Thursday, January 26, 2012

Hebron, Take 2

Having left the land of ice and snow I am now basking in the warm sunshine.
The 32 hour trip was long! The flights were on time and there was plenty of space to spread out be comfortable. The over 6 hour taxi ride is really something to try and avoid if at all possible.
Pictures of the new housing will be taken shortly. We have a large Living Room/Dining Room with working firepalce, a kitchen with a full-sized fridge, a 2-burner gas cook top, a convection/microwave oven and other equipment. Our bedroom is large with a wardrobe cupboard (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) and we actually have our own hot-water heater in the bathroom for nice hot showers without having to walk outside in the cold morning air. The 3 minute shower, 3 times per week is still in effect.



Our first day was spent unpacking and getting our new house in order. As we met with the members of the administration we discovered we were needed to teach French to Standards 7, 8, and 9. I will be teaching the 7 and 8 classes for 12 periods per week and Gigi will teach the Standard 9 classes for 6 periods per week. I also get to do Standard 8 Math and Standard 13 Personal Development. We are meeting new staff and meeting our 15 boys, ages 16 - 18!. So far, so good.

Friday, January 6, 2012

New Year 2012


Happy New Year 2012!
That's right, the year has started and the first blog is late! Can you imagine how that happened!?! Let's not make excuses. We left India on Sunday, December 18 just after 3:00 A.M. Bangalore time and arrived in Montreal at 1:00 P.M. Montreal time. Our body clocks were still on India time and it sure felt like 11:30 P.M. India time!
Then the whirlwind activities started and I am now able to catch my breath and update the blog. We were met at the airport by Stef and Marc and very quickly felt the ''-8 C'' temperature. It was ''+25 C'' when we left Bangalore. The week before Christmas was filled with reading mail, buying gifts, re-stocking the house, and just getting ready for Christmas. We celebrated on December 26 with my brother and his wife, our children and spouses and grand-children. An even dozen sat down to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings before the gift exchange. Following dinner the 2011 Pit Game was played. Nick was the winner this year and Stef has posted the score sheet.
While all this was going on Gigi and I had our pictures taken for our new visas and made a trip to the Indian visa office in Montreal and made application for employment visas as it is our plan to return to India shortly.
When the grandchildren were here we managed to go tobogganing at the park in Westmount. Darcy went to see the Disney specail with her Grandmaman and Wesley and Papa visited the ''Enchanted Forest'' at Ogilvy's. A good time was had by all.
One of our delights was seeing the new outfits on Darcy and Wesley. He loved his ''karate'' pants! Oh well, you can't win them all!
Hope you all have a great New Year 2012!