Rimpoche comes to Lamdon

9/27
Rimpoche
Today His Holiness the Rimpoche of some regions/Gompa came to the school, and this was a BIG deal. Last night the school was cleaned and decorated and they even took furniture and carpets from our house to use for the stages.

This morning Yanchan dressed me up in Dorjay's Goncha + skeratz- traditional Ladakhi clothes and belt with a marigold pinned on for the event (see picture). All of the other teachers were also dressed in their best Ladakhi,or Tibetan clothes and I was a big hit with staff and students.

Before 10 ALL the 1200 (K-12) students were either seated on the ground I'm front of the stage or lining both sides of the long driveway leading to campus from the main gate. They sat like this for almost an hour until the Rimpoche's car finally drove up the road to the stage. He ( in maroon monks robes and a long pony tail) emerged from the car and made his way down the gauntlet of staff and students with (Khatas-silk scarves) to his chair on the stage. A few speeches were made and them he spoke in Tibetan (translated into Ladakhi and then my friend Dorjay(another one) translated into English for me). He spoke for over an hour as the sun rose and high and began to bake us all. His message was simple and a good one: academic education is important but so is moral, ethical and cultural education and it is important to be a good person ( for now, the next lives and for society). He used examples of Doctors who are not honest and treat their patients in a way that requires them to keep returning for more appointments.
As far as I could tell their was no actual mention of any gods.

The speech was then followed by a long prayer. Now the students had been sitting for almost 2.5 hrs and the younger ones were pretty restless!

The Rimpoche, principal and his contingent then proceeded upstairs in the new science building to the library. The staff were all invited inside and we sat on the floor, we're served tea and treats and he spoke to us (in English) for another 20- 30 min (students still out in the grounds). The message this time: sometimes students need to be disciplined or corrected, but it should always be done with love and compassion.

The the staff all lined up and received a blessing (tap on the head with some special object) and a red good luck string that he had blessed. I decided it couldn't hurt and a
So got blessed.

We then all went back out, the students lined up and he proceeded to walk out to his car and left. Sweet treats were handed out to the students, Principal announced that classes would not begin until after lunch. Some teachers and a few students then proceeded to entertain the rest of us with singing and reciting poetry! I was very surprised to see my young friend Munguel, the physics teacher, get up to sing and to hear the cheering from students and staff- turns out he is actually a local Ladakhi pop star and an excellent singer! He tells me he has a number of CDs and will give me one. I also am hopeful I will get to see one of his "stage shows" before I leave.

Other than the Katarina and myself there was one other Westerner at the event. A tall distinguished older gentleman was sitting in the VIP section. He is a longtime German sponsor of the school named Edward Roof, staying with the principal. Turns out he had run a trekking company in Nepal and was the first Westerner to enter Ladakh in 1975 when it was opened to Westerners. He has done many treks in the area and was the first rafting expedition down the Zanskar River. He was fun to talk to and shared numerous interesting stories.


After school I hiked/ran on a trail high up the ridge behind the school to a site with a great view of the valley and many prayer flags. Was good to work off some energy- I haven't done much like that in awhile. The best part was I finally saw a falcon. Two (maybe the same one twice) small grey falcon(s) flew right over my head near the top of the ridge. Not positive, but I think it may have been a Eurasian Hobby. Maybe the blessing and string are good luck. At the top the sun dipped behind the mountains to the West. Had to rush down, skipping a lot of the switchbacks, to be sure I made it back before dark.


Indian TV Tidbit: On the Kashmiri news station they show little inset scenes of Kashmir scenery and activities about every 5 min. One scene that shows repeatedly, after a scene of a snowball fight, is somebody skating on Nordic skis.....?

9/26
Shopping in Ladakh
Went to town with Dorjay , Yangchan and Sumal for shopping and dinner at Andu's(Dorjay's brother) restaurant (fried momo (khote and thukpa)- jimpo). Actually, Yangchan went to beauty salon to get ready for "His Holiness" tomorrow and I got a lesson in shopping

Rule number 1: buy from Ladakhis not Kashmiris ( the majority of the shops). Kashmiris are sheisters.

Rule number 2: bargain and start at half the price.

Rule number 3: keep checking a bunch of shops because their is going to be a cheaper price somewhere.

Rule number 4: shop with the Kashmiris that are still here at the end of September, because they want to get the hell out of Leh before winter hits and need to get rid of inventory.

Unfortunately I couldn't understand what Dorjay said to the shopkeepers, but it was a lot and it was fast and it worked.

Every shopkeeper says: "For you, a good price!"
Then they pull out their calculator and punch in a bunch of numbers and show you a price- not sure what they are punching in but it is more than just the numbers and it seems to be always about the same. And as they show it they say " Best price, locals price" and the you keep bargaining.

So, I ended up with some really good deals on a few gifts a few items I need. A spare battery for my camera (realized one won't work for a month of trekking in Nepal when I can't count on charging it every few days) for Rs 750 ($13), which I had seen before for 950. Also a pair of fake fleece lined Mammut pants for the climb for  Rs1600 ($29) which I had looked at previously for 3900!

Pangong Lake 9/22-23

I have been informed that when I copy and paste from the iPad word processor to the blog that the formatting seems to disappear and it is difficult to read. I apologize and am afraid that I can't do much about it. It would be better if I could sit and compose directly onto the blog, but because of the need to post in a slow Internet cafe I need to compose when not connected. I have also been trying to include some pictures but they also,don't seem to copy and paste the way I compose  them and only 1 or 2 actually copy with the text. That's Internet and computers in a 3rd world. Not only Internet- electricity as well. When I arrived home this afternoon there was no electricity thus no hot water = no hot shower. Finally got a shower just before dinner, but now the electricity went out again and I am writing this in the dark.

The trip started Saturday morning in typical Indian fashion. I was supposed to be picked up at 8 and we eventually left Leh around 9:30. I shared the taxi with two 30 yr old Thai women from Bangkok who work in advertising and are on vacation in India. They didn't speak a lot of English and were mostly plugged into their iPods for each of the 6 hr trips (to and from). It was another typical Ladakh road trip with beautiful scenery, high mountain pass (17,586' Chang La pass- 3rd highest), terrible switchbacky, potholed roads, impressive old monasteries and a bit of wildlife. Saw a few birds on the way up: white wagtails and a few flocks of francolins (kind of grouse). I kept entertained watching the scenery and trying to get pictures of the crazy road signs. The BRO(Border Region Organization- army road builders) puts yellow Burma Shave type signs ( all on one sign though) with safety messages about every half kilometer ( not sure how safe they are since they are often in windy areas and I imagine drivers would be distracted reading them). Last year we liked the one that said "driving risky after whiskey", but on these roads they were even better. Some are normal road warnings: go slow, dangerous curve, speed kills, but others are somewhat entertaining rhymes (speed and safety never better, peep peep don't sleep), some slightly suggestive(I am curvaceous go slow, be soft on my curves) and others that make absolutely no sense(don't become gamma in the land of lama, got brakes got license, be Mr late not late Mr.), some serious(if you sleep your family will weep) or my favorite(drive like hell and you will be there). I tried to take pictures but it is difficult when moving. I think it would be a fun project to ride a motorcycle and document them all in a book. (guess it was too good of an idea, today I found a book called, "peep peep don't sleep" and it is exactly what I was thinking!)

After we passed over the pass we entered the high pasture plateaus ( with beautiful clear mountain streams and towering snow covered peaks) of the Chang Pa nomadic tribes and their herds of yaks, cows, sheep, horses and pashmina goats (cashmere wool- it only comes from the under the chin area).  As we passed through the end of this plateau before dropping down to Pangong Lake, we came across 2 small herds of healthy, tawny colored wild asses grazing.

