Some things never change. The girls in their bathing suits on the deck in the make shift pool. Which I might add there is a pool here. We have been and it is pretty cold, but great. We will be there more when monsoon ends. This is Oulmilla our Ayah. She is amazing. Feels weird to have one, but really nice. The girls love her although it took Asha a while. Now they tell her they love her all the time. My honey

My little honey on the back road to town. Notice the orange mustache. The little devil has discovered orange pop. Fanta. And she loves it. The view of the Landour bazaar from the back road.
A view along the Tehri Road, east from the school.

Another weekend done. We had a quiet one and found ourselves reading travel books and other books...books books books. This morning we went up to Char Tucan (again, wrong spelling) along the Eyebrow Path, which is so beautiful. A little scant of a path in spots as it drops down many meters to the valley below. But you just have to be careful. Asha mentioned something bothering her foot, and behold..her first leech. She was good about it and I just picked it off. No blood this time. Of course I forgot my camera and this is the best walk for pictures. Next weekend. We met up with all the church going folk, students and staff. Of course to my embarrassment, Roxy's friend asked why we were not in church and she piped "We don't go to church. We don't believe in God." Oh dear... Steve looked at me and said "Well it's true". One day she can make up her own mind. It is not often that I find myself a minority in this respect. But today I did. We had an great lunch and walk in the jungle on top of the mountain ridge with our friends Radha, Lorenz and their kids Josef and Aloisa. We spent the afternoon reading and hanging out. Ben and Chris came home from Rishikesh and shared some stories, Chris stayed for dinner. Going to mark some tests and get some rest. New week tomorrow. Here are some pics from the weekend. Promise to get better ones in the coming weeks.

Seems I am living week by week these days. Although, the weeks tend to melt in with the weekends. School so far has been great. The kids are awesome. I love every bit of them. They are friendly, interesting and smart. Today, I was delighted when one of my grade 12 students said "hey Chocolate Pye". Awesome. They actually know that I am brown. At home, I am used to more profane or maybe just perverted associations with the name Pye (all endearing of course), so this one is great. Lorenz told me that there is a treat here called Chocopie, which is the name he has heard. Love it. Another grade 9 student called me Ms. Jackie...which I sort of like. But was followed by a class full of giggles.

Tonight we went for dinner at the dorms with the Grade 9's and 12's. Take out for 150 people or more. The girls had fun and ran around with a student Jaza. Another student begged me to show her Mr. Pye. Ha. So I had to explain to her why I hadn't changed my name. No one seems to have problem with it. They love Chocopie. Anyway, after dinner we hopped on the scooter and headed up the hill. Foggy and rainy.

Roxy is loving Ramona the Pest at night, so we read for a long time. Asha can now sit and listen without the pictures. The girls are great. Roxy has a wee bit of a sore knee, but we are managing it. Gives me an excuse to massage and cuddle her for hours. She is loving school too, great teacher and friends. Only two other kids in her grade, so she gets exactly what she craves. She said the other night "we are so lucky to be here. It is so cool that we live in the clouds. I wish that Ava and Emma could come".

Everyone went to Rishikesh this weekend. We are staying behind to hang out and play. Seems a little quieter, but that is OK. Our friend Neeraj lost his mother yesterday to cancer. A sad thing. They are a very tight family and no doubt will be thinking of her as they sit on the Ganga this weekend. Speaking of which, I found Tanya's necklace in the bazaar. A friend told me where she saw one, she has a ring like it, so I am going to go and get it tomorrow. I miss her. sigh.

Steve has "mastered" the climb and drop through the bazaar on the scooter. Now he has to practice with all four of us on it. And I suppose I should get my ass out there and learn to drive it too. It is very handy. Especially because now it only take a total of 15 minutes to go and get beer and come home. Great luxury in the mountains. The new beer of choice is "Flying Fox. From the Great Himalayas." It is brewed in Dehra Dun just down the mountain.

So we are going to Goa for 3 weeks at xmas. I booked the ticket already. I was so worried that I would miss out on cheap flights that I just snagged the earliest one. I always get burned by these things, so...why not. May as well do it. We will never regret three weeks on a beach. And travelling in that area will be fun. Next summer maybe Leh, and then maybe next xmas in Thailand.

