I am still alive and well, which is something that can't be said for everyone here. Everyone is still alive - don't worry! - but several are coming down with colds/the flu and spending days in bed. Hopefully I won't catch it!
The food is great - think my tolerance for spicy is growing a little bit! A couple nights ago the IG's (International Guests - the title given to all the 6-month short-termers here) went out for supper, and one of the guys poured tabasco sauce on my food and I barely even tasted it :) I am also enjoying the fruit salad served here with custard after most meals, and better start exercising soon or there will be more of me to love in December! :) I do walk an average of 2 miles a day, uphill both ways (really, it is!! the school is on a big hill, and so is my dorm!) so I am getting some exercise. I have gone shopping in the market a lot, buying Mangoes almost every time! I really love those things. I also got a couple big bags of dates (for about $3 total!) and some lychees. Lychees are red and hairy looking, but almost like a grape/apple in the middle.
Yesterday there was a soccer game, and the whole school took the afternoon off and went to watch. It was the finals for the under 19-year-olds team. (probably similar to a varsity team in the States). Hebron won, 2-1, which is both fun but also sad because we beat an Indian school, and at that school the team gets beaten if they lose. Physical beating. :( No wonder some of the players were crying after the game. Quite the incentive to win if you know you are going to get pounded if you lose! Their team had been practicing for over a month now, and our boys have only been back for 5 days or so, and we still won. It was probably all of our cheering, drumming, and general mayhem & loudness that inspired the win. I made the whole crowd do the wave about 6 times... Lots of fun :) We were at the game during afternoon tea, and so they brought it to the game! Yep, these people need their afternoon snack! Definitely a good tradition... we need morning and afternoon tea to come back into style in the US!
On the way back from the game (Mom - you might not want to read this part!!), our bus driver smelled like he was drinking and was a little too friendly, so we talked to the principal and one of the Indian staff members rode the bus back to Ooty with us. (Before he got on, it was just 3 of us female IG's and about 20 girls). We got back safely, but it was a pretty crazy ride! Made me think about the part in "It's a Jungle Out There" book where author Rani talks about some of the crazy roads in Peru where the only people willing to drive on them were drunks or his dad :) This road was about that crazy - with trucks passing cars passing motorcycles around a curve in the rain driving up a mountain. But as you probably caught on by now, we arrived home safely, had some lovely Indian curry for supper, and I got to hang out with my dorm girls for a while last night. I am helping with the 6th & 7th graders, and they are a lot of fun. They are very giggly though... especially when in the presence of the boy IG's. So silly. I am sure I was never that immature... :) They are sweet girls though, and I am having fun getting to know them. A couple of times a week I put them to bed, time showers (3 minutes of water three times a week is all they - and I - get!), and make sure they do their homework.
Last Monday we had our first IG "day off". Every Monday we have the whole day to ourselves, and will hopefully be having many fun adventures! This last Monday we celebrated one of the IG's 18th birthday (18! so young!) with a proper English tea (he's from near London) complete with scones (I looked up a high-altitude scone recipe and they turned out great!), Black Currant jam, and Earl Grey tea with cream. Then after lunch we walked about 40min to a man-made lake near Ooty. On the way we passed an amusement park called Jolly World and just had to stop and take the Go-Carts for a run around the track. After the Go-Carts it was time for a walk through a spinning 3D tunnel. Then we tried to go on a giant inflatable chicken bouncy tent, but they wouldn't let us because we weren't little kids. Then we attempted a pirate ship ride, but either it wasn't working or the people in charge didn't feel like turning it on. Oh, India... :P There was also a miniature train that was flooded, and really, really creepy giant monkey statues everywhere welcoming us to Jolly World. You can see some pictures from the day on Facebook. I've been tagged in several. The park rides looked a lot like those in Ecuador - hanging together by dental floss, a shoe string, and a prayer. It was sure fun though!
After Jolly World, we went to the one and only Ooty Thread Garden. It is a big tent full of flowing plants made from thread. Pretty impressive... in a random, eccentric sort of way. It took 50+ artists 12 years to make! That's a long project. The owner who gave us a tour told us it was going to be in the Guinness book of world records for being the largest (and probably only one) of its kind in the world.
Then we went paddleboating on the man-made lake, which was fun and a little rainy. It rains a lot here... monsoon season and all that. But it hasn't been too cold. I've been told it will get colder, so I am gearing up for it. Nothing can be as cold as MN in winter, so I think I'll be fine :)
So Andy the IG's birthday was properly celebrated, ending with dinner at the Sidewalk Cafe and some card games back at the dorms.
This week I've been with the primary school kids in a couple different classrooms as a teacher's aid, and I have been helping with drama rehearsals. Another IG, Jade, and I are directing one of the 6th grade plays, and we are in the middle of casting characters. It's been great so far - the kids are hilarious! I'm sure it will take up more and more time as the performance gets closer. It's only 8 weeks away!!
I am trying to figure out what to do for our 10-day fall break. The options so far are the beach or the Taj Mahal. The Taj would be cool, but would involve a lot more traveling time (possibly 45 hours on the train) and quite a bit more money. So I'm not sure what to do. We have to decide soon though, cause trains and such get booked quick.
I am learning a little bit of Tamil, but it's an extremely complicated language! There are 200 letters in their alphabet, and some crazy grammar to boot. We'll see how it goes :)
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