We eventually reached Pangong Lake around 3 PM  and had lunch in one of the numerous tent restaurants at the beginning of the lake enforce heading 10 km to the small Chang Pa village of Spangmik on the south shore of the lake. The lake is  beautiful clear, deep blue (VERY deep- unknown...?) long (130 km), narrow (4 miles), at 13,915'. It runs east-west and about 30 % of it is in India. The rest in Tibet (China). It is surrounding by ridges steep ridges and many 5-6000 meter peaks. Other than Indian army presence there are only 3 small villages on the south shore in the Indian portion. The villages are mostly composed of formerly nomadic tribes who still have some goat herds but now mostly run small guesthouses. In addition to the small guest noises there are now a few larger "luxury resorts". Other than a couple of small army patrol launches there are no boats. The lake is slightly saline and I was told there are no fish because of the salt. I tasted it and it was not very salty, but I also saw no signs of any fish (Yangchan told me she did see some small dead fish on the shore when they went 5 years ago.....?)

We arrived at Spamgmik at about 3:30 and drove to the Wonderland Eco tent resort where my car mates had reserved a "luxury" 2 person wall tent with private bath and 3 meals for Rs 3500. I got a small room with a cot, one solar powered  light bulb and beautiful view of the lake for 200 ( and my meals with a beer cost about 400). Interesting observation: the euro and American/Canadian tourists tend towards the cheap 100-200 Rs rooms while it seems to be Indian tourists and Asians spending 10-20 x that. Someone told me that in Leh the guesthouses charge euros and Americans  200 for a room that they charge 500 to Indians, and that the Indians would not stay if they only paid 200.

After settling in I went for a walk along the shore for a couple hours in the brisk cold wind. Saw a pair of Ruddy Shelducks (brahmini duck) and a bar-headed goose, a few gulls and lots of other small nondescript LGBs. I was surprised not to see any shorebirds, and I am so far really disappointed that I have not seen a single raptor....?

On my walk back I ran into a group of about 8 other euro/NA (actually Canada, Italy Germany, Austria, UK and south African who had arrived on the bus  together and decided to share rooms Ina small guesthouse. We gathered a few others ( an Israeli couple on a motorcycle and a french student) and spent the evening in a small guest house, eating and drinking chai and beer and having great discussion about politics, literature,etc. My first real entry into the camaraderie of the Asian backpackers society- great fun.

Woke up before sunrise and climbed the ridge high above the village to watch the sunrise over Tibet and watch the villagers bring the goats and yaks up,to pasture (actually,almost nothing growing).  Flushed a couple of flocks of francolins and a tall long eared rabbit (Himalayan rabbit?). It was quite spectacular watching the colors of the lake change as the light from the sun hit it at increasing angles.

Left at mid morning and had a mostly uneventful return trip. The two cools things were the colony of marmots ( of course with Indian tourists petting and  feeding them chocolates next to the sign saying don't feed the wild animals), an date best being the herd of 12 wild Ibex that ran across the road in front of us!

Tomorrow, I will have  been gone for 3 weeks- seems a lot longer than that!
9/24
External Assessments continue  for classes 9 and 10 and today I filled in as needed. In 11 Arts I taught a lesson ( made up) on the US election and our government and comparing to the Indian parliament. Think I got it mostly right- sure would be nice to have an in class Internet source to look up and double check facts and  numbers. When I taught the 12th class ( a small very rowdy group) I taught them about "senioritis" as well as US politics ( and was told by some teachers later that this group has had it for 2 years)

With the assessments going on I have noticed the similarities in terminology between here and "IB speak" ( not the same number of acronyms here) and I am at least familiar with much of the terminology including: mark schemes, external assessments, and even the role of the creepy sounding Invigilator (always sounds to me like a torturer during the inquisition- look it up or ask an IB student).

Today I realized another difference between the US and here. When you mistakenly touch under a desk table or chair here there is no dried up gum!

9/25
Internet access at the school finally!
Had no classes this AM and have spent the time backing things up and working on reservations at hotels for the rest of the trip.

9/18 con't.

At about 5 this evening I showed,up at the girl's hostel, was served a cup of tea and went up to the study room: a large open room completely covered with small squares of carpet and about 20 girls I'm grades 2-5 playing and doing gymnastics. I sat and drank tea for a little while and then pulled out the iPad to show them a picture of Emily doing gymnastics. For the next hour, I had 20 little Ladakhi girls crowded around me watching the slide show of all my slides (mostly family and the pictures I have taken here) with music from the iPad  over and over  and asking who everyone was. As new kids showed up the veterans would take over the narration and answer questions for me. At 6 a gong was struck outside and the room was filled with maybe a hundred noisy girls grades 3-8 (apparently the older girls can study in their rooms or other places in the hostel). A few older students and the "Warden" came in and yelled at them and they all quieted down and began studying either by themselves or in small groups( as long as the monitors were present, when they would leave things became a bit less controlled). Two young girls adopted me and one of them (from Pangong Lake) started reading/ telling me the stories in her English book. I stayed until about 7 and walked home in the dusk (before the dog packs formed. Some of the girl's showed me their room which consisted of 4 sets of bunk beds and little else. They all seemed relatively happy and well cared for, but obviously enjoyed having a friendly adult to spend time with. I didn't spend anytime helping the HS kids with HW but it was an enjoyable time. I will probably go back Thursday at 6 and will let the older girls know about it in advance.
9/19- 2 weeks in Leh
A clear cold morning ( my liquid crystal postcard thermometer says 55-60 in my room) and I slept a little later (almost 7:30!). Instant coffee, chapatti and an omelette for breakfast. I have spent the morning looking at maps and reading the Essential Guide to Ladakh trying to plan the trips I hope to take while here. Saturday I am going to Pangong Lake- a long narrow salt lake on the Chinese border. I will stay somewhere near the lake and return Sunday. I am going with the same company (Snowfield) that I rode the pass with on Sunday and hopefully they will find other to share the jeep with.
Then I am planning a 3 day trip to the Nubra Valley  over the other side of Khardung La pass near the Pakistan border and some unusual ecosystems, including a desert with Bactrian (2 hump) camels. I will plan this on the second weekend in Oct ( the 2nd weekend of the month there is no school on Saturday) 12-14. Finally, if the weather holds up and I can find others to share the trip I am thinking about taking 4-5 days before I leave at the end of Oct to try and climb Stok Kangri (a nontechnical 6123 m climb south of Leh). Hopefully this will all work out.

This week, instead of eating alone(free) in the girl's hostel I started buying lunch (rice, dal, vege) at the canteen for Rs 20 (40 cents) and eating outside with the other teachers. Very much more social and fun and feeling more and more like part of the place each day.

I understand a little more about the testing schedule for the next 2 weeks. Turns out because of the schedule my schedule will be quite easy and allow me to do some traveling without being missed much. For the SA (exams) the 9 and 10 students will have no classes for 2 weeks. They have 2days to study and then starting tomorrow will
Take one 2-3 hr subject test/day with no classes the rest of the day and a day off in between each test (to study). During this time it looks like I will only be teaching 2 different  11th grade classes in chem and bio but only Wednesday through Saturdays. And, on many Saturday's I won't have any class because it is a half day and sometimes it is the morning classes, sometimes the afternoon (and as far as I can figure out it isn't as simple as just rotating them). This will give me most weekends and actually Saturday through Monday to explore and travel, so I am think of now trying to climb Stok Kangri next weekend as it is a 4 day trek.

I am enjoying teaching the 11 grade chem classes and I think the students are enjoying a different approach to learning- and hopefully starting to UNDERSTAND the material. They seem to enjoy being able to interact and even to have me ask them questions. I have been trying to use a lot of common analogies to explain concepts something they do not experience much and I think it helps. Today after a  class discussion on polar molecules 4 students stopped me in the courtyard to ask for a further explanation. It was fun interacting with them. And drawing diagrams in the dirt. I think it worked.

