Pictures

Tree on return from Coonoor


Are we going to crash? Return from Coonoor by bus Friday


Cows on street at bottom of driveway

Trip to Coonoor

As IG's we are supposed to have Monday as a day off. Both Andrew and I teach until 10:20 so our day is somewhat abbreviated.

On August 27 we decided to go to Coonoor by train. There were 6 of us in two auto-rickshaws. We purchased 2nd class tickets for 6 Rs and then joined the mob for a position on the platform. When the train arrived a security guard had to clear a path so that the people could get off the train. We then all pushed to get through the narrow door. Several times two people tried to go through at the same time to no avail. Eventually we were all on board and the same guard then asked the people who were standing to leave our coach and get in another coach.

We thought we were facing the front of the train. In fact we were facing the rear. As we went down from 2200 m to 1700 m we had to keep turning around to look out the window to enjoy the view. There was much to see. I did manage to take some pictures and they will be posted later.

At Coonoor we wanted to find the Tranquility Restaurant so that we could enjoy lunch. The auto-rickshaw driver took us to the "Quality" Restaurant. We insisted on Tranquility and they drove us to upper town. After a few stops and questions we were on our way up even higher. Finally we reached "TranquiliTea" tea brokers. We were shown several teas - Silver tip, Golden tip, Organic green/black, Frost tea, and several others. The tea is made at 70 degrees and not with boiling water. This brings out the taste, etc.

We chose out tea, I had golden tip, and something to eat. Most had scones, I had a walnut square with fresh cream! The tea was pleasant. However, I was disappointed in that it was not hotter.

The rain came and we had to find an auto to take us back down. The local bus arrived and for 2.5 Rs we jumped on the bus for the ride back to town. And what a ride it was. The bus driver kept one hand on the horn and some how managed to navigate his way between cars, trucks, autos and pedestrians as well as the occasional cow or goat. Fortunately I found a seat with the locals and was jostled about nearly sliding off the seat as the bus stopped while going down hill. We had a good laugh.

Once back in town we had a South Indian thali meal on a banana leaf for 40 Rs which we thought was reasonable. Upon sharing the cost back at school we were informed that 25 Rs would have been plenty. Oh well, I guess we were caught as tourists.

The train ride back up was uneventful as our train was waiting in the station. Unfortunately the rain spoiled the view. In all a delightful day off. We saw some of the country and also how the locals travel.

Dukes of Hazzard

You are probably wondering about the subject.

On Saturday evening we went out for dinner to Shinkows Chinese restaurant with the Level 12's - boys and girls. After dinner we all came back to school for birthday cake as we had 2 birthdays to celebrate. Following the cake we divided into 2 groups to watch the DVD the Manchurian Connection.
When we put the DVD in the DVD player we received the message "wrong region". It seems the DVD player had been brought in from England and the DVD was produced in India. The two were incompatible. We tried several other DVD's and all had the same result. It was disappointing for the group.

Fortunately on Thursday last the satellite dish had been connected. We unplugged the DVD player and hooked up the dish. We located a movie channel and the 9:00 P.M. movie was The Dukes of Hazard. The group enjoyed it and it was a good laugh for Nigel, the dorm parent, and myself as we reminisced about some of the 1970's shows.

Today I was on "croc" duty. "Croc" duty is when an adult along with 2 "A Level" boys escorts the levels 4 - 6 to Junior church. This is a 45 minutes service that starts at 10:00 A.M. After church we line them up in two's and walk back to Lushington (school). Hebron school has two locations. One campus is the main girls dorm area for Levels 7 - 13 and is called Selborne. The main campus is Lushington Hall where all the boys dorms are located. Also at Lushington is the dorm for the levels 4 - 6 girls, the admin offices, the main dining room, sports hall, assembly hall, class room, labs, hospital and most of the staff and IG quarters. There are some staff and IG's who live at Selborne to supervise the girls. There are school buses which bring the girls over in the morning and then take them back at night. The older ones are permitted to walk as long as they arrive on time for classes.

Anyway we, 2 adults, 2 Level A boys, walk back with 32 children without losing anyone. It was much more difficult walking back as there were a lot more people about. Most people were going to the Botanical Gardens which are just outside the main school gate. There was much horn beeping and gloat bleating along with cries of "socks, socks" "flowers, flowers" and other vendors hawking their wares on the sidewalk.

