Little Lists of Things.

Well, we arrived in Samoa (the day after we left...) and it is absolutely beautiful here. It really is just like a postcard, brilliant blue sky, turquoise waters and golden beaches. All the Samoans are very friendly, and everywhere you go you'll get a big smile and a "Talofa!" which means hello.

Firstly, can we all just say a big happy birthday to Isaac, teenager at last. Now he has officially entered teenagedom, Isaac and I have decided we are going to take over the universe with our wise teenage wisdom and the new Vans I bought him for his birthday (I am sick to death of socks with crocs. AGHHH!)

As our four month travelling experience now begins to draw to its close, we have all been reminiscing over our favourite bits, worst bits, places we'd go again, what we've learnt, etcetc. So here are our little lists of things from the holiday.

The Yules' Top 10 Experiences (in no particular order & there are many, many other experiences that we wanted to put on here, but 10 is a really nice rounded number, so we had to edit our long, long list)

1. Teaching in Udaipur
2. Taj Mahal / Fatephur Sikri visit
3. Lake Palace Lunch
4. Being with the Frankels in Oz, and the family BBQs
5. Whale Beach
6. Mum's Birthday in the wilderness, with no human contact
7. Doubtful Sound overnight cruise
8. Skydiving at Lake Wanaka
9. Mount Doom Walk, and the staying at the fancy hotel afterwards as a treat!
10. Abel Tasman walk/kayaking experience

Least Favourite Experiences

1. Safiya loosing her treasured pink hat, because Rafi threw it into the waterfall
2. Aliya's fainting fiascoes
3. All the homesickness
4. Isaac's having to do all his homework
5. Sand flies/other biting/buzzing/irritating insects all over the world!
6. Delhi belly!
7. The masses of luggage that had to be stored very compactly in the camper van... but we managed it!

What Isaac Got For His Birthday!

1. A slingshot
2. A knife (New Zealand hand made)
3. Vans (the cool pair of shoes)
4. Mini Vans (exactly the same but in Rafi's size, so they can look like matching brothers)
5. Crocs (because he lost his old pair and Dad was sick of him borrowing his)
6. Two t-shirts- one saying "DEATH. Our nation's number one killer"
7. Badges, one saying "I am NOT normal" and another one saying "Don't be so humble, you're not that great!"
8. A big sloppy kiss from Rafi

What We Have All Learnt Over The Holiday

1. Tolerance, especially of each other and our annoying habits, that we've all come to put up with, thanks to the camper van experience
2. Appreciating things more, especially the little things, and the things we normally take for granted.
3. Looking after our possessions (and not trusting Rafi with things that can a) melt, b) break, c) be thrown into waterfalls or d) be thrown at someone)
4. How hard it is to upload photos onto the blog!!
5. How much we miss and love our family and friends when we aren't with them/in regular contact with them!
6. To travel lightly, and not to buy too many gifts /clothes along the way!

So there are a few of the lists we have been comprising about our entire travelling experience. Here in Samoa we are relaxing and going over all that we have done and learnt over these past four months, and then making sure we have them stored in our memories. We are also trying to print photos and then make photo albums, which we think is a much nicer way of viewing photos than huddled round a computer screen! For the time being, for those of you who don't have facebook and can't see the photos from NZ that are currently on there, I have figured out a way to email them round (finally!) and I will pass the link onto mum who can send it to everyone whose emails we have.

I don't know what is going to happen to the blog once we stop wandering the globe, and we stop being the Wandering Yules...

More New Zealand...