I discovered why the promised Wifi connection at school has not happened yet- they forgot to pay the Internet bill!

I was planning to run into the hills a little bit after school today, but instead I think I will go to town to talk to Sunny about the Stok Kangri climb and see if I can find a place to buy the futbols that Will and Ian want to donate to the school. I'm not sure I believe it but was told that you,can buy a futbol for Rs 20 (actually,450- still less than $8).

Evening: nice leisurely walk home from town. Instead of the road I decided to meander along the winding paths that go everywhere. A very pleasant walk in cool fall air with young boys bringing cows home and people out in their fields harvesting the barley. One nice thing about walking around Leh is that it is hard to get lost since once you are out of town the scenery is wide open and there are so many landmarks towering over you. Getting of the main market roads in town is a different story as you wind through tiny shop lined walkways about 15 ft wide and towering 2-3 stories overhead. Today I wandered through the barber section and the onto the butchers, among others.

I will be picked up at 8 AM Saturday to head to Pangong Tso. So far they have found 2 others to share the trip ( and cost), and hopefully will find a couple more by Saturday. It's looking like Katarina (young German volunteer in the KG) and I will try to do Stok Kangri next weekend (Sat-Tues) and try to find more people to,bring the costs down. It's kind of hard for me to not justify spending 2 months here and not taking the opportunity to summit a 6000 m peak, especially if it is relatively inexpensive, not difficult and I don't need to,carry my stuff!

Today I took some photos of some of the antique lab equipment in the physics lab, because it looks so similar to the shelves of ancient physics apparatus that were in the science storeroom at RHS until this spring when Chip cleaned it all out- not sure what happened to it- should have sent it here!

9/20
Not much to report. I think this is a good sign that life is becoming routine andmI am settling in. Classes run smoothly, lunch is more fun as teachers open up more and ask questions, tell stories and jokes. Tomorrow I may ask some of the younger guys if they will let me take them out for a beer after work some day.
One funny little story: after work as a bunch of us were leaving I was asked where I was  going and told them to run. The response: "really?" yes, "really?", yes, "no, really". This exchange went on five times. Finally I said that when I get home I will compete in skiing and want to stay in shape. They seemed to accept that, but it is obvious the idea of exercise for fun is pretty foreign and was made even clearer when I got home and told Yangchan and Dorjay what I was doing. No real questions, just a look that clearly said "crazy damn Americans"  and a shake of the head.
It was a wonderful evening run- the first since the 10k, I think and I am pretty sure I could have easily taken 10 min off my time now. Ran up ( yes actually can now run slowly up) to the Nubra Valley (Khardung La) Road, then back along the 10k route to the back of the Leh Monastery, up to the top of the Monastery then down the stairway trail and up the road to home and a warm shower (first in 3 days).
Tomorrow I have no morning classes so I plan to go town for real coffee and breakfast and try to post this and collect email- it's been a few days and still no Internet at school.

9/21
Last night and this morning Yangchan has been telling me a lot about Bhuddism the various holy-men (Rimpoche) in the region. Apparently, one of them is coming to school on Wednesday or Thursday, so I guess there will be no classes that day. She also told me about her favorite Rimpoche who lives at a monastery in Sabu and says they will take me to meet him soon. I've been doing a lot of reading in The Essential Guide to Ladakh about the history of the area (many wars and changes and melding of religions between Buddhists, Muslims  and Hindus, depending on who was ruling). There is also stood section describing the various local,sects of Buddhists and their various deities. A bit complicated to follow, but I now have a slightly better idea of how things work. I now know that the Dalai Lama heads the Galug Pa order and that Yangchan and Dorjay "belong" to,the Nyingma Pa, but that they still revere and consider the DL their real spiritual leader.

I was going to do some laundry this morning so I have some clean clothes for the trip to Pangong Lake and next week. I was going to,do it by hand but of course Yangchan insisted on using the washing machine once the power came on. I said OK, but insisted she let me hang them up. I am waiting around to be sure that happens.

Another lesson in flexibility this morning: walked into town to have coffee and breakfast get money, get Internet, check on tomorrow's trip. When I arrived in town (around 10) the streets were deserted ( except for a lot of cops with automatic weapons) and all the shops and restaurants closed tight ( except Chemists). The ATM was working ( not always) so I got some cash and wandered around the empty streets until someone finally told me that everything is closed until 2 for a political protest against the recent doubling in cost of propane. Will go back after school at 4.

Another interesting school fact: many of the non-boarding students come in from nearby surrounding villages on buses. the school has some of it's own yellow school buses but not enough and many of the students arrive in huge green army and police transports (same for many of the other schools in town). Also, It seems all of the bus drivers are either police or soldiers. I assume because of the huge military presence (Pakistan and China borders are right close) there are lots of soldiers and equipment with not a lot to do and driving school buses is used for training and to keep the soldiers busy.

I think this blog is starting to ramble a bit, but hopefully the collection of random vignettes gives a reasonable idea of daily life here.

This morning somebody brought tea and biscuits for all the teachers. I asked why and was told that one of the girl students had fallen off of one of the high rock walls on the school ground, become partially paralyzed and went to hospital in Delhi- she has recovered and just returned. The tea is from the family thanking the staff for the assistance they had given. As I have  walked around the schools I have been very aware of the high rock walls, steep rock stairs, high open windows with kids leaning out, unsupervised children in the yards and wondering how often there are accidents  and thinking how sheltered we keep our children in the US! After writing this,as I walked to town I realized what I left out as far as something you would never see in the good ole USA:  kids standing in the open doors of moving school buses!

Eshey showed me a report by an NGO this morning that is mapping all of the schools in Ladakh. Not really sure why, but there are 377 of them- mostly small elementary schools in remote areas with 10-20 kids and 2-3 teachers. He also told me that currently the auditorium is filled with books that came in from Delhi and are being sorted out to be sent to these rural schools so that have small libraries.

Won't be posting this or sending or receiving email  until Sunday evening at the earliest- went to town after schools and the shops were open but Internet down. I leave from Pangong Lake early tomorrow morning and won't have phone or Internet until I get back Sunday evening.

9/16 Khardong La, 18,380'/5,602 m
Today I soared (ok, rode in a car) to the highest I have ever been(outside an airplane) to the top of the highest drivable pass in the world. Great weather, Amazing scenery and giant mountains and the biggest glacier outside of the polar regions.  And a bit of a test to see how I would do at that altitude. I felt totally fine, a little lightheaded for a bit but that disappeared quickly. Granted we only stayed there for about 30 min before descending on the bikes, but still a good omen for the passes I will have to trek in Nepal