It rained this afternoon and so my walk was cancelled. It is quite cool tonight. I am wearing a fleece top as I type this.

A Few Pictures

Here is a picture of the airport at Coimbatore, where I arrived at the end of July. The vegetation is quite lush and there are all kinds of plants.







The second shows the "Modern Day" grocery store just down the hill from the school and along the Garden Road, Ooty. I have had coffee and a brownie at the "Cafe Day" coffee shop. Coffee for 40 rupees and the brownie for 44 rupees. A rupee is worth about $0.026, so the coffee would have cost about $1.04 - not bad.





The third is walking back up the road to the Tibetan Market just outside the school gate. Yes, we share the road with anything that moo-ves!


Yesterday, Friday, we had a shortened school day. With the Under 14's winning their football (soccer) game we were in the finals at St. Joseph's School. We had 4 classes of 35 minutes in the morning and then lunch at 11:35 A.M. before boarding 18 school buses for the 15 km, 1 hour ride from Ooty to Coonoor. If you think there are potholes in Montreal, think again. There were places in the road where the bus drove on the right-side of the road as there was really no left-side to drive on due to the large pothole(s). We were quite a convoy of buses. Our bus driver did not like being at the back of the pack. At every opportunity he had he pulled out to pass the bus in front of us - corner or no corner, on-coming traffic or not! We kept waiting to hit a vehicle. Glad to say we made it without a scratch. There was a fair amount of horn blowing.

We arrived at St. Joseph's and took our seats in a reserved section of their covered stands. Their boys arrived and sat beside us. Could they cheer! We were nearly deafened by their shouting and cheering.

Our boys played well and went down to defeat of 4 - 0! The St. Joseph team has been together since June. Our guys have been together for about 3 weeks as were the other school in the competition. The scenery both going and coming was beautiful and I am now looking at renting a taxi with guide for the day at about 500 rupees to take me down to Coonoor and back. The wife of the principal has recommended Krishna and I will try and reserve him for later in the term when the monsoon is over. We should have dry weather in late September.

Today, Saturday, I went along with the Level 10 boys and we walked to Valley View for a look down the valley. The clouds were low and we had some rain - warm and gentle. We went through a eucalyptus forest and then out the other side to look down the valley. The mist in the trees was "other worldly". On our return trip several of us, including myself, slipped on the mud. I think some of the boys had a competition to see who could get the dirtiest. Saturday is shower day for the Level 10 boys dorm. (We are allowed three hot water showers a week. We are not allowed cold water showers as someone might use hot water!)

We do not have a water shortage. We do have a hot water shortage as there are solar tanks on the dorm roofs. Without the sun, hot water is in short supply during the rainy season.

Later I am out with the Level 12's for supper at a Chinese restaurant and then back to school for a video/DVD in the evening.

Tuesday we had the visit of a Brass Quintet from a small town in Southern Germany. They did a brass workshop in the afternoon for all brass players from 4 - 5 and then had a concert at night from 6:45 - 9:00 for our school, three other private schools, and the community at large. It was very enjoyable.

Wednesday was uneventful. A normal school day where I taught 7 out of 8 periods. There were 4 period of Level 7 math and 3 periods in the Learning Support Department, LSD, which has changed its name to DEL, Department of Enhanced Learning.

Today our Under 14 football team won their semi-final match. The middle-school and senior-school have an abbreviated day tomorrow with 4 periods of 35 minutes in the morning, a picnic lunch and then a 1 hour bus trip to Coonoor to cheer on our team. The Under 19's have their semi-final in the morning. If they win we will have games at 1:30 for the Under 14's and at 4 for the Under 19's. It could be a very exciting day for Hebron.

I spoke to Nick this morning my time that would be Wednesday night his time and have some details about Wesley with a thick head of hair. I have also seen the pictures Nick posted on his blog. I am still trying to have one printed in color.

Up the Valley

Yesterday, Monday I had some time off. After lunch I went for a long walk up the valley. That's right, UP THE VALLEY! I started by going down into town and then took the road up to Dodabeta (?). I had to share the two lane highway out of town with trucks, buses, cars, 3-wheeled motorised rickshaw, motor bikes, other pedestrians, cattle, goats, and dogs.

The view was absolutely spectacular. The terraced gardens are everywhere. The land has been carefully tilled and the soil is quite fertile. There are potato crops, cabbage crops, and it looks like onion crops. There was a new batch of lettuce which will be ready in a few weeks. The warm climate coupled with plenty of rain at this time of year keep everything green and lush. Looking down I could see the water holes where the rain is stored in the ground with the various pipes coming out of them. There are pumps to move the water around.

