Here and there.

Twin onions!

Somehow I still have pink in my hair - which makes my hair even redder than normal!

Looking into the tees-building at night... kind of eerie.

Having a wee bit of fun at our boss' expense. He loved it too haha.

An authentic Bengali dinner!

This was a super yummy dish.

And then we had a cake similar to pound-cake... yummy!!!

Motor-bike ride with Anna!

Beautiful lighting in the neighbourhood, whilst visiting one of the FS ladies.

Just gold.

Just some photos of my amusement of things both small and large.

x

Ricky's

Kennith, the cutie that lives on the bottom floor of our apartment building.

Private stalls at Ricky's restaurant - Anna and I finally made use of one to escape unwanted stares for a blissful hour or so.

Limca! Yummy. And straws that take and age to suck anything through.

A view out of the windows, through to a vendor across the road.

Curry, naan, and rice for lunch - I had Aloo Dum, a potato curry, and Anna had butter chicken.

The contraption used for the Bengali New-Year's celebrations.

Here are a few photos I took last weekend. Enjoy!

x

We are explorers.

Hello there!

These are a bunch of photographs that I took while Judy, Erika, Anna, and myself went for a bit of exploring around our neighbourhood on Bengali New Year's Day. The streets were quiet, and we didn't have so many people rewarding us with unwanted stares when we left the privacy of our four-walls.

First we came upon a large swimming pool, in which I wouldn't dip even my little toe into. It was clearly far too big to be cleaned properly, especially in this area of the city, but it appeared to still be of use to the swimming club.

As we kept exploring, we came upon some curious door-ways, and interesting textures caused by wear + tear. Anna found an open door-way which when she investigated, found a massive open room, with bright colours and columns. So beautiful and quiet in there. One man came through but didn't bother us, so it was clear we were not unwelcome there. Despite this, we still spoke in hushed voices, and left after taking a moment to stand in awe.

We spotted the top of a temple from few alley-ways over, so we decided to track it down. A few dead-ends later, we found it, and it was just beautiful! And so white. You don't see many buildings that clean around here! It was refreshing to look upon it.

After this we were satisfied, so went and bought some chow-mein for dinner, then went home.

~

Lately the heat here has been increasing a tiny bit, but we are still waiting for the worst period of it in May. I can say I am actually fearful of this, as so many people say it is nearly unbearable... We can't complain about the heat to certain people, as they will reply, "Just you wait!"

Currently the temperatures near 40 degrees C, with high humidities, increasing the 'feel' of the heat to 45 degrees plus!! Ugh.

But considering the fact that New Zealand is a very temperate country, which rarely sees above 30 degrees, I am coping surprisingly well! I think we are all beginning to accept the fact that we are going to be sweating for the entirety of the day, and most probably through the night, and just getting on with our days.

I had to leave work after a couple of hours yesterday due to a migraine that had kept me up during the night previously, and I slept for a few hours, then rested for the afternoon. I have woken up this morning with my head still aching, but I will go into work - there is a lot that needs doing! But it is a bearable ache.

I hope you are doing well in New Zealand, and feel grateful that you have been graced with cool weather!!!

x

Bengali New Year

A creepy figurine that  was being made...

I love the colours and texures from layers of old posters, street-art, and bright doors.

The women's public toilet across from FS

Sari markets! We went one early morning, and returned home happy with bundles of beautiful fabric!

Our sarees!

I thought it looked pretty cool when the wind sucked the curtains agains the grate of our windows. This is my favourite place to perch, close the windows, and escape.

Bengali New Years Eve in the Market.

One of the rituals, where a man is swung around a pole, throwing bread to the eagerly waiting crowd.

This is the contraption they use... it was like a giant tug-o-war when they were first trying to hoist it up the night before.

The second man preparing for his swing.

A cute baby in the crowd - Indian babies are the cutest!

The hungry crowd, waiting for the bread.

These are the boys who cause the man to swing, very, very high.

Our local market.

Clay man's stall.

Where we buy all of our fruit/veg.

Walking home from work.

No Bake Cookies that Anna made! So yummy!

The temperature is definitely rising steadily now, the humidity making it impossible to remain dry. Nasty.

The worst is after showering; by the time you have dried yourself off, and are putting clothes on, the air in the bathroom begins condensing against your skin, so you have to dry yourself all over again!

Small things like butterscotch ice-cream, and cold lemonade make it that little bit easier to cope.

I feel bad for the women who are doing the screen-printing at the top of our building, as it is basically a sauna, if not worse. The poor things are so exhausted from it! The volunteers here currently are helping some of our long-term maintenance staff construct a ventilation unit for the massive oven they use for finishing the prints.

Apparently we will get 'used' to the heat, even though the temperature will rise much higher in May, so that we wont notice it too much. I will be investing in a battery-powered fan so that when (not if) the power goes out, I wont suffocate in the heat at night. As a flat we have decided to give it a go and not use AC in our apartment, because so many women live without that luxury. But we will see how we go...

Love to you all.

x