The rains have started! Soon it will be monsoon season, joy of joys, and I haven't been through a monsoon since Pakistan so I may not be as cheery and light-hearted. I am planning to pretend that I'm in a sailing vessel that's just constantly rounding the Horn so that might cheer me a bit. One of my strongest monsoon memories is waiting for the school bus at a friend's house and the road had turned into a river. I had decided to take a large turtle shaped cushion to school because my teacher, the Magnificent Jane Sandquist, loved turtles. This decision was not smart as no umbrella could keep anything dry and the cushion just kept getting heavier and heavier. I can't safely say that the bus was late. It felt like it was but it would have felt like it was late even if it was actually early. I'm not planning on taking any large cushions to class so hopefully I won't have any similar experiences here. I'll probably still get soaked through several times though.

Fortunately, since I started this blog about a week ago the weather has occasionally improved though we did have rain and hail the day before yesterday and it's sunny now. I think Alexander (brother) must be sending Melbourne weather though as yesterday it could never make up its mind if it wanted to be rainy, sunny, hot or cold. Just because he has to suffer through it doesn't mean I do!

The whirl of gaiety has been continuing with another staff farewell and two more baby showers. You'll be so proud that I ate everything at all three functions! But I did bring a bottle of water with me in case of chili coughing attacks. I also tried the drink I was given whose name I can't remember but it was a home brew concoction made of millet. It was quite strong so I'm afraid I didn't drink too much of it. It was a pretty successful evening though, as I managed to get engaged twice. A lady said that I was too pretty not to be married (Aw, shucks) and so first she said that I must marry one of the bachelor teachers and told the nearest one available that we should get married (fortunately he got the joke) but then she said that I should marry her brother instead who is apparently tall and handsome. So two fiances in one night, not too bad! 

I've also been on another hike but on this one there were people who knew exactly where we were going so it turned out fine. One of the former teachers is running for a national council position and wanted to go to a local temple to pray for a good outcome (the elections are this month). We were able to drive about half-way but it was walking after that. Walking on steep, muddy ground. The father-in-law of the candidate very kindly made me a walking stick. I would have been covered with mud by the end of the day without it as my balance is not as good as the mountain goats I went with (the mountain goats being two other teachers from Bjishong and the aforementioned candidate and his father-in-law). I still got short of breath much quicker than the others but my exercises must be doing something as my muscles were not screaming in agony despite the steep ascent. Sadly, one of the teachers must not do any stretches as he was still in pain a few days later.

The view was absolutely wonderful and we saw three eagles, though they may have been buzzards, circling overhead close to the top where the temple was. No crag fast sheep though (see Winter Holiday). Naturally the pictures I took do not do any of the scenes justice. If only mom would visit! Then you'd get a much better idea.

The Mountain Goats.  Unlike me, they never fell down on the uneven terrain

Look, my school! It looks so tiny!

A cloudy view plus a prayer flag

Behold, the Himalayas!

You may remember in an early blog that I was determined not to pet or name any of the local dogs. Well, I lasted longer than I thought I would! I've named two and a half. The half is a blond dog who looks very much like a dingo, so I call him 'Dingo.' Not terribly original. One dog I call 'Not Bess' because at first I thought 'Bess' would be a good name as this dog came and said hello to me as I was listening to music on my veranda and 'Bess, You is my Woman Now' was playing. Sadly, I later realised that Bess was not an appropriate name as the dog was not female so I just started calling it Not Bess. Some of you will be wondering why I didn't just call him 'Porgy' and I wonder that a bit too.

The most properly named dog is the one who has adopted me. It's really Sarah Shmidt's fault. She's the one who initially fed him and was nice to him and he didn't seem to notice that I wasn't her. I tend to give him a few biscuits each day which he seems to appreciate though he is very good at finding leftovers after the students' meals. He also tends to sleep outside my house (I'm afraid he's not allowed in. I'm terrified of fleas) which I like because he can guard the house from bears and wolves. I've been listening to quite a bit of Laura Ingalls Wilder recently. Since he guards my house, or I pretend he is, he had to be named after a famous guard. I asked Divvy (another brother) and he suggested 'Argus' who was the 1000 eyed guard from Greek mythology. That seemed to suit very well, even though he only has two eyes, so now I have Argus who is very friendly and sometimes follows me into class much to the students' delight. He almost knows his name and has a very healthy voice which he, along with all the other dogs, enjoys showing off at about ten at night. I don't think he'd play nicely with T'eo, Padraig or Eve though. 

Argus minus 998 eyes.

 

I promise to write soon about the Rimdo which has just taken place. It involves fire and the Wolf's theme from Peter and the Wolf.

Hugs to All!