I know it’s been a week since I last posted a blog. This week was another pretty busy one. Wednesday was one of the new staff, James’ birthday. So that evening we had 23 people at a restaurant called the Tavern in the bazaar. We pretty much took up the whole place! Thursday was “friendship day” at Woodstock. This meant that the seniors all had a freshman that they had to dress up in ridiculous costumes. Some of the costumes I saw included pokemon, a giant foot, an i-pod, a tea pot etc. It was pretty funny to see all the ninth graders dressed up for the whole day. But I was not very happy when 10 of my band students skipped band during the lunch period to continue to take part in the friendship day festivities. I will be having words with these kids at our next rehearsal, which unfortunately isn’t until Wednesday because we have a shortened class day due to teacher meetings on Monday morning…
We also did not have class yesterday. Instead we had an assembly in the morning. Apparently there have been some violent actions taken against Christians in Orissa (which really isn’ t very close to us). But all of the Christian schools in India were taking a stand and protesting by not having school yesterday.
So far I have had two Hindi lessons from Zeenat – the hindi instructor/assistant. She is really nice and a very patient teacher. At our first lesson, two Thursdays ago, we went over a basic introductory conversation – here’s what it looks like with Arabic letters (I don’t know how to use sandskrit on the computer)
Namastay -Hello
Aap Kaisay (see) hai? - How are you?
Mai theek hoo – I am fine
Aur aap kaisee hai? And how are you?
Aapkaa naam kyaa hai? - What is your name?
Mayraa naam Jennie hai - My name is Jennie
Aap kahaa say hai? -Where are you from?
Mai US say hoo? - I am from the US
Aapsay milkar khushi huee - Nice to meet you
Phir milenge - see you again
This past week we went over the vowels and consonants and Zeenat had me practice writing some of them and putting them together for pronunciation practice and then she would tell me if it was a word or not. Some of the words I stumbled on through this process were, cut (which sounds exactly like it does in English), juice, a sound that means talking – kind of like blah blah blah, the buzz that a bee makes, lost, desert and hair. It was actually kind of fun… Yesterday I came home after our morning assembly and our ayah was still here working in our house, so I tried to use some of limited Hindi to communicate. It kind of worked, but I think I need a lot more practice!
Yesterday and today we went jogging up at the top of the hill on what’s called the Chuker. It’s a figure eight road that has a bunch of amazing views. I guess once the monsoon is over, you can see the some of the snow covered peaks of the Himalayas from there. The students (and teachers if they want) have their big cross country race up there on Wednesday. The school is divided up into three houses for sports (kind of like Harry Potter, but without quidditch). The houses are Merlin, Condor, Eagle. Megan and I are both in Merlin. Each age group has a different distance to run. And if they make it in a certain time, then they earn points for their house.
Today we are also going to go down to the bazaar and pick up a rolling pin, baking pan, some groceries and other things. I am going to attempt to make chocolate chip cookies too! Everyday either at 9:35 or 10:30 we have a minute tea time. The music teachers all take turns bringing snacks for that tea time. So far I have only brought snacks that are packaged, but if I can figure out how to make cookies in our toaster over, then next time I’ll have a homemade snack to bring!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
This past week has been crazy! It was the first full week of school. The couple weeks before were 3 and 4 day weeks. I finally got to have lessons with all of my students. It was also wildlife week at Woodstock. We had a couple of all school assemblies with a few speakers etc. They had students reading books aloud about Indian wildlife during lunch and of the classes did face painting for the younger students. The school also had some optional sessions during the school day that teachers could take their classes to if they wanted.
Last weekend megan I went to the bazaar twice. On Saturday we went with our friend Jeanne to a friend, Tamara’s apartment for lunch. Tamara taught science at Woodstock for a while last year, but she wanted to work in an Indian school so now she teaches in a school right in Mussoorie. She made an awesome lunch of rice, paneer, mushrooms and beans, chipati and some yogurt/chick pea thing that I don’t know the name of… Her friends Lorie and Kunwar also came to lunch. Lorie is from Canada and is doing research in the villages of the hillside and Kunwar used to be the pridant of a number of villages around the area. It was really interesting talking to them and they invited all of use to come and visit their village some weekend.