It is hard to believe that school starts in Canada in a week or so. I feel like my summer has been on hold. After monsoon I am going to relish every bit of sunlight that burns my cheeks for the next few months. The thought of it cooling at home makes me shiver. I won't miss it a bit. Even now when the clouds are gone for a minute, it is so hot. By October it will be perfect. But the summer is over I guess. I am glad I am not thinking that way. I always dreaded the summer being over.

Sorry that this is a pretty chppy and unintellectual post. That is what they will all probably be like. I read other people's blogs and think...nope...mine will never be like that. But I do love reading them. More later this weekend. And I think the phone is not working...I have been trying to get a line out for days...I should do something about that!

The "shy" spiders.

I stole this from my friend Jeanne's web site. She calls him Rover2. These suckers are about 4 inches diameter. I wish I could say I wasn't scared of them. But when you are about to turn the lights out, and spot him on the wall beside the bed, and it flashes behind the bedside table...or you go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and there it is, on the wall right in front of you. It is just the amazing speed at which they travel. blahhhh. Maybe Rover3 is at our place living in the door frame. And young Rover4.

The Market on Sunday

Here are some new pics from today. The girls love their new Salwar Kameez's. The most comfortable outfit in the world. And for the big whopping price of a buck fifty.

Not very focused, but here is Steve heading out down the path off our front deck. He picks us up down the hill. The path gets a little narrow a ways ahead.

The walk down into Landour bazaar, before the gate to the main bazaar of Mussoorie, Kuhlri.

Islaam from Inam taylor's; Stevie's taylor.

An old building in Landour.

The start of the bazaar in Mussoorie. See Stevie and Asha?

At Kahlsang's, enjoying banana lassi's!

The walk home from Mussoorie. See Stevie and Roxy?

Beautiful sky the other day. Hopefully we will have more of these coming!

Growth on the trees.


A new bug from Roxy's collection. She is determined. Goes out most days and instead of catching them, she has wisely decided to take a shot of each. Which she will be sharing with you.

We just returned from a trip into the market. Usually we go on either Saturday or Sunday. Yesterday we went to a really great spot for lunch with Chris, Radha, Lorenz and their two kids Josef and Aloise. It was a great walk up to Sister's bazaar which is about three stores on top of the mountain peak. The walk continues around the backside and we ended up in Char Tu Kan...which I have completely spelled wrong... and means "four stores". Here there is a great place to eat. Which we did, in the company of the Prakash's and a few others. I had an omelete on a bun, and chai. The girls cheese toasties and french fries, and steve a veggie toastie. The cheese here is amazing. Way better than home, and everything is cooked with a little chili. Yum.
So back to today. We all piled on the scooter and headed for the top of the bazaar. It was fun riding in, and after we parked we walked down in search of books, wall hangings, lunch, bananas, and some toys: a plastic bird, beautiful kashmiri eggs, and plastic babies (oh yes, my favorite).

Independence Day

The walk up to the high school and the assembly.

Today was a holiday for everyone. Secretly I felt really special while listening to the speaches about people who fought peacefully for the independence that was gained 60 years ago. My grandpa Hatim Darbar was a true freedom fighter. I have always been told this...but since I have read articles in the papers here about freedom fighters and more of my articles about Grandpa...I realise that he more than qualifies. Apparantly there are people who are trying to claim freedom fighter status for no more than "hooligan" behaviour ... but I think three times in jail, many Lathi beatings, and a dedication to his Muslim Brotherhood as well as the secretariate in Bombay during this fight, made Grandpa a true freedom fighter. In his file there are many letters from heads of state including Nehru. hmmmm. Can I capitalise on this in anyway? Beside just an mildly inflated sense of Indian patriotism, can I please have a passport? I am super keen to learn more about his life here when I get all of his article translated into english. the Hindi teacher here said that he would be happy to help me.

Roxy and Asha's teacher Mrs. Cooke. Her son Tristen is Asha's new "boyfriend". It is clear that she will have her way with the boys. You see how happy she is. Pathetic.

