Happy Holi!

After a week of grey days the clouds have sunk, leaving me to enjoy t-shirt temperatures. It can still be windy in the hills though so you know what that means; laundry day! After taking care of business, I decided to visit Observatory hill, home of the Mahakal Temple.

I felt very lucky to be on top of the hill, with the sun shining through the giant Cedar trees, the sounds and colours of thousands of flags fluttering and flying in the breeze. It sounds silly but its probably the coolest thing I've done since I got here. Even though Mahakal is a form of Shiva, people of all religions pray here. I think its more of a community thing. Below the temple is a cave thats sacred to local people. I did the usual pray and pay thing, not thinking much of it... But then the Great Mountain God revealed himself to me in all his infinite glory:

Thats right, the monkey is riding the dog, like a king upon his steed. I honestly could have watched this all day. But I had something else to do....

HOLI!

Obviously I didn't take my camera so took this when I got home. Also a white t-shirt was a bad idea.

Glenary's revisited

So I've decided to give Glenary's a second chance on the grounds of it being the only cafe I've found with wifi. Yester-morn I was feeling a little lazy so took my laptop to enjoy some well earned anime time ^_^ I finally finished Heavy Metal L Gaim (robot anime). At 54 episodes its a lengthy body of work and the first 50 are pants. But my persistence paid off as the final 4 episodes were good, still I can't recommend it. Anyway, back to Glenarys... the coffee was horrible but ordering cold coffee after was shame on me. Also the selection of cakes is far superior during the day, which makes sense for a bakery. Today I tried a hot chocolate which was basically the powder chocolate drink we make at home, so nothing special. I think I'll stick to tea. Speaking of which, I've discovered that the shops that sell fancy teas also serve them. Apparently this is well known and with hindsight seems obvious.

Agam Singh Primary

Noticed a lack of teaching related blogging. This is the primary school where I teach. In the mornings the kids clean up before class. They're cute but super naughty. I take classes I, II & IV (which is 5 kids altogether). I'm finding it quite difficult to plan and take 3 lessons at once. The kids need a lot of attention and I can't help but feel the teachers would rather take care of Class III (which has 5 kids alone). Its a shame especially Class IV, who really need help on basic phonics. At the same time there is syllabus I need to try to cover for the summer exams. The children are used to learning by copying notes and so find it hard to do work independently. I feel bad for the Headmistress as she seems to be the only teacher who turns up every day on time. Still I can't blame the teachers, there's only 2 of them and they have to teach all the subjects. Plus their own command of the English language isn't good and its not their fault.

Thursday Night at Glenary's

Sourav + Whisky = Shaky camera hand

Actually I've come to realise my camera has a bit more weight than the average DSLR

The infamous Glenary's

So I visited Glenary's for the first time today. Glenary's is a Tea & Cake shop whose name you can't escape when researching Darjeeling. Suffice to say I've ordered a cup of their finest brew and a slice of chocolate cake. Unfortunately I can only give it a 'standard' rating. The only thing special is the views of the hillside from the huge bay windows, but to be fair this is Darjeeling and amazing views meet me around every corner. The upside is that it has an excellent Internet connection (although the wireless is down ¬_¬)  from which I am currently reporting my disappointment. Still I can't complain; tea, cake & 1 hour of internet for a pound!

To my surprise there are very few good tea shops around. There are many shops from which various tea leaves can be bought, and they will be, but I have yet to find somewhere I can choose and taste a tea of my choice. And India in general has been pants for cakes. Perhaps Mr. William Curly has spoiled my taste buds... maybe I'll miss England sooner than I thought

Superhero Academy!

Today was also my first day at the boy's orphanage. It was super awkward but I soon found out they all love superheroes so tomorrow I'm thinking of buying a load of comic books... thanks donation money $_$ actually I already splashed on some folders, pencils, colouring pens etc... for my school kids.

Teach teach teach....

I took my first class today. The kids are so fun and their personalities are really different. I actually can't wait to see them tomorrow.

Good Morning

I arrived yesterday afternoon. From Bagdogra Airport it was a two and a half hour drive along the twists and turns of the pothole filled mountain roads to Rewang House, home of Major P Wangdi and his wife Neema. The hostel is clean and the food's been good so I can't complain. Major seems nice but also quite strict, especially with time keeping; which as everyone knows is not my forte. I got up 6 this morning, so I'm doing well so far, and was rewarded with an amazing sun rise view from my room. We'll see how long I can keep it up...

Danielle C;

I just got from my unadventures at the Sundarban Tiger Camp. even though I didn't really see any animals I did find an English teacher on board the 'launch' to give me loads of top teaching tips. as you can see the kids love her ^_^

There are at least 7 species of Kingfisher native to the Sundarban, I saw none

I just booked my plane tickets through Kingfisher Airlines, which is like an Indian copy of Virgin's 90's image, red uniforms and all. Surprisingly it was cheaper than ridiculously named low cost airline; 'Spice-Jet'. I can't help but feel I've dodged a bullet.