Natalie Bastian – Weekly Report No. 4
„Kerala – Gods own land“ – Sir Paul McCartney
After another amazing week in India I can say, that this quote is absolutely correct. This week I spent a lot time in the nature, but not just in St. Johns.
First of all it started with a journey to the Neyyar Dam. In the morning Pater Jose have said that it is a beautiful place and I will enjoy it, but he downplayed it. What I saw on this day was (up to now) one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There is a lake (Nei-Aar), with clear water and everywhere palms, palms, palms.
When you climb a little tower, you have an amazing view over the lake. But the water is used and therefore they built the dam and channels carry the precious water to the farmer´s door. Furthermore there is Neyyar Gardens, which seems like I place out of a fairytale (there are a lot of fountains and waterfalls). To summarize this day: incredible!
In St. Johns there are a few sites and everybody is helping – no matter where. Together with the older boys I cleaned the fish tank, which was a bit icky, but the amount of fun prevailed. They always tried to throw me into the water, because there was a very big fish – they had no success!
On another day, also the younger kids were involved in the work. There were a big mountain of earth and the task was to fill the earth in little bags, so later they are going to be used to plant new grass and plants. The kids had a lot of fun and they slinged themselves into the earth, so after finishing they were supposed to have a shower!
After church on Friday evening, I talked with a sister and she mentioned that she will tell Pater Jose to buy me some Indian clothes – I would look pretty in it! Anyhow I had to do some executions on Saturday, so together with Sister Nancy I went to the city which is the nearest to St. Johns (can’t remember the difficult name) and we went shopping and after that to a tailor and now I have my first Indian outfit. We finished our shopping tour in a Indian Coffee Shop with hot tea and some sweets. I was able to wear my achievement on Sunday in the church. It was a specific mess (it takes 3 hours again) because we celebrated the Diamond Jubilee of a bishop – his name was Vincent. In a speech Pater Matthew mentioned the relationship between him and Vincent. He knows him since he’s a little boy. He told him about his belief and that’s why Vincent became a priest. A had an interesting conversation with him, he might speak German and will visit Germany next week for four weeks. He promised to enjoy Germany also for me.
On Tuesday we had guests, they were from University and are driving through different stations to donate money. The kids of St. Johns, but also the guests showed a few performances.
So all in all it was a nice week again and I can’t believe that I’m here since one month!
From India, Natalie
