Well I'll tell you something. This is no longer a vacation. It's a quest. It's a quest for fun. I'm gonna have fun and you're gonna have fun. - National Lampoons Vacation (1983)

Well it was bye bye Christmas the day following St. Stephens Day, while everyone else was playing in the snow and slip sliding their way about at home, we volunteers were back in action again! But it wasn't all work, work, work....

New Years picnic in full swing

New Years Eve myself, Elaine and Stephanie went on an excursion with kids from the Hope Kolkata Foundation projects (these are the permanent home runs exclusively by Hope). So a picnic on New Years with nearly a hundred kids and staff? How could we refuse! Nearly 2 hours out of Kolkata to a rural getaway, on a bus full of over excited kids, staff and very loud Hindi music (there is no volume control in India) we reached our destination. Fresh air, green grass and space to run around in, it's amazing how small things like that are appreciated here.
So what followed was a great day filled with dancing, food and games (you're never too old for musical chairs) along with a much quieter drive back to the city, the bus full of sleeping children. That night we called to one of the volunteers apartments for a low key New Years celebration.

Trip to the "Sad" circus

If it wasn't mentioned myself and Elaine extended our stay for another month for which we must thank Hope for. Our thinking was "3 months is good but 4 months is better" and even now at the end of January I have to admit a feeling of "some done but more to do". We put our heads down and spent our last few weeks getting as much as possible done, we welcomed some new volunteers, (Barry and Annmarie who happily took to Kolkata like ducks to water and just over a week later they were showing Tim and Denise the ropes) tried to wrap up some work with our projects and plan the next step of our trip!

Elaine enjoying the circus

Highlights of the months were definitely going to the circus with the SEED Girls (the Usual Suspects), it was great fun travelling out on the public bus (with a man who had a carrier bag with ducklings in it) and while the circus itself left alot to be desired, the experience with the girls was great. Leaving the Punorjibon lads off English class and going to the park to play football instead, pity I didn't get to do that more often. It was nice getting to know some of the new volunteers too but it's a shame having to leave so soon when you've just gotten to know someone. And I FINALLY got to see the tourist hotspot that is Victoria Memorial..... yeah always leaving things to the last minute!

Victoria Memorial

Football at the park

Oh and in regards to what the next step is; we're booked to go to Bangladesh on the 29th of January for 8 days and following onto Nepal for a week.
So that should be something to look forward to but right now there isn't a big urge to leave. I guess you got to know when to call it a day ....

Patrick (27th January 2011)