hello from Mumbai!
Sorry for the lack of blogs we've been so busy!!!
A recap of what we've been up to:
Saturday morning we packed for our trip to Thekkady to see the elephants! Then in the afternoon we went to the girls shelter! When we got there there were some Indian girls there who were already doing some activities with the girls (one of them was a pratham worker) so we helped out with the kids doing some paper mache! It was absolute chaos there was newspaper and paste everywhere! Then all of a sudden the girls announced they had to go and just upped and left us with the mess! The girls were all hyper and running around so we tried to get them to tidy up a little before we started our activities! Then we did some activities to do with teddy bears- we used the Teddy Bears Picnic Book and did some colouring in activities with some teddy pictures we had brought! We also played the kids some nursery rhymes from the book we had bought them which they enjoyed- especially baa baa black sheep which they knew the words to! One of the girls asked Claire if she would be her mummy which had Claire running for the hills- very funny! She is such a cute little girl too bless her! We were absolutely exhausted by the time we left as the girls had been so hyper so we headed back to the hotel and had some vodka in bed!!!
On Sunday we had to be up early for our taxi to the airport! We endured a 2 hour journey by car to the airport, then a 1hr 45mins flight and then 6hour drive up in to the mountains to Thekkady at the other end!! Claire just about ended up in a fight with the guy sitting in front of her on the flight because he kept putting his chair back and trapping her legs! The 6hour flight was endless as it was torrentially raining and the road was really bad so we didn't get to see much of the beautiful scenery around us! By the time we got to the hotel we were starving and very tired so we had dinner (Lisa tried Biryani- not very impressed! and claire had sweet and sour chicken!) and then headed to bed!
Monday was our busy day filled with lots of fun things in Thekkady! We headed into the National Park first thing and went on the boat safari! The area is very similar to the Lake District- Lots of mountains and greenery, and they even have a lake (man made though!) It made us feel like we were at home- and even smelled like it! We went on the boat safari and saw lots of animals- elephants and baby elephants, wild foxes, monkeys, wild boars, snake birds, bison, deer and lots of other birds! It was a really great way to see the animals! Then we headed to the other side of Thekkady for our elephant experience! First we went on our hour long elephant ride! It was amazing to think we were sat on an elephants back! They aren't the most comfortable things to sit on thought and we still have bruised bums now!!! Our elephant was called Rubah and she was 28- she was gorgeous! When we were back from that we fed Rubah some melon and had our pictures taken with her! Then we watched Lucky the elephant (a 28 year old male) do some timber dragging! The elephants are so clever and strong, he wrapped the rope on the log around his tusk and put it in his mouth by himself and barely even seemed to notice it was there when he was dragging it! Then he lifted another log on his tusks and paraded around with it! We had out pictures taken with him and then we headed around to the bath so we could give him a bath! He laid down in a big pool of water and we had to scrub him all over with some coconut shells! Then we took it in turns to sit n his neck with his ear in our lap and scrubbed his ear! After that he sat up and we had to climb up onto his back (one foot on his leg another on his tail and then scramble up!)! We had to sit just behind his neck and it was his turn to give us a shower...he sprayed us with his trunk! Very funny! Especially as Claire was wearing a white tshirt...it was like a wet tshirt competition we got so soaked! There are some fantastic (and hilarious) photos of it! After that we went for the spice plantation tour which was quite interesting but definately not the highlight of the day! we went to a spice shop and bought some spices and coffees that were grown in the village to give as presents and then headed back to the hotel! In the evening we decided to dress up a bit as we've felt like complete scruffs the whole time we've been here so we put our maxi dresses on! We went to see a martial arts show which was really good but a bit circus-ey...think jumping through fire and people throwing themselves around! To finish off our chaotic day we went for a relaxing Indian massage! As we went downstairs to the rooms lisa joked that she hoped it wasnt a massage with extras as it felt a bit dodgy going downstairs! Lisa should have kept her mouth shut....we went in the cubicles and the women told us to take our clothes off...all of them..and then gave us some paper knickers to wear! If that wasnt bad enough while we were being massaged they just took the knickers off...very disconcerting!!!! It was definately an experience...!! We headed back to the hotel afterwards for our last night in Thekkady! On the Tuesday we started our awful journey back to Panvel! Luckily the weather was better so we got to see the beautiful views on the way down to the airport (well Lisa did...Claire slept most of the way!) We had a chaotic time on the way back as we had to call at the offices of the company who arranged the trip for us to pay them...except they hadnt told us they didnt take card so then we had to find cash machines at the airport and take money out of accounts here there and everywhere as we both had maximum £250 withdrawrals! It was chaos and definately put a dampener on the experience! Then the flight was delayed, making our already long journey even longer! Then when we arrived in Mumbai the car journey was awful as traffic was bad, it was raining, and then the car started over heating!!! Eventually we got back and had some dinner in be before crashing out for the night!
Yesterday we went to Bandra and Vashi to get some last minute presents for people at home, it was a fairly uneventful day- We are both ready to come home now!
Today we are going to the girls shelter this afternoon and then the boys shelter tonight to say bye to the kids!
We'll try and blog tonight or tomorrow before we leave!
Lots of Love- see you all soon!!!
Love Lisa and Claire XXX

