Battle of the Bands
I wasjudging, so after five hours of ear-splitting noise it was a relief to get the other side of the PA and perform the last song. Next day one of the young staffsaid "You're old, but you rock!" Hmm.
Pete and Dot are working at Woodstock School in India. Our website is www.wildies.org.uk where you'll find Pete's music - Christian rock, blues and folk, for the most part, as well as all our India blogs from 2002-2009. We currently blog on http://petewildman.posterous.com.
I wasjudging, so after five hours of ear-splitting noise it was a relief to get the other side of the PA and perform the last song. Next day one of the young staffsaid "You're old, but you rock!" Hmm.
This post is a week late, but it's taken that long to recover. W lost our way coming down (again) and ended up hundreds of feet down in the valley (again) and had to climb up to the ridge (again) keeping everyone else worried and searching for two hours. One day we'll just walk up and down with no problem.
The warmth has returned to Mussoorie. We can get up in the morning without shivering and snatching the nearest clothes. Time for a bit more walking (hah! We'll see how long that lasts!) Most Sundays we walk to church (25 minutes straight uphill) then round the chakkar and by various routes home, so we reckon we get a couple of hours exercise. This weekend was an extra. It's an hour and a half each way to the top of Witches Hill from where we live. We're more or less at the same level (as you'll see from the first shot on the movie), but we have to drop a thousand feet or so in the middle. I must confess, on the way back, Daulat was just leaving Ridgewood field in the school jeep, and after sweating up past Hansen Field, it was a temptation too far, having a few hundred yards earlier been offered a lift by a couple of people from church who live in Dhobi Ghat. Ah well, it left us the energy to pay a social call on a colleague out of our way home.
Most Sundays we walk around the chakker after church, and at this time of year there's usually great views of the snow peaks. So can you think of a reason why I shouldn't keep making movies of them?
Last Sunday we were walking round the chakkar under cloudless skies, with breathtaking views of the mountains. This week the winter is back, with cold mists. A good day for a log fire at home, and hot chicken stew.
Staff retreat starts tomorrow, so we're making the most of opportunities to get out and get fit(ish). By the way, you're right, I did get a video camera for Christmas - all $100 worth, a mini Kodak. Don't worry, the novelty will wear off.
A public holiday, so a chance to play around with websites and sort out photos. It was a beautiful, warm day, so we took an hour out in the afternoon for our standard afternoon walk - along the Eyebrow path, which passes just above our house, then up past Mount Hermon to the top of the hill. The long version then goes past Char Dukan and down the road to connect with the other end of the Eyebrow. The short version (today) just involves a quick visit to Prakash grocery store and back down the Zig Zag. Enjoy the views.
Yesterday, Saturday, we took a walk into the bazaar. It was the first blue-sky day since we returned to Mussoorie last Sunday, and the first day we have stayed warm for the whole time. I have never seen the streets so clean. We walked through to library bazaar, had chai and parantha, and walked back, with a Norwegian couple we met up with. It was their first time and first day in India, and they appreciated the orientation, food and bed we were able to give them, while we enjoyed the company and saw our home through new eyes once again. Today we went to church - cold, but welcoming - and had lunch at Rokeby. Our guests departed for Renuka dn Chandigarh, and we came home to catch up on our sleep and keep trying to get our bbody clocks back on Indian time.
The first of a few posts about our winter holidays. We spent a week in the US Virgin Islands for our daughter Hannah's wedding. Sitting in cold Mussoorie, huddled in front of a bottle gas fire, it seems more than just a week ago.
