We are busy!

Since my last blog update there has been much activity.

Our first weekend was spent at the Staff Retreat which gave us an opportunity to meet the new staff and renew acquaintances with others. One of the highlights of the Retreat was the Staff Picnic. There was plenty of time for walking and enjoying the scenery. Following the 4 days of Staff Retreat, we had 2 days in which to prepare our lessons for the new semester. This was rather difficult for us as neither of us knew the pupils and their capacity to learn. We also had to leave work for someone else to teach as we were leaving for a 3 day weekend trip to Cochin with the Standard 12's after their Trial Exams.

There is much going on at the beginning of semester. As well as getting to know the names and the faces of our 15 boys there are also 6 other Standard 12 boys who live "up the hill" in Blades.

Our new accommodation is proving very comfortable. The on-site shower and our own hot water supply is very appreciated. The access to the boy's dorm is from our living room into their Common Room. This makes it easy for us to visit them and also to check to see if the lights are out at 10:30 P.M. each night. They are quite good at getting to bed. They are not quite so good at getting up in the morning! We know all their names and are able to call them by name when we meet them around the campus.

The trip to Cochin was a treat after a week of Trial Exams. We spent 13 hours in the bus going while the return trip took just under 8 hours. We came back by train to Coimbatore and then by mini-bus to school. During our time in Cochin we went to Wonderland Theme Park with lots of water slides and other rides. We had great fun - the Windmill, the Ferris Wheel, the wonder Splash (log ride)! The students enjoyed the more daring rides! We all enjoyed the Wave Pool. On Saturday we did a BackWater cruise and saw some amazing vegetation as well as air-conditioned house-boats!

We are now well under way with classes of French, standard 7 and Standard 8, 2 classes each of 3 lessons and Gigi has Standard 9. Between preparation, correcting Prep (Homework) and just being around we are quite busy. The weather is improving. Last week it was 8 degrees outside when we got up and not quite 13 degrees in the house. We have no heat! Today it was 23 in the house as the afternoon sun shone down on the roof and warmed up the inside air.