hey guys!
still having a fab time! On Tuesday we went to girls shelter! We did some arts and crafts activities with them- they made windmills, coloured in wooden people to look like themselves, and coloured in wooden animals! The woman who runs the shelter was really excited about the activities we were doing as she said they don't get to do craft activities, they only ever have blank pieces of paper to draw on! We think next time we go see the girls we are going to try and go for their morning yoga session so that we can join in! We might take our nail varnishes as well so that we can give the girls a bit of pampering- dont think they get much of that!! They keep admiring our nails so we think that they'll like it! On Wednesday we went to Madan Pura which was some more slums. We had to change trains 3 times which was an absolute nightmare as it was really busy and everyone was pushing everyone else around! Lisa got 2 hands on her back on her way off one of the trains and they gave her a big shove!!! When we eventually got to Mumbai Central station and met Ruchita and Natski at 11am (we had been up since 6:30!) we were knackered and very hot and bothered as it was a really hot day! We headed to Madan Pura and went around some of the factories that employ children so that Ruchita could speak to the owners. We did that for an hour and then Ruchita said that the Pratham Drop in Centre at Madan Pura was closed on a Wednesday so we had done everything there that we could do (que annoyed Claire and Lisa who had been up very early, travelled on a ridiculous amount of trains, all for an hour following Ruchita about!!) While we were at Madan Pura we saw some funny sights (mostly involving stupid goats!) we also smelled what can definately be described as the worst smell yet! (no idea what it was but it made us both gag!!) After we had finished at Madan Pura we endured the 3 change journey back to Panvel for som hot showers at the hotel and then started planning our weekend again! This morning we heard back from a company we had emailed about Elephant Sanctuaries! So we are hopefully going on Sunday until Tuesday to Kerala in South India to the National Park! We will be staying in what looks like a nice hotel with an OUTDOOR pool (woohoo!) and will be doing an elephant ride (amongst other things with the elephants), a spice plantation tour, a boat safari, and a martial arts show in the local theatre! We're very excited- going to book it tomorrow! Tonight we've been to the Boys Shelter and done some activities there! Had a great night but knackered now as the boys were on top form! We discovered a Dominos on the way back from the shelter so we grabbed some pizzas for our dinner and sat watching gossip girl in our hotel room while eating them!! All in all a great night!!
Hope you're all good,
8 days left in India!
Lots of love,
Lisa and Claire xXxXxXx

