Serial Alpha - Date and time of the report
Date figures one nine zero four two zero one two; one day after our venturers were dropped at Bangalore Airport to go back home or travel on to see some more of India.
Serial Bravo - Current Location
Raleigh India Fieldbase Jayapura (latitude 12°11’51” / longitude 076°33’03”), which – after an eventful wash-up, where venturers and PMs celebrated the end of their expedition – is a place of zen and tranquillity again. At least as far as zen and tranquillity can go, now that the PMs face the mammoth task getting Fieldbase ready for the next expedition.
Serial Charlie - Weather Conditions
It is very hot during the day. In the evenings, surprise heavy rain showers may cause power cuts during wash-up parties, emergency anti-flooding measures, last minute kitten rescue actions, and a decent amount of fun-inducing chaos. The sound of raindrops on the dining hall’s tin roof was so loud that some venturers will probably still wonder for what exactly they received a Golden Mess Tin Award...
Serial Delta - Progress to Date
Our venturers and PMs recovered from their Phase 3 projects on 15 April and the first evening at Fieldbase was reserved for them telling us all about it in skit-form. Our Fieldbase high-level jury decided, who did the best job; here’s the final ranking:
6th place: Echo 4 with “The Ultimate Version of the Sock Game” (More people! More socks! More concrete floor!), which soon developed into “The Fully-Fledged Sock War”.
5th place: Charlie 2 with a vivid display of all day issues on projects, such as misconceptions of time, place, and reality in general. The peculiar but very useful “Fake Call”-button on Indian cell phones received special mention.
4th place: Echo 3 with a Gloria Gaynor/Spice Girls/Tenacious D-medley of their Velas experience, crowned with a death metal version of the infamous Phase 1 “Hakuna Maturtles”-song.
3rd place: Tango 5 with some zapping through Kerala’s TV channels. News on horrendous droughts, affecting China in particular, were followed by passionate and detailed Premier League football reporting, Masterchef cooking with (possibly buttery biscuit flavoured) Tang, Location Location Location renting our high class tents for young couples, and Embarrassing Bodies tackling the issues of itchy ass and cycling gooch.
2nd place: Tango 6 with a steamy late night Comms session between Emma and Simon, involving Dom definitely not chickening out, a Bollywoodish version of Grease’s “You’re the one that I want”, and intercultural love affairs.
And the winner: Charlie 1, telling the story of perfect venturer Dan and his A-Grade-Team, settling in the Zombie village of Gandenahalli to build eco-sanitation toilets in slow-motion, which does bring the zombies back to life, but has devastating effects on Dan’s own health due to insufficient three-bowling.
After being all competition, we went all team work and showed our venturers the beautiful result of three Phases of singing a certain classic 80’s song all over Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra.
Evening two saw everyone go très chic, as the ceremony for the renowned Golden Mess Tin Awards, preceded by elegant banquet dining, was held in the festively illuminated and lovingly decorated Dining Hall.
Heavy rain out of nowhere, bringing down the decoration, but lifting up spirits, caused minor delays in the programme of honouring the achievements of venturers (Golden Mess Tin Awards) acknowledging the hard work of the staff, and looking back on the shared adventure with the final expedition slideshow.
T h e G o l d e n M e s s T i n A w a r d s - W i n n e r s
Best WTF Moment - Abigail and Sofie
Global Superstar - Thejas
Most Desirable Male - Shaquille
Most Desirable Female - Christine
Best Couple - Jonathan D. and Sofia
Best Bromance - Jan and Jules
Best BFFs - Abigail and Roosmarijn
Most improved language skills - Yash
Best Action Photo - Sander
Best Emotion Photo / Best Landscape Photo / Best Humour Photo - Jonathan D.
Hardest Working Female - Sally
Hardest Working Male - Haydn
Outstanding Female - Christine
Outstanding Male - Daniel L.
Hardest Working Female - Sally
Hardest Working Male - Haydn
Outstanding Female - Christine
Outstanding Male - Daniel L.
The Aftershow Party saw DJ Barns spinning the finest tunes until 3 in the morning, the juice bar and soda fridge being plundered, mental circle-dancing and sentimental circle-hugging, and sneaky ice cube fighting.
Serial Echo - Future Intentions
The staff intends to do it just as the venturers and –after the staff party – either leave for their lovely homes (where spring has hopefully arrived) or enjoy this wonderful country a little bit longer.
Serial Foxtrot - Admin instructions
Dear venturers and PMs, to make this expedition a little bit longer, please share this blog and your photos in the respective social fora. And become friends there of course! We would love to know how your stories continue. We hope you had a great time here and will spread the message about Raleigh’s work.
Serial Golf - Risk Assessment
Since their moment of departure, the venturers’ risk of falling victim to the Raleigh Blues has increased significantly. We recommend checking out “The 4th Challenge” and join our alumni network to participate in reunions and other interesting activities.
Serial Hotel - Date and time of next communications
The next Raleigh India Expedition will start on 26 June, and I am sure they will have some great stories in store as well.
Any other messages
A BIG THANK YOU! First, to you dear readers for being with us on this amazing journey and supporting us with your lovely messages (special thanks to Darth - whoever you are, you made my day). And danke danke danke to all the venturers and PMs that contributed to this blog by writing guest blogs, taking photos, and most importantly by creating unforgettable stories. This was Christiane Schwausch reporting live from southern India, where wonderful people implemented great projects.
This is Raleigh India 12C listening out.
good luck to you all, We will miss our daily computer check, we have almost felt part of your experiences. Soon we will set the clock back from India to UK time.
ReplyDeletesigning out
ma pa and buster.
To Blog Command, Death Star.
ReplyDeleteMay the Force always be with you,
Darth
Richard Jones (M) probably too late now to receive this. Your last few days in fieldbase sound so full and such fun (& wet?!) You look very happy in the photo giving away the tin helmets. love the beard!!
ReplyDeletehave a great onwards trip to sri lanka.love you. mum. XX
Thank you, beautiful people...
ReplyDeleteI shall miss my virtual holiday and am feeling a bit moisty-eyed, like at the end of amazingly feelgood movie, when the credits roll and you have to get your hankie out...
Good luck everyone for the future - you all deserve golden mess tins and diamond-encrusted cutlery.
Big hugs from Barney's ma xxx
Thank you for a brilliant blog. It has really helped those of us left at home hoping for a glimpse of news :-) and that last video was AMAZING! Clare (Matt Ush's sister)
ReplyDeleteTo Raleigh India Staf,
ReplyDeleteHi everyone! Just a short message to tell you how thankful I am for the marvelous time Marjolein had in India under your control and management. It is fantastic to have her back home again and to hear all the details of her stay with you and the enormous experience she has had. Also it is very interesting to hear how everything works under Raleigh rules and how careful and responsible Raleigh is with her venturers. A special ´thank you´ for Kate and Chrissy, who took care of Marjolein during the last days when she was ill. Happily and due to the sweet care of these two PM´s Marjo recoverd rather quickly and was okay to travel back home.
We wish you a nice time in India for the rest of your stay. Warm regards, Saskia Bender
No problem, it was my pleasure to look after Marjolein when she was ill. Hope she is well and all the best for both of you. Chrissy
DeleteHave a safe trip home Barney. Looks like you've had an extraordinary experience. Please bring some sunshine with you though. See you at the partee at weekend.
ReplyDeleteTake care
Teen xxx
Video was awesome and my wishes to the team who created the video and choreography.
ReplyDelete