Sunday we went to visit Megan’s third cousin’s friend that lives in Mussoorie. His name is Ganesh and it was great to talk to him and his family about India and traveling. He has been all over India and has written books and included AMAZING photographs from around the country. He gave us some great suggestions of places to travel.
The rest of the week was basically filled with school. We did go into the bazaar again on Wednesday to pick up some new clothes – I got two more salwar kamises, but I haven’t taken them into the tailor yet… Today I haven’t done much yet. But there have been a couple Langur monkeys playing jungle gym on our balcony outside our living room. The Langur monkeys are the “good” ones; they are less aggressive than the other ones, even though they are bigger.
Last weekend megan I went to the bazaar twice. On Saturday we went with our friend Jeanne to a friend, Tamara’s apartment for lunch. Tamara taught science at Woodstock for a while last year, but she wanted to work in an Indian school so now she teaches in a school right in Mussoorie. She made an awesome lunch of rice, paneer, mushrooms and beans, chipati and some yogurt/chick pea thing that I don’t know the name of… Her friends Lorie and Kunwar also came to lunch. Lorie is from Canada and is doing research in the villages of the hillside and Kunwar used to be the pridant of a number of villages around the area. It was really interesting talking to them and they invited all of use to come and visit their village some weekend.
Sunday we went to visit Megan’s third cousin’s friend that lives in Mussoorie. His name is Ganesh and it was great to talk to him and his family about India and traveling. He has been all over India and has written books and included AMAZING photographs from around the country. He gave us some great suggestions of places to travel.
The rest of the week was basically filled with school. We did go into the bazaar again on Wednesday to pick up some new clothes – I got two more salwar kamises, but I haven’t taken them into the tailor yet… Today I haven’t done much yet. But there have been a couple Langur monkeys playing jungle gym on our balcony outside our living room. The Langur monkeys are the “good” ones; they are less aggressive than the other ones, even though they are bigger.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Independence Day
This week was our (meaning the music department) first week of really having class. It was great to actually start ensembles and lessons and meet some of my students. Most of the kids I have for lessons seem to be very dedicated (with a couple exceptions…). In fact I even have three students coming in before and after school to have lessons and practice because they can’t fit it into their schedule otherwise! And when I had each kid write down some goals they had for the semester, almost all of them said that they wanted to work on scales! I even hated practicing scales in college (sorry Bruce). Anyway, it seems like they are willing to work hard. All of the students taking lessons have three other practice periods scheduled into their school week – so unless they are messing around in the practice rooms, they should be improving every week…
Today is Indian Independence Day. India broke free from Britain 61 years ago. Today we did not have school; instead we had a ceremony outside the high school and then an awesome lunch in the quad (where the middle school and elementary school are located). Everyone was supposed to dress up in Indian dress – so both Megan and I wore our new saris. Although saris are very complicated to tie (they basically consist of an underskirt (petticoat), a short blouse (that really only comes down to the middle of your ribcage) and then a very long piece of fabric (I think this can be anywhere from 4 to 7 meters long- mine seemed REALLY long!)). Fortunately, one of the librarians (also the wife of the head of the music department) Esther offered to help us tie our saris today. Megan and I went over to her house at about 8:30 this morning and she took time with each one of us to get ready. From what I understand, you have to put on your blouse and petticoat and then you tie a knot into one end of the sari. Then you tuck that into the side of the petticoat and wrap the fabric around your waist once. Then you tuck it in again at the same place and wrap it around one more time (but this time you are going to leave a bunch loose at the front to put in pleats). On this time when you’re wrapping it, you go around your front (with the loose part) and then the back and then bring up the rest of the material across your chest and throw it over your left shoulder. You adjust the length of the shoulder piece and then find out how much material you have, to do pleats with in the front of the skirt part. You fold the pleats with the extra fabric and then tuck it into the front of your petticoat. I think that’s about it… It seems pretty confusing at the time, I just tried doing it myself right now (with a t-shirt and pants on) to make sure I was describing it correctly. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to do it myself and have it look decent enough!