in November. Also, makes me think more about climbing StokKangri before I leave.
Back to the inauspicious start to a great day though. I went to the guide office at 9:30 as instructed, and not surprisingly, it was not open yet. Waited around for 20 min and a girl came running up to tell me that they were on the way.about 10:15 Sunny shows up- he was at a wedding last night and overslept. Turns out the actual bike company is the plAce up the road and now I'm supposed to go there and get fitted for a bike and helmet in 30 min and we will leave at 11 (instead of 10). Found a cup of coffee(real) and met a young Indian recent grad of Waterloo in mechanical engineering who nowmhasmcome back to India to learn to become a climbing guide. Show up at the bike place on time and get fitted ( some low,end hard-tail trek with caliper brakes and not great front shocks- oh well. I meet the 4 recently arrived Welsh college lads who will be my partners. The bikes re tied on top of the SUV, with one spare and off we go, 39 km to the top of the drivable world- a 2 hour drive on winding potholed switchbacks. The first 24 km is paved and a reasonable road. At 24k our permits are checked at an army post and the last 15 is a narrow  rutted dirt road with trucks, buses and motorcycles ( I quickly decided that my idea to rent and Endfield for a trip was probably not a good one). As we approached the summit the temp dropped and some of the dripping water on the road cuts was still frozen. At the summit there is a museum (mostly about wars with China and Pakistan over the years) a Gompa with Dalai Lama speeches being broadcast and tons of prayer flags. Also, a small restaurant (highest in the world, of course) where we had some tea and biscuits. Took lots of pictures and bundled up before heading down. The top was a bit of a rough go and I really wished I had my nice full suspension 29er, but actually not terrible. In fact for most of the 15 k down to asphalt we were passing back and forth with the cars. We quickly spread out and I,was mostly with two of the faster youngsters. Lots of stops for pictures of course and stripping down of clothes as we descended. Felt a little less awesome when we passed 2 local guys on their way UP- maybe next time. When we hit the pavement I somehow left the 4 in the dirt and made it down in about 1.5 hrs. Actually the road passed my house so,I stopped off, dropped of most of my gear ( so I wouldn't have to carry it back up the hill to home later) and still beat the young bucks down by quite a bit. Turned in the bikes and headed off for a pizza at Pizza da Hut. Got home and found that the power had been out all day (still is, and I am writing this in the dark now) today, but luckily there was still enough hot water left over from this morning for a shower. Fun Day! And back to school tomorrow to find out what the mystery schedule will be and what I will be teaching!

Had a very nice dinner with the family. They started to teach me some Ladakhi. I learned 3 words
Chu. Water
Jimpo. Delicious
Demo. Beautiful
And they would have kept on but I had to make them stop so I could remember them. More words tomorrow.
Tomorrow for my birthday we will have momo's and Yangchan will teach me to make them.

Tonight I was going over the bio and chem curriculum that the teachers gave me on Friday and was having a difficult time figuring out why they had covered so little material if the school year and exams are in November. Something finally dawned on me and I have begun to figure out what is going on here (verified at dinner by Yangchan). I also couldn't figure out why all of the science teachers were brand new. It turns out the science curriculum in 10 and 11 just started when the science building was opened 3 months ago,and that's when they hired the science teachers! It also explains the odd schedule where the 11th classes meet twice a day sometimes- trying to catch up. The reason the 10 class doesn't do this is that there final is not until school starts again in March (why?) and they will be studying in special classes over winter break. Yangchan also told me that many of the students in those classes just transferred from other schools when the science curriculum started. Suddenly things start to make sense- why couldn't someone have simply explained this 11 days ago?


9/17:  59 today (me)- glad I did the ride yesterday. Today there is snow way down on the peaks all day and the peaks are in thick clouds.

The other day I inadvertently selected a SIM application on my phone that somehow costs me .1 R every so often. Today I asked one of the teachers how to turn it off and they gave me a Customer Service # for Airtel which I have been calling all day and get the same recording " the lines are busy please call back later". I wonder, if I ever do get through to a call center will it be an American in the US?

This is morning after the 7th grade skit on BMI at the school assembly one of the Hindi or Bhodi teachers got up and gave a talk about behavior (in Bhodi) and at the end called up 3 male students (who I later learned are THE troublemakers in the school). They stood on the top of the wall in front of the assembly. I was worried they were going to be beaten or something, but then everyone was excused and left. I'm not certain if they were made to stay there or also left. Speaking of assemblies, I guess I will be part of a,skit on Thursday. I was asked by 2- 8th grade girls to be one of the judges in the skit on the Miss Universe pageant and to come up with 3 qUestions for the contestants and to give them to them tomorrow. I had some time and submitted them to their teacher today ( she liked them). They are:
1: what do you think is the biggest problem in the world today and how would you fix it?
2: if you could change anything about yourself what is it?
3: what is the most important thing you have done in your life?
Not sure what they will do with it.....
Everytime I think I am figuring out the school there is a new little wrinkle: c'est la vie!
I was correct about the new science classes and did work out what I will be teaching for 8 periods of the week in the 11th grade physics and bio classes. Unfortunately evolution and ecology are not in the 11th grade syllabus, so I will teach respiration and movement chapters. Not positive when they do get those topics (12th?)  but certainly hope it is sometime since there is no UNDERSTANDING biology if you don't understand evolution ! Guess it's no worse than the millions of Americans don't get it either because their teachers either  don't understand it or don't believe it.
Anyway, I wanted to get a copy of the chapter the students use so I know what's they are supposed to know for their exams. Of course there are no extra copies of the text and the school copy machine does not work ( luckily the one working printer was able to print the electronic files I brought for doing Gas Laws in chemistry!) so I borrowed a book and went to a photostat(copy) store in town in the market and copied the chapters. While I was there I stopped at an Internet cafe to get some extra information on hemoglobin structure and acclimation to altitude so I could make the unit a bit more relevant. Since it was lunchtime I grabbed a small pizza and strudel to go from one of the many "German Bakeries" in town.
This morning I had been assigned an "arrangement" to teach games 6th period ( explanation: there are no subs, when a teacher is gone special " arrangements" are made and another teacher covers- no extra pay). When I arrived at the class Munguel was still teaching a physics lesson on induced current to the 10th graders ( more on the teaching in a minute). I waited outside the class for about 20 min ( since, again there were no balls or plans and I figured they might as well be doing physics) and then went it and told him if he wanted to continue I'd hang out and listen. Interesting class to watch and I don't think he'd get any bonuses for student involvement or asking probing and interesting question..... Since in this class there were no mathematical derivations it was merely lecture and diagrams of circuits to copy. He would spend a long time drawing a detailed circuit ( which the students copied- or at least the ones who weren't sleeping in the back by me) and then would read notes to copy out of the text. He would dictate phrases of notes  and repeat the phrase 2-3 times, including saying "full stop" at the end of a sentence! and the students would copy. After class I asked him about continuing on and whether he did not have another class. Turns out he did and had made arrangements with the games teacher yesterday to take the class ( but nobody had told the vice principal). He had also instructed his 11th grade students to just continue with their work. This does not seem to be a problem and it often seems that teachers ignore the bells and continue into other teacher's time. It also turns out that the reason he is continuing on is that this class has exams starting on Thursday and they have not completed the syllabus. It also turns out that he will be teaching this class physics all day tomorrow (snore)! And I will have arrangements for his 4- 11th grade classes.
When the bell finally rang at 4, it was amazing to watch the migration of teachers and staff off the campus. Within 10 minutes they were all gone and the classrooms were all padlocked! Also, assembly starts at 10AM and there is no point in showing up before 9:45 because there are no staff at school or rooms open before this.

Have to try Airtel (later: actually never got through but figured out how to shut off the services from my phone finally) again now and then see if it is time to start cooking momos!

9/18- Happy New Years
It was a nice treat to speak with Emily, Josh and Shannon this morning and hear news about them. This whole time thing is kind of weird- it is still my birthday in the US but here we are on to the next day already.



My small birthday party was very nice. A few of Dorjay and Yangchan's friends/ relatives came by and we had a communal momo making. We all, including the men, sat around on the kitchen floor and put them together (earlier Yangchan showed me how to make the dough and Dorjay's brother had made the filling).i learned how to make 2 kinds: Tibetan which look like potstickers and Ladakhi which are round and easier to make. Mine were not very pretty, but functional. Then they were put into  a big steamer and then party began. Here cake comes first- we had a small store bought pound cake, a candle to blow out and one cousin and I shared  a Godfather (beer). I received a Khama and a big colorful birthday ribbon to wear. The momos and mutton broth soup were jimpo (delicious). One cousin works for the wildlife dept at Pangong Lake (where I hope to go this weekend) and it was interesting hearing him tell about snow leopards and other local wildlife- sure would be nice to see some.

