How I spent my Saturday

So, today was a gorgeous day. I got to sleep in a bit. Raji, my ayah, came over to do my laundry and clean up a bit and once again got out the bleach water to clean mold off of the ceiling and some of my personal effects. Around noon I went up to school to have some lunch. I sat with Jane, our 75 year old counselor who is also new staff. We had a good conversation over some tea and coffee. Afterwards I made a trip over to the bazaar because I needed some lightbulbs and Nutella.

This is what my trip looks like. We start off at the top of the stairs at Suncliff and go all the way into Mussoorie.

The top of the stairs at Suncliff. It can be quite treacherous some mornings when they have not put bleach down to kill the slickery mold and moss.

After the stairs comes a fairly steep path. It scares the hell out of me only because rather than lay something like woodchips, they lay bits of broken brick, bathroom tile, and glass.

View of the road from above mentioned path.

Finally on the road. There are no sidewalks or anything of the sort around here. You walk on the side of the road near the cud (the drop off) and hope you don't get knocked over the rail by a truck or motorbike. I've had a few close calls. You stay on that side so that if worse does indeed come to worse you knocked down the side of the cliff and not painted on the side of the hill.

The view down into the cud.

Some Tibetan prayer flags.

It's a tree, did I really need to explain that?

The ramp up to school.

Coming in the back way, behind the kitchens.

Through a corridor or two and you come to the quad. This is where the elementary and middle schools meet. The dining hall here is also where we have our meals.

The ramp up to the high school. It's quite steep and gets steeper as you go up. And you wouldn't believe how slippery campus is. Between the bricks and flagstones you are lucky if you stay on two feet.

Woodstock front gate.

A view of lower campus. Those are some of the dorms.

Mussoorie.

Flowers.

Crickets exist in India.

More flowers.

More of Mussoorie.

More prayer flags. These ones still have color to them.

And yet more flowers.

The view of Woodstock from near the entrance to the bazaar.

Just some majesty.

Stellar eh?

And down into the valley. Hell of a drop off into the cud if you ask me.

On my way back I ran into some friends and we stopped by the Cozy Corner (a local shack that sells snacks and cigarettes), this languor decided to join us.

More monkey. Just for Mike.

View of the hills from Cozy.

The lower dorms again from Cozy.

Mussoorie from Cozy.

So, there you are. I didn't take any pictures while in the bazaar because it just makes me feel like too much of a tourist. I promise some day I'll overcome that show you what it's like. Really, it's ridiculous. You're always looking over your shoulder because the streets are so narrow and there are always cars, trucks, buses, bikes and people trying to get through. Tonight a few of us are going to order Dominoes just to get away from the monotony of rice and daal. Afterwards we're going to another staff home for a bonfire.

One of the places I stopped by was the Cambridge Book Shop. I was absolutely wowed by it. It's stacked floor to ceiling with lots and lots of books. He even has some comics. I was tempted to pick up some of the Tintin hardback three-in-ones that I read so fondly in my youth. I resisted, however, only because I bought a book on Hindu myths and another about Buddhism. The next time I go down to the bazaar (or the "buzz") I'll stop by again and check out what actual issues he has. They looked pretty old. Maybe a good gift for Mike?

Oh, and as an aside, in the comics here, Snoopy is colored brown and so is Calvin's hair.