Success in the Bazaar

After completing our first week at Woodstock, we decided to make another trip into the bazaar to get some more things for our house. Going shopping here is an all-day affair. One cannot simply pull into Wal-Mart and get all of the things that one needs. Instead, our strategy is designed to allow us to carry as little as possible for as short a distance as possible. We knew we needed to pick up our clothing from the tailor, but his shop is very close to our end of the bazaar. Instead, we walked halfway through and then worked our way back picking up things as we came. We started at the grocery store which is just below this clock tower.

We picked up a few essentials that we didn’t feel like calling in an order for. After our groceries, we stopped at the stationary store and bought some note cards. We also got a chess set to make our lives a little more interesting and intellectual. From there, we went to the fabric store. We already had bought fabric for our clothes, but wanted a new rug for our cold cement floors. Then it was on to the electronics shop. This is the same store where we bought our clothes dryer and our electric oven. We got a TV so that we have something to do with students when they come over to visit (thankfully, we didn’t need to carry this ourselves because they deliver). After our TV, it was on to the used bookstore. This shop is strategically placed halfway up the big hill at the end of the bazaar. It’s a nice break from the steady climb. Here we bought a Hindi-English dictionary and a board game called “Scotland Yard.” Below you can see Beth playing the next day with our friends, the Hatches.

One nice thing about this trip to the bazaar Saturday was the weather. It was a beautifully clear day, and we got a couple of nice pictures of the Mussoorie and the surrounding hills.

Later on Saturday night, we had a welcome back dinner and dance with the middle school students. This was a very fun time of fellowship with the teachers and the students together. The food was excellently catered by a local restaurant and the kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Below you can see Dave with our friend Jared who teaches science with us in the middle school. They made sure that all the students stayed in line. The next picture is of our middle school principal, Mrs. Mark.

As always, the monkeys made an appearance. The looked on ominously from the roof of the school building before dinner. Thankfully, there were only two of them and they were not going to jump on a group of 100+ larger primates.

In the end, the dinner and dance were a great success. The kids seemed to have a great deal of fun dancing. The even pulled both of us onto the dance floor a few times. The dancing was a little different than we are used to, but it was a really good time. Hopefully we will have enough energy for the week ahead.