Well, eff, this sucks

24 July

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a bit surreal.  Started out with a crazy massage, and ended with the volunteer program getting stopped and we were told we had to be out of the house by 6:00 Wednesday eve or face possible police action.. 

And before you ask, no, we didn't do anything really stupid!  Well, intentionally anyway. 

When we all got the information for this trip we were told to obtain tourist visas for India.  I verified several times as my research said I needed a volunteer visa- but they confirmed that a tourist visa was the correct one.  So that's what I got (as well as the 13 other volunteers in this program).  When we arrived in country our group leader took photocopies of our passports and visas and registered them with the local police authority and got registered C forms basically saying we're official and good to go.  It was all very above board.  Apparently in June the laws re: visas changed and this last week the Kerala government decided to start enforcing it, despite communicating to the volunteer organization that we'd be OK because the law changed after most of us obtained visas.  Keep in mind that each state within India (of which there are 28 states and several territories) has it's own functioning government, with its own language, dialects and cultures.  It seems that the only state that is currently creating issues for volunteers on tourist visas is the one I'm in.  Fabulous.  

Our team leader (who is an employee of the volunteer organization) has spent a ton of time at the police station in Kannur (about 20 KM from where we're staying) over the last week.  Sounds like they were originally OK with us finishing out our camp, but a few days later someone else changed his mind and informed Rahul that if we continued they would pursue legal action.  So at about 4:00 when we should have been starting the day's yoga practice, we were being informed that the program was ending that night, and that we had to be out of the house the next day.  

All in all it's not the end of the world- we only had a few days left, however we were all devastated    because the abrupt end meant we couldn't go back to the school we'd been working with and finish the projects we had in progress or say our goodbyes.  Thankfully, we were able to shorten our yoga practice and then head over to the school to have about 45 minutes at the school to wrap up.  Even though we were so close to the end, It was still really, really hard to say goodbye to the kids.  Trying to explain why we couldn't come back was difficult, and having just learned the state of things and hadn't had time to process the info didn't make the situation any easier.  Very happy a few of us decided to make mac and cheese for dinner for everyone so we had lots of comfort food to cope :)

Instead of stressing out about basically being unexpectedly homeless in a foreign country, four of us booked a couple rooms in Kannur for tonight so we could have internet access and sort out a plan for the extra few days.  

So... we're back at the Mascot hotel in Kannur watching Indian MTV/ Bollywood movies, drinking beers and hiding out from the crazy storm raging outside.  Grateful for internet access so we can sort out train tickets, hotels and post updates :)  

Heading to Mangalore tomorrow morning for a day of exploring and shopping, then a couple of us are going to Goa for a week, then on to Mumbai for my last four or five days in India.  I have to admit, I'm not going to miss the guesthouse we were staying at, but I am sad to have had to say goodbye to the kids we were working with sooner than planned.   

I'll have copious amounts of time on the train in a couple days so I'll be able to finish a handful of blog posts I've started about the volunteer program, yoga, and various other topics.  I'm actually really excited to have a few more days than planned to explore Goa, but it is definitely a bit bittersweet.