Christmas Morning

We were watching closely online to see where the big guy was on the NORAD Santa Tracker last night and it seems that he found our house without much trouble. We finally opened the package that Dave's parents sent and were excited to find individually wrapped presents inside. We got cappucino mix, chocolates, books and other goodies from Santa (via the Bovens).

It was great to open these up beside the Christmas tree on Chistmas morning, but it did leave a mess.

Thankfully that mess was able to be put to good use. We threw it all into our wood stove and had a little fire to take the edge off the cold this morning. The Bovens probably didn't know what a great present that would be when they shipped it over (we burned the cardboard box, too).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Dave and Beth

200

We were about to make a nice post about our Christmas morning, when we realized that this is our 200th post. It is amazing to look back on the experiences that we've had here in India and we hope you've enjoyed reading them as much as we've enjoyed recording them.

Dave and Beth

Midnight Mass

Since we went back to the US for Christmas last year, we weren't able to experience what the holiday was like here in Mussoorie. We just got back from the midnight Christmas Eve service at one of the local churches. First, though, we went out to dinner at a restaurant near the church.

We got there at about 9:00 but the place was still packed, because that's right about Indian supper time. It was also nice to watch a little cricket on Christmas Eve (India won the series if you didn't watch it).

After dinner we all walked over the the church to attend the midnight mass. We didn't want to turn the flash on to disturb the other worshippers, so the pictures that we took were either dark or blurry.

It was a great chance to remember the reason that we celebrate with a very international group. After the service, there was tea, coffee, and cookies and some good fellowship. Now that we're home...we're ready for bed.

Dave and Beth

Everyone Loves Parcels

We went down to school today to print out some train tickets. We thought we'd check our mailbox while we were there and found a great package from Dave's parents (our students would generally call this a parcel instead of a package).

Little did the Bovens know that this would cause some serious tension between us. Dave has had his eye on the box since it arrived, but Beth has assured him that Santa Claus would want us to wait until Christmas morning. We'll have to wait and see who wins.

Dave and Beth

Monkeys Grow on Trees

It's true, of course, that money does not grow on trees. The other day we saw a tree that was loaded down with monkeys. It's been a while since we've made a blog post about our furry friends, so we thought we'd post some images of the langurs that we saw along the path.

These little ones were playing on the big water tank near our house. The langurs have very white fur when they are young. They also enjoy playing, jumping over each other, and pushing leaves off the top of the tank.

Remember that langurs are the ones that we like more. We still get rocks ready if we see the brown rhesus monkeys around because they're a lot more aggressive. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy walks on our days off without being accosted by mean monkeys.

Dave and Beth

One Last Party...

Though the kids have all gone back home, we couldn't leave Woodstock for the winter without one last party. Our staff banquet occurred last night and Dave was given the honor of MCing with our friend Greg.

The invitations that we received from the social committee said that it was a Christmas fiesta. It seems that they were just trying to find another word for "party," but Dave and Greg decided to give the evening a Latin American theme. Greg lived in Mexico for a year, so he new just was we needed. This, of course, included a piñata full of candy.

Aside from the other festive events that we planned, it was a great chance to have some closure for the semester.

After our last meetings this morning, we were officially done for the semester. We're definitely ready for our break!

Dave and Beth

Symbolism

As we mentioned before, school is out for winter. We now have a lot of time to sit, relax, and reflect on the things that we've found interesting over the last year and a half in India. Coming from North America, one thing that was a bit surprising about India was the prevalant use of the swastika.

The swastika is actually an ancient symbol that has been used in India for thousands of years. Today it is a symbol of harmony in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism and is often found tattooed on the various Hindu deities. In the West, it is often looked at with disdain after being appropriated by the Nazi party in Germany. Here, though, we've been struck by just how mundane of a symbol it is. We've seen it embroidered on aprons, painted on temples, and even molded into bricks.

It's amazing just how much culture informs the ways that we view different things.

Dave and Beth