I walked up until I saw the sign for Dodabeta - 5 km and figured I had gone far enough as I still had to walk back to town. In all I was gone about 2 1/2 hours. The view was spectacular and I will do the trip again by taking a motorised rickshaw to the Tea Factory which was just a bit further up. The view from there will be great and I will wait for a clear day so that I can take some good pictures.

I found out yesterday that our internet connection for the school is what we would have at home. It goes down frequently. Pictures are a problem to send, so I will probably burn a disc and send it to you.

Last night 7 IG's who were healthy, not suffering Deli-belly, went out for dinner. We took a rickshaw up and up. It cost us 60 Rs and then had dinner overlooking the city. The city is quite spread out on several hills. The meal was vegetarian and I have no idea what I ate. We had both Roti and Chapatti as breads, some kind of spinach, sweet and sour vegetables, and other stuff. It was good! The ride back down cost us 80 Rs as the guy had to come up empty. We got back to school at about 10:00 P.M. not a bad evening.

At the Movies

Bill's still having some problems accessing the site. Here's an entry for ...

Saturday, August 18

38 boys, "A" levels 17 - 19 and Tom George, Nigel Hinton, vice principal, academic, and myself went to see the 6:00 P.M. showing of The Transformers last night. Megatron and Optimus Prime and all the rest. The guys enjoyed it. The adults were glad when it finished.

The theatre is something to write about. It is a rectangular box, long and narrow. There are four classes of seats, 1st @ 30 Rs, 2nd @25 Rs, 3rd @15 Rs, and 4th @ 5 Rs. We had 1st class seats which were located at the rear of the theatre. The equivalent would be about $0.78. The rupee is worth $0.026. The closer you got to the screen, the cheaper the seats became.

The movie started without the usual trailers. The 12 speaker boxes for the Dolby Surround sound were mounted 6 on either. Right on the wall. There were no rear speakers. I am not sure where they get "surround sound" from as we certainly were not surrounded. Loud for sure.

There was an intermission and most people left the theatre and went to the store outside and bought "snackies" and came back for the second half. There are no concessions stands in the theatre. The seats are theatre style seats in need of updating.

The community is proud of its modern theatre according to Tom George the vice-principal, student affairs, and Head of Dorms who is Indian and has been at the school for 20 years.

Following the showing, which ended at 8:35 P.M., the boys each had 100 Rs for supper in town in the area around Charring Cross, that's right! They were given a 10 o'clock curfew to be back at school.

We adults went to the Nahar hotel and restaurant complex and had Dosas. I had a cheese dosa (50Rs) and a Lime Soda (20Rs), salt. The salt take the edge of the taste of the lime. Total cost 70 Rs. ($1.82) We were back at school just before 10 and the boys were all back by 10:30. The dosa is a kind of pancake made with rice flour and would be about the diameter of a large pizza. It is served with 2 sauces and 1 spice. Quite filling.

That's the end of week 3 in India.

back on Blog

The problem with the Blog site has been resolved and I once again have access.

Thanks to Stef for taking an e-mail and putting it on the site.

Today, Friday, the rains came again. Hard and fast. The front part of my bed-sit has a corrugated tin roof. As I was sitting there relaxing after school and opening my parcel from Canada I was almost deafened by the sound. It was intense. Then 15 minutes later - peace and quiet. One must not go out without either an umbrella or a rain jacket at any time.

There have not been any monkey sightings this week.

This morning I assisted the Home Economics teacher with the 7-alpha class. We made vegetable samosas. They were delicious. Two groups made the pastry and two groups made the filling. I worked with the groups making the filling. We had to dice potatoes and then fry them. The frozen peas (to save time) were cooked and then added to the potatoes along with all sorts of spices. The chili peppers had to be diced. The potato and pea mixture was then spooned onto triangles of pastry and then deep fat fried by the teacher.

We all enjoyed our rather spicy samosas just before lunch.

The afternoon was spent with 3 groups in DEL and I am meeting with the DEL leader to discuss the students tomorrow morning.

The weekend looks relatively quiet at this point. Subject to change.

Stay tuned.

Bill

60th Anniversary

Bill is having problems accessing the site himself, so I'm doing a little copy/paste job from an email he sent.

