Christmas

Now that's more like a Christmas tree Charlie Brown.

Christmas up in the hills has come and gone. The weather has been incredibly warm during the day and insufferably cold during the nights. I've been out in tshirts most days and have to bundle up with a fleece, scarf, and hat whilst I light my bukari during the nighttime hours.

To be honest, the holidays just haven't been the same for me for a while now. Christmas is a great time to be a kid when you get all of those toys and games and you can sit around the tree admiring your loot. Once I stopped getting the toys I think that Christmas just sort of lost the luster it once had. Things were only made less lustrous when mom died with Christmas being her favourite holiday and all. That being said, in recent years I've really tried to just treat it as any other day. Of course, being in India and away from family, it was still difficult to treat it as such.

I was fortunate enough to be invited by one of the families still on the hillside over to their house on Christmas Eve. We sat around talking and drinking mulled wine. One of their visitors plays accordion semi-professionally, so I chatted with him a bit and promised to bring the accordion to the festivities the next day. That night, two English teachers and myself went to the local Catholic church for Midnight Mass. I primarily went out of tradition and was expecting all of these familiar carols and the typical stuff like that. However, I stepped into the church and literally felt like I had entered a chapel in Las Vegas. There were blinking lights and gaudy decorations all over the place. Also, I did not realize that the service (and most of the carols) would be in Hindi. I was able to follow along via the motions and everything but I had no idea what the sermon was about. It was nice to go and see how a mass is done in India and now at the very least I can say I've gone to a Hindi Midnight Mass.

I didn't bother getting up early the next day since nothing was going on until after 12. Since so many of us were still on the hillside during Christmas we decided to have a progressive dinner. I had done this once before in high school and I was looking forward to it. We started off down at the bottom of the hill at my head of department's home. It was just snacks. Crackers, cheese, etc. We then headed up the hill past my place and up to the home of one of the social studies teachers. We had soup there. I had been craving chili for a while now and when I heard they had some there I immediately jumped on it. The next stop was down to one of the math teacher's place for the main course. We had ham, sweet potatoes, corn and peas. It was prepared nicely and tasted great. From there we climbed up the hill to one of the counselor's homes to have some dessert. It was here that we busted out the guitars and accordion and sang some carols. Afterwards a few of us made it to the end. The last stop was just coffee and light snacks to round out the evening. We were going to watch a movie but got into just talking instead. We had a young couple here that eloped over the break so we toasted to them and wished them all the best. Afterwards, we all parted ways I lit my bukari and put on some Bing. Overall, it was a good day and I was glad I was able to spend it with so many people.

Here's some photos I took. I'm not the best about taking pictures (I usually forget I even have the camera.) but I tried.

The accordion was a big hit (duh); everyone wanted to give it a go.

Chatting it up with the newlyweds.

Carols. Notice the accordion. Notice it's not me playing it. I've only recently gotten a chance to play with it and I still am not comfortable at all with my left hand.

Singing.

A few views of the mountains from the top of the hill.

Seeing these always reminds me of Eurythmics.

Apparently, this house is for sale. For a pretty penny too.

This would be your view.

Louis

I had to share this video. Chris Cooke, our head of highschool showed it at the last school assembly of the semester before the kids left. There were lots of teary goodbyes and what not. I must admit, I was kinda miffed. I had planned on using the song as one of my devotions for next semester.



The semester is officially over and people are scattering from the hillside. I'm still figuring out just what exactly I will be doing. I'll let you know when I do. Expect some updates in the next few days. I have to cover activity week and I was going to recap my first six(ish) months in India.

Update

So it's been a little over a week. Neglect, I know, but technically, I'm still doing better than Becky. (There are too many commas in that last sentence. Meh...) Having Matt post on her blog does not count. Here's a few to throw back as an update.

I'm not sure if that even means anything.

Anywho,

The first semester is officially over. The kids have left. Well, most. Not the day scholars and the Koreans, Bhutanese, and a few others are still around until tomorrow. I only had a few setbacks with grading but everything got done and on time.

I got my accordion straps today. They were made by one of the local cobblers. They're adjustable and seem to be pretty strong. I'm pleased as punch that I am actually able to play the accordion now. We'll see about a performance.

I went down to Dehra Dun today with Maureen and Jane, two of our 'more aged' staff members. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but if I was able to find something to get for Christmas gifts I'd pick it up.

All I got was this damn tree.


It cost me Rs.100 or about $2. It's very Charlie Brown-esque. That's why I just had to have it. I saw it there, small, lonely, and I could just envision placing one red ball ornament on it and it would sag right over. That tree needed me.

I should start working on xmas presents in the next day or two. No promises, but I may document the process. I've chosen to be somewhat ambitious this year. Now, I've made lobsters before so I'll let you guess how ambitious I am. It promises to be frustrating.

I'm not sure, but I could be rambling. Probably has something to do with the amount of sleep I've had recently. I haven't slept a full night in about a week. Woke up at 3 this morning. Gotta love it.

yup

What can one do in MS Paint?


Ahh... Those were good times up at da tech.

I've been thinking about making up something similar for my (mis-)adventures here in India. I just haven't really had time or a whole lot of inspiration.

On another note, a music teacher friend of mine found a book of Christmas carols for the accordion. I haven't had much a chance to do anything beyond looking at it but maybe we'll see about a video post in the future.

On an other nother note, it's finals week. I'm stressing out students with my super tough finals (I made up the keys in about 15 minutes, I dunno what they're moaning about.) and stressing out a bit myself about getting grades in on time. I'll be fine. Everything will get done.

For Jill...

...because she felt left out of my post about the Christmas ornaments.

I find this one reminds me of her.

Jill

On another note, only 64 more hours until I'm done actually teaching for the semester. I'm not counting down or anything.

And on another other note, check out the new title background. I finally got up to the top of the hill when it was clear out. I headed up for lunch on Sunday with Megan and Jeanne. I found my new favourite place to get good, cheap, unhealthy garlic chicken (and sour straws).