I'll be home for Christmas.

My family was very lucky to have me show up for Christmas this year. The plan began in mid-late October. I got the crazy idea to come home for Christmas! I did some budgeting, and I realized it was possible. Kasey was the only person to be trusted with the secret, and she did a great job. The internet is so bloody slow here that I'll have to post the videos of the surprises at another time! Here's some blasts of Christmas Pasts:

Christmas 2011 in Goa, India with Anwer and Lindsay 

Christmas 2012 in New Delhi, India with Anwer, his brother Jamal, Jenny, Rahul, and friends.

Christmas 2013: Schultz Farm, Silver Lake, MN

 More pictures to come when I get a more stable connection. Some things never change.

Since I've been home, I've been involved in several local outings.

-Attended church at Holy Family in Silver Lake. I got to be an usher for the first time! Nothing to note during the service, but it was after mass when things got suspicious. The priest was thanking us for our service, and then he asked how long I was home for, where I was coming from, etc. He mentioned that my mom had said I was having trouble sleeping/waking up, which was relatively true. He also noted that I gave my mom a heart attack by coming home, which was also true--as the videos will soon show. The strange part was that he hadn't even spoken to my mother yet! But, priests don't lie... So it goes in the small town.

-Visited the local sales barn in Hutchinson to sell some of Dad's hay. We unloaded the hay in frigid winter winds. When we went inside, I saw a nice pair of boots that would be going up for auction the next day. My dad saw a pair of knee pads that he thought would be useful for fixing the barn cleaner. I jokingly said I should put them together so we could get them at the same time. As luck would have it, when we came for the sale the next day, they sold the boots and the knee pads together! We overpaid, and they added tax. Talk about destiny! The more enjoyable part about the whole experience was the interactions with the local sellers and buyers. Gossip doesn't stop at the sales barn that's for sure. Anyway, we didn't strike gold in our hay sales, got ripped in our boots/knee pad combination, but it was a great cultural experience for sure. I can't wait to bring Anwer!

-Went to another hay sale a few days later near the Hollywood Ranch House. Met a guy there who told us a story about his "pony". Now, I've never really liked nor understood horse people. This guy goes on about the horse eating so ****ing much hay. He mentions that the horse bit him. So, he looked the horse straight in the eyes and punched him in the nose... a pony. He punched a pony in the face. This is the problem with those horse people. Crazy. This guy proceeds to talk about the market and hay. His final quote for you in connection with hay going for $6/ bale: "You could get a hooker for that much." Oofta.

-Did a bunch of Christmasy things. We made sugar cookies and frosted them. Jackson licked a lot of spoons of frosting. Played some family games that end in the usual animosity you could expect. Kyle booted up the Nintendo, and I pretended that I wasn't so terrible at Super Mario Bros. As it turns out, I am just as bad as I was back then. I also still move the entire controller when I try to jump over things. Ate a bunch of fudge, poppy seed bread, cheese slices, summer sausage, and other things high in saturated fat. The scale maxed out today, and I think I'll slow down the food shoveling situation.

Merry Christmas to all!

Ooofta!

After an amazing and relaxing quarter break, life has been on overdrive for the past week. Starting on Sunday morning, I left Woodstock at 5:30 AM for a basketball tournament in Dehradun. We returned by noon, and I spent the afternoon at parent/teacher conferences. Then the school week began, and it was like the break never happened!

We recently got some new neighbors at Oakland Getters: three French ladies, and it has increased the social activity as well as the food consumption. Anwer's brother is also visiting. Lindsay spent the weekend at our house. Our other neighbor's sibling and girlfriend are also visiting. Basically, there has been a non-stop party at OG. It's become a sort of co-op. Lots of coming and going, giving and taking, and feasting!

AND it was wedding week. A friend on the hillside was recently married, and it involved a lot of fun and of course, more food!

So much fun, so little sleep, and so many calories.

And then, on Sunday, I ran about 20 km in preparation for the Mussoorie Half Marathon. Too much food, too little running=oofta.


Roof life.



Watching sunsets on the roof with the co-op.



I live here.



Wedding night one: Indian Sangeet--lots of dancing, which was difficult in this elaborate outfit!



Awkward family photo.



The most beautiful bride you will ever see!





never enough sunset photos



Anwer's brother enjoying the photo shoot



Lindsay and friends/students performing at the wedding

 

 

*Major thanks to Dane for so many awesome wedding pics and sunset shots!



Activity Week: Ganga Style

This year I had the privilege of joining the 6th grade activity week to Rishikesh. We had a great time rafting, hiking, and playing in the Ganga River.

Monday: Departure from Woodstock at 9 AM. We drove about three hours to a camp near Rishikesh for some biking. This was a big deal because several of the students had never ridden a bicycle, and the ones that had were a bit wobbly. We had a tasty lunch, and then the kids hopped on bikes. Several gave up quickly because the practice area was really just a grassy field-not ideal for biking. The brave ones headed out for about an hour ride. It was slow, but we had some fun obstacles on the way. We drove through rocky puddles and mini-streams. By the end, several were dirty, and everyone was quite sweaty. We then went to the river and threw some rocks because apparently that's what the kids are into these days.