Monday, August 13

You may have had some of this before. Monday was a day spent in the Department of Enhanced Learning, DEL. I met four different groups of students who all need learning support. In the afternoon I walked down to Ooty, 2240 m elevation, and bought an adapter so that I could recharge my camera batteries for 300 rupees, that is about $7.80 US. I had to take off my sweater and roll up my shirt sleeves. It was very hot in the sun. I stopped on the way back at the coffee shop and had my first coffee and a brownie. The coffee was 44 rupees about $1.14 and the brownie was 40 rupees, about $1.04. By the time I made back up to the school I was sweating.

Tuesday, August 14

Tuesday was a "normal" day. Nothing exciting except for Concert Band practice from 4:30 - 7:00 P.M. with a supper break in the middle. I am also part of an octet and we had to practice the National Anthem for Wednesday.

Wednesday, August 15

Wednesday was the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of India's Independence. To celebrate the event we had breakfast outside. You could say "picnic style" breakfast. We started with a fruit punch, scrambled eggs, some other stuff, toast, and tea. Breakfast was served at 7:45 A.M. This was followed at 8:45 A.M. with the hoisting of the Indian flag. When retired Colonel Wright, special guest, and Mr. Reid, principal, pulled the cord to open the flag hundreds of flower petals fell to the ground and covered both of the men. The octet then led the school in the singing of the National Anthem in Hindi. We then moved from in front of the administration building to the Sports Hall where we watched a 10 minute clip of the original Independence Day ceremony. Retired military Colonel Wright then addressed the full school assembly and spoke of what India had done right and what India had done wrong in the last 60 years. Following this we were treated to "sweets" which were colored coconut pieces, very similar to fudge.

A group of us left at 11:15 for a hike up to Snowdon. This is a "hill". Right. If Ooty is at 2240 metres, the school must be at 2270 metres. No one seems to know the height of Snowdon. It must be at least 2500 or more metres. The hill is covered in trees, some of which must be at least as tall as a 5 storey building. We lost the sun as we went up a trail through the woods. There were times when we were scrambling on our hands and feet up the steep path. Two hours later we reached the top - 20 students and 8 adults! We had lunch in the mist. We could not see down as we were above the clouds and every once in a while there was a swirl of cloud mist! It was quite awesome. While we were walking around at the top I came across a Hindu shrine. Mountain tops are sacred. We had to be careful not to disturb the pictures of the various gods and goddesses well as the clay oil lamps that were lying in the grotto.The trip down was much quicker and we walked through a Toda village. The Toda's were the original inhabitants of the area. We were advised to not take pictures. We did have to cross a small stream in which a Toda woman was doing her laundry on the rocks. Yes, just like what you see in pictures.

The evening featured the showing of the 3 hour film Gandhi. I wasn't going to stay until the end, but I got absorbed in the film and stayed.

August 13 update

Hello again from Hebron School, Ooty, Tamil Nadu.

I think my last episode spoke of going out Saturday night with the "A" level boys and girls. We had an Indian meal, thali, for supper. This is a large dish with about 8 different sauces and rice. Using naan bread you scoop out the thicker sauces. You then pour the more liquidy sauces over the rice, stir it up with your fingers and then use your fingers as a scoop and enjoy the food. A vegetarian delight. Ice cream for dessert. We left Hebron at 6:30 P.M. and got back at about 10:30P.M. It was an easy night with the dorms.

Yesterday, Sunday, we had a commencement service last night. I am now part of the Concert Band, sight reading for three pieces, playing trombone. Band practice is Tuesdays from 4:45 - 7:00 with time out for supper. This is because the girls in the band live off site, at Selborne, and have to be bussed over.

I realize I forgot to tell you about the monkeys. For several days they were jumping on the dining room roof and we could see them through the sky-lights. One morning last week one monkey came in to the dining room. We, staff, tried to scare it out. No luck. We had to ask the domestic staff, native, to scare it away. Success!!

I do not have to worry about laundry as I have someone who comes in on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays to collect the dirty laundry and then bring it back two days later all clean and ironed. There is another woman who sweeps my floors with a branch broom, shakes out the 3 rugs and washes the floor. The trash is also emptied. Such service!

We have just enjoyed three days of no rain, SUNSHINE! The puddles have all dried up. It is quite cool this evening - sweater and jacket weather.

This afternoon, Monday, I went down from school to Ooty and had to take off my sweater in the sunshine. It was great to be warm. It's amazingly so much cooler up at school.