hello from mumbai day 15 (11 days left!!)
Today we headed to the Pratham Office to find out what the plans are for the rest of the week! After a few hours of struggling to find reasonably priced flights or any available train tickets we admitted defeat and decided to have a look online tonight instead! We headed into Mumbai for some lunch and stumbled across an amazing Italian restaurant! We had the nicest meal so far- carbonara for claire and tortellini for Lisa...and a shared desert too! It was also the first place we had found Zinfandel Rose too so we were very happy!!! It had decided to rain while we were eating so we headed for a drink in another bar- nice cocktails this time as it was happy hour! Then we went to the cinema which was in the same building as the restaurant and went to see a 3D film- Despicable Me!! Claire loved it and cant wait to go home and watch it again!!! By the time it finished it was 6:30 so we decided to go for a walk along marine drive (the sea front!) The sun was just starting to set so we had a romantic walk (haha!) and then sat and watched it for a while! We're heading to the girls shelter tomorrow afternoon so that will be good! Going to have a look at what we should do at the weekend tonight- hopefully we'll find something good to do so we can see more of India!
Missing you all,
love Lisa and Claire

hey guys decided it was time for an update on here as we havnt done one in a few days! On Friday we decided to have the day off and head to Colaba for some shopping! Got some amazing stuff (and lots of it!!) and some lovely presents for people! We're getting good at haggling with the market sellers- getting things for half the price we are first told! We've also found that u get quite good and ignoring the sellers as they try to attract ur attention as ur walking by (very annoying and very repetative!!) Yesterday we went to central mumbai with the hope of heading out to elephanta island- an island where there are caves full of carvings and sculptures! It also has monkeys, beautiful scenery and market stalls (or so we're reliably informed!) unfortunately by the time we got to Mumbai it was raining very heavily and continued to do so all day (typical!!) and we decided walking around an island in the rain didnt sound like much fun! Instead we found a coffee shop and ordered some coffees and cakes! Then when the rain eased a little we headed for the Taj Mahal Hotel which has shops like Louis Vuitton and Moschino! We had a look around them and the hotel very whistfully!! Claire did very well and resisted some GORGEOUS bags (cost between £700-£3000!!) then we had a wander around Colaba again.
Today we've been at the boys shelter for the day! We had prepared some activities and thought we were going to both the boys and girls shelters but instead they had brought them all together at the boys shelter! So we had to do activities with 72 children which was a bit chaotic!! When we first arrived we headed around the corner to meet up with the boys who were at a religious ceremony in a hall type thing around the corner. We were invited in, had to tie scarves around our heads to cover them and the boys showed us what to do every step of the way! Thank god we had them because we wouldnt have had a clue otherwise! People were really friendly towards us! After the ceremony they all eat, and we were offered all the food, but we just tried one that was like rice pudding! We also had to try 'gods pudding' straight after the ceremony which tasted a bit like sugary weetabix!! After that we headed back to the shelter where we played games like pass the parcel and musical statues! The boys (and some of the girls) showed us their dancing as their dance teacher was there for their lesson! We also did some arts and crafts with them- colouring in masks and building wooden animals! By the time we came to leave we were absolutely exhausted! The children are absolutely gorgeous and so happy, but we were definitely ready for a break from hearing 'DiDi' constantly (it means big sister and everyone calls us it constantly!! very sweet though!) Tomorrow we're heading to CST again to the offices to find out what the plans are for the rest of our time, and to plan our trip to the Taj Mahal hopefully!
Speak soon, Missing you all,
Love Lisa and Claire xXxXxXx

Hey guys!
Day 11 has been pretty uneventful to be honest! We had a lie in as we didn't know what we were supposed to be doing! Then we spent most of the day cooped up in our room bored out of our minds! At about 4pm we decided we couldn't take it anymore and decided to go for a walk up the road! It was really hot today and a bit sunny which was a nice change to the rain- its a shame there isn't anywhere for us to sit outside and sunbathe! We headed back to the hotel in time to go out to the boys shelter at about 5pm. We've discovered that the hotel has a rickshaw that they always use and he knows where the Pratham Shelters are, so we've been using him which saves us the hassle of trying to explain where we want to go! We think we might be coming immune to the scariness of rickshaw journeys as today we were sat in the middle of the highway with cars and buses coming at us and we didn't even bat an eyelid! Definately going to have to video one of our journeys for u all to see!! Tonight at the boys shelter we did some case studies on some of the boys- finding out where they were from, their ages etc and why they were living in the shelter! We read one of the only case histories that was in English from one of the boys files and were a bit horrified at what we read. We've just had our dinner in the restaurant downstairs after fighting our way through the smoke they had sprayed everywhere to kill the mozzies! Havnt heard from Christine or Ruchita for a couple of days now and we're fed up of being stuck in Panvel so tomoro we're going to head to Colaba for some shopping (supposed to be amazing there!)
Missing you all lots
love Lisa and Claire xXxXxXx

