Nearly There

We have now been in India for almost exactly two weeks. Today marked the end of all of our new staff orientation and the welcoming back of old staff. The occasion called for a wonderful party. Apparently this happens at the beginning and end of every semester. There was a wonderful banquet prepared by the kitchen staff here at school. When we were walking up to our house to change, we saw them warming up the tandoor ovens behind the kitchens. Beth changed into one of her new Indian outfits, but Dave's new kurtas were not quite formal enough for the occasion, so he went with the Western clothes.

After our wonderful dinner, we were treated to some wonderful live music. The guy on lead guitar and vocals is our neighbor, Pete Wildman. He and his wife, Dot, are also our official Woodstock buddies and they have been so wonderful in helping us get adjusted to life here. Pete and Dot are from Liverpool, so you can imagine that the set list was dominated by the Fab Four. In addition, there was some Monkees and some Cream.

It was a very fun time once we got out on the dance floor. Beth can be seen dancing with Julie, one of our fellow new staff members who comes from the small Scottish island of Islay.

After the dancing was over, we went to the home of some of our new friends here and watched a couple episodes of The Office. The Hatches have a projector hooked up to their DVD player, so we had quite a few folks crammed into their living room. On our walk back, the sky was again clear, so we tried to get a picture of the Doon Valley from our porch. It turned out pretty well, but doesn't do it justice.

The school year officially starts on Wednesday. Some of the new students will be arriving on Saturday and Sunday. It is sometimes hard to believe that the reason we came here was to teach. Hopefully we will get all of our lessons planned and our rooms prepared before the first bell rings.

Dave and Beth