I hope this makes sense.

Stayed tuned.

Bill

Sunny day!

Today is Saturday, August 11 and the time is 9:36 A.M. and the Internet is up. (It was down most of yesterday)

The sun has been shining for 1 whole hour without interruption! Everyone is talking about finding a sunny spot and drying out. The relative humidity gauge in the physics lab has been between 94 and 96% all week. Everything is DAMP!

Since the last post I have met two classes of Level 7 Math students. We are working our way through a review quiz so that I can attempt to assess their ability. Each class has 16 students who must come from at least 10 different countries.

Wednesday night I met the boys of the "A"level. There are about 36 of them living in three different dorms and some of them are Prefects living with the younger boys. I am assisting a Dorm Parent with 6 of them in Silverdale. There are 3 of them in a dorm right over my bed. Fortunately the building is well constructed so there is not too much noise filtering down through the floor. Every Friday evening there is a Bible study for the "A" levels boys and about 25 turned up last might. This is an optional activity. At 9:20 every Friday night there is a compulsory Dorm meeting at which time plans for the weekend are made and pocket money is distributed. Last night we had birthday cake for one of the boys and some kind of chicken pocket pies along with 7 Up or Coke. Some things never change.

My duties for today are to supervise the Junior Supper time. This means inspecting their hands as they come into the dining room, making sure they sit at assigned seats, saying grace, making sure they all eat something of everything that is on the menu. This can be quite a chore. The children are responsible for clearing their plates and placing the left overs in the proper bin, the cutlery and cups in the appropriate bins and the plates in their respective bin. Everything is metal. The cups, plates, and bowls really make a crashing sound if and when they fall on the floor. This invariably happens a few times during a meal.

Following the Junior supper, the "A" levels are all going out to eat a vegetarian meal in a restaurant. The girls will be joining us. That will take care of most of the evening.

If the sun continues to shine, I will visit the Botanical Gardens just inside our gate but on the other side of the fence.

Oh, one last thought, Thursday night we were moving filing cabinets in the Music department and before I knew it I had a Trombone in hand. An hour later Andrew (Roo) another IG and I left. We have since been invited to join the Concert Band and will be playing on Sunday night at the Commencement Service with the other students. It will sight reading for both of us.

The food continues to be ample, although one does not always ask what the menu items are. Eat or starve. Not great alternatives.

Stay tuned.

Bill

Arrival day

Today, Wednesday, was the day the students arrived. Actually they started arriving late yesterday afternoon with their parents.

Hebron is spread over two campuses for living accommodations. Most of the girls live at Selborne. All of the boys live at Lushington, which is where the school is located and where I am located. My bed-sit is in Silverdale, over looking the botanical gardens.

This morning I worked in the Department of Enhanced Learning administering screening tests to new students. This afternoon we had our weekly meeting with Rosalyn Ried, the i\wife of the principal. We had tea and biscuits and much discussion about timetables and our contribution to the school. After that I spent time preparing a screening test for my 7th form Math classes. i meet one group tomorrow and the other group on Friday morning.

We had plenty of rain today. The sun actually shone through for about 5 minutes. Cloudy and bright but no sun. Rain, rain, mist, mist, rain rain. The vegetation is lush and green. The birds-of-paradise flowers are beautiful.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was our "day off" according to the schedule. After a 10:00 A.M. breakfast and a meeting with the Math Department head I walked over to the Selborne campus. @0 minutes later and huffing and puffing I arrived. The lunch was delicious. Coral and I planned out trip for October. Nigel Hinton, academic vice-principal, will be joining us. There may be others.

Once we had decided on dates and travel company, I left for the walk back to Lushington. I decided to visit the rose gardens. After paying an admission of 10 rupees, about 0.30 $, I enjoyed the few left over roses and a wonderful view of Ooty. i will go back once the weather had cleared and try for some pictures. Thankfully I had an umbrella with me and so I was reasonably dry. The Indians were out in their saris and not bothered by the weather. I had walked down busy Commercial Street. The 3-wheeled taxis are everywhere. There is a constant din of the beeping of horns from trucks, cars, cabs, and buses, not to mention motorcycles. Everyone walks on the street and really is not bothered by the traffic. There was a power failure as many of the stores had generators going on the sidewalk outside the store. Noise and exhaust fumes everywhere.

