Easter, Etc

Woodstock is pretty stingy with handing out long weekends, but this year we gratefully received a day off for Good Friday. I spent the day in the hot climes of Dehradun to get some shopping done (best purchases were ripe mangos, fresh strawberries, and lots of flowers!). Saturday and Sunday seemed like they would provide me with lots of free time, but I was wrong.

I anticipated having chunks of my weekend taken up with school activities. First, the Junior Senior Banquet (aka prom) that was held on Saturday Night. Second, the all-school Easter Chapel service on Sunday evening. Both were fun events, but the combination of having to dress in formals and spend two evenings in a row chaperoning students was not exactly relaxing.

The real time consumer was preparing for an Easter Brunch. As I've mentioned before, I am an advisor for 10 seniors. They are fantastic and they love coming over for a home-cooked meal. Usually, I make them help cook, but this time I decided I would do it all myself. Cooking for 11 doesn't seem like a lot of work when I consider how many times I've cooked for 50 or more people at Wilderness, but here it's a little different:

First, I have a gas stove with only two burners.

My countertop stove with its attractive gas cylinder. Yes, that's a pressure cooker on the right burner...I'm slowly mastering the art of using it. (No bean volcanoes since last year!)

Second, in lieu of a real oven (which are hard to come by), I have a large toaster oven that fits one small pan (maybe the equivalent of a 9") as well as a small bread pan at one time. It also doesn't cook evenly and is horribly inefficient in keeping its heat.

We don't have a microwave, so the only way to keep things warm is to set them on top of the oven.

Due of these limitations, I spent a large portion of Saturday and Sunday morning preparing the following: Veg and non-veg quiche, cinnamon rolls, bacon and sausage, and a fruit tart. I love that there are virtually no shortcuts when cooking here - everything is made from scratch and always tastes delicious.

Posing with the feast.

Nothing beats Sunday brunch on a sunny porch.

The students took my camera and took an obnoxious amount of photos of the Easter basket and flowers.

Delicious fruit tart topped with mango, kiwi, banana, and strawberry.

Inhaling the fruit tart.

Besides the delicious food, I forced my students to partake in Easter traditions. A few of them are Christian, but only one or two had ever dyed eggs or participated in an Easter Egg hunt. Naturally, I felt it was my duty as their advisor to teach them. They had way more fun than I anticipated dying the eggs.

Pretty serious egg decorators

Sonam's eggs.

Jocelyn's egg

Maari's egg.

Ngawang and Lan's eggs

Not sure what they are doing. (On the far left, Ziri is definitely showing off her "Mustache Club" t-shirt). Over the course of the morning, the whole group definitely reverted to small children.

Long after decorating them, they were still obsessed with their Easter eggs.

The Easter Egg Hunt proved to be even more fun. In Onkka family tradition, I included the famous Golden Egg. Each student was allowed to find one egg and then also compete for the Golden Egg. One student told me that the hunt was a pretty lame game. I countered with, "Then why did all ten of you start sprinting across the yard as soon as I gave a hint?" They were totally into it, even if they say otherwise.

Lan posing with the first Easter Egg she's ever found!

Must find the Golden Egg...

Finally catching sight of the Golden Egg (note the boy in the blue jeans springing into action)

And he leaps to victory! (And the boy on the right is claiming that he saw it first!)

Victory!

The prize? PEEPS! Thanks to a care-package from home :)

The whole group after a fun morning.

Dehradun Mini-Marathon

In a very last-minute decision, I registered to participate in a "mini-marathon" (aka 10k) race in Dehradun on Sunday. I was among eleven Woodstock students and staff who made the trip down the mountain before sunrise.

I don't consider myself a runner. I haven't run in a race since middle school and haven't run more than 3 miles at a time. A 10k is just over 6 miles (though, due to everyone's good times, we think it might have been a little shorter).

I wish I had been able to document the entire experience, because it was pretty hilarious. There were hundreds of participants, including the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, a few military academies, and the Oil and Natural Gas Commission. My first clue as to the lack of both foreigners and women was finding the bathroom. They literally assembled some corrugated roofing sheets into a sort of cubicle. No roof, no door, no separation for men and women, and in plain view of all the registration tables. Next clue was when we became the center of attention for basically everything. Out of the hundreds of people there, I was chosen/forced to speak into the emcee's mic on two separate occasions. The best thing he announced all day was that Woodstock was a "healthy smattering of international flavor." In other words, we were the only white people/foreigners. I've never been photographed and videotaped so much in my life, which is quite a statement considering being a tall blonde in India for almost two years. (Although, it is my own fault for wearing shorts that highlight my incredibly white legs.)

Most of the men were in uniform. And they were everywhere.

