Saturday 17th ok July

Hello everybody I still haven't figured out how to get videos working on here if its even possible at all, I may end up having to post videos on Facebook we shall see. 

So then I'll get on with filling you in on what's been happening so far but there's been so much going on its hard to know where to start. 

Everything is just completely different here it's basically a third world environment in a rural setting. That air smells of a dusty dry-heat with hints of wood smoke from the make shift ovens people use to cook all their tasties along the roadside. There is absolutely no smell at all of spices which may show my small minded ignorance of what to expect when I got here.  

As you drive through the towns and villages all the action is by the roadside with people cooking & selling, fixing things, and many other things to many to write down. 

The driving here is crazy but I love it! No messing around you just go- it doesn't matter what's ahead of you or on the road you just go and go around it. And everyone else is fine with it they just let you get on with it no problems. No angry beeping or road rage- although there is lots of beeping but that's just to let people know you are there & coming past. These people may be crazy on the road but I like it. They know how to get where they are going and they get on with it!  And I think there are few accidents because they all do it, have been doing it all their lives and know what to expect. 

Simple words cannot do India justice. There are so many things that need to be seen that cannot be explained without writing an entire book to explain a one mile journey which is why I'll do my best to get videos up and running. Tomorrow I will take lots of pictures for you to see. 

The hospice it's self seems to be in the middle of nowhere surrounded in the distance by small tree covered mountains and hills, some with quite steep peaks.The hospice is a very peaceful setting (when the children are at school or asleep but they bring it to life when they are not) From the outside the hospice looks a little run down but on the inside its well kept and really quite nice. 

There are about 22 children here and they really are great they all want to play which I have found quite hard as I am still jet lagged. They all call me uncle which I quite like sometimes they get mixed up though and call me auntie! It seems very easy to forget the children are HIV positive as they are no different from any other children. They run, argue, watch tv, draw, play and be a little naughty sometimes and do not come across as unwell at all. The good news is no children ever die here as they are all medicated, well fed and generally well taken care of. Although rarely there are deaths here but only adults who have come here for care in their last few days, maybe once or twice a year. 

The ants here are super-monsters.  They are huge the average ant is between 1& a half & 2cm long. Seriously I think if there were enough of them they could take down an elephant. The queen must be the size of a mouse or a small cat. I will take some videos of them (when I get it working) and I will show you what I mean. There were loads of them swarming in the kitchen it was actually quite unsettling especially as they can bite.  

The mosquitos here are predictably annoying bur they even bite when I have the cream on. Although they only seem to want to eat my right arm for some reason I don't know why. Maybe I could train the super-ants to protect me from the mosquitos we shall see. 

Ok that's it from me for now sorry this blog wasn't up last night like I had planned but they turned off Internet and locked the office so I couldn't get to it. Ok by for now will write more later :)

Stuart :)