Highs and the Lows

Namaste Everyone!

Well this post will cover what we have been up to recently which has included some very fine times but also some pretty trialing and hard times... But hey the saying 'no pain, no gain' I believe is true even if it comes through intense tummy bugs and hospital beds! But I pretty much have a degree in tummy bugs so it is nothing that I could not deal with...(This is Ben writting by the way)

The Highs! (Emerald writting)

So looking back over the past two weeks, Ben and I have been keeping busy with work and trying to keep healthy. I will touch on some fun and positive things that have happened aswell as what is happening on the work side of things.

Student Tours - I have been organizing a group of 24 grade 12 students (seniors) to become student tour ambassadors, which means they can provide a first hand perspective to potential students and their parents. This has required me to have a lot of grace and torrence to student life. I am quite astounded with the lack of responsibility installed in the top class of the high school, I have actually heard that in comparison to the previous seniors, this particular grade is outstanding....hmmmph. Getting the students to actually turn up to a meeting, have them read a document and sign an agreement caused much chaos and stress for me. Finally after answering mundane questions and having them all read up on the tour guidelines I was able to take them on the tours in small groups. I have also managed to recruit a Student Admissions Associate who coordinates with the students on my behalf. So far only 7 of my 23 students have completed the training, here’s hoping the other 16 will come through in the next week.

Maid - Our relationship with Leyla has improved greatly, her work is now meeting our expectations, or rather our expectations have met her work ethic. We had to renegotiate the hours and pay because her Husband was not pleased with the initial hours and pay. So basically she is getting the same pay that she was receiving for 15hours but she is only working 12 hours per week. I really enjoy her cooking though, she makes delicious bread rolls and potato soup. It's nice that she can make western style food, which we are both craving!

Rokeby - Woodstock staff were invited to the opening of Rokeby hotel, a converted Woodstock hostel which is now a beautiful, clean, nicely decorated hotel, restaurant, beauty salon and jacuzzi/croquet club. The party was so much fun, three of the Woodstock staff played live music for almost four hours. There was an array of delicious finger food and an open bar which was enjoyed by all. This weekend Emerald is going to the Salon with Emily (second girl on the left seated below) in the hope of getting a hair cut. Some friends will then join us for lunch at Emily's (Rokebys restaurant), which apparently serve a yummy buffalo burger - Ben can't wait for some red meat!

The Okies Jamming with the number 1 fan club

Happy to be out and about

Ben and Kutty in matching outfits

Sitting on the terrace looking out to Dehradun

Emerald in the master suite

Sunset from the Suite's private terrace

Woodstock staff enjoying the party

Celebrating Ben's First Aid Success - Ben has just completed a ten day (80 hour) intensive Wilderness Outdoor First Aid course, so we decided to invite the teachers and a few of his fellow students to our house before going out for dinner.

Arun (gap semester student), the two teachers and Matt another student

Our house is looking better at the moment, we have some fresh paint which has really changed the feel of the house. This weekend we are planning on getting curtains made up for the two bedrooms and entrance way, which should do a lot for the house :)
Following the drinks we all headed to the Tavern (a local restaurant in the main Bazaar). We headed out by foot, it was drizzling a little bit so we all took umbrellas. By the time we had got half way through the Landour bazaar it was absolutely pouring down. The roads had become two inches deep in water. We decided to take shelter in our local "supermarket" Ram Chanders. All of the group huddled in the store while Ben and I did our grocery shopping. 10 minutes later it was still pouring. We saw a cab a few shops down and all 7 of us pilled into a 4 seater car. Ben and I in the front passenger seat and five in the back seat. It was a very fun and noisy ride down to Picture Palace (the main taxi stand and entrance to the main bazaar). We then dashed 30 meters to the Tavern and had a lovely dinner.

We both had Sizzlers which smoked the restaurant out

After dinner we went looking for another cab to take us all back to campus, but we had trouble haggling taxis down to the "authorized rate", the fare to our house has been set with various taxi companies to 125 rupees. Every time we try to get a cab home the fare is either 150 or 200 rupees. Only one taxi company actually charges us the correct rate, but they had already closed for business that night.

