Under my banana leaf.

I have sought shelter from the glorious Indian weather, underneath our resident banana tree. It's now proven true that in some heats, i can forget about the vast amount of insects that reside there (particularly the uncomfortably large, green bodied, yellow legged, orange pincered devil spider!).

The shade maintains a bearable temperature, but why settle for bearable? its best to seal the deal with a chilled Kingfisher straight out of the fridge... ahhh... much better. However the temperature isn't all that has brought me under the refreshing cool of the unnecessarily colossal size of the banana leaf; I've decided to take a moment to reflect on the recent departure of Anna, Georgia and Shirley. It has been 4 weeks to the day since I met the two Canadians. Its fair to say, i was really starting to like those guys, they will be sorely missed. Shirley was only here for two, but already her absence makes the house a little less cheerful... she did however leave an impressive amount of sweets, cheers KK.

GVI doesn't allow for melancholy moments too long... I believe the expression is "Out with the old, in with the new." And here in Kochi, this is a long way from inaccurate. As magic as my six weeks have been, i can rest here under my banana leaf easily, knowing that the next two will be equally as fantastic!

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A bright and early pajama welcome to the new inmates: Steph and Owen, both coincidentally from Glasgow. Such a fine coincidence has already brought something new to the table, it is already noticeable that they have their own mastery of the English language. Fortunately my Scottish background provides just enough insight to keep up. I feel they have slotted seamlessly into the group.The children are in for a treat, as are we all.

Another pearl of wisdom from Jamie.

Under my banana leaf.