The contrast is amazing. On one corner you have someone begging for food. Then you walk into the Big Store and find the latest in electronic gadgets.

Today is the last day we will eat in the main dining room Tomorrow the staff and IG's eat in the staff dining room.

That's it for now except that I have a dorm parent and helper meeting at 9:00 P.M. tonight.

Bill

Banana Leaf Lunch

Today, Monday, August 6 the IG's and new staff were invited to a real "Banana Leaf" lunch. When we arrived in the Staff Dining Room we were seated at banana leaves. Each leaf had a sprinkle of salt, some coconut and other vegetables, and a small spoonful of hot spice. We were then served hot white rice onto which scoops of dahl were added and then ghee, clarified butter. There was also a kind of nan bread.

As this was a typical Indian meal there were no forks or spoons - the customary utensils. We were told that banana leaves were the first disposable dishes. We were then instructed to stir the rice, dahl and ghee together with our fingers. The idea is to make a small ball of rice mixture and then using the fingers of your right hand scoop up the food and then the thumb of your right hand to push the food into your mouth. With a little bit of effort it was manageable. I am sure Darcy would enjoy eating this way!

Tonight we had fish and chips, India style. The fish was served in large chunks and the chips were oven made chips like we make at home. Dessert was a kind of trifle with custardm jelly and mangoe.

Today we had 3 periods of Holiday Club, VBS for the staff shildren, while the paretns were in staff meetings. I left my bed-sit for breakfast around 8 this morning and didn't get bakc until after supper tonight at aobut 6. It was a look day. The team worked hard and the children seemed to have enjoyed the program. Our craft project was to make a mural representing the various stories told by Peter, yours truly, in suitable costume. We wer able to post the 4 murals in the dining room before supper tonight. This will allow the parents to see the work of their children. It also gives the children an oppoirtunity to see their work is not simply discarded. Mrs. George, the dining room hostess, has suggested we leave the work up until after the weekend. This will allow the parents of the boarders and the boarders themselvesm to see what has been produced.

Tuesday is the IG day off. I am going downtown shopping in the morning. I will look for a foam pad to put on my hard matress. Right now I have folded a blanket in thirds to try and act as a cushion over the matress. I now have a small electric blanket, single bed size, which makes for a warmer bed at night. i also have received from my neighbors an electric heater with a blower. It helps to circultae the warm air in the room

That's it for now.

Bill

week 1

It is hard to believe that this time last week I was sitting in the P.E. Trudeau airport at Dorval waiting for my flight.

The week has been a time of adjusting to time and altitude. It is very exhausting walking up the hill from the entrance to the Botanical Gardens which is really the entrance to Hebron School.

From Tuesday until Friday we were in orientation with the 9 IG's and the other new staff. This morning there was an assembly for all the staff and their children as well as the IG's. Following the break when the native staff joined the IG's took the staff children ages 4 - 11 for some Holiday Club activities. This was a combined VBS and game time. We had two sessions today and three more scheduled for Monday. Tomorrow, Sunday, we have only a session in the afternoon from 2 - 4 with the staff. The IG's are going out for Chinese food tomorrow night.
At lunch today was a "banana" leaf meal. Essentially the meal was served on the usual stainless steel plate and eaten with fingers as if on a banana leaf. The food is acceptable and there is plenty of it.

Yesterday, Friday, we walked from Lushington to the Selbourne campus of Hebron School. The majority of the girl's dorms are at Selbourne. We enjoyed Miss Lily's morning tea and Lunch. The food at Selbourne is of higher quality than at Lushington. These are the 2 dorm areas of the school. We walked both ways along side stinky canal. Guess why it is called "stinky" if you wish. The open sewers don't leave much to the imagination. There are many open market type booths along the road. For the most part we have ignored them and stayed healthy. There have been a few moments when the stomach has been slightly unsettled = really nothing serious to this point. At tea tonight the nurse, Alana, suggested that we not be overly careful because we will be sick at one point or another. Perhaps it is better to be sick now and not alter on.

The hardest adjustment is with the perpetual dampness. Everything is damp! The towel is dry from being in front of the heater at bedtime and is damp on waking in the morning. The sheets on the bed are damp and there is no warmth when one goes to bed. It seems almost impossible to get warm in bed. We can only shower 3 times per week. We have to go to the IG shower for men and let the water run until it gets warm. That can take quite some time if no one has recently used the shower. The water is by gravity flow from hot water tanks on the roof. If there is no sun, there is an electric water heater which can be turned on.