After the 20 minutes of negotiations the group had two get two cabs at 150 rupees each. After reaching our drive way we stumbled back home in the dark. We finally reached our door step, but the house key did not. We searched through the entire contents of Ben's bag and his pockets with no luck. One of Ben's fellow first aid students suggested that he kick the door in. Sure enough the bolt and padlock stayed attached two the doors while the doors flung open, with no damage done. None the less we are now looking into more security for our house.

The next morning our grocery order from Ram Chanders arrived and the Coolie (personal courier) had Ben's keys. They were found outside of Ram Chanders, we guess they must have fallen out on our mad dash to the cab.

Critters - Ben has taken a great passion recording any insects he can find. Below are some of the amazing creatures he has spotted.

 

 

 

 

 

Negi's Dinner - Our wonderful neighbours, Ajay, Vimmi and Vedu invited us and some other staff around for dinner. It was really nice to get to know some of the other Woodstock staff a little better. The Negi's have been a real blessing, they helped Ben with his drivers license and also supported us when Ben was in hospital driving us to the hospital and bringing homemade meals and drinking water. Super sweet family.

 

 

Cookies - An email was circulated to a few members of the Woodstock staff requesting baking for the recent RE retreat based at the Hanifil centre. I decided I would take the challenge of baking for 42 students. Unfortunatley the ovens here are about the size of a microwave. After making a big batch of dough I spent an entire evening baking cookies. Fortunatley this was the evening that we were invited to the Negi's for dinner so I was able to use their oven and dash to the kitchen evey five minutes to load and unload cookies into the oven.

 

The Lows (Ben writting)

 

Drivers License (AGAIN)

WELL... After finally jumping ques, paying baksheesh and sneaking around the local authorities I managed to get everything I needed to get my licence. Sadly I just found out that I failed my practical which is well beyond el lamo... The process was hard, confusing and all in all corrupt. It can be taken light heartedly though! Boy the Indian Government loves to show how much 'superior' power they have... I failed because I did not get enough questions right in the test! NOW the funny part is I was told six of the ten answers (enough to pass) by the man in charge. This was because the english on the test was so bad it was undecipherable. But all in all I did really well... But because they love to make it hard I did not come up to scratch. So now I am down to just filling out the test on pure faith that one day the people in power in this country will stop showing off there amazing strength and show a little honesty in what they are doing heehee. Well heres to another few trips riding around on motor bikes with no licences or helmets breaking every law in the book on the roads in order to 'get' an actual licence (which no one has anyway). cheers

 

Dead rats/Maggots

Our house surely has been delivering some fun times recently. Our house has a simply amazing smell at the moment. Rotting carcass. Yes thats right ladies and gentlemen there are dead rats that are impossible to find in our house at the moment. After searching all through the roofs and rooms we have come to the conclusion that we will never find them! But we have had some luck lighting up the bukhari (fire place)... We believe maybe one of them is in the chimney so we are burning them out yeow! Smoked rat anyone??? On another side note we have had a wonderful maggot waterfall in our spare bedroom recently. There was a rotting bird lodged in the ceiling that had a maggot infestation...

Enough about this though... our house is amazing and we are very happy with it bar these two issues!!!

 

Hospital (e-coli)

Yes I have been sick again... I am sure everyone on here knows I have the most amazing immune system in the univers and that I never get sick. Miraculously I managed to pick up a nasty strain of e-coli recently. I have just come out of hospital for three days of agony. Well it wasnt agony due to the gorgeous monkeys that were always chilling on our windowsill thanks to Emerald strategically placing bread there. The bug I have can only be killed through intravenous antibiotics. So I am rocking around school with a drip in at the moment... Not to worry though! I am starting to feel better and am ready to conquer whatever street food passes my face (doctor John its a joke dont fret)...

Me rocking LCH

Wonderful Vision (I wish all 'christians' shared this view)

oh bra i think i ate something bad braaa

Ta for reading!

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 

Independence Day

Hey Everyone,

Today we celebrated Indias Independence in style. Both Emerald and I dressed up in some very fancy formal indian wear and headed down to the school for the festivities!

Beautiful!

Man Beast

The day started with a ceremony ceremony in the gym which included some very good speeches, musical pieces and of course the raising of the flag! The speech given was from a lady who was the first Indian women to ski to the south pole... An amazing feat! Her husband was also there and he has summited Everest three times out of the five expeditions he has been on. Amazing people!

