NO INTERNET CONNECTION!

Hi everyone - just in case you were concerned why Jo and Claire haven't posted for a while, the reason is that they have not been able to get internet connection for some time. They are both well and have had a great trip, and will be back in touch as soon as they can.

Udaipur

Today Miss Lane and Miss Chater have had a wonderful tour guide who took them to an amazing Hindu temple that worships Vishnu. The tour guide told them that in front of the god there is a large step. In front of the large step is a half moon. A Hindu is meant to live their lives fully and then go to worship the god to show they are ready for the next stage in their life. This completes the half moon into a full moon. Miss Lane and Miss Chater noticed all the people in the temple today were widows or women who have children living away. They are interested in this and will look into it when they get home. Perhaps Mrs Bhat, you could add your own thoughts about this. Next they went to The City Palace. The palace was beautiful and inside they had the most amazing art work from the C16 onwards. Miss Lane was particularly fascinated to discover that the most intricate pieces were painted using a single squirrel hair!!!!!!! She told the tour guide that her garden at home is full of them. She will never look at squirrels in the same way again. Miss Chater really liked the colourful glass all around the palace including a mosiac peacock. Unfortunately this computer doesn't want to load our wonderful photos, hopefully at our next stop we will be able to load them on to show you.

Flying to Udaipur

Miss Lane and Miss Chater left Mrs Bhat and took a cab to the airport. Here Miss Chater read her book, however Miss Lane spent the time catching up on writing her diary, as she is not very good at being a piglet, unlike Miss Chater! They flew with Kingfisher airline and had a comfortable flight despite the short run way for landing. Miss Lane kept gazing out the window but Miss Chater was not sure. They noticed the difference in heat as soon as they got off the plane. Udaipur is so different from Mumbai, it is just like desert with small roads and shops. There are hundreds of shops selling puppets just like the ones LKS2 have made! Miss Lane is still browsing to decide which one she wants to bring home to show you all. Here the sacred holy cows are very noticable in the street. Miss Lane is fascinated by them and has made a video to show you when we return. Miss Chater is busy checking the pavement!

Mumbai

Miss Lane and Miss Chater were very excited when they arrived at Fashion Street. They had their first go at bargaining. Miss Lane found this tricky unlike her class whereas Miss Chater wouldn't give up until she felt she had a good price. They also went to FabIndia where they bought some traditional Indian clothes to help them when they fly up North. They saw Flora Fountain which is named after the Greek Goddess. They also saw a small shrine attached to a tree. This was very similar to Barbados' Class. Miss Lane read Hattie's guide book to help her to phone Mrs Bhat. Snitch, Mrs Bhat's dog, was very sneaky as he managed to unzip Miss Lane's bag and eat all her lovely sweets and biscuits! Snitch then didn't want to eat his proper dinner. They paused in the shade for a rest and as they were sitting they saw some ladies carrying heavy loads of soil on their heads. They were amazed at how they could carry it. Mrs Bhat has also introduced Miss Chater and Miss Lane to safed-ilachi'' (Small yellow banana). It had skin like cardamon. They found out this is one of Mrs Biggs favourite treats when she is in India.

Guide books

Mrs Bhat and Miss Chater enjoyed reading Mack and Georgia's guide books. Mrs Bhat was very impressed with Georgia's knowledge. Miss Chater was eagerly reading Mack's section on Udaipur ready for their flight there tomorrow.

Drive back to Mumbai

Miss Lane and Miss Chater travelled back to Mumbai from Pune with Mrs Bhat. They got to see the wonderful Western Ghats, what a contrast! The traffic was rather busy so it took quite a long time. They are now going to fit in some shopping before flying up North.

More sites around Pune

Miss Chater and Miss Lane feel much more rested after staying at Mrs Bhat's house. They visited a supermarket and bought some yummy biscuits. They also saw an amazing vegetable in the middle of a road. The smell was lovely. They also went into a Ganesha shrine where they were waking the gods with the bell. They also passed some large bulls in a field.

Pune

Miss Lane and Miss Chater have taken a leisurely trip around Pune with Mrs Bhat to see some of the local sites, stalls and shops. Miss Lane was very happy when she found a crisp shop and she bought a large bag of banana crisps. These were very tasty. Miss Chater enjoyed looking at the vegetable stall.