Dear Friends and Family,
New Zealand has been all go from day 1. Mike has summed up some of the amazing things and its true that everyday seems worthy of a top ten lifetime highlight. So to rebalance things, I thought I would point out some of the things that are not in the brochures. Here is the list so far:
1.Sandflies that bite. They are everywhere, especially on all those impossibly blue & golden sand beaches, and for all hours of the day. Their venom is so horrid it makes big puffy bites swell up and just when you think the itching has stopped, bites flare up again especially at night {the poison is reactivated by the heat of blankets). Luckily those clever Maori discovered a plant that numbs the pain so we have bought lots of this stuff and apply it daily([along with the real sheep placenta cream that is working well on my wrinkles, though no effect on Mike's)
2. The boring food. NZ is blessed with wonderful seafood and meat but all the chefs seemed to have been trained in the last century. You cannot buy limes or rocket in supermarkets and there is no cardommon or chilli powder either. Cravings for real curry and samosas are high and will require a major detour to a city centre to be satisfied. Its getting harder to be inventive in the motorhome with one frying pan and 6 inches of worktop space.
3. The motorhome is shrinking. Mike alluded to this. Its true Isaac is growing very fast [he eats a meal every 2 hours and wants pudding after each] and we have acquired more stuff (fleeces mostly and kagools to cope with the cold and wet weather!!!) so perhaps there is less space in the motorhome with each passing day.
4. NZ is soooooo far away. Well all this unique beauty & peopleless wilderness comes with a price. We are getting a bit homesick and phoning/skyping/MSN is totally impossible with the 13 hour time difference.
I think that is about it (for now). I will feel better once I have had some biryani and korma! Thinking and missing you all lots and lots.

New Zealand

This has been overwhelming! A very slow start gave no indication of what we were about to see in this impossibly beautiful country. Is it widely known how spectacular New Zealand is or is this a well kept secret?
Highlights have included walks to waterfalls where Rafi disposed of Safi's favourite hat, hiking up to glaciers that surge down through narrow valleys to temperate forests, sky diving from 15,000 feet, jet boating through canyons, glimpsing the rare hector dolphins playing in Purpoise Bay off the southern tip of the South Island. We've kayaked off the golden coves of the Abel Tasman coastal path and Safi walked the 40km without complaint. Sperm whales spotted off Kaikoura on the east coast and as an added bonus we saw albatross! But probably top of the pops for has been the overnight stay on Doubtful Sound (or fjord) where we ate freshly caught lobster, fished and actually caught fish and had dolphins play at the bow of the boat while intense rainbows played out seemingly within touching distance. We are however divided as to the magic of the campervan but we wonder whether we should invest in one for the UK. we hope you are all well in uk and we are definitely on the homeward stretch xxx

Australia

As many of you have noticed, our blog updates have been getting less frequent. We are missing our friends and family a lot now that its two months since we left but our efforts to keep up to date by blogging are not easy. We are not at the volunteer place in India so don't have regular access to internet & have to rely on getting this at cafes and hotels which is often slow, collapses or just very expensive and results in numerous public squabblings about who should get priority access!! We also have to fit sitting at internet cafes/hotel lounges around sightseeing. And this has just got more and more amazing.

We just cannot update photos of the last few days of our time in INdia at the Taj and with friends in Delhi (we have tried 3 tiimes wasting several hours of Aliya's time each time with no success). So you will just have to believe us when we say we have amazing photos of us at the Taj and Agra!

As for Australia, our three weeks there has gone by in a flash. We managed to reconnect with the Australian side of the clan and want to say a big thank you to Lee and Sally and their children and grandchildren and to Oliver for hosting numerous dinners and parties and taking time out from their busy lives to chat and explain the many delights of Sydney. We barely touched the surface as far as enjoying all that Sydney has to offer - ythough managed to fit in many lovley beaches, including Bondi as well as treks in the Blue Mountains, opera, a cruise, art galleries, shopping, some legal work before finishing off our trip by visiting Uluru (previuosly called Ayers Rock) and Katajuta. It was very spiritual to see these prehistoric places at sunrise and sunset and hear the various aboriginal stories of their creation.

We will definitely come back for more desert walks.And also to get Safi and Rafi together with their cousins 2nd removed (not sure if this the right relationship) as they loved meeting, Josh, Stephany, Olivia, Jeremy and little Ella. Safi treasures her pack of Pokemon cards that Josh gave her and we have all learnt how to play them as she has no friends of her age. She is really missing school and her friends too.