School Orchestra Doing the National Anthem

After the ceremony there was a fantastic banquet in the quad of the school. Loads of stalls of delicious foods and desserts where shared by everyone. I am writing this with a very very full stomach! We are currently letting our food sit while doing some housework before heading off for a walk to flag hill with some other staff members!

Enjoying the Festivities

Enough Gulab Jamuns to Sink a Ship

Even the Security Monkey got a Naan

Until next time...

New Beginnings in India

Hey Everyone!

Well its been a few days since we arrived here in Mussoorie and we thought it would be a good time to share with you some of  our experiences of our first few days in our new home, at school and around the local area. Our settling in has been pretty smooth with no major dramas. We are both so happy to be here and have been absolutely blown away with how friendly the people are and how beautiful Mussoorie is. I will break this entry up into a few little sections... These are our home, school life, people, Landor bazaar and the monsoons!

Our Home


We are living in an area called Homestead in a gorgeous house that is over 150 years old. We have the most amazing walk to get to our house from school. It takes around fifteen minutes walkin along Tehri road. This is never boring due to the beautiful lush green forests you walk past, the monkeys swinging in the trees and all of the lovely orchids that are out at this time of the year. Our house is very cosy and has a super comfortable living room and bedroom. The bed is anything but comfortable though due to extremely hard mattresses (all three of them hehe). But our main problem is the vermin that live in the ceiling which make annoying noises all night! Much at my disgrace (Ben),  I have not even managed to see a scorpion or an extremely large spider in our house yet, but this is a good thing as Emerald is not into the creepy crawlies. We are very suprised with how dry we have been able to keep the house thanks to the dehumidifier we have borrowed. This along with our electric blanket have been a huge help in keeping the place nice and dry! There is alot more I  could say about our house... if your interested there are many photos up on Ben's facebook page and you should probably all just come visit and see it for yourselves anyway!

The path down to our house and entrance way

Our Lounge looking rather messy on day 2

Ben cooking up a curry in our kitchen

School Life


Woodstock School is such an amazing campus. For the last few days we have been getting used to the location of everything and daily rutine. Both Emerald and I started work yesterday and had a fantastic first day.  Emerald spent her day getting orientated around the school (in preparation for Parent and Student tours), spending time clearing her emails and doing some research on Indian schools aswell as looking at the current cultural makeup of the junior and senior schools. Emerald has particularly enjoyed being delivered hot chai in the morning and afternoon. It seems there is someone on hand to do even the simplest of tasks.

I (Ben) spent mine having meetings, attending an assembly and playing in the climbing gym. My (Ben) job description still has not been set in concrete yet, this was due to some department staff sharing different views on what duties are to take place in the outdoors department. I will be having a meeting with the head of the Hanifl centre (Kutty), the head of P.E. (Ajay) and the principal (Dr Laurenson) on Monday which should result in a very clear job description! Most of our days have been spent filling out paper work and getting our home in order with the help of the hospitality team (we have been leant various household items which we need to replace within 3 months). We will give you all an update on our work once we have settled in a bit more...

A view of the upper quad area

People

The people here in Mussoorie have been so amazing to us. We have had three dinners out with friends already and have been blown away by the hospitality of everyone we have met. Something that has been really interesting is the amount of respect that everyone seems to have for each other here. Right from the cleaners and coolies (carriers) up to the most respected of staff. There is always a smile, a waggle of the head and help at hand when you need it. We have just managed to get an ayah (maid) named Layla who has worked in this house for the past three years. She is a very sweet lady who can both speak and write/read english pretty well. She will be helping out around the home and we are looking forward to having her here with us! Today we are getting some helpers to come and put lightbulbs in our wardrobes to keep our clothes dry during these wet months and fix the toilet seat so Em doesn't fall off it so much.

Landor Bazaar


We have had so much fun wandering along to the local bazaar. Its about a half hour walk from our house and its so amazing to think we can be in such a bustling, interesting shopping area only thirty minutes walk from our place. Going shopping is just so entertaining and finally going food shopping will never be boring. The sights, smells and sounds of the bazaar are excellent. From monkeys swinging above your heads on powerlines, to the continuous buzzing of horns, and the smell of fresh sweets (along with alot of things which dont smell so pleasant) your senses get a unique work out in all areas! When we order food or appliances from the bazaar we get our things delivered in the evening by coolies who carry our items in bags on there backs that are wrapped around there foreheads all the way to our doorstep. They always arrive looking full of energy with a big smile and a waggling head. They are so fit and so happy even though they do a grueling job day in and day out for probably around $3-4nzd a day. Both Emerald and I have bought traditional Indian clothing for independence day. This was a wonderful process. We both got kurta and pajamas. You will see photos of us wearing these clothes very soon... ( I have never seem Em look SOOO beautiful, apart from the wedding!)