Meena's house in Pune

Miss Chater and Miss Lane are enjoying their time at Mrs Bhat's house. Miss Chater particularly liked all the wonderful trees and plants. These include: Traveller's palm, Chikoo, Fig, Lotus and Jackandra. Miss Lane liked looking at the Okra (ladies fingers) vegetable as it reminded her of a cucumber. Mrs Bhat's roof is very clever as it has a 18 inch gap between and wall and roof covered only by a mosquito net. This allows good air circulation in the house to stop it over heating. Miss Chater has also made some new friends, Stitch and Brownie, Mrs Bhat's dogs!

Mosquito net

Mrs Bhat kindly put a mosquito net over Miss Lane and Miss Chater's bed to keep the mosquitos away. Miss Chater liked it as it felt like a secret den which brought back fond memories as a child.

Agakhan Palace

Miss Lane and Miss Chater enjoyed looking around the Palace where Gandhi held his hunger strike. They also got to see where his wife 'Ba' passed away as well as seeing where Gandhi's ashes are kept. It was a lovely and peaceful place. They could have stayed longer. Miss Lane was reading Callum Hall's guide book about India's national tree, the banyan tree, while sitting under it.

Rest!

Miss Lane and Miss Chater decided to have a restful Saturday reading the Indian newspapers. They are off to a temple this afternoon. Miss Lane has been busy cutting out lots of articles about Earth hour as Green issues are very big in India at the moment.

Day 2 at Pawar Public School

Miss Chater and Miss Lane got to see two fantastic dances from Standard 8 Class. A traditional Indian style dance and a bollywood style dance. One of them was dedicated to Lord Ganesha.

They also had the pleasure of meeting some of St Bart's penpals.

Miss Lane and Miss Chater enjoyed an assembly based on the children's Britain projects. It reminded them of home. They were particularly impressed with their short act from the Merchant of Venice.

They went into three different classes to interact with the children by answer their many insightful questions about Britian. Miss Lane also delivered the rest of the penpal letters. Rubin's penpal was particularly excited by his thoughful gifts.

Miss Lane and Miss Chater have been taking many risks, as Mr Beach suggested! As they both touched a live cobra that had been brought into school from a local farm. Miss Lane never thought Charlie Repp's guide book would come in so useful!

Both Miss Lane and Miss Chater enjoyed a tasty lunch for both days, this included trying out some sugar cane juice. It was very yummy.

Miss Lane and Miss Chater were grateful for the thoughtful gifts from Pawar Public School and look forward to opening them with their classes. They received some flowers on arrival which were beautifully handcrafted. They are going to try and pack them carefully to bring them home to show everyone.

In the evening the school very kindly took them to a traditional restaurant where they got to try Maharashtran cuisine.

It was lovely to sample so many new flavoursome dishes. Miss Chater particularly liked poori as it reminded her of a yorkshire pudding with an Indian twist. Miss Lane loved it all and commented on how much better it was than curries at home!

Pawar Public School in Pune visit

Miss Lane and Miss Chater had a wonderfully warm welcome from Pawar Public School today. As they entered the entrance hall they stood and admired the incredible rangoli peacock that their talented Art Teacher had created with the children.

This was then followed by a tour of school. They were impressed with the library and their range of books. Some of you enjoy reading the same authors. (Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl). They met some of the classes today and saw Pre-Primary (Red and Blue base) hold a great puppet show. Miss Lane and Miss Chater were astonished by the children's work on Britain. They had clearly learned a lot and it was a privilege to see and have the children explain their work in such great detail.

Miss Lane and Miss Chater loved admiring the beautiful gardens. Miss Chater particularly liked the 'Touch me not' plant. Here they saw chilli, tomato, pumpkin and courgette plants growing. They also saw the Aloe Vera plant as well as the Jasmine flower which Miss Lane liked smelling. They enjoyed a traditional cuisine for lunch with the Dr Gurjar and her other guests.

Mrs Eden please look at the vibrant painting on the wall of the goddess of music.

Ms Stone please note the large library, that should be the next big project!

Mr Beach how about trying something on your walls like this...

Victoria train station

Miss Lane and Miss Chater visited Victoria train station. Here they found out that two million people pass through the station everyday while one thousand trains pass through daily. Inside there are two stations, a local and a national section.