So the orientation week came to a close and the seven of us volunteers went off in our different directions into India. The week in Pondi finished with visits to various Indian NGOs, including the Anul Ashram, an HIV/Aids orphanage looked after by Father Dominic – by far the most interesting person I have ever met. He told us the history of the Ashram, and his past volunteering experience (as well as the odd anecdote involving Mother Teresa!).

So we said out goodbyes and made a loose commitment to try to rendezvous somewhere in India over the next two months. However, the fact that we are all going to be spread across effectively all three corners of India could be an obstacle.

We set off from Pondi around 1pm on Friday and arrived in Mumbai at 3.45am on the following Sunday. The journey involved a four hour bus trip, in which I sat directly below a Bollywood film being played at full volume. The various people that sat next to me on the bus seemed content with a ‘Hello, where are you from?’ kind of a conversation - any expansion on this on my part was met with vague confusion on theirs.

The next stage was a 31 hour train journey to Mumbai. We were on the sleeper train and found ourselves in a carriage along with two middle-aged guys, Suresh (a convenience store owner) and his friend (who spoke no English but tried in vain to teach us Marathi). Suresh was a bit of a know-it-all but helped us with translations to deal with the never-ending queue of people trying to sell us stuff. This ‘stuff’ included – coffee, chai, soft drinks, samosas, board games, pillows, nuts and no end of exotic fruits and other foods I was clueless about. The sleeping arrangements weren’t too bad, but the toilet was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.

So we arrive in Mumbai - with no accommodation sorted. The search for a room for the night became a bit of a drawn out affair as the many hostel managers we woke up wanted to charge us a full day’s extra stay for the few hours it was until daybreak! We ended up sitting near to the Gateway to India, next to the Taj Hotel (famous for other reasons in November last year...) until we could check in correctly! The paper work and bureaucracy here is incredible. In order to register for a simcard, I needed to provide a copy of my passport, a separate passport photo as well as a long form about my whereabouts in India! The day I chose to carry out this task was a Sunday which, apparently, is the day the photo machines get turned off. I explain this to a guy in a tourist office who rangs his friend ‘Anin’ who swiftly arrives with a dodgy looking Nokia complete with new simcard in hand. Although a little bit out of my depth, I manage to haggle Anin down to the equivalent of about 11 pounds. I’d managed in infiltrate Mumbai’s infamous black market. It’s been six days since that purchase and the phone seems to still be working ok.

Anyway, Will (partner volunteer) and I arrived around midday on the Monday totally unsure of whether we would be expected and what sort of welcome we would receive. However, after taking a rusting, rickety old bus up through a jungle we arrived at the St Gonsalez Orphanage to be greeted by Norbert, the manager. Norbert, we discover, is a man of only one or two English words, which is amazing considering most of the children here can hold reasonably successful conversations with us. We were also greeted by two American guys, Zayne and Greg, who have taken a year out to work here before attending University back in the States. I found out today however that Zayne has had enough and is going home at the end of the week!! Not a good basis for me to start my time here… The orphanage/local school is built within the grounds of Vesai Fort, which was originally built around 500 years ago. The school itself is very Catholic and is headed by Father Francis, a Roman Catholic priest from France. Our accommodation consists of two child-size mattresses laid out in an out-building the Father had built (in original stone bricks to fit in with the Fort’s style) which leaks heavily when ever it rains - this being every day as we are in the middle of the monsoon season and so there is a constant smell of damp in our room. I was also rudely interrupted by a toad the size of a fist under my pillow at 3am last night! We have tried to explain this to the Father but he seems to be one of the most chilled-out entertainers I’ve ever met. He takes a Mass in the on-site chapel every other day, and spends the rest of his time watching his huge supply of fake action movies or trying to involve us volunteers in games of Risk or Chess… On the plus side, the children here are incredible. There are around 84 in total and they range from around age 5 to 16. The orphanages is for boys only, and takes those children who have either one or no parents; have been rescued from alcoholic or abusive parents, or have parents in prison. After only one week, I don’t think I’ve previously ever played so much cricket in my life. There is not much room to play with as there are big piles of gravel and bricks dotted all over the place, however mini games spring into life the moment bit of sunshine comes out. Will and I are hoping to create some sort of pitch for them by the time we leave in around seven weeks’ time.

In our first week here the boys have been taking one of their three annual exams, so our role has been mainly to observe and check for cheating. From next week, when the new semester starts, we will be given our own classes and will have to teach English, History, Indian History, Geography, Science and Maths. I think I’m being given the textbooks this afternoon – however I’m not sure how the lessons will go having no experience in teaching whatsoever!