Now we are in NZ in the motorhome. it is 6.6 x3metres. we have to be extraordinarily tidy and quite quiet which is a big challenge for us. Mum is trying her best to make nice food using less than 3 pans and only as many ingrediants as can fit into the tiny fridge/pantry. We celebrated her xx birthday by sleeping in the van parked away from it all at Mount Sunday which is where they filmed the Edoras bit of the Lord of the Rings. very remote and desolate, very beautiful and cold!

we have treated ourselves to a hotel room for the night though Mike and Isaac think this is for wimps and have decided to still sleep in the campervan in protest! we will post pictures again, ICT skills willing and keep in touch with what we are doing more often.

lots of love.

Finally, we're back in the blogosphere!

Hello everyone! Ali here. Hope you're all okay, and have been enjoying the snow (that I have been sad to hear has melted).

We have (well, mum has) received numerous emails and messages asking about the blog and for updates. Sorry!!! We have been trying, promise! Honestly, though... we are just having to much fun in Australia. :)

No, we're kidding. We are having fun, but we do feel bad for not updating. We haven't had any Internet connection, apart from infrequently and at internet cafes for a very short amount of time, before we're off to another beach or to see an opera at the Sydney Opera House :)
To tell you the very miserable truth, it's actually raining. I'm not even kidding. It's RAINING. Grrrrr. We came half the way across the world where it's meant to be lovely and sunny, and it's raining. We could have stayed at home and been with the snow!!!!

Nahhh, I'm kidding. We've been having loads of fun doing indoor activities despite the miserable weather, such as seeing Cavaleiria Rusticana/Pagliacci at the Sydney Opera House (which was incredible, and something very diferent then what we are used to!), going to art galleries and seeing family, which has been so much fun. The Frankel crew are all brilliant and lovely, and we've had an amazing time at delicious BBQs (when the weather was being nice to us!) and at the stunning Whale Beach house, where we were staying for the most of the time.

I've been trying to get my head around the fact that we're half a day ahead of you lot who are now upsidown on the wrong end of the planet :) So, if the earth was to explode, we would find out a whole half a day before you lovely lot in England. Actually, there isn't much logic in that. That's not true. But it might be comforting for you to know :).

Dad, Isaac, Safi, Rafi and I went to Taronga Zoo whilst Mum was working (hahahhaaa...). It was very cool- I thought Dad had fallen into the gorilla enclosure, until I realised it actually was just a gorilla (hey, he said I looked like one of the elephants!!)... We saw a brilliant bird show, and a very funny seal show, where one of the seals put on an american accent (it was very realistic!)- we also saw all the Aussie animals- koalas, kangaroos, sharks (at the Aquarium, which was also very, very good! You walk under where all the sharks and Dugongs - they were supposedly what the men who had been at sea for a long time would think were mermaids, actually they are whales... and they don't really have any resemblance to humans... - swim, and the sting rays and huge sharks swim right over your head. It's quite scary, but Rafi loved it, and was squealing at all the animals! Safi also loved seeing the Finding Nemo fish in the Reef Section; Nemo and Marvin and Dory.).

We've also spotted some other animals- Bluebottles, which are a small type of Jellyfish. But size isn't everything! Isaac and I and some of Mum's friend's children were swimming at Whale Beach in the sea. It had been quite windy, and on the shore there were these tiny balloon-like things with blue string attached. We had spent a while popping them, because it was very satisfying. Anyway, when we were in the sea, I got stung on my arm. I didn't see what did it, but I was told it was definately a bluebottle (because a sign had been put up saying "Bluebottles- Beware"!). Isaac then got stung (I had quickly got out of the sea, the sting stung and the salty water wasn't really helping) on his arm, but he saw the bluebottle, which had wrapped itself around his arm, and I think partly some of the pain was psychological, because he had seen this weird stringy creature wrapped around his arm which must have been v e r y freaky. Also, mum's friend's eldest child got stung on his foot, and he saw the bluebottle too. We decided that three stings were enough for one beach visit, so we called it a day, and went back to soothing warm showers at the house, just up the hill.