I have been assigned the 2 level 7 math classes. This means 5 period each per week. However, the time table reads as 2 double classes and one single class. Which means 2 periods of 80 minutes for math which is no picnic and one 40 minute period. The text book is dry. So if you have any math ideas please send them my way as there is little resource material.

That's it for now.

Bill

What a meal!

Yesterday was more orientation and then a visit around Ooty in the afternoon. We saw St. Stephen's church, 1820's, Ooty lake, goats, women carrying wood on their heads, cattle, children, men, taxis, trucks, buses, roads washed out etc. Finally we arrived at the Smyrna home for mentally and physically challenged children, a school for street children - they are not accepted in regular school, and forgotten grandmothers - 6 live in. As well there was the knitting room, the aquarium, the tea plantation, and the green house which provide a source of revenue. We finished up with tea and cookies before the bus trip back to Lushington Hall. So ends Day 3.

Today we did planning for the Holiday club, baby sitting, for the children of the teaching staff as the meet on Saturday and Monday. This afternoon we had tea with the wife of the principal. Rosalyn is also the coordinator of IG"s. I will be doing 2 classes of 7th form math until October as welll as working in the Enhanced Leaarning Department.

Tonight a group of us, 11, went out for supper. I had a cheese paper dodas, which is a large rice kind of pancake with cheese and dipping sauces. It was quite filling. this was washed down with a Lime soda - sweet. The cost was 90 ruppees or just under $2.70. Unbelievable but true.

We got soaked going and got soaked again coming back. I have also discovered a leak in my bathroom ceiling so it will be a drippy night. we are in monsoon season and there will be more rain at least until the end of the month. everything is damp. An example is last night I dried my towel in front of my heater before bed. this morning when i went to use the towel it was damp. The towel had absorbed water during the night.

It's now 9:30 and I've had it so ends Day 4.

I have arrived

Here is my first entry from India.

You may be wondering what I've been doing since last Saturday.

I left Montreal for Paris on Saturday, July 28 and then took a plane from Paris to Mumbai (Bombay) and arrived at 10:30 P.M. Sunday night Mumbai time. Rather than the luggage going straight to Combatore as the Air France check-in suggested, it was necessary to claim luggage and transfer to the domestic airport. After clearing customs and finding the domestic shuttle and checking the luggage, the bus finally arrived at 12:45 A.M. Monday morning. We arrived at the domestic terminal around 1:30 A.M. only to find the money exchange closed and no ATM in sight. So, I never made it to the hotel which had been reserved by the school. It was a long night until 8:00 A.M. when we could check in for the Mumbai Coimbatore flight. The flight left at 8:55 and arrive in Coimbatore at 10:45 A.M. Monday.

I was met by Val, South Africa, and Tim, Australia. We had lunch in the Nilgiris shopping centre?!?! A chicken burger heated up in the micro wave. The road from the airport to the centre was crowded with traffic - all on the wrong side of the road. The school bus driver wove the bus between cars, trucks, motorbikes, cattle, and pedestrians. One hand out the window, one hand on the steering wheel, and one hand blowing the horn. Quite an experience! The visual contrast is quite something. There are new elaborate buildings next to ramshackled ones that would probably fall down in a strong wind. The bus driver could not park near the centre so we thought we had lost him after lunch. He stayed on the bus. Fortunately Val had a cell phone and was able to contact the school and eventually the driver turned up without the bus!

We worked it all out and then went back to the airport to greet Joy and Andrew and their 3 children, and Nicola. Then the 3-hour journey up the hill! Again the traffic was cars, trucks, buses, bikes, and goats as well as cattle. After many mountain passes we made it to Hebron and supper of fish and chips with pears and hot custard for dessert.
After supper Nigel, England, showed me a quick route to the showers ( 3 times per week) and let the water run until it gets warm!

By 8:30 P.M. I was in bed and tried to sleep. And so ended Day 1 in India.

The firm mattress was hard!!! Sleep did not come easy. The dampness is all pervasive. Finally 7:00 A.M. I had had enough and went off to find the showers. The water was hot enough, thanks to the solar panels on the roof, that I had to add some cold. Back to my room without shaving as there are no mirrors anywhere and then to breakfast with the Principal in his quarters at 8:30 and then orientation at 11:00 A.M. until 4:30 P.M. and so ended Day 2 in India.

More later.