It is cloudy again this morning, and today was the monthly visit by a monk to pray with Dorjay. I was hearing drumming, occasional bells and cymbals and more than one voice chanting while I drank my morning coffee and  was invited into the Puja room. Apparently once a month a monk comes to each house to pray with the people. Dorjay was sitting reading and chanting from a book and the monk was beating on a drum and repeating the same chant over and over and occasionally ringing bells, hitting cymbals, spinning the prayer wheel. I stayed for about 15 min.

This evening I plan to go to the girl's hostel (Yangchan suggested that would be better than the boy's since there are already 2 teachers living there to help) to see if I can be of any help with homework and studying. Yangchan told me to call if I am late and it is dark and they will come get me, because of the dogs at night.

As I said, whenever I think  I have this place figured out something changes. Went to what I thought were going to be the 11th physics classes this morning to find out they were really Chem. OK, I didn't really have any plans anyway, so we started talking about  inter and intra molecular forces ( it's interesting, but I find that I am a much better teacher when I don't have a plan and can just go wherever the questions and follow-ups take us and I think the students, or at least those that are dialed in, get more out of it). It was a good opportunity to lay down my ground rules about questions, answers and class discussion and to make them understand that where they are used to very concrete answers to their questions- they are more likely to be asked another question by me in response to their question. I explained, and they seemed to understand and appreciate, that I think they usually really do know the answer and just need some guidance to figure it out themselves.
Hadn't really thought that this experience would involve so much reflection on my own teaching, I'm kind of enjoying this aspect.
It just,occurred to me that I actually have no idea what the expectations are for the sections I will be teaching in terms of grading and tests- I certainly hope nobody expects to me do that, as I have no plans to do it.

All of the 10th grade teachers seem to be in a kerfluffle filling out paperwork and doing the final preparations for the big final exams that start on Thursday. I guess (I'm never really certain, of course) that starting Thursday all of their classes will stop and and they will take one 2-3 hr subject test per day. I think this will go on for about one week.

Same old story, after lunch I "taught"  an  8th grade class- actually Imkust let them ask lots of questions about the US. I was a bit surprised when someone asked a question about Noble and Greenough ( a private school in MA)- apparently there had been a volunteer here from there. Then I went to the 9 class I was to supposed to cover and nobody was there. Finally found out that they are also having Summative Assessments (SA) starting Thursday and have the next 2 days off. Nobody told me, and apparently they only decided on the schedule this morning!
   

9/14 continued
By the time I reached the 11Arts class in last period most already knew that the games teacher was gone and had already wandered off to the field (or somewhere), there was no ball available and they ended up sitting around visiting for the period. I could have organized some kind of running or calisthenics, but nobody seemed to care or be interested and I decided not to fight it.While I was sitting out with them Ferderica came by and we had a long useful talk about the school, volunteering there, their lack of need for volunteers and their not really knowing how to make use of skilled volunteers like us. She told me about some other NGO programs in town that do help students and do use volunteers well. We had both experienced similar things, although there seems to be more movement away from rote learning towards a more student centered approach in the humanities and English classes than in science. It was a very useful conversation for me and allowed me to get a better idea of how I can make myself more useful here than replacing a good,teacher or just being used as a a sub.afterwards I was actually bounce my idea off of two of the science teachers and they were receptive.
The schedule in science on two days per week has the teachers with 2 of the same classes per day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. I assume this is designed so there can be labs (practicals) on those days, but that doesn't seem to be happening now- the teachers want to get through the syllabus for the test coming up,at end of term  before doing any labs and don't seem interested in help with that. As far as I have seen they also don't use the second period very well for anything else. My plan is to attend the first periods, so I know what is being taught (which is difficult to find out ahead of time) and them I will use the 2nd period for extension or simply trying to come up with some activities that allow the students to actually process the materials. Hopefully I can come up with and initiate some group work ( I think totally foreign here) where the students will develop understanding and then share. Nothing revolutionary but at least something different and hopefully useful.

Interesting little sidebar: this morning on my way out to the field I as my young friend Tsering with a science class outside sitting on the ground  in very organized rows and columns writing while he dictated. He was giving a test and it turns out when they give tests they do it like this because the rooms are so crowded that there is tons of cheating. Interesting also that the formative assessments (FA) are not printed out( in fact I have not seen any printed assignments)- the teacher dictates the questions, students copy and then answer and then onto the next.

One nice thing: on my walk into town after school many students now know me and call out my name, "David Sir" the buses go by or as we pass walking together.

In town I dropped my passport off with the cycling guide to get an inner line permit for Sunday's ride from Khardung La ( a permit is needed because it is getting near to the restricted areas near the Pakistani and Tibetan borders).

Have not seen much in terms of wildlife yet except the dogs, donkeys and cows all over town. Today Imwas,able to identify a black redstart out of the window, the garden is filled with chickadees (great tits here) and there are crows (large billed) all over the place. Oh, almost forgot the doves that are ubiquitous and perch on my womdowsill and the occasional magpie. Tomorrow, I will see marmots up on the pass, possibly a red fox. The guide told me he recently saw a snow leopard run across the road on the pass, but that would be a miracle.

9/15
Slept long last night and I think the stomach is cured!
This morning Yangchan said since the weather is getting colder in the morning tell me of you would like coffee (unfortunately, I think she means instant Santa). I asked if they drink coffee, since I I had not seen this. Her reply was that in the winter they drink coffee because it makes you,warmer than tea....

Best day yet and lots to tell: stomach definitely all better
School did go very well. I set up some times to go to the student hostel in the evenings to help with homework and finally figured out how to fit in. I have started a collection of suggestion to,give to Eshay when I leave which I think will make transition into the system much quicker and easier for volunteers, including things as simple as a printed handout describing schedules and policies.
I also figured out how I will fit into the actual science curriculum in a productive way. This morning I had a number of very positive interactions with 4 of the science teachers and was thanked for a number of simple suggestions on how to make lessons more understandable and student centered. As an example, I watched a 10th grade physics class on vectors. The teacher derived a number of formulas for calculating vectors using trig and algebra that I know our tenth graders ( and most seniors) would never come close to following, and I do think these kids ( or some) actually understood the math! The thing is that the 2 formulas he derived were for the cases where vectors are parallel. It should have been obvious to anyone who understood what vectors really represent that the answer was either simply adding or subtracting and no one said that. I suggested to Munguel that maybe he should see if they could have come up with that answer on their own before going through the complicated math.
I taught an interactive chemistry lesson to the 11 Medical group (49 students) on trends and properties of alkali metal. I had found some sample of sodium (no Li or K) and did the Na + water reaction, also showing them some properties and discussing the reaction and developing the formula together. It went very well, the students ( or a number of them) participated in the discussion and asked great questions. And for those of you in the know, no I did not blow any beakers up!- lucky since there is no safety equipment at all ( goggles, hood, shield, etc)! Rigsden ( Chem teacher) told me she learned a lot from my lesson- hope so.
I should describe the lab. First of all the good stuff: there are 2 full time lab techs to prepare solutions and get materials together!
As far as the actual lab goes, there are 4 very nice long lab stations with sinks at either end and places for gas spigots and  class sets of Bunsen burners, but no running water, gas line or, as far as I could tell, electricity in the room! Actually I don' t think any classes besides the library (which has a very tiny horrible collection of books) "smart rooms" for video and computer stuff and the staff room have electricity ( there is one outlet in the staff room). They actually  a relatively complete stock of chemicals, but very little glassware-definitely not enough for 50 students in a class. If anyone wants to donate things to this school- some obvious needs).