I think that's enough ramblings and adventures for now; I know we have to finish off the India with our Agra trip- the Taj Mahal and Fatiphur Sikri photos are beautiful, so we will upload those shortly (I can't promise that'll be too soon... we're going to Uluru [Ayers Rock]and Bondi... and seeing as we're in a camping van for five weeks when we get to New Zealand, I'm not so sure how likely internet access will be!) plus all the lovely photos from Australia, including family photos, so we definately will make an effort to upload those!

Please keep on leaving comments- even if we don't have time to write or upload photos to blog entries, we can reply to comments and emails! It is lovely to hear of tales of snow and rain and any other kind of weather you are having- and it doesn't always have to be weather related! All our love to everyone out there, anyone who is still reading the blog...! Don't give up on us, we are still out here in the blogosphere, safe from Bush Fires and crocodiles...!

We miss you all lots- lots of love,
Aliya
(The IT "expert" [even though I can't get facebook to work])

Farhana's Birthday

Mum's Birthday, 22 February 2009.

My birthday was a big adventure. Having spent a couple of days in Christchurch figuring out how to use our Motorhome (I realize now we are not in a Campervan which are much smaller and for the under 25s) we decided to celebrate my birthday by going on a day trip away from the crowds. We chose (at random) to go to Mount Sunday which we then realized was a famous Lord of the Rings location (Edoras in the Kingdom of Rohan, North or Mordor...so Isaac says). Although it was only an 1.5 hours from the city, it felt like a thousand miles away. The mountains were awesome and we only saw a handful of other cars the whole 24 hours we were there. The way was mostly a gravel track which the Motorhome, thanks to Mike's excellent driving, coped with very well. After a walk on a "braided river", we made Isaac's favourite meal (salmon pasta). It felt like such a treat to eat a hot meal & have tea by a treasured spot that we were instantly converted to the joys of motorhoming. Instead of cake, the children had made/chosen very fitting cards and forked out on some lovely presents (a binoculars and some watercolours and an astronomy calendar) which are proving very useful in the holiday as we gaze at the stars. After dinner, as we were all very tired, we decided to pull over on the road and sleep in full view of Edoras rather than drive back! At dawn, we had lots of lovely views of the mountains as well as one other car.  So you can see we got the hang of this motorhoming lark all in one day! 

We decided to return to Christchurchto see the motorhome rental people because Rafi's car seat needed to be seen to and we couldn't work out why our microwave and toaster wouldn't work. We spent the day going to the Antarctic Centre where the children saw blue penguins & experienced a realistic blizzard (-18 degrees and lots of wind) & then a range of accidents happened: Rafi tripped on some ice; Safi fell over on the ice-slide & split her lip and then to top it all Aliya fainted! I felt like a very bad parent! We decided to stay in a better class of holiday park (or at least mum, safi, aliya and Rafi did) so as not to overdo the outdoor life too much. We all need to get some rest! What a dramatic 3 days!

f

Rafi's Photos.

My cricket friends outside our apartment.

A little light refreshment.

My best friend- the MooCow!

The goats I love to play with outside our apartment.

My first motorcycle ride with Neeraj (the laughing one) and Mum, I have to say I prefer the rickshaws!

Isaac giving me a piggy back ride; it's really funny when I pull his hair!

I'm not laughing- Safi has stolen my water scoop!

That's better! Bath time is more fun when I can pour water all over everyone!

