trash talk

Several times recently I have had to bail from Skype conversations because the garbage truck had arrived on the helipad and I had to make a run for it, so I thought that perhaps I should explain...  

The garbage truck comes every other day-ish, except for holidays and usually not on Sundays.  The schedule is unclear and I haven't even lost my colour coded reference calendar behind the fridge.  Instead I rely on the sound of the wheelbarrows on paving stones.  How the wheelbarrow runners know that the truck has arrived is one of India's great mysteries.  I am now conditioned to run at the sound because the earlier you arrive, the less you have to wait.  Waiting at the smelly truck for big restaurants to finish unloading their garbage ahead of you really sucks.   

The restaurant boys always run up the cliff with their garbage carrying cans or pushing wheelbarrows  (Unless they are delivering it by scooter, tuk-tuk or Ambassador taxi- in which case they simply drive too fast up the cliff). 

The garbage men peer in to every bag to ensure that people do not include recyclable plastic or metal in with their trash.  One day they fished a lacy bra out of the bag and a few of them mock tried it on for my amusement.  

I have decided that the boys run to the truck, so that they have time for a smoke break at the edge of the helipad before returning to work.

Your eyes do not deceive- I am the only woman who carries their own garbage to the truck.  

about faces

Varka is wallpapered with small posters featuring photo portraits of men.
I amuse myself by guessing if the man is:        

A ) on a police most wanted list      B ) a missing person        C ) standing for election

Teen Pregnancies on the Rise

The Moondance dog (pictured here performing prenatal yoga on the helipad) is confirmed pregnant months ahead of her first birthday.  

Margaret Mitchell-Helipad Herald

The Helipad Herald

 The ministry of Tourism has installed coin operated toilets for the tourists, but according to the tuk-tuk drivers- they have no plans for cleaning and maintenance.  mmmmmmm smelly

Here are some "delightful" instructions for use that should come in handy in an area of India where English is not taught in schools and the majority of tourists are not native English speakers.

The ministry of Tourism has been busy.  They are also hosting small cultural events on the helipad on Sundays that are attended exclusively by locals despite the English advertising.  The helipad is always covered in garbage afterward, so this does not bode well for the toilets.

Last year someone left a truck parked on the helipad which rolled on to the cliff taking out the stairs to the beach.  The tuk-tuk drivers paid to have this lovely new staircase with metal railings installed that leads tourists to the tuk-tuk stand.  This photo was taken carefully so that you cannot see all of the garbage that has collected on it now.  This photo should give you a good view of the protected rock cliff that was butchered for the project-oooops.

This is a photo of one of the many tourists I see every day floating over the helipad.  I expect that one of them will one day also have an impact on the protected rock cliff.

the dogs ate it

Simon refuses to post this because he says he cannot even bear to think about it.  The two street dogs adopted by the Kashmiri cousin and the French woman chewed up Simon's English notebook.  We have yet to hear back from the online school with advice on what to do about it, but Simon has some creative ideas about what to do with the dogs.

rinse and repeat

I had a few questions, so I thought I would add a few more notes about laundry here as I try to ignore the Nila truck making a pick-up next door.

A fully automatic washing machine that will hold 7 kg of laundry sells for about $305.00.   This model that has a washer with separate ringer and holds 8 kg goes for about $145.00.

The grocery stores carry all kinds of powder and bar soaps, fabric softeners, bluing agents and bleaches and liquid starches.  It looks a bit like a candy isle.

You can get an average of 4 pieces of laundry done for a dollar.  Many tourists do it themselves and then hang it everywhere to dry.

washing instructions

I called Nila, the only laundry service on the cliff to do a laundry pick-up on December 28th.  Since then I have begged, pleaded  and on one occasion jumped in front of their truck as they pulled out of the hotel next door.  Many times they assured me that there would be a tuck to pick up my laundry within the hour, but they didn't say which hour.

So now it is the middle of January and I must watch the Nila truck unload at the hotel next door.

Early in the New Year I piled my laundry in to a garbage bag and took it to the Nila store front in Varkala.  It turns out that the shop in town is a retail location for dry cleaning only and unaccustomed to regular laundry and dramatic gestures.  They got the owner on the phone for me, who assured me that I needed to rush back to the cliff to await the imminent arrival of the fabled Nila truck.  Do I need to explain that it did not come and that I had to return to town the following day to complete unfinished errands?

Later, I learned that the tuk-tuk drivers had placed bets on what I was lugging around in the black garbage bag.  From their colourful guesses, I think it is safe to say some of them are afraid of me.

Desperate for clean bed sheets for the guesthouse, I was forced to be creative (and by creative I don't mean flipping the dirty sheets and putting them back on the bed like Adil does).

There is a mom and pop hand laundry service at Temple Junction that I use sometimes. It is not a perfect solution because the sheets come back a little more yellow each time they are washed despite the use of strong bleaching powders.

Mom in her shop.

The irons get filled with burning coconut shells to heat them for use,

which explains why there are piles of coconut shells and charcoal in front of her counter.

Hand laundry services are often unreliable because they are so physically demanding that workers are often sick (and because they cannot dry clothes in the rain).  Fortunately for me, mom looks like she is made of leather and it is not rainy season.