A page from the life of a GVI Volunteer ...

It's my first night in Kochi... myself along with my ten new friends spend all night on the balcony laughing and sharing bottles of Kingfisher beer. Probably because of the intermittent power outages, the Kingfisher never gets cold... but it's so humid outside that each sip seems just right. Mainly, we talk about the difference between all of the nationalities present... the Brits, Aussies, Canadians, Japanese, and of course me... the American. Dinner was served on the balcony while listening to a multitude of car-horns, motorbikes, and bustling people on PT Jacob Road... and the monsoon rains that seem to start and stop every 20 minutes... all of which blended perfectly with the many English dialects at the table. As I listen to the exotic sounds while feasting on the exotic meal (fish with a South Indian coconut curry) served by candle-lite, I realized that nothing about that moment was even remotely familiar to me... my narrow understanding of the world and life would never be the same again. -Rodney Thompson, GVI volunteer, July 2010

A page from the life of a GVI Volunteer ...