After lunch I just so happened to look out the window and there under a tree I saw a snake. A golden brown kind of a snake, skinny but more than a metre long. I said to Asuly who was in the kitchen, “There is a snake in the garden.”

She came to look and then called Lal. Lal was dispatched outside to kill it. By the time he arrived the snake was disappearing into a pile of bricks piled up by the fence. He hit it with a stick but the snake slithered away quickly from where it had come.

When Lal came back inside he licked his lips and said the snake would be tasty to eat. I guess we will find that out another day.

He thought it was a poisonous snake but not that dangerous.

 I should have taken a photo when I had the chance. I looked up google but could not identify which snake it was. I rather wish I  had not looked up photos of snakes now. They certainly are evil looking creatures and quite a few people get bitten here each year.

I am not sure I am that impressed with there being a snake in the neighbourhood. Our front door is often left open. A snake might find its way inside.

So far I have resisted the temptation to look under my bed but I am not sure how much longer I can hold out.

These interesting  fruit are called kul- pronounced cool. I did a Google search because no-one could tell me the English name for them. I  found out they are also called jujube, Indian plum, Indian cherry or red date.

You may find this hard to believe but Chinese labourers known as coolies brought  jujube plants from China to the Caribbean and when the English found the plants growing in India they called it the coolie plum. The locals shortened it to kul.

They have a stone like a plum but have the texture of an apple.  There are several different varieties for sale in the market and these ones are about the size of an egg. They belong to the buckthorn family.

They are quite refreshing to eat. The ones I bought cost 25 rupees a kilogramme which is about 50 cents. Someone told me the ones I bought  were not very sweet. They tasted as sweet to me as any others I have eaten so I don't know about that. When they are ripe they turn red. The only ones I have seen in the market have been very green so maybe I will have to keep them for a while to see the change of colour.

Apparently jujube contain 18 of the 24 amino acids the body needs, are high in vitamin C and antioxidants. What did we do before Google?

 

Someone small gingery and furry is trying to climb into my lap as I sit down to type this. The tablet is perched on my knees and there is just enough room for a small someone to sit in the space between my bent legs and lap.

No Winnie Whiskers- I have not replaced you.
It keeps miaowing in the kind of way you do when you are trying to sleep but someone else is disturbing your rest.

It is a little wild kitty the young people here have befriended. It is very skinny, full of fleas and no doubt full of worms as well. No Winnie Whiskers it is not as pretty as you.

This morning when it was sitting on my knee it spat a leech out of its mouth onto the bottom of my dress. That was a bit gross. I initially thought it was some kind of worm it had vomited up but  Lal said it had tried to eat the leech but the leech had managed to latch onto the cats mouth so it was not swallowed. Apparently the kitten eats all manner of insects. It's hungry Winnie Whiskers.

We were about to start worship and I found it very hard concentrating for the next hour. The image of the leech on my dress, then it inching its way across the floor kept flashing across my mind. Fortunately I was able to think about how Jesus deals with our parasites.

It is quite a friendly wee kitty but not nearly as lovely as my Winnie Whiskers.
The worrying thing for me is that I am more concerned this little scraggly kitty is hungry than the people I see.
 

"Better do your washing today brother. There are going to be thunderstorms tomorrow," I told Lal, my young friend.

That was Tuesday. Sure enough about 10am the next day the rain started falling and I remembered my washing was still on the clothes line.

I rushed out to get it in and ended up being very wet. Fortunately the washing was more dry than wet. It dried out on the rope I have strung up in my room.

The rain continued all day on and off. Thunder and lightening also.

The thunder and lightening was spectacular. There were times the lightening must have been very near as the time lapse between flashes and peals of thunder was very close.

The rain brought an increase in humidity but lower temperatures.

The power went on and off all day but then about 7pm it stayed off until about 12pm Thursday.

 

There seem to be several billion mosquitoes buzzing around our house. It is not surprising because there are ponds and a canal nearby. According to local legend which is completely unsubstantiated as yet, these mosquitoes do not give people malaria.

