Winter Break Part 1: Christmas in Mussoorie with all of the folks at home

Well, for a while now I've been hearing my blog referred to in comparison with my sister's. For those of you not hip to the shibby, let me clue you in. Becky's last post on her blog was from October. Granted, my last post was not nearly that long ago but I do feel that I have neglected the blog. The figurative fire has been lit under me now that she has made the resolution to make a new blog and update every day. Let me get down to it then.

I think the easiest thing to do will be to just break up my holiday into parts. Let us start up in Mussoorie. I finally got a visitor to come out and, er..., visit me. My friend (Kathryn) from ISU came out to see me. It was actually supposed to be her and another friend (Trena) but Trena's grandmother bought her tickets to go on a cruise. As if.

This is Kathryn.
(Also, this is photographic proof that I have friends willing to come out and visit me.)

So I picked up Kathryn in Delhi and immediately spirited her away up to the Queen of the Hills, Mussoorie. We spent the few days before Christmas meeting people on the hillside, going for walks (which are apparently exhausting for people who don't live in the hills), and going to the scarf shop something like eight times.

Flag Hill is close enough that it's pretty much a must do for anyone who comes to visit.

Christmas Eve was spent amongst friends. We started off down at the bottom of the hill where a few ex-dorm parents now teachers hosted a Christmas cookie party. There was a mass ingestion of various sugars and apple cider while Vince Guaraldi played smoothly in the background. We then made our way to the opposite side of Mussoorie, the Library Bazaar. A good sized group of us got together for dinner at the Imperial Restaurant and then headed to the nearby Christ Church for an Anglican Midnight Mass. Mass was much more familiar to me this year as opposed to last year. I would assume it has something to do with the fact that it was in English. I didn't mind the Hindi service last year but it sure is nice to hear traditional carols as they're familiar to you.

I like to think that they have competitions in the kitchen saying 'Mrs Simpson sells sumptuous sammiches solely to surly sailors from southern Samoa.' I also like to think that Mrs Simpson doesn't make a lot of cash.

A colleague. Greg. Our RE teacher (he does a little history too).

Another co-worker. Tamara. She's the other Chemistry teacher.

I don't think Greg's pose here was intended but isn't it beautiful how a camera can capture a moment in time like that?

I like to think that this is what my food sees just before I eat it.

So Christmas Day was a lazy one. I was up late doing a bit of Santa-ing on the hillside so I decided to sleep in a bit (big surprise right?). Well, one of the couples decided to open their house up for a bit of a familial feel to the day so Kathryn and I decided to mosey on over and join them. I baked some apples in my wood stove to share and we had a grand time with everyone. There was plenty of ham, chicken, mashed potatoes, and pie to go around. Afterwards, we watched the movie Joyeux Noel about the cease-fire called between German, Scottish, and French forces on Christmas Eve 1914. A good movie if you ever get the chance to check it out.

Christmas was good for me this year. In the past ten years or so (certainly the last five) Christmas has lost its magic for me. I don't know what it was about this year but it didn't feel quite like it has in past years. Maybe my Scrooge-iness is wearing off? I got a decent haul this year. The 'complete' collection of Tintin. I say 'complete' because the first two Tintin adventures (also the two most controversial) are not included. But it does come with a nice compendium book that talks about all of the characters and Herge's development through the series. It also came in a nice box (even if the top had been torn off by customs...). I also got a copy of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. It's great that after years of not watching it I can still give entire dialogues word for word. I got a copy of Manga Studio Debut 4 which is a comic creating software. Unfortunately, this computer will not run it so I have to wait until my new Mac (a Christmas present to myself) arrives. There was also supposed to be a set of Indiana Jones movies but they decided to find a more comfortable living arrangement somewhere between Amazon and my house. I have a custom Rice-Carlson University long-sleeved t-shirt (which incidentally I am wearing (under several other layers)). Probably the two that I am digging the most right now though are two cds. I got They Might Be Giants' Here Comes Science cd/dvd set and The Definitive Vince Guaraldi. I would certainly recommend either of them. Of course, as is my trademark, I have yet to do anything Christmas related. See, dad was supposed to be coming out (he still is) and I was planning on just sending things back with him. I need to get cracking on the girls' gifts.

Well, that sums up our time in Mussoorie. Tune in soon for our adventures in Agra, Delhi and Jaipur. Hopefully I'll get them up in the next day or two.