Onkka Family Art Department!

Due to the current short-staffing in my department, my mom was invited to volunteer for six weeks in the Junior School. My dad joined her for two weeks to help with the clay center. The time went quickly! Here are a few photos from their visit.

Mom's seventh grade T.T. partner.

They scared their competitors :)

Dad doing a demo for art students.

Making some game plans.

A night out at Doma's with Elsa.

The apple doesn't fall far.....laughing at student art work.

Everybody's queuing up for a Parent-Teacher conference!

A good visual of why Parent-Teacher conferences are
exhausting. Can you find me?

Mother-Daughter love.

Evening walk to Everest House.

Doing work...unfortunately this is what I did most of the
time they were here.

Mom's Grade 3 students.

So cute!

Family photo before Dad left.

Mom snapped this artistic shot while Elsa and I were
officiating at sports day.

Warming up for the staff relay!

Mom in action.

A sunny lunch at Char Dukan.

Mother Mary cleaning a saint.

Mom and Katie taking a chai break from saint painting!

Halloween!

Halloween Progressive Potluck

Our daily lunch spot in the tea garden

I don't think I took any of these photos. Credit goes to mom, dad, and Katie!

Kashmir for Quarter Break

Kashmir makes the news often for political and religious strife. It's true that it has more than its fair share of unrest and discord. However, it is also an incredibly beautiful region. Here are way too many photos from a few days in Srinagar with a houseboat full of friends. 

Houseboats at sunset on Dal Lake.

You know it's going to be a good day when you sit down
to breakfast on your houseboat and the ice-cream man
paddles up to your window!
Photo Cred: Zach

Breakfast ice-cream!
Photo Cred: Zach

An hour later the ice cream boat side-swipes 
us for more morning ice cream.
Who can resist?

Heading across Dal Lake for an afternoon at the Moghul
gardens.

Paul thinks he can paddle faster than me. False.

Moghal Gardens

Our boatman was getting tired, so we took turns helping.

Approaching the neighborhood around the mosque.

Street food near the mosque.

Holy huge bread!

Huge bread with halwa (sweet carrot)...

equals really hot and really delicious.

Hiking excursion in Gulmarg - a few kilometers from the
Pakistan border.

The ski lift beneath us.

Look at all the beautiful fall foliage!
(These guys are only 3cm tall....wah wah)

Going down the ski lift. Greg was scared.

We missed peak fall colors by a few weeks :(

We stopped to help this woman haul firewood. It was
pretty hilarious.

These guys thought we were crazy.

Eating what the locals eat (MEAT)
where the locals eat.
Photo Cred: Zach

Early morning boat trip to the "vegetable market." More
like "foreigner market." Zach is not happy.

We did enjoy watching the locals making deals. We
even witnessed people stealing things from other boats!

Paul is tempted to act like a local and steal a cabbage.

Our spirits were lifted when the CHOCOLATE BOAT MAN
came! He let us taste some cookies and we were sold. We
bought hundreds of rupees worth of chocolate....

...and it was TERRIBLE. 

So we pawned it off on innocent children. 

And then we fooled Greg, who had just woken up.

He was really mad. But also laughing. Because
eating gross things unwittingly is funny!

Paul pointing at our houseboats.

I stayed in the one on the far left.

More ice cream!

A boat ride towards the old city.

The famous honey lady!

We tried eight types of honey after having
ice cream....all before 10am!

Trying to blend in in the old city.

Kashmiri handicrafts. 

This one is insane!

especially when you see how tiny the details are.

We met up with my former art student who lives in
Srinagar. It was amazing to have her show us around.

Doing what we do best - hunting for meat.

Zarka's favorite meat place is a roadside stall located
underneath that green umbrella. That's the waiter coming!

Feet and sunset!

This was the most delicious meat I've
ever had in India. (Zach is holding the
kebab.)

Happy.