The mountains are missing

Last night it rained and we are stuck on a cloud zone at the moment - no snow capped peaks or even foothills or valley below. Just cloud. It did mercifully cool things off a little.

Motorcycles turn off the engines to go down hill to save gas. Just think what San Francisco could save on fuel with that policy!

It took a week to mail my postcards: buy them, get stamps, not enough stamps, go back to PO and they are out of stamps, then a holiday, go back again and finally get them! And mailed the cards. That is pretty much how it goes here - not much gets done on the first try and noting in any hurry. Partly it is geography - it is hard to have the kind of hyperenergy we expect as Americans when it is so hot and there is no relief from it. Only 2 stores have AC in town: 1 electronics and 1 Nike brand stuff. Plus bad roads, little transport, and limited resources. Children who can leave, do leave, but not that many ever can.

The weekend holds a day trip somewhere and last shopping. Wonder if the duty free shop will be open at the air port.....

Holy Thursday, Holy Cows

Our day off! Up a little later than the sun today and traveled to St John's in the Wilderness Anglican church. McLeod was a hill station when the English were here and this is the only church around. It is set in a pine forested area, absolutely typical Episcopal church of stone in a cross shape. It was the only structure in the area to survive an earthquake and lost most of it's windows, but the few that are left are Belgium design. Most impressive was the cemetery. Everyone born in Isle of Mann or some other English village was transported here with the military or government plus wives, succumbed to disease and died in Dharamsala, 1/2 way around the world.

Then a short hike, but action packed one! We saw a whole tribe (herd? flock? gaggle?) of Monkeys through the forest headed from one hill to the next. Moved too fast for a Kodak moment. Around the corner were some great cows who did not move fast at all.


I swear it was the same cows who showed up in McLeod as we waited for the Dahli Lama to arrive. Due at 2:30, the streets were packed along the route and we stood waiting in the sun for an hour and a quarter. It was the usual wild crowd: aging hippie men with Asian trophy wives, pierced hikers, groups (herds? flocks? gaggles?) or mid life women seeking enlightenment or husbands, red outfit, yellow outfit, red and yellow outfit monks, Tibetan shopkeepers in costume and the random cow who gets the right of way always. None of these folks had ever heard of the Midwestern 26 inches of personal space. Finally DL, in a closed and unmarked car, zoomed past. I may have gotten a picture if I blow it up. He moved faster than the monkeys.

We ate on the tree top - they built the restaurant around a tree and you enter at the base, go up 3 flights and the branches at the top come in through the awning over the table. Good food, too.

One last bit of excitement - they were filming a music video in McLeod. Not The Dalhi Lama sings Hits from "Hello Dalhi" (oh please - how long did you think I could resist that one?), but some cute girl lip singing something. Anyway 4 of us ambled down a street we were astonished was empty only to hear the director yell whatever "cut" is in Hindi and realize that 4 American were not the kind of foreground he wanted. Huh.

lunch and the full moon

The moon is almost full - I assume we are all looking at the same moon - but here it means a holiday for all government workers and schools for a festival! Yippee no work tomorrow! The teacher at my Day Care had me write it down so I would not forget not to come in. Oh no - not a chance! AND the Dahli Lama is coming to McLeod Up the Hill - he has returned from the stress of Iowa and Indiana to these roads. I bet he closes his eyes when they take the curves. Anyway his car will pass through town (Lama Mobile?) tomorrow at 2:30. Whoa! Some folks are signing up for passes to see him. I think it will be like the Pope and the President - it is enough to know we are in the same time zone.

Lunch at Lily's dare care: chicken and noodles, blueberries, bread and butter, peas and milk. Lunch at Dharmsasala: beans. Some already sprouted. Steamed in butter. Yesterday was wheat cereal with sugar. (That day the director told use they were having Swedish food - who ludfisk? How international! Ah - "sweet-ish...")


It is hot hot hot - 100+ by the time I go to work. No idea what it is as I walk home at noon. The monsoons begin the first of July and I can see what everyone gets a little crazy to see the rain and have it cool off.

Shopping was even more insane in town today - the rush to prepare for holiday and the Dahli Lama at once brings out the aging hippies on rented motorcycles, the tourist cabs that only have horns and no brakes, and the cows who always have the right of way.

Another rule...

This one is right, too. CCS told us to not bring any supplies from the US - no markers or books or anything - but to use only what was supplied by CCS.

"What is supplied" is of the most minimal kind - a few markers, lots of broken crayons, construction paper and purple and green and the rattiest of books. It was frustrating the first couple of day to work out how to tech with these materials but while you can buy Lays potato chips ever 1K or so children's scissors are impossible to come by. So make do we did. I have cut all kinds of shapes and used a smudge of glue for each child rather than his/her own stick, been concrete and creative with what there is. Even that is so much more than the day care kids have at the school.