Since today was a half day with house sports games after lunch, Dorjay picked me up at school and whisked me off about 10 km east of Leh to a small forestry park along the Indus river where his Tibetan group was having a special celebration and Tibetan archery contest (crude, handmade bows and arrows with eagle feathers). When we arrived one round of contest was just completing and everyone ( most in traditional tibetan outfits) retired to the big colorful tent with rugs and small tables on the ground ( men on one side and women on the other). We were served glasses of Chang (local barley wine-served with a little butter on the rim of the glass) and traditional salt tea. There was a 6-piece band playing music and some groups got up and did traditional dances, some in costume. After awhile I was given 2 arrows and we all went out to the range to warm up for the next round of team competition. I was allowed to shoot 4 times and amazed everyone (including me) by hitting the small target on the second shot! Then the actual competition began, and it turns out my shot was actually pretty good, since I only saw 5 other hits in over 100 shots. Pure luck. Then back into the tent for more Chang and tea and dancing- you had to be careful since everytime you took one sip of either a little old Ladaki lady was filling it to the rim again! Then a delicious buffet lunch- great moms! It was still going on when we left.

On the way home Dorjay stopped at his police station where it turns out he also is in charge of a small daycare/school. We picked up the grandson of his best friend and brought him to his home ( more tea, of course) in a destitute looking section of Ladakh in the hills above the Indus. Turns out this was the area wiped out by the horrible floods 2 years ago and is being rebuilt still. The houses are actually quite nice, but no running water or vegetation.

Stopped In town after that to check internet (down of course) and pick up my passport, permit and make final arrangements for the ride tomorrow. I like this little guide company and talked to them about a 2 day trip(jeep)  to Pangong Lake on the Tibetan border next weekend. While there I also started talking to the about possibly climbing Stok Kungri, a 6100 m peak about 20 km south across the valley. May try to do it during the last week before I leave if the weather holds. It is high, but basically a walk up. We'll see.

When I got home, I was informed that we will go to Yangchan's sister tonight for a nephew's birthday party. Busy day.
Power is still out for the day and I am running low on battery.

The party was very fun, with lots of little cousins running around and more great food and company. Yangchan's sister was constantly trying to stuff me with momos and salt tea.

9/11
No observations today- the physics teacher is absent and I am the sub- no lesson plans or any idea what he is teaching. Not to mention that the 2 11th grade classes meet twice on Monday and Tuesdays. The first period class ended up being class pictures anyway after the students brought cake for all of their teachers and were scolded by the principal for wasting time and neglecting their studies and then we spent the entire class outside waiting for the principal to show up for the picture.
So far LOTS of classroom disruptions. Since I really had no idea what was going on in any of the classes I ended up spending a bit of time helping some students with problems  on calculating resistance in a circuit (10th grade) and vectors (11th), but mostly ended up talking about the US answering questions (do students in the US  bring guns to school?) and comparing schools. not much science today.


Yanchan told me last night that the "lecturers" (highest ranking Teachers with masters) make a lot of money, 30,000R/ month (about $600)! I couldn't. Bring myself to tell her we make 10x that and that that is pretty low for a professional in US. She also told me many teachers leave the private schools for govt teaching jobs, because of the security and pay, but that many get stationed in very small remote villages with 5-10 students in the school. In these small villages there may be 3 teachers who share the job switching every couple of months.

9/12
One week in Leh and 10 days since I left  Portland. No school for me today. last night started to feel a bit queasy and a little feverish and went to bed early. Woke up at normal time, but had a headache and stomach not good. Had some tea and toast and then went back to sleep until about 1130. I am up now and drinking more tea and feeling a bit better. Hopefully even better tomorrow. I was thinking if I felt better this afternoon I would wander down to the market for some shopping but Yanchan just came back and said the market is closed after lunch today. She is not sure why, but a truck was driving around announcing it. Last summer when this happened it was in commemoration of the big floods- not this time.....(According to Dorjay they are closed because the telephone lines have not been working and this is a protest by the shop keepers- this time restaurants are still open, not like last year!)

I did do some laundry by hand (Yanchan does have a washing machine and did a big load for me already, but I just have a little now so....) and finished the novel, A Fine Balance about India from about 1940-1984. Very good, but quite depressing and just made me angry at the cruelty of Indians to each other over this time.  

The season is starting to change. Noticeably chillier each morning with fresh snow dusting the peaks when they appear from the clouds each morning. I am also starting to see a hint of color in the leaves and most of the small hay fields behind or house have been harvested and the hay put up for the winter feed for donkeys and cows (whoops, that is barley for the humans). I wonder how cold it will get before I leave and whether I brought enough warm clothes....?
I am hoping to be able to do the mtn bike (actually all on rough roads) ride down from Khardung La ( world's highest road pass at 18000+) on Sunday. They drive you up and then it is a few hour ride to town. It's pretty expensive if you go by yourself, so I am hoping to find a group to join. After talking with Yangchan last night, it sounds like I should also try to go to Pangong Lake, high up near Tibetan border, next weekend before the road gets snowed in. This is a 2 day trip, so I will have to take next Saturday off ( which she says is no problem with the school). Eventually I hope to do a 3 day trip to the Nubra Valley, but that can happen later- they keep the road open and it is apparently warming than Leh in the valley.

Slept a bunch more this afternoon and ate a little Maggi (top ramen). Still not feeling too well and decided to try some of the Zithromax that I brought. Apparently there is a bug going around. I was able to have a longish talk with Dorjay about various things  about Leh and comparing living here to living I'm AK. He told me a lot about how Leh has changed over the last 30 years.  Later on Mr Eshay came by to check on me. Told me if I needed to rest to stay tomorrow- hopefully I will be OK. We also discussed the mandatory parent meeting held yesterday afternoon to which 50/300 parent came- same issues as at home: the parents who you need to talk  to don't come and the one's who you say "doing great" show up. I also cleared with him to get off next Saturday to go to Pangong Lake.Now I will need to find people to share a jeep. I had a call from Rupak (our guide last year in the Sunderbans Tiger Sanctuary). He says he will be coming to Leh with his wife in 10 days. Maybe we can go to Pangong Lake together.

9/13
Feeling better today but still a bit weak. I did go to school for the morning 3 periods and came home for lunch- a banana and some more tea and Maggi ( which is usually served in a bowl with a fork- I guess I'm supposed to drink the broth. Everyone wants me to drink warm water. I have been drinking straight from the spring water at the house which all of the dentists seem to do, but today I decided to start using the ate steripen just to be safe. This morning I observed  chem, bio and physics classes. The first thing I learned is that even though this school is supposed to be English median most of the teachers teach mostly in Hindi with a bit of Bhodi and some English mixed in. Because they usually use English for scientific terms I can understand the lessons pretty well, but am a bit concerned about how well the students will understand me. All of the teachers say the students do understand very well and that it will be good for the students to hear my pronunciation. I am still quite confused by the daily schedule and how the whole system works and it is difficult to get a straightforward answer from anyone. It seems that in the 11/12 science classes, many meet 2-3 days/ week but they seem to meet 2 x on the days that they do meet and the second section is "extra"  and the teacher can decide whether to "rest" or teach....... Much of the teaching I saw today consisted of teachers reciting a question in English which the students copy into their notebooks and then the teacher goes through an explanation/answer and the students record. In some classes their is actually discussion between the Ss/T as they record the answers. It will be interesting to see what I end up doing actually. It seems to me that VP wants to use me as a sub to fill in wherever, and it sort of seems to me that the regular teachers want me to just take some of their load and I'm not sure what they will be doing instead. Even though there are apparently lots of volunteers coming through here all of the time, I'm not sure the school really knows how to use them/us productively. It may be easier to figure how to use an elementary volunteer or someone who is going to teach or help with English.

Oh, almost forgot about attendance: in one class there was no attendance taken, and in the other class the teacher had a roll book and called out numbers("1,2,3,etc, no names) and the students responded. There also doesn't seem to be any consequence for tardiness. The problem is that when a student is tardy ( and there are quite a number of them) they come to the door, say "Sir" or ma'am before sitting down and it is another disruption.

