A weekend in India and then some

Good footwear is very important in India, especially when you live in the hills. Something comfortable is an absolute must but it should also have good ankle support, toe protection, and a sturdy sole. Chappals (pronounced 'chup-puls') are none of these (well, except for comfortable).

Chappals are basically flip flops.
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You should NEVER wear chappals into the bazaar. I have three wounds like this. It was such a nice, warm day though that I couldn't resist. I knew that as soon as I hit the road I was going to regret wearing them this day. Alas, live and learn.

Cindy especially has been bugging me about who this person 'T' is whom I keep referring to on the blog. Well, this is an especially candid photo of him.

This is more often what you get.

The two pictures above of T were taken at the new Clock Tower Cafe (CTC for short). It just opened this semester and caters specifically to Woodstockers and western tastes. It's a nice hang out but a tad small. We actually had to crash a table of ninth graders in order to get a seat. The food's good, not terribly expensive and the atmosphere is great. I do still love the Tavern though. (I'll have to get a video of a night out there sometime.) We went down to the book depot and I picked up a copy of The Hobbit and The Koran for some light reading. I also managed to find some true pipe tobacco in the bazaar so Cindy, you don't need to worry about what's in my pipe anymore. It's slightly aromatic, has a good smell and a good taste but it bites the tongue like the time I poured all the remnants of a sour skittles bag on my tongue at once.

Later that night was the student talent show. I wasn't really wanting to go because the auditorium is right down the hall from the science office and I heard the kids practicing everyday after school for about two weeks. Let's just say that I knew already what was good and what wasn't. However, I did promise some students that I would go see them. It's only fair since they HAD to come to the staff talent show. I just knew that I was going to be subjecting myself to more screaming than performance.

It was a pretty enough evening when I set out.

There was dancing...

break dancing...

and back up dancing...

The girl singing was actually amazing... Some people were convinced that she was lip-syncing but just knowing the girl... I don't think she would do that.

A group of grade 11s did a rendition of Toto's 'Africa.' I don't know what else to say about it... it was interesting. I was waiting for them to go into the less well known but infinitely better Toto song, 'Rosanna.'

Ahh... Senior boys... They were like a pack of wolves, or more accurately, Statler and Waldorf. They hung out in the balcony in a large group and screamed as much and as loud as the girls. It wasn't so much heckling as just being rowdy boys. Bless 'em.

The week has been good enough to me. Things went off without much of a hitch. I've finally gotten myself caught up for grading, now I just need to work on the planning part. All in due time. I ended up catching a cold that's been going around, been a little achy and stuffed up but that's about it. It should pass soon enough.

I also finally got my Christmas package. It sat in Delhi for almost a month but everything arrived intact (well, except for the box... but I've yet to receive one that hasn't been crushed or torn apart). Wrapping them was kind of a moot point though... everything had been opened by customs. I guess they wanted to make sure I really did have the original Star Wars trilogy (with no stupid redos... Damn you George Lucas), a new copy of Zorba: The Greek, and a red sweater. Oh well, at least it's here.

Also, on this Wednesday we had a get together of the men on campus. We decided that we needed to get a night to go out and have a few drinks, talk about power tools and sniff each other's farts. We ended up with four dudes and one eunuch... but we take what we can get. It was a great time full of beer, food, and bad mic checks.

Lastly, I know I said that if you wanted to see me in these two years you would have to come to India... Well, I caved. I was looking for some places to do some professional development for chemistry. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be had abroad (I was hoping someplace like Thailand) but I did find a class at IC just a block away from home. So, for about a month from late June until mid-July I'll be in the south-central Illinois region. I'll try making a trip up to Bloomington-Normal one weekend so if you'll be in the area, we should get together.

Statler: Do you know what my favorite part about that post was?
Waldorf: No. What?
Statler: THE ENDING!
Both: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!