Rafael's blog of India

Hi family and friends,
I thought I would write this blog myself now as I probably won't remember much of this trip. The most exciting thing in my life at Cowfold was getting in the car and going to playgroup, maybe Tescos and collecting the big kids. But on this trip I have been bundled into so many different vehicles you wouldn't believe it! The most exciting was a big plane (as up to now I have just stared at them from the ground). But then when we got to Dehli, I got to ride in some very cool things called Rikshaws. They wizz around town at really high speed dodging cars, cycles and cows. My family are quite scared we will hit something but i think they are great fun!! I sit really quietly and nicely in them so Mum will always take me. She bought me a toy one when I saw one and sceamed!. I thought I was expressing my delight & she muttered something about it being my first proper tantrum!
We are now staying in an apartment in Udaipur near the school where the others are teaching. I get left behind with Dhanoo - who is my sort of nanny for a couple of hours each day. She takes me out to play with goats, look at the cows and play cricket with the other little kids in the village. I usually get very very dirty and have to have my clothes changed around 5 times a day!! she also gives me a "Frooti" a mango drink and my Milky Bar Kid. I think this is some sort of deal between my mum and Dhanoo.
When mum and the others come back I scream out in delight. They think its because i have missed them but actually they its because I want to go on the rikshaw. I scream that its not fair that they have had another ride and I have not!! How can i make them understand me better? I am now speaking some words but they don't always get what I am saying. Screaming seems more effective as everyone notices what I want instantly! Still they were rather delighted when I said "thank you" and "please" the other day...so maybe I will say those things every now and then to keep them sweet.
We all eat lunch together. I now love the rice and kidney bean curry. Afterwards i eat a whole gulab jaman in one go. I then play my favourite game - throwing things, balls mostly but anything will do, off the balcony. Luckily the guard of our apartment loves picking these things up and throwing them back to me! I have a nap every afternoon with my "bunny" and favourite blanket as all this cricket and ball throwing is quite tiring.
Late afternoon is quite hectic. All of us, me included, go to teach "evening school" which is a one hour session to teach some basic things to kids who don't go to school in the day because they are working. I mostly play and get messy and stroke the goats that are tethered nearby. Then its bathtime. This is great fun as I can fit myself into a lovley bucket of hot water and stay in it for hours splashing around and playing with Safi (who manages to squeeze herself into a bigger bucket cos she wants to be a baby, like me, teehee!). Mum makes me come out when the water has gone cold or there is none left as I have thrown it all over her.
The evenings are fun too. I get to play with Neeraj, who seems a bit like Mansoor Mammo, and with Ritu (who looks a bit like Tanika Auntie) and with Gaurav who is very tall so I like being held by him. I am practicing many new tricks to impress people and coo at me. My new one is copying Neeraj's laugh really loudly. I watch some of my favourite cartoons, e.g Spongebob, but in Hindi, which is a bit weird! Then something really cool happens. Mum puts me to bed in my pushchair. Although it looks a bit squashed to others, I really love it as its very snuggly and in the night something magical happens to me. I get transported somehow to mum and dad's bed!! This never happened in England but it always happens here in India when I fall asleep in the pushchair. So I am not complaining.

That's all for now. Hope you enjoy this and the photos!
love and kisses from Rafi, xxx

Bedla, Udaipur Photos... At Long Last!

Sorry for the delay with the photos... but finally, here they are! Enjoy!
Mike and Aliya teaching : 12-5 is.... EIGHT!

The business of Bedla! (actually, this isn't taken in Bedla, this is taken in Hatipol, where all the shops are and the Lake Palace is)

Mum and Safi teaching at the day care center.

Safi making her first chappati!

Mike and his guitars...

Story time!

The ladies carrying the hay... they walk for miles and miles with very heavy stacks on their heads.

Neeraj (the Local Co-ordinator)'s artistic shot of Mike, Aliya and Grade 4/5

On our way to school- carrying hay a different way...

Rafi after his bucket bath, bundled up!

The cow dung/hay mixture, which is used for fuel. These things are EVERYWHERE, and surprisingly, they don't smell!

Mike and Isaac at storytime

Aliya and Isaac teaching the animals.

From the book "Go Dog Go"...

We will upload more soon! We promise! We are trying to find ones of Rafi and his bucket baths... he might be the only one of us that absolutely loves them, and that's because he can fit into the buckets!! Leave us comments! M,F,A,I,S & R xxxx

Upper school

Ali, Iz and mike have been teaching the older children. There has been a struggle to incorporate relatively new teaching concepts and by 'new' I mean from the post Dickensian era. Generally accepted teaching methods here rely on rote learning of lists, plenty of copying and harsh discipline. We've tried to introduce something a bit more contemporary and seemingly the children love the lessons although frankly they are so hungry to learn, we could do almost anything and they'd be enthusiastic.
Sometimes the children, who come from the local village, shoeless but neatly combed, are clearly exhausted or with their minds on other things but we have found them extraordinarily committed.
We generally teach outside with a blackboard and taking resources with us. Their grasp of written English is good but because they are not taught phonics, they can only read words thy have already learnt. We are on a mission.
The journey to school is by auto rickshaw and we routinely pass a colourful assortment of construction workers, cows, children playing before school, unfeasibly large bundles of harvested hay being carried on women's heads...You really need to see the photos which will be uploaded shortly...Promise.
Ali and Iz are most able teaching assistants who, I trust, will be slightly more forgiving of their teachers now they appreciate what is involved!
We hope everyone is well and keeping your New Years resolutions.

