set off from the Gateway of India on a local ferry going to Alibaug.  We planned to stay in a very quiet place on the beach.

Although you are not supposed to take photos from the ferry, I managed to get this one in of the Gateway to India and the Taj Palace hotel.

The beach at Alibaug was almost completely deserted.  A few people, a horse and cart at sunset and lots of birds.

View from the roof of our guesthouse.

A horse-drawn carriage ride on the beach at sunset.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

I love this colourful arts festival - and this year the theme was very much around women - with street art about women and the law and with sarees from the women of Dharavi with messages against rape.

Banganga

Banganga Tank is part of the Walkeshwa Temple Complex in Malabar Hill. The ancient water tank dates back to the 12th century.

Indian Wedding

I was so happy to be invited to the wedding of Kiran's son.  We started the wedding procession out in the street and walked to the Cricket Club accompanied by loud musicians and lots of dancing in the street.  Kiran looked absolutely radiant!

The entrance to the Cricket Club was beautifully decorated with flowers.

Traditionally the groom arrives on a white horse.  This groom however arrived in a white car.

Here comes the bride!  Red is a traditional wedding colour.

The ceremony starts with garlands being placed around each other's necks.

Fishing, Whale Watching, Dolphins and Turtles

Another early start on our last day in Sri Lanka.  Dawn was breaking as we set off on a boat trip to go whale and dolphin watching.

Later we went to a turtle hatchery.  The people here collect the eggs from the beach and keep the baby turtles for a couple of weeks after they hatch before releasing them into the sea.  This protects them from poachers who would come and dig up the eggs on the beach.

Baby turtles, less than a week old. These ones are green turtles and Olive Ridley turtles.