Once Esther tied our saris for us, Megan and I went up to school and then at 9:30 we had a ceremony in front of the flag pole at the high school. The elementary school children we seated in front on the ground, while the staff sat in chairs on the side. The rest of the kids were standing all around the rest of the courtyard. Aloke, the Indian music teacher, led an Indian staff choir that sang some national songs. The orchestra also played the national anthem and everyone sang along. I only know the end of it, where the words repeat over and over again - I’m working on learning the rest… The principal said a few words and they also had a speaker who talked a little bit about freedom.
After the ceremony was over, the younger students went down to the quad for food, while the high schoolers hung around and did some dancing in the auditorium. It was really cool to see everyone dressed up in national clothes. Most people were in Indian clothes, but it is also the Korean Independence Day, so a lot of the Korean students were in their national dress. Megan was disappointed that she didn’t bring her hanbok (just kidding). By the time I made it down the quad for food, it was pretty packed. They had different stations set up outside with options for food. I had some momos (veg and mutton), dosa and one other thing that I don’t know it’s name. There were a few other things that I didn’t try, mostly because I didn’t want to wait in more lines and I was full. The momos are kind of like dumplings with vegetables or meat inside. They can be fried or steamed. They are served with sauce that is usually very spicy. The dosas are kind of like a big really flat pancake and then they are folded and have a mixture of potatoes and spices inside. They are served with a kind of soup, red chutney (spicy) and coconut chutney (which is my favorite chutney so far!). Dosas are actually a south Indian food, and apparently they are much better in the south than here in the north. But I’ve never had “authentic” south Indian dosas, so I thought it tasted just fine! The other food that I tried was some kind of little fried potato patty and then mint chutney, white and red sauces were poured over it. It was good and a little spicy. To drink there was water and of course chai!
During the festivities today, someone told me that the new phy ed teacher (who just arrived yesterday) played rugby. While I was eating I had a chance to meet her and talk for a bit. She said she was having three rugby balls sent here and she wants to start a 7’s side. There is also a new dorm parent who played rugby in Indiana who was really excited to start a team. After being here for a few weeks I was sure that I would not be playing rugby for at least two years, but now it sounds like we are going to try to get a team started!!! Amanda, the phy ed teacher, said we should try to get some of the high school girls involved too and maybe we could do some inter-school matches! I might be sending home for a package of cleats, rugby shorts and a mouth guard soon…
Today is Indian Independence Day. India broke free from Britain 61 years ago. Today we did not have school; instead we had a ceremony outside the high school and then an awesome lunch in the quad (where the middle school and elementary school are located). Everyone was supposed to dress up in Indian dress – so both Megan and I wore our new saris. Although saris are very complicated to tie (they basically consist of an underskirt (petticoat), a short blouse (that really only comes down to the middle of your ribcage) and then a very long piece of fabric (I think this can be anywhere from 4 to 7 meters long- mine seemed REALLY long!)). Fortunately, one of the librarians (also the wife of the head of the music department) Esther offered to help us tie our saris today. Megan and I went over to her house at about 8:30 this morning and she took time with each one of us to get ready. From what I understand, you have to put on your blouse and petticoat and then you tie a knot into one end of the sari. Then you tuck that into the side of the petticoat and wrap the fabric around your waist once. Then you tuck it in again at the same place and wrap it around one more time (but this time you are going to leave a bunch loose at the front to put in pleats). On this time when you’re wrapping it, you go around your front (with the loose part) and then the back and then bring up the rest of the material across your chest and throw it over your left shoulder. You adjust the length of the shoulder piece and then find out how much material you have, to do pleats with in the front of the skirt part. You fold the pleats with the extra fabric and then tuck it into the front of your petticoat. I think that’s about it… It seems pretty confusing at the time, I just tried doing it myself right now (with a t-shirt and pants on) to make sure I was describing it correctly. Hopefully sometime soon I will be able to do it myself and have it look decent enough!
