Pentakatha School Act Project-DAY 1
Our various flights from all over the world finally connected at Bhubaneswar, East India, where we met up at the airport and took a 60km drive in our taxis to the apartments in Puri, where we will be spending the next three weeks. Driving through India is an experience in itself, since there seem to be no conventional rules of the road. The rules I figured out while sitting half petrified in the back, were:
1. He who drives fastest and/or has the biggest car has right of way
2. Hooting with a reverberating horn while overtaking is a way of marking your territory to the oncoming traffic, if you’ve given them fair warning of your approach they should do the decent thing and pull over or even off the road.
3. There are only two types of people and animals in India – the quick and the dead.
The scenery we passed (whenever looking ahead got too much to handle) was truly remarkable. The hustle bustle of people and animals that occupy the streets add such a unique character to the otherwise run-down atmosphere. Palm trees give the entire area a tropical feel, while a constant layer of warm, hazy mist give an aura of mystique. The houses painted brilliant pink, green, yellow, red and the woman in their beautiful sari’s come together in a kaleidoscope of colours, making every minute of the drive a dazzling experience. On the road itself there are buses, trucks, taxis, motorbikes, scooters, cows, dogs, humans, bicycles, donkey cars and trams, all competing to be the fastest and the furthest ahead on the one double lane road available.
Finally after what felt like ages of driving (since we were all exhausted from our long flights) we arrived at our destination – our apartments in Puri with a lovely view of the pool and the sea. Once we were all settled we went out for many of our first “real” Indian meal. We had a lovely dinner of Paneer Tikka Marsala, Butter Naan, Chicken Bryiani, Tendoori Chicken and the like, and a refreshing drink of Fresh Lemon Soda. We finished dinner off with dough puff marinated in a sweet, clear syrup. After dinner we were fortunate enough to witness a real Indian marriage celebration with traditional dancing, music, lights, fireworks and a car covered with enough flowers to fill a shop.
All in all it was an amazing first day and I know we are all extremely excited for tomorrow, our first day at the Pentakatha school, where we will be discussing the painting logistics and interacting with the teachers and
children of the school.