We then got back in the bus for another hour drive to our real camp where we would be staying for the week.We got settled, played in the stream-one kid immediately lost his glasses, which would be a nice challenge for the duration of the trip.

This is what the inside of my riverside tent looked like.

 Don't be fooled by looks. On the first night, I found a crab in my room. Yes, a crab. I called someone much braver than I to remove the creature. Sick.

The front porch.

Not a bad view eh?

In case there is a fire, no worries. I have two buckets of water, and one bucket of sand to put out the fire.

The view just outside my tent. Rough life.

 Tuesday: We headed out for our first day of rafting. It was really quite fun. We were floating down the Ganga river in our lifejackets and helmets-safety first! The kids LOVED IT. We also had a chance to do some cliff jumping on the way. It was a great experience. The water wasn't too cold, and the weather was fairly warm. It was mostly overcast, luckily.

In the evening we went to a rock face and did some climbing/repelling. I tried to entertain the kids with some games while they waited their turns. We returned back to camp for some stream playing. There was a near drowning situation with two of the thinnest/shortest kids in 6th grade. They kept getting swept down stream, and I would try to grab them to pull them back. One time, two kids at the same time were drifting away, and they almost took me with them. We all lived.

We ate more delicious food and had a campfire at night. I went to sleep around 9:30 every night, and I loved it. Early bedtimes and waking up with the sun was delightful. I found a scorpion in my room and again had to call for back-up to help remove it.

Wednesday:
More rafting. A little less exciting on day two, but the cliff jumping was still fun. Then in the late afternoon we had over an hour of stream time. This time I got in all the mess with the kids, and it was so fun. I really miss being around lakes and water in general while staying in Mussoorie. We had a lot of fun splashing and getting caught in the current.

Thursday:
We went on a big hike up one of the mountains/hills? near camp. It was about 13 kilometers (about 8 miles) round trip and about a 600 meter vertical climb-if that means anything to you... The kids had the choice between a hard hike and an easier hike. There was a few that chose the harder hike, and it was a nice relaxing time. A few groans here and there, but we made it!

The brave and fearless.

At the halfway mark, Leo was not feeling so thrilled about his choice of the long hike.

We reached the top! It was too overcast for a good view.

This sweet old man made us tea and talked about things changing in the village-weather, children, crops.

Visited a school on the way. Cute kids.

Went to a waterfall^ don't mess with the "Divine order of God"

On our way back, we stopped further upstream and played in the water. It was deeper and a little more spacious than the camp stream. The kids then had the idea to float down the stream/walk along the edge back to camp. My initial reaction: no. Next thing you  know I am becoming the rapid tester. My body was hurled against rock after rock as the children came yelling after me. It was amazing, but I don't know if it was the safest or something I would willingly repeat. I kept getting pressured by the kids. A few bruises and scratches later, we were back at camp. Talk about a rush!

Ending the week with a well deserved smore.

Getting Aryaman ready for the talent show: Mr/Ms Bear Camp

Friday: We had a short early morning hike, had some breakfast, and hit the road. Feeling great and glad to be home!

1st quarter: woof.

First quarter is over! I leave for activity week with 6th grade on Monday. We're headed to Rishikesh for rafting, biking, and hiking. I hope there are a lot of campfires and songs. It's going to be great.

Here's what I've been up to:

Basketball tournament in our off-season: champions!

Hanging out with these crazies.

Cross Country Invitational: Inters-2nd place, Seniors-3rd place, Sub-juniors-2nd place, success.

Cross Country party: cookies, waffles, and ice cream

Driving around on the bike with this guy!



That is the world's longest extension cord hanging through the mountains for about 3 miles.

Monkeys continue to suck.

Just yesterday, I was walking innocently up to the gym with three bananas in my hand. I was following a student. As we were about to round the corner to continue our ascent to the gym, the student stopped. I moved around him, only to be faced with a monkey about 2 feet from me. The monkey immediately catches eye of the bananas and begins to display his teeth. I threw the bananas like a crazy person and ran back down the ramp. Unfortunately, there was another student coming from the other side, and I accidentally threw the bananas directly at him. He turned around quickly. We all stood there like idiots while another student coming from the gym came running and was throwing rocks. Then an employee came running out of the senior school with a big stick to save us all.

Monkeys still suck.

The final days of monsoon.

The end of monsoon is like the welcoming of spring in the Midwest. You feel like you should be wearing shorts all the time. Unfortunately, mother nature didn't get the memo this year. We've been getting some cold air coming at us lately, and I'm just not ready for the onset of winter and staying in my bed all day.

Monkeys terrorizing my yard.

Grandma's Sunday towel hanging on Sunday with dishes piled high here, there, and everywhere.

One of the signs of the end of monsoon: brown ferns!

Orange cat on the run

Some of the sights on my walk home from school.



Just some more stairs for my walk home.

The front gate to my humble abode.

Gorgeous view from my front yard.

Buffalo steak! SO GOOD! (that's my empty plate in the background)