I know what Mr Ripley would say to that.

I personally feel obligated to kill as many of them as I can. These mosquitoes deserve no mercy for they do not abide by the Geneva Convention's code of biting insect conduct. For example they feed at any time of day. Everyone knows that mosquitoes are only allowed to bite at dusk and dawn. These mercenaries feed whenever they want.

They also have no decorum about  appropriate times to feed. They attack when I shower and when I am on the toilet. They have no respect for my privacy.

My friends have provided me with a lovely mosquito free zone for sleeping in. For all that several non-law abiding mosquitoes have violated the sanctity of that space. Fortunately they show up in the light of my head torch and I am able to take them out with some hand to hand combat.

I also have started  smoking incense sticks which also kills off the mosquitoes. They come in a packet of ten and are made of something which is 100% herbal. Sleep well tonight with peace is written on the packet underneath a sleeping baby.












And my latest addition to my arsenal of weapons is a can of fly spray. I am not convinced of its effectiveness. However it is very therapeutic being able to aim a shot of spray at a flying insect.

 

 

Despite my best attempts to stay bite free, which is extremely challenging, probably my best friend is the doxycycline pill I take every morning which is supposed to prevent malaria. I notice it also helps treat anthrax. That is a relief to know I won't be catching anthrax while I am away.

I feel compelled to dedicate a blog entry to the New Regent Hotel naan  bread in Hephzibah. I probably have rabbitted about them before but I can't help myself.  These naan bread are surely the best I have ever eaten.

I discovered the hotel in 1992 just before I was due to come home. Back then I would order butter naan, finger chips and a coke. Now I am 20 years older I have cut down on the carbohydrate content of the meal and just eat the naan.

I have visited the hotel every time I have been here; 1995, 1998, 2008 and 2015.
When I was here in October I don't think I ate at the hotel. For some reason naan were off the menu. Anyway for the second time this week I called in for lunch. The same waiters who were there in 1992 still work there. Well at least two do anyway.

One poor man can not cope with the fact I only eat a naan bread. I think he would like me to have a curry as well. I left him a generous tip on Tuesday to help him cope with the fact the bill was so small. I guess that is almost like a bribe. Oh dear.  Today I did not sit at the tables where he serves.

The waiter who did serve me was interested enough with my adding jam to the naan bread to comment.

I'm sure they think I am a little crazy.

For the past week something has been running through my bedroom door and out the side door. I thought it was a mouse. Today as it went scurrying past my friend Lochumlo saw it and came running. It disappeared under the bed in a panic and she tried to kill it with my new back pack stored there. I said not my back pack. I threw her a jandal and we moved things under the bed until it ran out into the open. I slapped it with a jandal which slowed it down enough for us to finish it off. BUT it was no mouse- it was a sweet little cockroach.

Well it was not that sweet or small actually.
I took a photo but the camera on this tablet is not good at close-up of insects.

 

 

 

On the bright side I think I would sooner see a cockroach than a mouse especially as I have started a food collection to take home.

Still I think I might need new glasses.

Now I can access the photos on my camera card it is time to write about Gopalpur-on-the sea. We could not decide why it is known as a sea beach. Maybe because there are other types of beaches?

Gopalpur is emerging as an up and coming tourist seaside resort. There are heaps of new buildings going up.


Part way through construction. Many of the workers are women although it is not easy toy spot this.







I am not sure OSH (Occupational Health and Safety) would approve of the poles holding up the ceiling. Seems to be very effective though.
 





Many of the locals are fishermen but I am not sure after watching these clever sailors I would like to take a boat out. It looks calm but the way the boats dip and dive in the light surf makes them a challenge to direct.

Sharing is caring.

Eleven thousand kilometres away my friend Gwen is eating the fruit off the okra I planted in pots and which are growing in her tunnel house. Fortunately in spite of conflicting opinions about whether it is okra season here or not, I bought some today. Half a kilo at the approximate price of 50 cents.That is enough for about two meals if you like a generous portion of okra also called ladies finger or bindi. I recognised the okra seller from when I was here last. It was like seeing an old friend. He would have undoubtedly recognised me.