Pratham Girls Shelter :-)

Hello from Mumbai Day 10!
We cant believe that it is day 10! Time is flying out here! Today we went to Pratham's Girls Shelter in Panvel! We headed over there at about 2:30 and spent a couple of hours doing some arty things with the girls- colouring in some pictures to stick on the windows (see the pics on facebook!) and we also coloured in some spinning tops! The girls loved the spinning tops especially but they also liked it when their pictures were put up on the windows- they don't seem to have any of their artwork displayed anywhere and the shelter looks quite bare! The girls started off quite shy while we were doing the colouring in etc- a complete contrast to the rowdy boys last night! They offered to show us some of their singing and dancing and once they had started that there was no stopping them!! They completely came out of their shells, holding our hands, putting their arms around us and wanting pictures taken with us (many many manyyy pictures!!!)! Their singing and dancing was really good- we'll hopefully be able to load some of the videos up onto facebook too for you all to see! The girls english was no where near as good as the boys which made things quite difficult but we managed to get by! Before we left we had a proper little photo shoot with them- they all wanted their pictures taken with their friends or with us, and then they wanted to see them after that! The girls called us DiDi all day, which means Big Sister- very cute but grows a bit tiresome when you hear it a thousand times in an hour! The boys kept calling us DiDi yesterday too but we didnt know what it meant until today! Once again we're not sure what our plans are for tomorrow- they seem to have forgotten that they need to tell us where to go! So if we dont hear from them we'll probably just head back to the boys shelter and do some more activities with them! Ruchita was supposed to meet us at the shelter today to translate for us, but she didnt turn up so it was a good job we vaguely knew where we were going!! We're heading down for dinner shortly- think a vodka may be on the cards for tonight!! ;-)! Then it will be time to Skype everyone back home!
Missing you all
love Lisa and Claire xXxXx

Visit to the Boys Shelter :-)

Heyy guys!
Tonight has been amazing! After a day consisting of a lie in, breakfast in bed, and pampering ourselves a little (we felt clean for the first time since we got here!!) we headed to Pratham Boys Shelter for an evening of games and drawing with the boys! They are absolutely adorable, completely cheeky and they loved having us there! We didnt have anyone there to translate for us tonight but luckily one of the boys spoke really good English- although he didnt think it was very good! His name was Mosin, he was 15 and he took complete control of translation (and of Lisa's camera!)! A lot of the boys could speak enough English to get by with a conversation with us about basic things like hobbies, food etc! They love dancing and singing and drawing! When we first arrived they took us up to their recording room- they have sound recording equipment and a laptop so they can make their own songs and add videos to them! They showed us a few that they had made- they were really good!! Then we headed downstairs and had a room each- Claire did some art stuff with half of the kids- colouring in some pictures for us to stick on the windows, drawing pictures etc and Lisa played snakes and ladders and ludo with the rest of the boys! Then we swapped! The boys were also racing around the shelter with the big beach ball we had taken so it was a bit manic! They are all so lovely and they gave us lots of friendship bands which they tied around our wrists as it is world friendship week this week! The boys are all talented in their own way- there are dancers and singers sportsmen and artists...claire even found a fellow fashionista!! When we were leaving they were watching who wants to be a millionaire!! Lisa thought it was slum dog millionaire at first because it sounded exactly the same!! We're not sure what our plans are for tomorrow yet but we cant wait to go back to the boys shelter as we've fallen in love with them all :-)!!
Missing you all,
love Lisa and Claire