I left school at lunch and went home for a bit of a rest- felt better and went to town to shop and check email. I first had to return to a Tibetan woman at one of the outdoor markets who I had owed some money to since Tuesday. All of the vendors on the streets and in the little shops say, " closing for the season next week, give you good price. 1500 Ruppees, in summer 2500!".  Yangchan tells me to wait another week or two and then prices will really be good, but I wonder what will be left. Went to the OpenHand restaurant. To see about having my first cup of coffee since Sunday (there is Nescafé at the house but I drink the tea here) and use their wifi. Everything was shut down and they are packing up for the season. There are a few other places with reasonable coffee still open, but not sure how long. Then went to find an Internet cafe. Of course the broadband was down again, so I used the slow Internet to catch up on the many emails- very slow

Went to dinner with Yangchan, Dorjay and their daughter at Dorjay's borther's Tibetan restaurant in a building upstairs in the main market- very good. Dorjay was in and out running errands and, I think visiting his brother in the kitchen. Yangdill's boyfriend also showed up. He seems very nice but apparently had a bad motorcycle accident (was in a coma for a week and now has a lot of memory loss), and goes to college in Jammu. Told me he wants to be a psychiatrist. Yangchan told me lots of stories about growing up in villages and how hard it was with no transportation, tiny houses with fire pits in the middle and no chimney. Her father was a herbalist who also travelled the trade routes trading tea, salt, etc and they raised goats, sheep and ponies. Dorjay's mother died giving birth to his youngest brother (who owns the restaurant now). The father remarried a woman with 4 of her own children and she apparently did not take care of Dorjay and his siblings. The youngest was sent off to a Tibetan family in Leh at the age of 10 to wash dishes in a restaurant and eventually learned to cook, etc. she talked about how it was much better now, but then as she talked about how busy life is now and the gatherings and shared meals with dancing, singing and sharing she said some of the old was also better. Not surprisingly it sounds a lot like the stories of old Pt Hope vs now and the big changes in the tinupiaqs villages.

At one point I asked how Dorjay and Yangchan had met and learned a new term. With a small smile Dorjay replied," ours was a love-marriage". They didn't tell me much more except that some relatives had introduced them. According to them about 50% of the marriages are arranged still.


9/14
Stomach better, a little queasy still but getting there. It is almost 9am and the electricity is still off- usually on by now. Hopefully can get a charge sometime today. I would like to go up to the school early but it seems that all of the buildings and rooms are usually locked up until things start after the assembly and there don't seem to be any teachers around until 930 at the earliest.

Had a hard time sleeping last night because of the constant howling and barking of the packs of dogs in the area. The lazy friendly, solitary dogs that lie around in the streets and on the sidewalks during the day apparently join into large vicious packs that fight and howl and bark at each other all through the night. ;for some reason I have been noticing it more in the lat few nights. Dorjay told me you can often see dead dogs (from the fights) in the morning along the road- I haven't yet. Seems like a public health issue that police could take care of, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of concern.

As I said they really don't know what to do with volunteers who have expertise here.Today I am the "games" (PE) teacher, or in fact splitting with Federica the Italian philosophy prof from the Netherlands. Actually, the first period was quite fun. The 9th grade students asked many more questions and carried on more interesting conversations than any of the older classes I have had. After a little introduction and questions we went to the "field", they rounded up a couple of balls (apparently the real games teacher keeps the key with her) from somewhere and they played futbol and volleyball. I played a little with them but mostly riffed. The next class I taught was the seniors. A small class and they seemed very apathetic and uninterested (except for young man), could not find a ball so we and a few other classes (no other teachers around) hung out talking at the field. I have one more class: 11 Arts last period- not sure what we will do if I can't find a ball. The arts track takes no science so I can' help with that. Today I got lunch at the canteen and ate with the other teachers on the assembly field- better than eating alone in the girl's hostel. I also met a young German girl who is living in the girl hostel and volunteering in the kindergarten. We may be able to arrange a trip to Nubra valley later and share a taxi.

The wifi signal is now working in the teacher lounge, but there (Shannon mentioned in email that I mix up there and their in this blog and I just figured out why- the autocorrect keeps putting them in and I don't usually look!) is no connection to the actual Internet? Hopefully when I go town after school......

9/6/12-6:36PM
If anyone knows how to import a document into a google blog and can share it that would be great. Since I only have Internet connection when I go to a cafe I am writing these on the iPad and then this morning I copied and pasted it into the blog since I could not find a way to import it. Kind of a pain.

This week is the big Ladakh festival with events all around the region. This evening I watched my first polo match ever. It was the final match of the tournament of the festival. Not to mention that it is on a dirt polo ground on pack ponies at 11,000'!
It took me a little while to figure out that there was no real out of bounds- not even the stupa on the edge of the field, which I had to hide behind a few times. Pretty exciting and the players seemed quite good. After the polo match I returned to Yanchan  house for tea (30 min walk up hill from town). Not long after arriving back the British/Kiwi I dental group arrived back at the house and whisked me off to the evening celebration of the festival-another 30 min walk in the dark (lead by a couple of the students who are assisting the dentists) to a village somewhere above the school. The festival was in a large amphitheater filled with local Ladakhis and Tibetans and consisted of about 2 hours of music and dance performances of traditional Ladakhi and Tibetan dances and songs performed by various groups in local costumes. Very nice performances. Some of the local instruments were very interesting (variations on guitars and numerous hammered dulcimers which I was surprised to see here in Asia). The walk home in the dark was fun, avoiding traffic and playing and racing with the kids.

I may have already written this, but....  This morning (Thursday) I went over to the school met some of the teachers and the vice principal ( who told me I would be teaching classes and will start tomorrow-OK), watched the morning assembly of martial exercises and announcements by students in their red and blue uniforms, accompanied by teachers walking around with switches (brought back memories of school in Kanpur). After thatI walked to town, found the Open Hand Cafe ( where we had been last year) and discovered that they have free wifi (for the cost of a good coffee), which is nice since the Internet cafe's don't have wifi and I can't use the iPad there.


Yanchan's house: The house is a very nice little compound directly across the street from the Lamdon School about 2 km walk above the town. It is quiet and especially nice to not hear the regular call to prayers we heard last year. The house is a traditional Ladakhi style, 3 stories with large log ceiling beams and plaster wall surrounded by a thick plaster wall around the compound. Inside there is a beautiful flower garden, with some vegetables and a few apple, nimbu and apricot trees (where I currently sit,enjoying the morning the tea,waiting for breakfast and enjoying the view of the surrounding snow-capped Himalayas). Interestingly, there are a couple of hop vines growing up the walls and along stringers. With the growth of home brewing in Bend and our neighbor growing hops along the fence at home, I was interested in whether they used them for anything- apparently just ornamental. The house has 3 floors with about 10 rooms total and,I believe 5 guest rooms (2 bathrooms, with Indian style showers (including hot water!) and one western and one squat toilet. There is power in each room, but the power to the town shuts down every night from about 12-8 (keep a headlamp available).
Yanchan lives here with her husband Dorjay( a local policeman). She has 2 older daughters who are in school in Delhi, although one, Yandil, is here helping take care of the dental group. Her young nephew, Sumil is also staying here, and we have become pals. There seem to be a number of other students from the school and various family members who show up occasionally. The house is not heated, except for the one large room with the TV, and that and the kitchen become the main living quarters once winter hits in December, temps drop to -20, snow arrives and all the tourists leave. Then, the rest of the house is sealed up until March. Although this is supposed to be a "homestay" the house runs more like a guesthouse and Yanchan, Dorjay and Yandil are very insistent on cooking and serving us as well as calling me Sir. Hopefully that is something I can change soon-kind of uncomfortable. There is often incense burning and Dorjay seems to be an observant Buddhist, walking around the house chanting every morning. Yanchan also places a brass bowl of dried cow shit and dried high alpine flowers to burn in the yard to bring good luck to us all.

