Back to school!

We've been back from our wonderful trip for over a week now. And,yes, that is the sound of RAIN on the roof! Since our arrival in January, the only day on which we had had any rain was March 31, the day of the Student Council Brazil Night. We had less than 2 hours of rain. We have had dry weather with the resultant water shortage always on the horizon. We have been reminded over and over again to only take showers of 3 minutes duration and only 3 per week, also to make sure all taps are well turned off, and to only flush when necessary! The trials for the Swimming Gala had to be postponed as there was not enough water supply to allow for regular pool maintenance, cleaning and vacuuming, etc. Last week we had rain for nearly 1 hour most afternoons between 3 and 4, just as school was out for the day. Once there was sufficient water supply some of the events were held in the rain. It really didn't matter to the participants as they were wet anyway! There weren't many spectators however! Saturday dawned bright and warm and the Swimming Gala got underway at 9:30 A.M. There were teams from the Junior School as well as Inters, Seniors, and Super Seniors. We have some great swimmers at school. One of the Standard 13 boys, Daniel, won 8 Gold medals. He is a strong swimmer and will be missed next year. On Monday afternoon Gigi and I went to the market to poke around and to try again to locate Rex Aluminium store. We found the store and bought a new tray and a 2 l. water jug. As we were on our way out of the market we met JC from Union Church and he invited us to share a coffee with him in his material store. You can guess the rest. Gigi now has a new outfit at the tailors and I have a shirt being made, also! The coffee was delightful. The price for the material was right. My wallet is lighter! We were hoping to pick up our clothing on Saturday. As we are now entering the Tourist Season, the tailor is quite busy and it will take 2 weeks before we can have our articles of clothing. Pictures later in our new garb! There are many more police officers in town and much of the traffic is being routed over streets which have suddenly become "One Way". There are also many more street vendors setting up their stalls or just walking up and down the street trying to sell their merchandise. We have been warned that once May arrives it will be nearly impossible to get out of the gate of the school on the weekend. The side gate will become the point of entry of choice. More of that later. It is hard to believe that in just under 9 weeks we will have left all of this behind. We are still enjoying our Standard 12 boys. Today the new Prefects were appointed for next year and over the next few days 5 of our 15 boys will move out and 4 Standard 13's will come in to replace them. There will also be some movement with some of the other boys who will be taking on increased responsabilities. Well, that's about it for this week. Kind of short!

Thailand 2012

Mid-term break started on April 5 and we left Ooty by taxi for Bangalore on April 6. After 8 hours in the car we were at the Bangalore Airport. It is only 300 km away! You can imagine the state of the roads and also the state of traffic.

We checked in and went through Passport Control without any problems. The first flight was to Bangkok and then a flight to Chiang Mia.

Wow - did we choose a great location! Our villa overlooked the Ping River and was a 10 minute Tuk-Tuk drive from the centre of the city. We had a wonderful room with a great view and the staff were very friendly and extremely helpful. Villa San Pee-Seua provided 2 shuttles daily to town. The morning shuttles were by red-cab and the evening shuttles alternated between red-cab and river boat! We took advantage of both.

After a lazy Saturday afternoon, to catch up on sleepless Friday night, we went to the Night Bazaar area. Merchants were in the process of setting up when the rains came! It poured - and what started out as a meal on the outside plaza quickly became a meal inside! As the rain did not let up we took a Tuk-Tuk back to out villa. Both Nigel and I got splashed on the way. Did I forget to mention we went with Nigel and Ros Hinton, friends from Hebron School.

Easter Sunday started with the 9:00 A.M. service in Thai with translation into English. The church was packed and extra chairs had been set up under tent-like structures for the overflow crowds. As we, Ros, Nigel, and I, were obviously visitors we had seats inside, near the front, where wireless headsets were provided. We even had an English song book to use. A lazy Sunday afternoon pool-side was enjoyed before a boat ride down the river into town for the evening. We met friends and had a great time! Monday was a lazy day with local sight-seeing and lunch. Shuttle to town for the Night Bazaar.
Tuesday was Thai Food School Day! Train ride out into the country, bicycle ride to the school and we stopped and picked fresh herbs along the way. Cooking - Mmmmm delicious! There was no dinner that night!

Wednesday was elephant riding, bamboo rafting, lunch eating, native village visiting, forest trekking, and a drive to a local restaurant where we were the only non-Thai in the place. We had some difficulty with food choices even though the menus were bilingual! There was live entertainment and we had a great evening together. The picture is our elephant saying "more bananas, please!"

Thursday was Songkran, New Years, and we got soaked to the skin! Lots of fun is had by young and old alike. We visited some temples, went shopping and ate Thai food! The oeople in the truck have barrels of water which they throw on everyone by the bucketful!
Friday was to the airport and Bangkok with a boat cruise on the river before our late night-early morning flight to Bangalore and then 6 hour taxi ride to school. We arrived back in Ooty just before 8:00 A.M. Saturday and went to bed for a few hours.
The boys come back today, Sunday, and it is back to school for the Graduation Term until June 21.

S.C. Brazil

Wow! What an event we had last Saturday night. The Student Council Brazil Night!!!

The plans were well established for a Parade from the Big Pitch up to the GSM Hall. The whole school was to be present and in costume. Everything was all set to go. The banners were in place! The faces were painted! and then ... the hail came! The rain came! Plan "B" then had to be put into effect. Congratulations to the members of the SC Team who quickly made the decision to abandon the Parade and move all the events inside. The only rain we have had since our arrival on January 26 could not have come at a more inappropriate time! Well done, SC!!!

The evening was colorful, loud, and had plenty of excitement for everyone. The food stalls were set up in the classrooms on the Lower Corridor, the games were held in classroom in the Middle Corridor and the performances were all held in the GSM Hall. The dosa stand was just outside the entrance to the GSM.

The Brazil event was also the kick-off to Parent's Week. Monday was Music Day with various groups performing during lunchtime with the main concert after school. Monday night was the start of Parent-Teacher interviews. Tuesday the interviews were continued int he afternoon with the presentation of It's Cool in the Furnace by the Junior school in the evening. Wednesday was the end of interviews and then a Service of Thanksgiving in the evening. Thursday was the last day of classes and the presentation of Certificates of Appreciation to the leaving staff. I will post a photo of our certificate later.

Last night was Q U I E T ! The students have all left for a 10 day break. We leave this afternoon for a trip to Thailand. More of that later.