Week 1 of Teaching!!

So we have just finished our first week of teaching. Safiya and Mum have around 15-18 children, ages 2-5. But we also get some older girls on days they have been asked to look after younger siblings. We sing them our goodmorning song and then start with some nursery rhymes before settling down to some writing/maths practice such as doing colouring in of number sheets or copying names/alphabet. One day, the nursery was closed unexpectedly so we used chalk and the "outdoor" classroom and did writing on the floor. It was great fun. The nursery has a cold floor. this must be nice in summer but its winter now and feels very cold. Many of the children do not have trousers or socks or shoes and you can see them shivering after sitting on a cold floor. They all warm up when we get the toys out though! We have chosen some construction toys (lego) and creative/role play toys as these appeal to all ages and boys and girls alike. After this "freeplay" we do a story or learn new words. The children are really amazing at learning a new language. Safi is getting very good at Hindi too! Then its time to do the "handwashing and lotion" duty. This involves washing and drying each child's hands/face adn then applying lotion as many dont have access to clean water and this way they get to be nice and clean in time for lunch. Mum washes their hands, Safiya dries and Ritu, our Local coodinator, applies the lotion. We then come home for lunch, hungry and quite exhausted!

Teaching in Udaipur 5th January 2009

The first few days after our arrival were spent on "orientation". we went to visit Sonaria Primary School & Community Nursery where we will all be teaching. Rafi will stay at our apartment and be looked after by a local nanny, Dhanoo, while the rest of us go off. Safiya and Mum will teach at the nursery (a bit like Country Mice). Aliya & Isaac will teach Year 4(age 8-9) and Mike will do year 5 (age 10-11). In orientation, we learnt most of the children come from the Gometi Tribe. Many of the families work as day labourers and in mining. Most live below the poverty line. Many do not send their children to school at all as they need them to work or do chores such as look after smaller children, cook, fetch water, graze goats. A few years ago, the government started a programme that provides a free meal for all school children. As a result attendance has improved & many clearly come so they can get at least one meal. We will teach at the School from 10.30-12am. After that they get their regular Hindi teachers back adn then have lunch. We have to plan a lot of activities to cover the 1.5 hours. We are quite excited about teaching. Safi and Mum have prepared lots of colouring in worksheets and sorted out lots of toys for the little ones to play with such as Lego. More next week on what its all like.

hi! first week of teaching is over! its so cool! the kids are great, and that's it. bye.

Udaipur

Finally we've arrived, ready to teach. Epic journey, albeit in private taxi from Delhi to get here but Udaipur is charming and a relief from the intensity of Delhi. We're staying in an appartment with running water only 2 hours a day, which is more of a shock to some of us than others! We're having fun though with the bucket showers and are being fed like kings.
Farhana and Safiya are going to be teaching in the nursery, Ali and Iz in 4th grade and Mike in 5th grade, English and Maths to classes of children from the Gameti tribe who are encouraged to attend school primarily by the offer of free school lunch. The school is recently built and newly extended which is a testament to its success as this depends on the roll of students. First lessons on Monday... Is this the very definition of a Busman's holiday.
Just been to the Lake Palace Hotel to relive past tour of India and indulge our luxury fantasies. Very beautiful..Pictures to follow shortly.
Very happy new Year to everyone and we look forward to hearing from you. By the way you can call us here on a land line for the next 3 weeks on 0091-2943296494. Also Mike has an Indian mobile which will much cheaper for you to call : 0091 9783300361.
Lots of love