What is yet to come

So it has been a while since I last wrote. Mostly because the charger for my computer has gone caput and this has made internet access in India more of a challenge! In the intervening time plenty has occurred in my little corner of India and I am now writing to you from the living room in Zenobia Mansions, safely back in the UK for my summer break.

My plan is to write a few catch up blogs to fill you in on the gap, namely the majority of June! So this is really a blog to explain that other blogs are on the way. Something I have noticed about myself since starting to write the blog is that I spend a lot of time thinking of titles, so here are a few to whet your appetite before the real deal!

June Monsoon- a little about the weather and a few cases from the hospital.

Disneyland India- in which my lovely friend Lucy arrives and we explore Mysore with its beautiful and ridiculously lit up palace.

Curry in a cold climate- The second instalment of our holiday in India.

Half term report- a short report on life so far in the Indian sub continent and what is happening next..

COMING SOON TO A COMPUTER NEAR YOU...

Alice x

p.s. As this is a rather short posting I thought I would take the opportunity of adding a few photos, just to keep you all sweet.

A frog, no reason just because I liked him.

Another classic monsoon pic, brightly coloured truck in a flooded Keralan field.

Stomp stomp, Chomp chomp

Hello just a quick report on a rather exciting early morning visitor I had last Sunday. I was sleeping soundly in my little bed at around four in the morning and I heard a noise from outside the window. Normally a very deep sleeper I was surprised to find myself awake while it was still dark outside and at first in my sleepy state couldn't work out what had happened. The noise that had woken me continued. Stomping and chomping. My first guess was that this was some wandering herd of wild boar, not an infrequent occurrence however this seemed a lot louder. I gave in to my curiosity and dragged myself out of bed.

Standing there, directly outside my window, was a large elephant. I was more than a little surprised. When I had come to terms with this I naturally decided to try and photograph the big guy. By this point however he had strolled off towards the hospital. I thought that my chance was over but he took a left turn and went into the tea plantation next to the hostel where I live. I ran to the bathroom window for a better view and just managed to capture a picture. I think he disliked the flash because he left soon after.

Waking up in the morning I assumed this must have been a rather odd dream, the product of too much curry before bed time. But on looking at my camera and the large elephant footsteps outside the house I managed to convince myself that my vision had in fact been correct. I have enclosed the photo below, an elephant outside my bathroom window attempting to hide behind some shrubbery. Notice the large tusks and glint in the eye, this rogue elephant has apparently been up to no good! According to varying reports he has stomped on between 2 and 4 people. Not an ending I would like to come to on a dark night.

Since then the general consensus is that the elephant has returned to the forest. The more dramatic of the story tellers say that he was rounded up by the tame elephants who are cared for by the elephant sanctuary and driven back. I particularly like this version of events.

Anyhow it’s all rather exciting and I have been thrilling all those who will listen with the story of the elephant sighting all week.

Aside from elephants the only really big news here is the arrival of the Monsoon, but I will tell you all about that another time. Until then lots of love to all.

A x