Photo cred: Shubhra

Imagine if you will, a race that includes the following:

-cows, who have a knack for blocking streets

-no blocked-off streets, hence the need to dodge rickshaws, public carriers, bikes, cars, and pedestrians

-clouds of dust everywhere (street sweepers apparently do their work in the mornings)

-clouds of bleach powder (in attempt to sanitize the store fronts?)

-a 60-year old woman racing in a sari and carrying her purse

-large dumpsters on fire and emitting toxic fumes

-men running barefoot or, more impressively, in flip-flops

-plastic water bottles literally covering the ground, despite the organization's attempt for it to be a "green race"

-packs of dogs chasing runners

-race officials who continually tell you to run on the opposite side of the street, which means crossing traffic, dodging cows, and inhaling unnecessary amounts of exhaust

-being inundated by Indian men on all sides. They would run into me, yell "Good! Good!", and try to shake or high-five my hand while running. My friend Kate had her water bottle stolen out of her hand by one of the men while running!

-and, of course, piles of poo

Considering this, I'd say I did pretty well with only having one close encounter with a rickshaw. Also, one of my favorite moments was when I was approaching a pack of young girls (stragglers from the under 18 race). They were sort of jogging/running and were stopped by a photographer and videographer. I didn't think much of it until all the girls looked back at me and nodded. Hmmm. Turns out, the media guys must have told them to wait until I caught up to them. As soon as I was passing, they all started running with me and the cameras started rolling. I can just imagine the footage of an extremely tall white girl running with local school girls...

Successful Woodstock runners!

We held this pose for much longer than necessary; the media couldn't get enough of this international flavor.

Photo cred: Garhwal Post (Mussorie's local paper)

Here's a video I found online of the road that we ran. It is Dehradun's main street. There wasn't quite this much traffic, but there was still a lot.

October 20th, 4 p.m. from streetview on Vimeo.

Another highlight of the event was that the top 10 finishers in each category received cash prizes! Seeing that the ratio of men to women was approximately 50:1, I had a pretty good chance of qualifying. I'm proud to say that not only have I run my first race, but I also came in 7th. (The top 5 women runners were all serious runners. Numbers 6-10 were taken by Woodstock women!). I won 2500Rs/ (about $50!). Considering our registration and transportation was free, and I received a free breakfast, free t-shirt, and cash...I'd say it was a morning well spent!

I love the generous use of the word "only" in Indian English. Here is a perfect example. Note: this kid is receiving about $150.

Photo cred: Garhwal Post

Pretty excited to have won an award!

Photo cred: Shubhra

International Day

Last weekend, Woodstock hosted an International Day. Students and staff (but mostly students) set up information booths about their country or Indian state. The event also included many performances and an international food court. My favorite part, as always, was seeing all the national outfits from around the world. Some of the countries represented include: Bhutan, Tanzania, Russia, Nepal, Germany, USA, India, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Tibet, Japan, New Zealand, Thailand, Canada, Vietnam, Mexico, and a few that I'm forgetting.

The Principal introducing a few nationalities that were not represented in the info booths. Right to left: Ethiopia, Russia, Mexico, Tanzania (my advisee!), Tibet, and Afghanistan.

There were about a dozen information booths to visit after the performances

Bhutanese students (my advisee in the middle!)

Good ole Americans

And, of course, the Canadians

Tibetan momo stand

The food court in the quad

Here's a sampling of the performances:

Traditional Tibetan Dance

Dance from Northern Thailand

Korean pop dance

Bhutanese dance (with two girls from Mizoram)

Japanese Taiko Drumming

Nepali Song (sung by an 8th grader)

Another Korean pop dance

Art Party

My wonderful art colleague, Paul, celebrates his birthday one day after mine. To celebrate, we threw a bash. By "we" I mostly mean Paul, but I get credit for having the idea of throwing an art party. The theme: Dress as an Artwork. I was blown away with the enthusiastic turn out; it was a royal art gallery! Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a camera. All photos by Paul, Emily, and Suman.

Rene Magritte - Son of Man

Georges Seurat - A Sunday Afternoon 1

Punjabi Regionalism

Jan Vermeer - Girl with a Pearl Earring 1

The only photo of Paul (in the white shirt): Piet Mondrian

Japanese Geisha

Gustav Klimt

Roy Lichtenstein - Crying Girl

Frida Kahlo

Madhubani

Grant Wood - American Gothic

Michelangelo - The David

George Seurat - A Sunday Afternoon 2

Oragami Crane

Banksy - Graffiti Wall

Jan Vermeer - Girl with a Pearl Earring 2

Magritte - Ceci n'est pas une pipe

And then the works of art danced...