Welcome back loyal fans,

Sorry for our absence yesterday, we were too busy partying with the Brothers so today's edition will be a 2-in-1.

Yesterday was another great day as we set off for Georges school for the first time as a full group. As always we had great fun with the kids teaching about parts of the body and to finish off, we made a circle of friends bunting with paper cutouts to represent each child in the class. We left Georges at 2 o'clock and headed in to visit New Market with the bargain-hunter herself, Delia. Thanks to Delia's haggling skills everything bought from sunglasses to saris were bought at a large discount. We came home and got changed in to our new Indian attire to have dinner with the Brothers. We all devoured a delicious takeaway, Indian of course! We sang and danced the night away, from Irish jigs and reels to Indian themed 'Just Dance'. It was a great night for everyone involved.

Today on the other hand, emotions were running high as we spent our final day teaching in St.Georges.
Bubbles and friendship bracelets were enjoyed by all but when the clock struck twelve, we all had to say a very sad goodbye. We then took the metro home for the last time back to St.Mary's where we met up with the Year 11 and 12's and we chatted over a lovely picnic of cakes. We were then challenged to yet another basketball match with the girls. Afterwards, we all sat back and relaxed while enjoying henna's kindly done by the Year 11 and 12 girls.

Coming to Kolkata was definitely the best and most memorable experience of our lives and I think we can all agree our outlooks on life have been truly changed and we have learnt so much from everyone and everything we have seen here. Life long friendships have been built and we definitely have more than enough friendship bracelets to prove it. Thanks to everyone who made this journey possible and helped us along the way as we couldn't have made it where we are without you.

Signing off for the very last time :( ,

XOXO
Killiney Girls

Welcome back readers,

Today was a very exhausting yet adventurous day. We had an early start this morning, waking up at 4 am to go to mass in the Mother House set up by Saint Teresa of Calcutta and afterwards we visited her tomb. This had a big impact on all of us knowing the legacy she has left and the inspiration she has served us while living in this city for these past few days.

Luckily we were given a few hours to catch up on some much needed sleep and we then met up with our two enthusiastic tour guides, former students of St. Georges school - Bittu and Amar. Our tour today was different to yesterday as it was a walking and transport tour of the city, where we travelled on every mode of transport available throughout the city.

We started with our usual walk to the metro which we took to Esplanade train station to get our next mode - The bus. This was quite the experience as the bus was filled to the brim and we had to hold on for our lives every time the bus moved. Next we took a ferry across the River Hooghly. We had the chance to walk through the famous Howrah station, which was bustling with busy people before we walked over Howrah bridge. The Howrah bridge, being the worlds busiest bridge was both a great place to see the colourful city as well as being a route for the hundreds of people we saw transporting goods and going about their day to day lives. From the bridge we then walked through the Kolkata Flower Market again. We got to experience a tram ride which was very different to Ireland as the one we got on had a cafe shop on-board, sadly we didn't buy anything as we were already heading for coffee in the Indian Coffee House where we had our first chance to try Indian iced lattes which we all enjoyed.

Then we headed on what we agreed was our favourite mode of transport of the day - the tuk tuks. We split into small groups and speedily weaved through the packed streets, narrowly avoiding buses and taxis. Finally we got the train home, which again was an extremely different experience as the doors were completely open the whole ride. We hung on tight and before we knew it, we were back to the familiarity of Dum Dum train station. After our brief walk we were back to St Marys where we had another delicious dinner.

Thanks to our fabulous tour guides who had boundless energy, and knew the city like the back of their hands. We had a wonderful day of immersing ourselves in the bright, buzzing and beautiful culture of this city.

Signing off,
XOXO Killiney girls

Killiney Girls on Tour

Welcome Back readers,

Today was an action packed day as we explored the city of Kolkata on a bus tour guide. we got a lie-in this morning until 8am (woohoo!). The bus picked us up at 9am and brought us to The Birla Krishna Temple where we learned about the Hindu Gods, we then visited the Jain Temple, another lovely Temple where we had time to look around the beautiful gardens outside and buy some lovely souvenirs.  From there we went to the Marble Palace where we were given time to view the extraordinary and astounding animals, some of which included Spotted Deers and an array of birds. Oh how they were so colourful! We were then guided around the Palace itself which was filled to the brim with the most exquisite art and furnishings, described to us in great detail... not.  Table. Chair. Piano. Mirror. Chinese Vase! But we did see amazing chandeliers gleaming in the sunlight brightening the room immensely.

After our delicious 5 star buffet lunch we headed to the Hoogley River, a distributary river of the Holy Ganges and strolled through the Colourful Flower Market where Ms. Foody treated us all to yellow roses. To end our extravagant tour we stopped off at the Victoria Memorial where we were given the chance to experience fame as we had to pose with multiple strangers who asked for pictures with us.  The day would not have been as great without our impeccable tourguide and his extensive knowledge of the city.

Sorry that the blog is later than expected but we are currently writing this sitting in complete darkness as the school has had a power outage and we are sitting around the table in candlelight (how romantic!) and sharing our favourite parts about the day.

We're off to bed early tonight as we have an early morning tomorrow as we set off for Sunday Morning Mass at 6am.

Happy Weekend,
XOXO Killiney Girls

Hello readers,

Happy Valentines Day !!! Cupid definitely found his way to St. Mary's this morning as we were surprised by a beautiful display of love heart confetti and chocolate roses scattered across our breakfast table (44as well as a few special deliveries from Dublin @ Anna , Zoe S and Allie).

Love was definitely in the air in St. Georges and the Mary Rice centre as every girl was flattered by receiving countless Valentine's day cards and bracelets from the kids. The girls in the Mary Rice Centre had a great time playing with the children in their new sensory room full of swings and ball pits among other things.

Once again, Ireland suffered an unfortunate loss to India in yet another basketball match although we definitely saw an improvement in the scoreline. Not to worry though, there will soon be a rematch and hopefully a better outcome as we spent hours training and practicing shots with Ronny this evening. After hours of basketball and soccer, we were pleased to arrive home to cakes courtesy of Ms. Foody which lifted spirits even higher after an already great day. We now look forward to a Facetime call with the rest of our year back in HCK during their SPHE class.

Signing off with extra valentine's day love,
XOXO
Killiney girls