Day 8

Hello from Mumbai day 8!
Today we went to the main Pratham Offices in Mumbai to find out what we will be doing in the next few weeks! We were running a bit late as when we got to the train station there were HUGE queues...and they dont seem to go anywhere fast! We met with Kishor at the offices who is the man who arranged our whole trip for us! He seems lovely and was encouraging us to go off and explore more of India as well as seeing the work that Pratham does! So we think we may go and see the Taj Mahal and possibly visit Goa too! Slightly worried about malaria though as we havnt brought any tablets with us (we were told we didnt need them for Mumbai!) although Kishor says it will be fine! We are going to spend the next few weeks doing activities in the Children's shelters near our hotel as well as doing some case studies on some of the children (finding out where they are from, what their backgrounds are, why they have ended up in the shelters etc!) We will then type the studies up and give them to Pratham. We're really excited about getting to do some of the activities that we had planned and taking all the games and activities for the kids! After we had been at the office we had the afternoon free in central mumbai! So we went exploring on foot and found the promenade on the sea front! It was really pretty but a bit hazy (think blackpool plus humidity!!)! We found an awesome pizza restaurant and had gorgeous bbq chicken stuffed crust pizzas! yummm!! Then we got a taxi to the Gateway to India (See picture!) this was something we had both wanted to see and it meant that we got to see the Taj Mahal Hotel as well! A girl tried to give us a sob story about losing her job selling flowers and needing food which put a bit of a downer on things, its so hard as you hear similar stories all day and dont know if people are telling the truth or just taking the piss as you are foreign! She also had the cheek to call claire a liar when she said she didnt have any money- she actually didnt as her bank card hasnt been working!! We saw some gorgeous horse drawn carriages which we were really tempted to have a ride in but we resisted!! Hoping to visit that area again as we saw some amazing shops on our way out- Jimmy Choo, Prada, Fendi, Mochino, Dior and Louis Vuitton! We're excited for tomorrow as we have the day off and then we're going to the boys shelter to meet the boys and do some activities with them in the evening!

Missing you all- 18 days left in India!
Love Lisa and Claire xxx

Bandra Shopping Day!

Day 7- Bandra Shopping Day - Lisa and Claire in heaven!

Today we ventured to Bandra on the trains all by ourselves as it was our day off (had to change trains twice!) We've had a brilliant day- it was nice to have some time just by ourselves so we were able to go in whatever shops we wanted! We love Mumbai jewellery! Our cases will be full by the time we come home!! Bought some lovely presents for the ladies in our lives! In the afternoon we headed to the Chocolate Coffee Shop called 'Theobroma- Food of the Gods'...it certainly lived up to its name! Lisa had her first latte since getting here- delicious...and we both had the most AMAZING chocolate cheesecake/torte type cakes....tasted like heaven!! (see pictures on facebook!!) We checked out the menu and discovered that they served meals...which included chip buttys, bacon buttys, full english, amazing sandwiches, houmous, and every chocolate cake or brownie you could imagine!!! It was like costa meets thorntons! So we headed back there for our dinner once we'd finished shopping at 6:30pm and had chip and fried egg buttys complete with garlic mayo and tomato ketchup yummmm!!!! (Healthy diet we've got going on here..and people said we would lose weight ;-)!!!!) We've bought some amazing things today- gorgeous clutch bags, bangles, rings, dresses! Definately gonna try and head back there sometime! A lovely girl helped us to find the right platforms on the way back to Panvel- some people are so helpful! Its very confusing finding platforms as everything is in Indian and to find the platform you need to know the initials it appears as on the board! We're getting the hang of it though- you should all be very proud!!! It doesnt help when people push and shove each other everywhere including on and off the trains! We've taken some pictures of the inside of the trains today so you'll have to check them out on facebook! The pic on here is of us on one of the rickshaws! Heading back to the office tomorrow to find out what this week has in store for us! Hopefully we'll be heading to the children's shelters- we cant wait to do some activities and games with the kids! Ended a great day with brilliant news- Julies Sandwich Shop has reopened in Cockermouth- now we definately cant wait to get home!! haha!!

Missing you all but having a blast!
Love Lisa and Claire xxxx