Settling in....

Today is our 15th day in Mussoorie and Ben has just come back from a trek to Top Tibba (photos below)

The view from the top, looking down the steep climb

Common Ladybugs in Mussoorie

Local Village Accommodation

Happy at the top!

I am in bed feeling sick, we both had upset stomaches this morning and I have cold-like symptoms and a sore ear. On the bright side, we have made some great changes to our house and are starting to settle into our roles at Woodstock. I will endeavor to capture some events that have happened during this time. As I am writing this blog, the power has gone out, this is a natural occurrence in our new home and work places, it generally comes on after a few seconds when the generators kick in.

Last Friday night we were invited to our neighbors house for dinner. Our house is settled amongst two adjoining houses, our direct neighbors are Vimmi (HR) and Ajay Negi (Senior School Administration Associatte), they are a very hospitable couple and have the most adorable one year old daughter (Vedu). Kirsten (Director of Admissions) and Elsa (French teacher) also joined us for the dinner and we enjoyed some Indian culinary and getting to know more about our neighbors and work colleagues.

Vedu and Ajay

The next morning we ventured to Dehradun for some shopping. We decided to get up nice and early on Saturday morning in order to beat the traffic on the road down. We braved our way down the winding roads in a local bus. Half way through the journey we were both feeling rather sick, despite having taken anti-nausea pills. The sickness was also amplified with a mother vomiting out the window behind our heads and her kids opting to use the floor. 

We finally made it to the big city and got off at the first stop available. We managed to straighten out our tummys by walking along the road and stopping at various book vendors along the way. Ben purchased a book on Indian culture and Emerald opted for a cheesey vampire book which shall remain nameless. Most of the shops were still closed and didn't open until 11am (we arrived just after 9) so we decided to make our way to good old McDonalds to freshen up and grab a bite to eat before setting out on our shopping spree. We both opted for the vegetarian options which included a McVege and a McAloo Tiki (Potato pattie). We were quite impressed with the tastiness of the vegetarian options and the prices on the menu.

A small shack that we came across on our way to McDonalds - apparently you take your Yak here to give them a wash, much like the carwash establishments back home.

Next stop was FabIndia (think Freedom Furniture meets Origins), for Emerald it was super refreshing to walk into a department style shop with air conditioning (it was around 32 degrees in Dehradun, about ten degrees hotter than Mussoorie) and non-pushy sales staff. We purchased kurta and a pajama pants each, a quilt for our bed, 3 pillow covers and a tibetan style dress for Emerald. 

We then made our way down to the clock tower (a central point which has about 5 bazaars shooting off it) to find a shoe store which sold Juttis (leather style shoes with elegant designs) for our Independence day outfits. We managed to hunt down a pair each and haggled to a reasonable price. The stressful thing about shopping at a bizzar is the noise of the cars and scooters which constantly use their horn as if to say "I'm coming through", "Move out of my way" or "Wow white foreign people"), alongside the noise is the physically demanding aspect, of having to constantly maneuver around make shift road vendors, cars, scooters, tuk tuks, trucks, cows and mobs of people. 

A glimpse of one of the bazaars

We also took a ride in a Tuk Tuk which was quite scary (because you have no protection from the other cars) but relaxing at the same time (to have someone else responsible for maneuvering us around). 

Emerald relieved to be away from the crowds

We bought a few other items like a kettle, non-stick pan, incense and some more clothes for Emerald. We decided we would get a taxi back home to avoid the motion sickness, long story short the taxi never came and we bumped into some fellow Woodstock staff who offered to give us a ride back. There was a mob of Langours on the side of the road, we stopped to have a look at them, they also took the opportunity to have a glimpse at us!

A big nosey Langour

Following the Independence Day celebrations we had a productive week of work. Ben helped teach the Grade 7 students how to set up tents, they did this inside the gymnastics room. Ben also now has his office set up in the Hanifil Centre, just a 3 minute walk from our house. 

Suman (Ben's colleague standing in the red shirt) and the students setting up camp

The view from the Hanifil Centre (Ben's Work)

Emerald has been conducting tours of the school to perspective students and their parents. We worked out that she walked around the campus on average 2 hours during the working day. Part of my role in the admissions office has been recruiting senior (grade 12) students to conduct the tours, which will provide a first hand perspective to the students and relieve me to concentrate on the recruitment aspect. Recruitment this semester may see me travel to Russia, Oman and Sri Lanka with a big Asia trip next semester also in the pipeline.

Emerald looking out to the trees on the walk to Sisters Bazaar

We have also hired an Ayah (Maid) who works for us Monday, Wednesday and Fridays (1-6pm), we had hired her on the premise that she would work for the full 15 hours a week and cook, clean and do some hand washing. We were tested a couple of times during the week when she did not follow our instructions. On Wednesday we had decided to join some other staff members for dinner at a local restaurant in the bizaar, so we asked Leela (our maid) to not make dinner. Instead of not making dinner she decided to bake us two carrot cakes (which were really tasty). But this was too much for just the two of us so she went home with a lovely cake also and we were left with a lovely cake and very little food supplies in the cupboards. 

Leela also decided that because she wasn't cooking dinner for us that she could leave at 4.45 instead of 6. Ben had asked her to stay because the house still needed some more cleaning but she said "5-6 is cooking time, no cooking today, so i go." So I decided to straighten out our expectations for Leela and invited her to my office on Friday before she was to start working. The meeting went really well and Leela has started to prove herself to us (right now she is here making us a Mutton Spaghetti Bolognese).

After the big week of work we decided to have a relaxing Friday night at home. On Saturday we had an array of technicians come to our house to take away our lounge room coir matting, we now have a very cold tile concreted floor however it looks much better and is easier for our maid to clean. Emerald supervised the technicians as they worked. Ben went to the bizaar to do some vege and grocery shopping. We have to soak the veges in a special chemical to kill off the bacteria before we can eat them. You will also see the water filter in the background, we depend on the machine for all our drinking/cooking water.

We also had some ceiling gaps boarded up, this involved men opening up the roof panels and banging down the ceiling boards - Ben and I spent a few hours in the afternoon sweeping and moving the furniture back into place.

(Sorry I can't figure out how to rotate it)

We also had the men put rat poison in the attic as we have a large number of rats that occupy the attic when it is raining (which is every day during Monsoon). The rats are a problem as they keep us awake during the night by making a lot of noise rummaging through the dust and debris in the ceiling (which is also falling through the ceiling boards into our room). Last night the rats were fairly quiet so we are hopeful that the poison is taking effect. 

Saturday night was really entertaining, we had an Indian dance group perform for some staff and students. The dancing was very beautiful, with bright colourful costumes, live indian music and an array of stories which influenced the particular dances.

A dance representing Shiva and Krishna's love

On Sunday morning Ben made delicious pancakes to fuel us for another shopping trip into our local bazaars. We left at 10.30am and got home at 5.30 - a very eventful day indeed. We managed to purchase some fabric and ordered various clothes items from a local tailor. Ben has a pair of Thai fisherman pants arriving this evening from the tailor himself. Ben also got to experience another cultural experience - a hair cut at a local salon. He pretty much asked for a trim but got a totally new makeover - which i like!

The 'Before' shot

Watch out for my mole!

Don't move!

Check it out! only 50 Rupees! or $1.80 NZD

Until the next installment! Namaste