Today we cut out letters and stuck them on paper, let the kids color, stapled the pages together and made an alphabet book for the class. We are a long way from Power Point Hey Diddle Diddle!

Anyway the teacher told me they were enjoying the lesson and added, "I could do that." Ah-ha! If I brought bells and whistles from the US there would be no hope of her trying to replicate.

The temptation is HUGE to bundle up a box of $1 store supplies and ship it back after I go home. Don't even get me started on books!

For some reason that passes my understanding we are having Mexican food tonight.

Where have all the hippies gone?

Found them! Huddled around the Dala Lama in Exile in McLeod just north of here. North meaning 2000 M up. The first time the roads have been traveled enough to put up signs about curves - in case you can't see the cars directly above you going the other way. As you travel up the road the shop faces change from Indian to Tibetan and the shoppers are European, American, Asian seeking enlightenment. And shirts that say "Free Tibet." Needless to say the beggars are more active - although they still do not rival parts of Rome.

The teacher I work with was talking about beggars today. She does not like the one who come around the local market because "they are from a different state." They travel to Dharamsala knowing the generous foreigners are there, they beg a bunch of money, wire it home and come back for more, after keeping a portion to eat and drink well. She helps out in her father's restaurant and sees them come in!

She is a widow but since her in laws were not living she was allowed to return home to her family to live with her tow children. At first she said people said mean thgins about a "woman alone" but she worked to complete her MA in history. I asked when she will do when her parents die - if she can continue to live with her brothers family. She said, "Oh by then my son will be grown and I will live with him." Women - even educated ones - still are dependant in this part of the country on the men they are related to.

We were watching an Indian Soap today - someone asked what was going on. I said, "That is the evil women(note the arched eyebrows) and that is the good woman (pure, wide eyes) and Evil is battling Good over - imagine this - a man!" One of the Indian staffers said, "Yes! How do you know that?" Same same in South Africa and China. We all Search for Tomorrow!

The rules and why they are hard to keep

Since the first booklet from CSS there has been a page in every communication with lots of large type instructing us not to give any thing to or buy anything for the day care or the kids in the day care. I thought I knew that from traveling in South Africa and understanding (a bit) the concept of partnering rather than donation. There are lots of good reasons (spelled out in detail, signed off and reinforced verbally): it is unfair to other children so breeds jealously, the parents/day care center will take whatever it is and sell it to use the money for themselves, once the volunteers leaves the supply is cut off and they look for other ways to get it. Yep - I agree. It all makes sense.

Until this week. There are 8 little duckling in my day care, and each brings a backpack with his/her food dish (which are filled once to eat there and filled again to eat or share at home) and whatever else children have in backpacks. (In this case, not much, although one kid does have a plastic pencil sharpener.) I KNOW at Walmart I can get 8 brand new backpacks = probably featuring that great literary character Sponge Bob Square Pants - and ship them here for so little! So little for me - one new special thing for them! I know they would smile. And heck isn't a New Backpack a rite of passage for every kid every fall?

And the rules? - oh hang the rules I think! But to think that the joy of a new backpack for a child would fade if family or teacher takes it. They would almost certainly get it stolen by another older kid. And when it wore out who would buy the next one? My heart aches at that reality, even as I realize it is my feeling of generosity that would benefit rather than their situations.

So I'll leave what I brought: time, energy, English, the Hokey Pokey, my presence and attention, and it will have to be enough.

Weekend 1 = sort of

Well, actually we all worked today because we were traveling on Monday. Next weekend we get S/S off and can go on an expedition. So I was back in the classroom with scissors, paper and clay teaching shapes.

A couple of the mothers stayed to "talk" today = I showed them the picture book of family photos. The women were our daughters' ages so they could relate to everything but the blond hair and blue eyes. On the way out, one tried her first words in English: thank you. She did fine, but it brought on a fit of hysterical giggles!

News from home: If the CUBBIES are winning I'll never know. We get BBC which may or may not be in English = what is a "boot" on a car? hehehehe Then we get National Geographic in Hindi, but snakes swallowing rodents twice their size translates well. We get the Indian papers in English but it is all about the news of the Indian states and politics and economics. We did get a picture of the Obamas when their Protocol chief slipped in her dinner gown. I thought she landed quite gracefully and did not deserve international coverage. We also heard about redefining "nude" = alert the Crayola people that "flesh" is out, too.


But a new generation of Indian children have now been introduced to "Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?" so all is right in the world.