I wore a sari for the first time, and Steve a Kurta pyjama. So comfy. Everyone was in traditional garb, and as today was also the Korean day for independence, many here were dressed alike. The Korean suits are so beautiful. Others included Nepalese, Tibetan, and Bhutanese. We met in the school auditorium for flag raising, a tribute, some singing and the national anthem "Jana Gana Mana". There was this little boy playing table (I think he was 10 or so) so impressive. Anyway, the food began at 11 am, but I had to wait a little later with the high school kids so that the food area wasn't overwhelmed. There was a small dance in the auditorium instead. This was hilarious. The kids looove to dance and love to ham up the Bollywood thing courting girls and girating around. It was fun. Way better than a dance at home...with all the homies and naked girls. Although I felt naked in a way...but it was a good naked. Looks like I will have to adopt a different dancing style. All of you Indians at home, you would be so proud.

The food was so good. I can't remember the name of some, but there was chana masala, butter chicken, yummy potato dosas, rais malai, the best chai ever in mudka cups, naan and more. Eat eat eat, for about 2 hours. All the kids just go off here..the little ones...and play in the playground. It is great. No more supervised playground time, helmets, seatbelts, or hand holding (except up the hill maybe). The girls definately have more independence here. And since there has been work going on outside for a month now, and monsoon leaches, they get a little bored up here in our house with no play area. So when we get to the school they run wild. And so do all of the kids. It really is misty in these pics. Most times it is very hazy.

We are trying to decide where to go for xmas. Thinking Goa will be it. So we are in the beginning stages of planning. We have vacation from the middle of December to the middle of January. Any of you who are thinking of making a trip this way... better speak up now....
Roxy walking to our house up the path.

So back to classes tomorrow. I am really liking it. Although it is such a long day for me. I have been living a very cushy lifestyle up there in Collingwood. Now I have to get up at 6 to get the girls all dressed and ready for the walk, with rain gear in case of torrential downpour, get them to class and start my day at 8:30. Classes here then end at 4:10. We have tea break two times in the day for 15 minutes, once at 10:30 and then again after school. My teeth are staining. Then you prep, or in my case I go home to see what Oulmilla has cooked up and see the kids and Steve. So I prep later at night. I am teaching environmental science 11 and 12 which is awesome and we get outside alot once the monsoon stops. Also biology grade 9, which is a snap, and very fun. The school has an amazing library of bottled specimens. It is a true museum of dead things from about 30 years ago. Must be at least that old. Especially since there is a bottled human baby. Four in fact. But the biggest ones have been thoughtfully put away so that the children don't freak. and the staff. I will post a picture of little child that is missing half of its poor head. I don't know how they got it...but they have it. There is definately no question of ethics here...at home I would have a tirade of children lobbying for animal rights, and demanding that they have an alternative to viewing these things. Imagine if schools at home had bottled babies. No. I can't. Fetal pigs are where I draw the line. Only a few kids here shuttered when I placed a flying lizard on their desk. Few opened the bottles of other dead things and took a sniff. They won't do that again.

Asha and I looking down from the path to our house.

We were out for dinner tonight at Neeraj and Maija's. Was very fun. The girls ran around with Nayan their new friend and hunted for salamanders. Lots of people came by, we chatted and watched the clouds roll over us.

Back to school tomorrow.

Oh ya, Steve opted out of the motorbike for a scooter. A real family man he is. So now all four of us can take off into the hills.

Today we went on an adventure into the Bazaar for dinner at the Tavern. The walk is worth it. Delicious butter chicken, biryani and Kingfisher. Yum. The girls were pretty excited to go out and we promised them that they could check out the well known "man" powered ferris wheel at Picture Palace. For 20 rupees a pop, we plopped the girls down on a rickety chair with a thin post, chin high, across the front of the seat. We were warned that it was not a good idea for the kids...but away they went. The man climbed up onto the metal girders that held the thing together and began to push, slowly at first, and then eventually into a swift run. Much like a mouse in a wheel. Pretty funny sight. Roxy was straight faced at first, Asha beaming. In minutes they were gripping hands and whipping around and around. They were having a blast, and brilliantly staying put in their seats. I really can't believe how fast they were going. I had to walk away near the end, couldn't watch. A wall of women bystanders watched with their hands over their mouths. Only one other 13 or so year old boy was on the ride. The man finally called it quits and slowed the wheel down. The girls ran off, demanding to go again. Of course we were surrounded by the night time crowd of Indian tourists who were congratulating the kids for a ride well done. Ya done made it out alive! The walk home was great. Typically Indian, with night life buzzing, and tourists pinching the girls cheeks. Now its time for bed!