New Place

I have a new place. A huge praise....now to figure out where to start and then pack...More when I have the keys...

TCK hanging with TCKs.

I have friends who are leaving this weekend and to help them in their packing, I offered to take their three children for a half day excursion around the city so the kids could take final photos and have a last hurrah about the town, while the parents finished packing.

Not sure about the kids, but I had a great day. It is always interesting to see the city through the eyes of others and looking at their photos and what they wanted to capture gives insight into their thoughts.

We walked around old Patan and through the markets. We stopped to eat momos at a café tucked away in an old styled house. We dodged motorcycles and taxis and crossed busy streets like natives. The kdis were a joy to be with and when I asked if they were interested in going to a coffee shop and hang out they jumped at the chance. So we hopped in a taxi and headed down to Thamel, where were we to meet the folks in the evening and had milkshakes and floats while playing card games and watching wrestling.  We had a grand three hours of being coffee shop couch potatoes before finally meeting up the parents and heading over to a Israeli restaurant for dinner. The funny thing about the restaurant was all the painted pigs used for décor and the black lighting. The food was good, and they even served “Or to the Queen”, which is Nepali version of an Indian dessert called, “ Hello to the Queen.” In the USA we would call it a jumbo size ice cream sundae on top of graham crackers!  

I enjoy doing things like this, but I am definitely ready for a long nap now. 

End of the Year.

All dressed up.

I was so exhausted from the last day of school and all the end of year celebrations that I had to take a break and recover.  There was a Secondary final assembly, a Primary one, and then the End of Year Celebration/Gradution. It was ridiculous!
Here are a couple photos from the day's events!

Seniors

Just glad to have some peace and quiet now for a couple weeks!

The Yatra

The Yatra is done and in the hands of students and staff! And it lives up to it's name, the Journey.
When I first came I asked to see the yearbook so that I could get
to know the students. I was told, much to my horror, that there wasn't one.
So I knew that had to change. Another TCK teacher and I went on a crusade to
get the school to do a yearbook and found a champion. She gathered some students and staff together and after a year of photo taking and asking about the progress, here is the
finished product. And it is all in color! Amazing!
 The yearbook staff did  a fanastic job. I was able to pick mine up at lunch time and took it to my lunch time duty with Grades five and six.The kids were hanging over my shoulder to see it. They kept asking, "can I see it!?" I said, " No, get your own."

Later in the afternoon, the TCk teacher and I celebrated by signing each others book and being happy that we had pestered enough! It was a warm fuzzy!

Last Day of School... Finally!

Tuesday was a long, but fun-filled day!  We started the morning off with assembly, saying goodbye to students and staff.  Then we practiced for the last day assembly and sixth grade graduation.  After all those festivities, it was Sports Day. There were three events: floor hockey, futsal, and high jump.  My house team – Makalu only had five students and one of those had an injured foot. So during the futsal, I actually got to play! That was quite a sight, but we all had fun.  

In the afternoon, I had art class and had the grade six help me with the art of sorting and throwing things away! They were not so happy, but we got a lot done. The fifth graders helped me hang up banners and posters for Wednesday’s final assembly and then it was time for the Sport’s Day assembly. Unfortunately Makalu did not win but they were good sports and enjoyed their piece of candy. This year’s winners were Annapurana. 

In the evening we had our fellowship group. We went to our favorite Korean place and after eating had a time of prayer for those who were leaving.  It is hard for me to say goodbye to friends, but I am working on being better about dealing with it. It is slow going though.

On the way home, I got a number of a place to rent and called when I got home, but they only spoke Nepali, so will need someone from work to call.

So now it is Wednesday … the last day of school.. oh the excitement!

Drowned Rat

Today for lunch I opted to sit outside under one of the tables with an umbrella. About five minutes after that decision I regretted it. As I was sitting there enjoying my buff and daalbhat, it started to rain a bit. the students were running around in it and the recess monitor asked if they should go to the classrooms. We have some huge tents set up in the courtyard at the moment, so I had an idea and said that they could play under the tents until it passed over. So the kids all rushed down under the tents.

And then..... the heavens opened! I mean opened. I think it was just plain buckets being poured down. The drops were so big that at first I thought it was hail. And it just kept coming. The umbrellas at the tables were giving no one any protection and we all climbed up on the tables. Then the wind came and I was drenched in seconds.

The primary principal had showed up about that time under the tents and got all the kids in line, but then we had to figure out how to get them to their classrooms without getting soaked. Recently we have purchased some nice tarps to cover our sandpit and pino pong tables. I ran out into the downpour to get one and brought it back to the tents. We unfolded it and a bunch of teachers and students held it up for the others. It didn't quite stretch the whole way. So the principal yanked one of the table umbrellas out and this allowed all the students to tunnel through without getting soaked. It was quite the adventure!
It took me all afternoon to dry out!

Last Week of School!

Finally.... this has been a long year and there were times that I never thought the end would come. But we are now in final daze countdown.. and yes, the word 'daze' is what I typed. It is still full on... and I have two more art classes on Tuesday. So it is crazy. As I have done exiting interviews and staff evaluations the main thing that keeps coming out is  that there are too many events in this last term... and I would second that!. It's so crazy!..oh wait I said that already. Now even I am confused.

On Wednesday evening we have graduation (all three of them) and a farewell dinner, and then the kids stay for a prom like dance party. I am not staying because I need to be at work the following day for testing and teacher work day.  But I'll be glad when Friday comes and everyone is gone for the summer and I can get some work done!

three days and counting!