Easter daffodils |
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Easter babies |
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Pete, Louise and Sanjeeb play at the Easter service |
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Louise and Richard present a sketch |
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Moonrise from Witches Hill |
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Sunrise from Pepperpot |
Easter
Now I've started on Our Day Out themes it seems I can't stop. Maybe it's because the summer does seem at last to be arriving, maybe it's just that we're starting to be more determined to see some of the area we're living in, but there's another couple of outings to write about. But in good time. This whole episode will be about Easter, which at Woodstock started last week on Palm Sunday. But before we get into that, a couple of photos from the baby teas a few days earlier. I mentioned last time the plethora of babies at the school. Here's the latest three, with proud parents. Dot was almost equally proud to have the chance to pray for them all on behalf of the school. And, yes, there were samosas - as well as nice white triangular sandwiches with the crusts cut off (who said the Raj was all bad?).
Palm Sunday
We so enjoyed the spectacle of the theatre group in the Quad (see WildyLog 35) that we had the idea of doing the Easter service in the same way. It was a bit Anglo-dominated, with Richard (our next door neighbour who teaches in Elementary School) doing the planning and also presenting a really good sketch with Louise (another ES teacher and my partner in musical crimes). A group of Dot's Middle School kids did another sketch; I spoke, as well as playing a song with Louise and Sanjeeb (we've been meeting once a week to try out a fusion of blues & folk guitar (me) Celtic fiddle (Louise) and sitar (Sanjeeb). This was the first public outing, a really laid-back version of "Now the green blade riseth" (Love lives again). Rain had been forecast, but it was glorious - sunny and warm (next day it lashed down and was freezing cold again). It was a really good, engaging service (from the feedback we received), and definitely a change from the Parker Hall routine. Hot chocolate and buns afterwards as well (courtesy of the Principal's wife and the Head of ES, who apparently had the kitchen trying out recipes all week - they were delicious!) So here's a few photos of another nice Woodstock event.
Maundy Thursday
No pictures for this one, obviously, but it was good to have another very different service just as the Easter weekend began: this time a liturgy of footwashing and communion from the Church of North India, led by the Revs. Anita ad Eric Templeton. It wasn't something we had done before, and it was a good focus for the season. Following the service we invited those from our fellowship group who wanted to to come round for a meal. We spent a really pleasant evening sitting round the fire nattering and then enjoying one of our ayah's tasty Shepherd's Pies (mental note: write about her cooking some time). By the time everyone left and we'd washed up (a novel experience when you have an ayah) it was well after midnight - an unheard of hour round here. We're seldom in bed later then 10.30 normally. But tomorrow is Good Friday, and a day off.
Our Nights Out - (1) Witches Hill
A day's holiday! Three days in a row! What can we do? The original idea was to join a party climbing Nag Tibba, the highest local peak, and a target destination for generations of Woodstockers. We still haven't done it. The snag this time was that Easter coincides with Holi, the Hindu spring festival, and we were advised that we had little chance of hiring the donkeys we would need for our packs. So instead we got up late, ate toasted hot cross buns for breakfast (we couldn't let them go to waste last Sunday, could we?), and were wondering how to spend this unexpected treasure of a free day when we received a desperate call for extra chaperones for a camp-out on Witches Hill with a group of High Schoolers. We'd already planned a camp out for the next night, but, oh, why not? A warm-up walk around the top of the hill to enjoy the sun, then we threw our tent, mats and sleeping bags onto a couple of backpacks and walked down, down to Dhobi Ghat and then the short climb up to Witches Hill. There were fourteen students and four staff, so it wasn't anything else than a night under the stars with friends, really. We sat round thye fire, ate burnt (but delicious) pasta and Wai Wai noodles, passed a couple of guitars around to entertain each other, and watched a truly spectacular moonrise over the hills, before sleeping with our little tent wide open under a brilliant sky.
Our Nights Out - (2) Pepperpot
It's pretty long climb back up from Witches Hill to our house, and we were ready for a shower and a long sit down when we got home about 10.00. Then we had to psych ourselves up for part two - a bit more strenuous. A group of six of us, led by the indefatigable Anderson, were spending the night on top of another of the local peaks, Pepperpot. This one isn't quite so local, being about a three hour walk away. The route we took, round the back of the ridge, off the road, was beautiful, with a profusion of wayside flowers (small lilac orchids, pink begonias, white and lilac primula denticulata) and over it all masses of rhododendrons in full flower. The last few hundred feet are a bit of a steep scramble when you're carrying your accommodation, but the top is a delight - a few small grassy areas in the midst of rocks and gorse, plenty of dead wood for a fire, and spectacular views of the snow peaks, lit by the sun which was just setting as we arrived. Tent, campfire, billy can of soup, pasta and couscous salads, burnt baked potatoes, muffins, toasted marshmallows, spiced apple juice, tea, a fearsomely bright moon.. This is one to look back on.
Next morning, of course was Easter, and we woke up to the light just creeping over the Himalayan skyline before the sun rose pretty well exactly behind Nanda Devi, the highest peak in India. Tea, bacon, more hot cross buns and a few well-chosen Easter songs to greet the day, before we packed up and walked down to the road, Kaplani dhaba, and a nice cup of chai. It's about an hour and a half back along the road from there, and, frankly, I haven't moved from my chair since.A good book, a look at England beating Northern Ireland in the World Cup Qualifier played yesterday, and frequent intake of Sprite, tea, toasties and ice cream. I'll have a bit of a look at my photos, put a couple in the spaces between these sections, and.. sit down until bedtime. I'd like to say 'I'm not as young as I used to be', but frankly I'm probably as fit now as I ever have been (which is a pretty sad thing to admit). It's just.. nice to rest sometimes!