Day 5... learning the stick dance

A few late starters this morning and some chosen words were uttered by Hughes at 7.50am in order to ensure we got away on time. Stomachs were on the mend and on our arrival we were all keen to get going, despite the intense heat. No rain was likely today, just high humidity and strong sun. A perfect day then to get re-started on the brickline!

Fortunately, the jobs were a bit more varied today, with sand moving, bricklaying, brick tower constructing and moving, and water sprinkling. Three of us got called away mid morning, following the tea break, to ‘get some wood’. Intrigued, we left and were soon sitting atop a speeding van racing around the Keralan back lanes at warp factor 8.2. We stopped off at a few houses, where our driver seemed very knowledgeable about ‘sourcing’ wood planks from stockpiles around the back. All a little dodgy, but we got stuck in and after an hour we were riding on the roof of the van with a tonne of planks for the project. Getting back was more dangerous than the outward journey as not only was the driver now speeding at warp 9.5, but we also had to avoid decapitation by tree branches and low hanging power cables. Exhilarating, to say the least…

A welcome lunch and river dip was had, followed by a return to work. In the afternoon slot the brick line was moved slightly to account for the progress made into the pile. One of the engineers promptly arrived with sickle in hand and demolished a huge swathe of vegetation to give us better access; very helpful, if a little un-green. We managed nearly 700 bricks in the hour and a bit we worked and all were very satisfied, if sweaty, with the effort.
Following tea, we headed out for the dance again. This effort saw steps 1-5 mastered, but we were soon tested with step 6 – the ‘stick dance’. Some miscommunication between the guru and Jai left us actually learning two unnecessary steps, and we all brunt the weight of Jai’s frustration (well, actually it was just Ben, his nephew). After we had finally managed to avoid sword fighting for long enough to satisfy Jai, we all boarded the bus and headed off.

There was a stop at Alleppey market en route, where the boys were let off the leash for an hour and a half to explore the local shops and stalls. Hughes and Batley, after some unsuccessful shopping, kicked back in a bar and waited the boys’ return. It was with some surprise that Henry Dunn arrived back with no hair and Henry Church with a gas lighter with no gas (‘but a total bargain, sir’). A lot of Indian men’s skirts were also brought back onto the bus, to the mirth of all.

Dinner, posing in skirts, and bed…