Unfortunately I did not ask everyone if they wanted to eat okra for dinner before I prepared enough for me.  Then I made the mistake of asking if anyone wanted some after it was cooked. Somebody did of course. The person who said yes was watching me cook it and very likely not knowing my huge okra eating capacity, may well have thought there was too much for one person. Still I did get to eat a sizeable amount and Jesus would have been very pleased with me sharing one of my favourites dishes even if I wasn't.

 

As you can see even though this is a small wok there was quite a bit of okra but in my defence rice and Dahl ( lentil soup) comprised the rest of dinner.

The moral of the story is next time ask who wants okra.

Today I caught the taxi to a church I am particularly fond of. It is quite a traditional service but the church is nearly 200 years old. It was planted by Englishman William Carey. There are marble plaques on the wall commemorating people who made outstanding contributions to the church.

The people are friendly and a cup of tea is offered after the service. Today being Valentines Day everyone was presented with a rose because the speaker said Valentines Day is more than just about couples celebrating their friendship.

I caught up with my two friends Grace and Kobita who have started a school somewhere and I will visit them this week some time.

On the way home Jesus and I got lost. At least Jesus wasn't lost. The one who created the universe and knows the stars by name never gets lost. It all started when we caught the 223 bus which was the right bus. I said where I wanted to get down, Lordsmore, and the conductor seemed to know where that was because he repeated what I said. Anyway a short time into the journey he told me we had reached my stop. It did not look like my stop and after I got down it was not where I wanted to be. Mind you I was not exactly sure where I was but then I figured it out.  I walked a little way wondering whether to take the soft option and catch a taxi or whether to catch another bus. Eventually another 223 turned up so I caught it and asked to be let down at South City which is the mall not far from the other stop.

Wonder of wonders I made it home.

I am sitting in the airport café feeling ecstatically excited because not only have I just drunk three coffees but I have managed to connect to its free hotspot. The magnitude of my excitement is exacerbated by the caffeine but also the fact I have seven hours to fill in and now I can catch up on my blog. Not sure my tablet's battery will last that long though!!

I should add that the coffee cup size is about a third of a mug.

I am a little concerned because there are mosquitoes buzzing around me in a hungry sort of way. It escapes me how they manage to get inside. I guess through the door?Mosquitos do not always play by the rules like the one that says mosquitoes come out at dusk and dawn.

I had an interesting train ride as always. There was much to see and enjoy. Like the three men who sat above our heads on the wire luggage rack because there were no empty seats. Too much.

Fortunately the men dressed in saris did not board the train this journey. I am not sure what their exact title is, eunuch, transsexual, but they like to come on board and ask for donations. They tend to hunt in packs and it would be a brave person who would say no to them.

I think my flight is leaving later than my ticket says but I do not know for sure as the lure of coffee was greater than my need to know. I will have some lunch soon but as I have seven hours to fill in I might wait a little longer.

Maybe I will have another coffee....

It is hard to believe but I just spent twenty minutes writing a blog entry and now it has disappeared. I pressed saved a couple of times as well.

I am sitting in the airport café writing this very glad I figured out how to access the free internet. I have six hours to fill in before my flight.

I have already drunk three cups of coffee but as you can see the cups are about a third the size of a mug.They also cost about one dollar.



Several mosquitoes are hovering hungrily around me. I do not know how they get inside or why they do not abide by the rules that mosquitoes come out at dusk and dawn for their food.

I had a fun three hour train ride with a kind brother. There is always plenty to see and enjoy. Like the three men who sat above our heads on the wire luggage rack because there were no seats.

Fortunately our sari wear male friends did not turn up this trip. I am not sure whether they are eunuchs or transvestites but they like to board the train and ask for donations. They hunt in packs and it would be a brave person who would decline their demand for cash.