Reeces monkeys on the road to the Bazaar

Looking down from the Bazaar to the housing

Local vendors

Monsoons

All the rumours of non stop rain, scorpions everywhere and never being able to keep dry is a myth (unless you are in Pakistan at the moment). We have had some very heavy rain but it has not been non stop by any means. The monsoons are so beautiful up here. Everything is so lush and green. There are lots of rivers running everywhere and alot of the days are spent walking in the clouds (literally).

Last night we got a nice break from the cloud and we went for a little walk along Tehri road to check out the views. They were simply breathtaking! Pictures can do more than words at times like this... So here they are!

Anyways that was a long post. They will get shorter and shorter I am sure! We miss you all heaps and hope that your enjoying reading up on our adventures so far.

Much love!

Bon Voyage/Our Trip from New Zealand to the Himalayas!

Finally we are here...

Our trip from New Zealand to India was long but full of excitement. We set off after some very sad bye byes to family and friends last friday. As we boarded the plane the sad feelings created from the bye byes turned into feelings of excitement and awe as we set off to start our new life in India.

Our first stop was in Kuala Lumpur. We spent 24 hours chilling in the lovely pan pacific hotel and making the most of western food before getting addicted to curries and other indian delicacies here in Mussoorie. After a late night swim in the pool we got as much rest as we could because we knew the second we touched down in Delhi to the time we arrive in Mussoorie there was going to be next to no sleep and boy were we right!

As we hovered above the city of Delhi the feelings of excitement and nervousness started to overtake us. Staring out at the lights of delhi flickering like fire flies we made our decent and landed in our new home land of India. Just before we landed the young indian man sitting next to me winked as he undid his seatbelt and waggled his head with great attitude... Already the comical side of the people of India was showing! He was all that is man taking his seatbelt off for the most dangerous part of the journey!

We spent our first night in a very derelict hotel called the Centaur. With scummy rooms and very uncomfortable beds we had next to no sleep. It took us around 3 hours to get to the hotel from leaving the airplane. Trying to spot or taxi driver in the mirage of faces at the Delhi airport was the least of our problems. After forgetting where the car was parked and some very tight squeezes in elevators, we made it to the hotel in one piece with all our luggage. Phew!

We were picked up in the morning by our driver at 7am ready to begin the seven hour drive up to Woodstock school. The drive up was a huge eye opener for Emerald and it was just as I had remembered it. An explosion on the senses to say the least. Hundreds of very 'near' accidents occurred and there were many 'edge' of the seat moments. We took an unusual route to Woodstock due to a large number of people on a pilgrimage taking holy water from the upper ganges to their houses. The water was collected by people of the hindu religion and carried on foot (in turns) all 300+ kms! The people who were not running with the water stood on top of the vehicles dancing themselves silly as the vehicles blasted out hindi dance music at full force. MMMM mmm India :)

We stopped around half way for some lunch. Our driver insisted that we get some food! After staring at the fly infested foods in 35 degree temperatures we settled for nothing more than some crisps and a coca cola! During this stop Emerald got her first taste of a local bathroom! After almost passing out from the smell, lack of toilet papers and she wee malfunctions we decided it was time to move on!

We arrived in Dehredun  and stopped for a quick lunch! We were so happy that the hardest stretch of the journey was over and the stress levels of driving in India would finally go down. After meeting up with Sareena (HR from Woodstock) and her lovely family we headed off to start the winding trail up to 6000ft. It was a clear day and the roads were busy! The journey to Mussoorie was nothing short of exciting... The winding roads littered with smiling faces, numerous styles of vehicles, monkeys, stray dogs, horses and gorgeous little bazaars was a feast for eyes!

After a seven hour journey we arrived at homestead east, our new home :)

The journey is over and now and we are ready to begin our new lives in the foothills of the Himalaya!

Namaste!