November 25 Update

Hi Folks:

Sorry for the unimaginative title, this week. It's been one of those weeks.

It started off with a walk to the market last Saturday and all the sights, sounds, and smells that go with being at the market. We bought some oranges at the market and some cheese at Shivni's before heading to Cafe Coffee Day for - coffee. After lunch we had a walk on the hill opposite Selborne. If you look in the middle of the photo you will see a cement retaining wall. This is the wall that keeps the driveway from completely washing away when it rains. The trees just above the wall are at the front of the Selborne Hostel property. You might be able to make out the guard's hut through the trees. Later in the afternoon I went with the Standard 10's to Farley, a guest house. We had 2 huge bonfires prepared and burning when we arrived. Once the coals were nice and hot we were given poles which were 2m in length. We were also given dough which was wrapped around the poles. Once this was done the poles were held over the red-hot coals until the bread was cooked. We then took the tube off the pole and filled the interior with either chicken or beef - both prepared ahead of time - and cheese. A kind of hot dog in reverse. After supper we sat around the remains of the fires and sang Christmas Carols.

Sunday afternoon we were taken to King's Cliff for dinner by our good friends, Ros and Nigel. The meal was sumptuously delicious and the views were spectacular. Unfortunately I did not have the camera with me. On Monday Gigi and I went to Willow Hill for lunch by auto-rickshaw. After a delightful meal taken on the terrace, we walked down to town! One and a half hours later we arrived at the market. We were tired and the sun was hot. After buying some costume jewellery we took finally made it back to Selborne.

This week there have been exams of all kinds and Standard 7's have been away at Avalanchi. We are looking forward to a quiet weekend with only a trip to Coonoor with the choir. And the Christmas carols festival continues.

Cross Country

After the weekend with the IAYP trek a weekend at Selborne was not to be! We were Dorm Parents for the weekend and had plenty of activities with the girls. We started Friday evening with the weekly Dorm meeting where we showed the photos of the trip to Jungle Retreat and also the ones taken on the IAYP trek. There were a quite a few laughs as we remembered some of the highlights. We followed the slide show (Date Projector) with cake and juice.

Saturday morning breakfast was at 8h 15 so that everyone could be at Lushington for the 9 h 30 start of the Cross Country Race. Both Gigi and I were marshalls and were posted at strategic spots to provide direction when the runners came by. I was in the "forest!" This is a treed area on school property with a winding trail. The sun shone nicely through the trees and the birds sang and kept me company while i waited for the runner to come up the trail. Some of the more senior runners set new records and obviously had "personal best" results. It was a great morning. We stayed at Lushington for lunch and then made our slowly back to Selborne. A lazy afternoon followed. At 17 h 45 it was time to load up all of Selborne for the trip to Lushington for the Student Council Event. the Sports Hall had been decorated in a Shrek theme and many of the students and staff were in theme related costumes. We had earlier received "Shrek" tokens which were used to purchase food or to pay for games. The staff, in their native dress, cooked and ran the Dosa stall. Music was provided by the staff and students. There were some great variety acts. At 21 h 30 it was time to board the buses back to Selborne and put the girls to bed.

On Sunday morning we slept in and the girls had the option of attending church. Most of the girls took the morning to relax and all attended the IG service int he evening. The IG service was lead by the IG's, of which Gigi and I are a part. Gigi participated in the skit about God's grace which was based on Hosea. One of the IG's talked about God's grace in her life and I used Ephesians 2 as the text for my presentation on God's grace. There was some great singing and then a demonstration by one of the IG's. the evening concluded on the patio outside the GSM Hall with doughnuts, cookies, and milo.

Glen Morgan - IAPY trek

Well, here I am back at the keyboard and bringing you up-to-date on the latest happenings.
Last Saturday, November 5, a group of 25 left Ooty for Paykara and a trek to the Glen Morgan Tea Plantation. It was raining lightly when we left Selborne and we had to wear our rain gear - pants and jackets. We also had to make sure our back-packs were waterproof. The girls had to carry food for 4 meals, as well as tents and sleeping gear.