Once Esther tied our saris for us, Megan and I went up to school and then at 9:30 we had a ceremony in front of the flag pole at the high school. The elementary school children we seated in front on the ground, while the staff sat in chairs on the side. The rest of the kids were standing all around the rest of the courtyard. Aloke, the Indian music teacher, led an Indian staff choir that sang some national songs. The orchestra also played the national anthem and everyone sang along. I only know the end of it, where the words repeat over and over again - I’m working on learning the rest… The principal said a few words and they also had a speaker who talked a little bit about freedom.
After the ceremony was over, the younger students went down to the quad for food, while the high schoolers hung around and did some dancing in the auditorium. It was really cool to see everyone dressed up in national clothes. Most people were in Indian clothes, but it is also the Korean Independence Day, so a lot of the Korean students were in their national dress. Megan was disappointed that she didn’t bring her hanbok (just kidding). By the time I made it down the quad for food, it was pretty packed. They had different stations set up outside with options for food. I had some momos (veg and mutton), dosa and one other thing that I don’t know it’s name. There were a few other things that I didn’t try, mostly because I didn’t want to wait in more lines and I was full. The momos are kind of like dumplings with vegetables or meat inside. They can be fried or steamed. They are served with sauce that is usually very spicy. The dosas are kind of like a big really flat pancake and then they are folded and have a mixture of potatoes and spices inside. They are served with a kind of soup, red chutney (spicy) and coconut chutney (which is my favorite chutney so far!). Dosas are actually a south Indian food, and apparently they are much better in the south than here in the north. But I’ve never had “authentic” south Indian dosas, so I thought it tasted just fine! The other food that I tried was some kind of little fried potato patty and then mint chutney, white and red sauces were poured over it. It was good and a little spicy. To drink there was water and of course chai!
During the festivities today, someone told me that the new phy ed teacher (who just arrived yesterday) played rugby. While I was eating I had a chance to meet her and talk for a bit. She said she was having three rugby balls sent here and she wants to start a 7’s side. There is also a new dorm parent who played rugby in Indiana who was really excited to start a team. After being here for a few weeks I was sure that I would not be playing rugby for at least two years, but now it sounds like we are going to try to get a team started!!! Amanda, the phy ed teacher, said we should try to get some of the high school girls involved too and maybe we could do some inter-school matches! I might be sending home for a package of cleats, rugby shorts and a mouth guard soon…
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
More Monkeys
Note: This entry is actully from yesterday, tuesday august 12th:
Well a lot has been happening around here, although most of it is related to school… We started lessons and ensembles this week, so I have actually been doing some real teaching. It’s still pretty crazy and somewhat unorganized. Megan teaches the jazz band and advanced band before school and I have the intermediate band during lunch time.
Our national clothes that we are going to wear on Friday for Indian Independence day arrived yesterday. I got a saree and salwar kamise and Megan got a saree- but neither of us has any idea about how to tie a saree, it’s super complicated! I think someone is going to give us a tying lesson before Friday.
Today, I gave a lesson after school and then I was planning on sticking around for a while to play some clarinet and clean out my studio (it somehow got incredibly messy within the last few days…) I decided that I needed to go brush my teeth before they locked the doors to the good water (I usually walk down the third floor walkway to the middle school and brush my teeth in the “safe” drinking water there, but they lock the middle school doors around 5:00). I was on my way back, rounding the corner to my office when I saw a herd of monkeys hanging around. They did not look like they wanted to be disturbed (and I didn’t have my umbrella or anything to throw, beside my toothbrush), so I decided to go back through the middle school and take the long way around the second floor music room with computers. I had been in the computer room for a few minutes, when the phone rang. I answered it and it happened to be Maureen, the choir teacher, whose office is right next door to mine on monkey alley. She was calling to see if our music custodian/assistant was around to come scare away the monkeys outside her studio. Apparently she had been giving a lesson and one of the monkeys had tried to open her door, not once but twice! He would have been successful if Maureen hadn’t been right there to slam it closed. She said normally she just opens her window and growls at them, but today that wasn’t working. I went to go look for Avinash (our music assistant) but instead I came across our head of the department, Ravi. When I told Ravi that Maureen was trapped upstairs in her studio, he grabbed his umbrella and set off for the stairs. But by the time we made our way up to Maureen’s studio, the monkeys had scampered off to the other side the music building and Maureen was on her way out.
