Thimmammamarrimanu, the largest tree specimen in the world

English:

Thimmammamarrimanu, the largest tree specimen in the world.

Unpronounceable by nature, Thimmammamarrimanu was recorded as the largest tree specimen in the world in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1989. Funnily enough, it was located not very far from the city where I was living - and volunteering - in India from July 2015 until July 2016: Anantapur.

On a Sunday morning, the only day off we had during the week, some other volunteers and I decided to go there to see that tree with our own eyes. While we had expected to see a huge tree, the truth is that the Thimmammamarrimanu looks like a dozen trees together because it's very difficult to see its origin, its main stem.

Diwali, the festival of light

English:

Diwali, the festival of light.

Hello everybody and welcome back to my blog!

Today, I would like to share a couple of pictures that I took during Diwali, the festival of light, in Anantapur while volunteering. I obviously couldn't take many pictures because (a) I was busy having fun and (b) I didn't want my camera to be damanged with so much fire around!

Some notes on my first Indian wedding

English:

Some notes on my first Indian wedding.

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog once again!

Now, I know it hasn't exactly been one week since I published my last post, but I really wanted to publish these notes on my first Indian wedding.

As you know (and as I have repeated plenty of times), I lived in India from July 2015 to December 2016. Those months were full of experiences that I have been telling you all about around here and, as it couldn't be any other way, going to an Indian wedding was another wonderful experience I lived in India. 

Tips if you want to volunteer (abroad)

English:

Tips if you want to volunteer (abroad):

Hello everybody! Welcome back to my blog! I hope you're all having a great day so far.

Today I am going to write about why you should consider volunteering, as it is something that I did for one entire year of my life and an experience that I'll never forget.

The first question you should ask yourselves when you consider volunteering is... 'Why not?'. Volunteering is a great way to discover new countries, get immersed in new cultures, learn from other people and spend a very gratifying time doing something for other people. 

When people consider volunteering, they sometimes feel scared because they don't know what to expect from the country they are going to visit and they don't know how much money they are going to spend altogether. Also, people worry a lot about health issues - How probable is it to catch an illness? What if there are no cures for certain illnesses they might catch? Should they take many medicines or shouldn't they? What if they don't like the experience? Can they come back earlier?

To be honest, these are questions that I also asked myself before I went to India, but I chose to be brave and did it. I decided that I'd rather regret what I had done than what I hadn't done. I wanted to give myself the chance of at least knowing everything that trip would entail - and so I did. 

So, here are some tips that might be useful if you'd like to volunteer:

Visiting the Ecology Project of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation

English:

Visiting the Ecology Project of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation:

After some time without writing in the blog and being already in Spain because of some family problems, I arrived with the desire to tell you some experiences that I had pending from when I was still living in India. India was my home for a year and a half of my life and, therefore, I have more memories and experiences than I could narrate in this blog. However, there are several experiences that, either due to lack of time or technical problems, have not been reflected here until now.

Let's go back in time, exactly until July 8th 2015, three days after arriving in India. As I said on other occasions, the purpose of this trip was to volunteer with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation for a year, although we spent the first three days visiting projects carried out by said NGO.

Interviewed by Ser Catalunya while volunteering in India.

English:

Interviewed by Ser Catalunya while volunteering in Anantapur (India).

While I was in Anantapur, I was interviewed by the radio station Ser Catalunya, specifically for the programme "Tot és comèdia". They came to Anantapur to visit the facilities of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation and spoke to many professionals working there - Indian and Spanish workers as well as volunteers. 

Penukonda: enjoying the company of a giant and the quietness of an ashram.

English:

Penukonda: enjoying the company of a giant and the quietness of an ashram.

On the first days of August, two of my colleagues from the Foundation and I set out to spend a nice, sunny Sunday in Penukonda, just over an hour drive from Anantapur. That day we also went to Lepakshi, but I'll keep that information for my next post.

A one-day visit to Tarimela for the Tholi Ekadasi Festival.

English:

A one-day visit to Tarimela for the Tholi Ekadasi Festival. 

To Seshu, with all my love and gratitude. Thank you for that wonderful and enjoyable day.

Before I start writing about some of the adventures that have taken place in India lately, I'd like to apologise for not having written anything here in almost two months. The thing is, that my daily routine in India is quite packed and the last thing I want to do when I get to my room is keep writing - either in my blog, in my notebook or elsewhere. I know there are some people who check my blog every day, hoping to find new information, and what you discover is the same information I posted two months ago, already bored to death, occupying the top spot on my list of publications. I refuse to commit to publish something new every day because I know I can not keep this promise, but I promise to update my blog as soon as possible, both for you (I know you want to know about me) and for myself, because I don't want to to have too much information to include in the upcoming months. I think it's best to keep my blog updated, because now I already have too many outstanding publications. Let's see if I achieve it ...

I'd like to continue, then, with the information from another of my adventures in India, an adventure that happened on July 27th and which was held in the house of one of my students, Seshu. The adventure began with my first bus ride in India - a bus which was quite old, with people who had to travel standing, with oxide in any metal corner and broken seats due to the use people have made of them. Although being a bumpy ride, with breaks every few minutes because of the poor condition of the asphalt on highways and roads, and lots of noise (either by the horn of the bus itself or any other car, bike or rickshaw that happened to be on the street at that time), the bus ride turned out to be a very funny experience, with laughter included, that left nobody indifferent.

A one-weekend trip to Hampi: monkeys, excellent food, a four-star hotel and lots of temples.

English:

A one-weekend trip to Hampi: 

monkeys, excellent food, a four-star hotel and lots of temples.

Last weekend, i.e. from July 17th to July 19th 2015, three of my fellow volunteers and I decided to go to Hampi, in the state of Karnataka, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. The current city centre houses around 350 temples, fortifications, sculptures, stables... along with a vast amount of guesthouses, whose food is excellent.

Instead of staying in a guesthouse, we opted for a four-star hotel in the city of Hospet, just a few kilometres away from Hampi. There, we enjoyed a fantastic hot shower and a comfortable bed which could have delighted anyone. However, we did not walk a lot around Hospet and, instead of that, we decided to spend all day visiting and enjoying Hampi.

Focusing on...: traffic in Anantapur.

English:

Focusing on...: traffic in Anantapur.

As I mentioned here, and as I am sure many of you may have read in articles or seen in movies, the streets of India are a compendium of people, cows, pigs, roosters, dogs, noise, cars, rickshaws, motorcycles, rubbish, etcetera. I had also read about it and had seen it in movies, but it's not until you set foot in these cities that you actually see what it is like to live here and walk around these streets. It is surprising how much control these people have, whatever their means of transport is, and how little angry they get when they see that a car is approaching them from the front because it is overtaking a bus and two bikes at a time, not to mention how closely they pass pedestrians. Their tranquility is unchanged whatever the traffic intensity is or how much trouble there is around. Here you can see some examples of such chaos, but, as I have previously said, the photos and videos do not do justice to what one actually lives here. Personally, I am still surprised when I walk through these streets or when I am driven somewhere, but I'm getting used to the Indian way of doing things and I dare say I am not afraid anymore.

My first days in India: visiting humanitarian projects in Anantapur.

English:

My first days in India: visiting humanitarian projects in Anantapur.

As many of you know, on Sunday last week I began an adventure to India that will be extended, in principle, until July 2016. This adventure consists on volunteering in the country, specifically in the city of Anantapur, as an English teacher with Fundación Vicente Ferrer, known here as Rural Development Trust.