April

April has flown by. At the beginning of the month, the weather turned from wonderful spring temps to uncomfortably hot and extremely dry. I was just about fed up with my constant dehydration and the lack of foreseeable rain when the thunder clouds rolled in. After a few days of showers, the hillside is revived, the temps are cooler, and I'm infinitely happier. The brief stint of hot summer weather took a toll on us though and it seems we are all counting down the days until summer vacation. The seniors have a month left until graduation and the rest of the school has 6 weeks. Among the staff, there is anxiety about changes for next year - about 35 staff members are leaving and 40 are coming. This means many changes in friends, jobs, and housing, which makes us all a little jittery.

A few highlights from April:

Laura and I stayed in Mussoorie for our one break of the Quarter (a measly two days off). We took a day trip to Dehradun for some shopping and went on an overnight camping trip with some friends. Fruits are back in season. The market in Dehradun was alive with fruit vendors selling bananas, oranges, apples, guavas, watermelon, and...after much anticipation...mangos!!!!

In Dehradun, we came across a little craft store that sold hundreds of shiny ribbons.

Our last stop in Dehradun was to buy new saris. The ratio of male staff to customer is about 12:1 in this shop. My favorite part is how the men model the saris :)

To celebrate spring, some friends and I went to a very fancy hotel in Mussoorie for a brunch buffet. On clear days, there are beautiful views towards Dehradun, but the dust from the heat clouded the view. 

Yay for friends (and really full bellies!)

I was surprised to see irises growing around the hillside. Laura and I were even more surprised when we noticed that they were growing in the old bathtub that sits in our yard!

Woodstock's version of prom is the Junior Senior Banquet. The theme was masquerade. Here are two of my senior art students on the way to the banquet

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Two more senior art students donning fancy Italian masks. 

Last week, we had an art opening at Hanifl Center for the Portrait Art Show. It was a success, with almost 60 people showing up for the opening. Check out the art blog for more photos: www.artatwoodstock.blogspot.com.

Last weekend was the annual Win Mumby Basketball tournament. It is supposedly an "all-India" tournament, but really the farthest any team travelled was from Delhi. Still, there was quite a bit of hoopla surrounding the whole event, including a pep rally and four days worth of games. 

Both the girls and boys teams made it to the semi-finals; and both teams lost (got destroyed is more like it) by the same school. I ended up becoming the assistant coach for the girls team after the head coach had a death in the family. I know basketball and I know all the players names, which made me qualified. It was fun, but the girls lost both games. 

Now we're in the last leg of the school year. Many exciting events are coming up as students wrap up their coursework, including music concerts and art shows. More updates coming soon!