Gigi and I had been invited to sleep in the guest house, so we had only our food and a spirit stove to carry.

All 25 managed to squeeze on to the local bus and 45 minutes later we disembarked at Paykara. Some of us had managed to find seats, the rest had to stand in the aisle along with the back-packs.

The girls were divided into 5 groups and the 4 adults formed a separate group. The weekend was the IAYP Bronze trek and the girls had been given a map with directions to find their own way to the check-points. The adults also had to find their way to the check-points as well! The first point was the rendez-vous point where we left the road and started across fields. From there it was through forest/jungle across land to the next point at the junction of 3 roads. We had lunch in a clearing with a good view of what was behind us as we trekked. We started our trek at 11:00 A.M. and arrived at our destination at 2:30 P.M.

Once at Glen Morgan the girls had to set up their tents, without adult assistance. While they were doing that we, the adults, enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea which the owner had graciously provided. One group had not arrived and 2 of the adults started to back-track in an attempt to locate the missing girls. Fortunately, the "lost" group were only about 10 minutes from the destination. They had taken a wrong turn and had to retrace their steps.

Once all the girls had arrive it was time for them to get the fire going to cook supper. They had to prepare the wood, light the fire (difficult with damp wood) and cook their supper - all without adult assistance. The adults had to cook their supper as well. We had spirit stoves which were much easier to light than damp wood! Sunday morning breakfast was again on the open fire and then a hike following compass bearings. There was much beautiful scenery along the way. We also met some of the local children playing as well as cows along the way!
The girls were fantastic. They worked well as a group and had a wonderful time.

Week ending November 5

For those of you who have been following the blog you will know we had quite an adventure. Now it is back to "normal" which is anything but "routine." Every day is different! Gigi is the exam coordinator and I am the Standard 12-a Form Tutor. That just means to say I do the registration each morning and do a Personal Development class for 80 minutes once a week.

On November 5 the Standard 10 dorms (boys and girls) went to Jungle Retreat for the day to celebrate the birthday of one of the classmate members. It was a great day, right from the commencement. 4 vehicles had been ordered to transport the girls from Selborne. Only 3 vehicles arrived and the drivers assured us we would all fit in for the drive. Well, after waiting 45 minutes with multiple phone calls a solution was reached and we set off down the Western Ghat with its 36 hair-pin bends. It was quite an adventure! The National Highway is a strip of pavement with dirt road on either side and presents some very interesting situations when you meet an oncoming vehicle.There was fantastic scenery along the way. The mist was coming up the valley as we went down. One minute we were in full sun and the next minute we wondered where the road was! The driver of my vehicle was excellent in that he drove sensibly, not like our first driver who drove with his head out the window!

Jungle Retreat is a resort center with a swimming pool and open space for games. A delicious buffet luncheon was served and the group spent the afternoon in the pool with lots of laughing and splashing and just good-natured fun. One of the highlights was seeing Mr. Bates with chocolate cake all over his face as his birthday was also celebrated.

During the afternoon a goat herder came through the grounds with his goats - large and small, black and white. We enjoyed watching the goats eating the grass and just strolling around, not being bothered by us at all.

After lots of splashing and having a great time, it was time to get back in the vehicles for the ride back up the Ghat. There was a slight traffic jam just as we drove out of Jungle Retreat! We managed to make our way through the congestion and were on our way.
Once back at Selborne it was a quick change and then out the door to catch the 6:00 P.M. showing of Johnny English at the Assembly Rooms Theatre. We had seats near the front which were not padded as we had only purchased 20 rupee tickets. It was not one of the better Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) films. The price, however, was right. When we came out of the theatre it was pouring rain. I managed to get all 18 girls in 4 auto-rickshaws and sent them on their way. Gigi and I went in to the Cafe coffee Day and enjoyed a hot coffee and some cake before getting an auto-rickshaw and making our way back to Selborne.

It was certainly a week and a day to remember for quite some time.