Flag Hill Afternoon

Beth went on a little walk to Flag Hill this afternoon. She wanted to get one good hike in before the baby got too big to carry up the hill.

We thought it might be nice to share some of the flora and fauna that she saw on her walk.

The rhodedendrons were blooming beautifully all along the hillside and Beth even got to see some Indian life occuring as this woman carried some fire wood home.

It turned out to be a very successful trip up the hill.

Dave and Beth

Retreat Number 4

Every year, Woodstock has a retreat for all its students. In the middle school, we have one retreat for grades 7 and 8 and one for grades 5 and 6. This past weekend, we did our last Woodstock retreat. We were down at the Torchbearers conference center in Dehradun. It was a great chance for both students and staff to get away for a bit. There were, of course, a few sessions of learning for the students. The focus this weekend was the life of Joseph.

The students also enjoyed some chances for non-school food.

A lot of our free time was spent playing games and Dave took the opportunity to hone is cricket skills with the boys.

It was a great restful weekend for the kids and they learned a little bit about God in the process.

Dave and Beth

Science is Real

The big news in middle school here yesterday was the science fair. Every year, the sixth and seventh grade students at Woodstock practice the scientific method and try their best to test hypotheses to reach a conclusion. This was Beth's first year teaching the process here, but you should be able to see by the quality of these presentations how great she did.

The Woodstock community also did a great job of supporting the students by coming out and asking the students questions about their work. A lot of time was put into these posters, so it was nice for the other teachers to come and show some interest.

As with any good science fair, one group had an exciting analysis of mold. The big test of the day was to see if anyone could stand putting their nose in the bags below.

Beth's colleagues from the science department came through and judged the use of the scientific method in all the experiments and chose winners in several different categories.

The fair was a great success and Beth did a fantastic job.

Dave and Beth

Baby Shower

This was not a baby shower for us, but Beth was very involved in organizing and planning this one for our new friend Dechen. For most of the men involved, this was the first baby shower that they'd attended. Some of them were more ready than others for the games.

One of the highlights of the day was the unveiling of the quilt that a group of women made for Dechen. It was not quite finished, but you can see Beth's square second from the top on the far right side.

As with any party, most people wanted to spend time with the guest of honor. Dechen was happily passed around while we all celebrated her new life.

It was a great chance to think ahead to our own big changes coming up in the next few months.

Dave and Beth

CAREing in Middle School

As the advisors of the CARE (Community Service And Restoration of the Environment) program in the middle school, it is our job to get kids interested in this important part of their curriculum. Ever student needs to take part in at least one CARE activity per semester and this weekend, we had a morning of making useful stuff out of re-used materials. We had students making journals out of old paper:

Some were making cloth bags out of old t-shirts:

Some were making friendship bracelets out of old string and beads out of old paper:

And some were making hanging candle-holders out of old spaghetti jars:

It was a very successful morning and we're even thinking of selling some of these items at an upcoming middle school event. If we do happen to make any money, we'll donate it to some worthy community service causes.

Dave and Beth

Post?

Anyone that used to read our blog (mostly immediate family members) has probably long-since given up after more than two months of silence. Now that things have settle down (slightly) we thought we'd try to get the blog up-to-date before moving back to Chicago and being swamped by new responsibilities. As usual when this happens, we'll date things according to the time when they actually happened. Enjoy.

Dave and Beth

Happy Losar!

For those that may not be aware, not only was yesterday Valentine's Day, but it was also Losar. This is the lunar New Year as celebrated in Tibet and is the biggest holiday of the year for our Tibetan students. Beth and several other teachers decided to wear their traditional Tibetan chubas to celebrate the occasion.

Ordinarily, these dresses are worn without an apron by women who aren't married. There was one other married woman besides Beth in the picture above, but she must have forgotten to put her apron on.

Dave was able to get in on the Tibetan dress action yesterday, too. One of our students brought a new shirt back from Nepal that actually fit Dave. We looked very sharp in our new Tibetan digs.

Unfortunately, this will probably be the last time that Beth wears her chuba in India. Her clothes are starting to get a bit tighter lately, and it won't be long before the baby makes it impossible to squeeze on.

Dave and Beth