Well a lot has been happening around here, although most of it is related to school… We started lessons and ensembles this week, so I have actually been doing some real teaching. It’s still pretty crazy and somewhat unorganized. Megan teaches the jazz band and advanced band before school and I have the intermediate band during lunch time.
Our national clothes that we are going to wear on Friday for Indian Independence day arrived yesterday. I got a saree and salwar kamise and Megan got a saree- but neither of us has any idea about how to tie a saree, it’s super complicated! I think someone is going to give us a tying lesson before Friday.
Today, I gave a lesson after school and then I was planning on sticking around for a while to play some clarinet and clean out my studio (it somehow got incredibly messy within the last few days…) I decided that I needed to go brush my teeth before they locked the doors to the good water (I usually walk down the third floor walkway to the middle school and brush my teeth in the “safe” drinking water there, but they lock the middle school doors around 5:00). I was on my way back, rounding the corner to my office when I saw a herd of monkeys hanging around. They did not look like they wanted to be disturbed (and I didn’t have my umbrella or anything to throw, beside my toothbrush), so I decided to go back through the middle school and take the long way around the second floor music room with computers. I had been in the computer room for a few minutes, when the phone rang. I answered it and it happened to be Maureen, the choir teacher, whose office is right next door to mine on monkey alley. She was calling to see if our music custodian/assistant was around to come scare away the monkeys outside her studio. Apparently she had been giving a lesson and one of the monkeys had tried to open her door, not once but twice! He would have been successful if Maureen hadn’t been right there to slam it closed. She said normally she just opens her window and growls at them, but today that wasn’t working. I went to go look for Avinash (our music assistant) but instead I came across our head of the department, Ravi. When I told Ravi that Maureen was trapped upstairs in her studio, he grabbed his umbrella and set off for the stairs. But by the time we made our way up to Maureen’s studio, the monkeys had scampered off to the other side the music building and Maureen was on her way out.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Our First and Better Be LAST Scorpion
In my mind, the big news from the last couple days is that I had a scorpion in my bedroom. This happened two nights ago.
I was minding my own buisiness closing my curtains before bed, when I noticed a huge nasty spider on my window. There have been a couple of these so far in our house, so I followed proticol and immediatly yelled for Megan to come and kill the spider. She came fairly quickly, while I went to find something for her to kill it with. On my way back, toilet paper in one hand, keen sandal in the other, I spotted it... On the floor right in front of my closet was a SCORPION!!!!! I had heard about these discusting creastures and we even had a dead one passed around in a plastic container in one of our orientation sessions, but nothing could prepare me for just how completely repulsive this thing was. I screamed for Megan to get over to the closet. We then proceeded to both freak out, while Megan took my sandal and repeatedly hit the scorpion. With each strike, its skeletal body convulsed and we screamed. Finally after about four or five blows the beast was defeated. And we, aka- Megan, got it into an empty toilet paper roll and dumped it into the toilet. I pushed the lever to flush it down to it's watery grave.
I was minding my own buisiness closing my curtains before bed, when I noticed a huge nasty spider on my window. There have been a couple of these so far in our house, so I followed proticol and immediatly yelled for Megan to come and kill the spider. She came fairly quickly, while I went to find something for her to kill it with. On my way back, toilet paper in one hand, keen sandal in the other, I spotted it... On the floor right in front of my closet was a SCORPION!!!!! I had heard about these discusting creastures and we even had a dead one passed around in a plastic container in one of our orientation sessions, but nothing could prepare me for just how completely repulsive this thing was. I screamed for Megan to get over to the closet. We then proceeded to both freak out, while Megan took my sandal and repeatedly hit the scorpion. With each strike, its skeletal body convulsed and we screamed. Finally after about four or five blows the beast was defeated. And we, aka- Megan, got it into an empty toilet paper roll and dumped it into the toilet. I pushed the lever to flush it down to it's watery grave.
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