Fellow guests: There are currently 8 other guests at the house. The dental team from UK and New Zealand running the dental screening of all the students at the school consists of 3 dentists and dental assistant, one dental student and 3 nineteen yr old freshmen volunteers from the University of Sheffield. They have been running the clinic for 4 days and leave on Sunday. They had previously done a trek before the clinic. yesterday a few of them did the man bike ride down from Khardung le (highest road pass in the world, 18000+'- I hope to do it next Sunday) and today they took a bunch of their student helpers and Yanchan on the Zanskar river raft trip. I decided not to go, since we did it last year and the weather is not so nice today- they will be cold! Last evening, I joined them at the Leh View Hotel ( their normal evening hangout on a roof top above the main market) for "special tea"- the hotel does not have a liquor license, so they serve the Godfather beer in a teapot-alcohol is strong at altitude!
The 3 young students do not leave until Monday(I think they have been here for a month) and 2 of them signed up to do the 10k version of the marathon. We also convinced 2 of the young girl students who help them to sign up. In addition to the marathon there is apparently a 72k race from the top of the Khardung Le pass to town!
Tonight, we will all be going out to dinner with Yanchan , Dorjay and a lot of the other helpers.

Bill Kite: Expat American who lives in Singapore, Leh and  Katmandhu and runs trekking in Leh and Nepal, but also runs the dental, eye and women's health programs at the school and in the outer villages. I Have heard a lot about Bill from Bend friends who have been to the school twice for the dental clinic. I have met Bill for a short time the other day in the eye clinic at the school, and unfortunately he leaves for Singapore soon. I think he is coming to dinner tonight and hopefully I can get info from him and his Sherpas about trekking Annapurna circuit. I was also hoping to get into the northern remote Nubra Valley with him sometime but I guess I will have to find another way (just found out yesterday the the physics teacher comes from a village there and I  may be able to arrange something with him). The women's health program in the remote villages is interesting, as it appears cervical cancer is one of the biggest killers of women. The basic problem is absolutely no gynecology care or even understanding of human reproduction, so the basic program is to convince people to allow screening and then bring doctors into village and do it. Apparently in 3 years they have gone from 20 women to several hundred. They are also working with smith Klein to bring HIV vaccines into the area.

9/9
First day at the school:  Well, nothing like jumping in without much warning or planning. Yesterday (Friday) I showed up at school in the morning and met with Mr. Eshey (principal) for a little while and some tea. Two of the science teachers came in ( both young women who have been at the school for 3 months- one chem and one bio) and I went off with them. To the new science building-just opened and dedicated by the Dalai Lama 3 weeks ago. The chemistry teacher decided I should take/teach her two tenth grade classes while she worked on registering them for the big exam coming up. Figured out what they had been doing (periodicity) by asking the kids and then carried on two forty min class discussions. Sounds like I will be teaching more of her classes and she wants to observe some. I know my style of discussion is very different then their normal lecture presentation. School ended soon after. Interesting schedule:normally their is a half day of school on Saturday, except for the 2nd Saturday of the month, which is a holiday and then theFriday is a half day. After school I had lunch in the girl's hostel (about half the students come in from remote villages and are sponsored and live in the dorms). And then went to watch the house track and field competitions for awhile.
Very interesting school schedule. School is closed from Dec15 until March, because it is so cold. Many families leave and go to Kashmir or other areas and the kids attend schools there. Many of the one's that stay send their kids to special classes in town during the winters, but apparently many of the others (especially the sponsored students- return home and do nothing).

It turns out that this is the first year the school has taught any science beyond 8th grade and now it is just the 9-11 grades- no 12th grade science. I understand that they didn't have any lab facilities before now, but I don't understand why they didn't teach it before this- especially since they seem to largely just lecture anyway...... Now the 10-11 students choose " Medical" (bio and chem, no math after 10(?)) or "no medical" (physic, chem and maths, no bio) tracks.

I find the behavior of the Ladakhi girls surprising and very different than I expected based on previous experiences with Indian: Hindu/Muslim where they seem more timid and don't interact with the boys very much (maybe that is from stereotypes from my school in India 45 years ago and descriptions from literature and movies). Anyway, the girls seem very outgoing, smart and their interactions with boys seem very similar to the US.

Apparently the regional Internet server has been down for a few days, so I can't post this. Hopefully in a couple of days.... Also I have been told that within a week the school will have wifi and I should be able to connect there- will believe when that happens. Sad news is that the Open Hand is closing for the season next week.There goes the free wifi and I hope there will still be some places that stay open that serve good coffee.If not I may have to take the restaurant's advice and find a press coffee maker and buy a bag of their beans.

I also now have a cell phone: Yanchan leant me an extra SIM card: for emergencies while I am in Ladakh my number is: 979-745-4248 (not sure what the Indian code is)
This morning I "ran" high above the city to the Nezer Stupa in Gompa village.While there I tried the phone and called Shannon and Emily. Nice to hear them and amazing how clear it was. Seems that it costs about 8 rupees/min-not bad. I need to get the card recharged with minutes though and will try to call Josh tomorrow.

Did recharge the card (easier than I thought) but it is too late to call Josh- either this evening or tomorrow after the race. I also found a toy store and bought 3 shuttle cocks for 30R. Now "Smelly" and I can play with a real shuttlecock instead of a rolled up sock! Of course there is still no net.

9/9
Got to open the second card from Shannon-nice- this morning.
Just got home from finishing the first ever Ladakh marathon 10k in 1:02 at 12,000' after 5 days acclimation and stopping to take pictures at the top of the course. Not shabby for an old guy, and looking around I am pretty sure I would have won my age group if there is such a thing. I'll have to check out the results at ladakhmarathon.com once the Internet is back up (the main server to the region has been out for 3 days). This morning most of the dental team left (it was definitely nice having some nonIndians to talk with and I will miss them,minute I do get to move upstairs into a nicer room with a private bath and western toilet!) except for 2 of the 19 yr old Brits, Chris and Chris. We did the race together with 2 of the girl students from Lamdon School who were helping with the dental clinic this week ("T" and Lammo) also another boy student Rigsden, but he was much faster.
The scene was like no other race I've ever done. It started with the fact that we had been told the race started at 6 AM sharp! So, we got a ride in the cold and dark and arrive before 6. Turns out the marathon started at 7:15, the half a bit after and ours even later, so we spent a good hour and a half hanging around high above Leh at the Japanese stupa with 1500 other participants in a somewhat controlled chaos waiting for the mayor to arrive and get things going. The racers consisted of 95% Indians and Ladakhis and the few Europeans and Americans who heard about it. There were many kids from the local schools participating because it was free for them ( with a t-shirt) and a large number of soldier groups. Many people were wearing jeans and some even in regular street shoes. One euro "hippy" barefoot runner with long white hair and beard, a few euros in costumes even and bunch of young girls in white hajibs ( I assume from a Muslim school). There was an organizer yelling over the loudspeaker continuously saying something in Ladakhi about the 42 and 21 k races and telling people to sit in certain places. Eventually most of the participants were sitting on the ground around the stupa organized by race with occasional outbursts of yelling when what seemed like a Japanese newspaper photographer would take pictures. Eventually the 42k participants (looked like about 100) were brought to the start while everyone else was kept at the Stupa. They took off and then chaos as the half marathoners were release to head to the start about 100 feet below. It was almost another race as they surged down and then eventually took off. The 10k participants were left at the top and treated to a rainbow over the snow covered peaks to the south. After watching the chaos at the start of the half we knew what to expect and stayed at the rear watching the crazy rush to the start line again- even wilder than before! We stayed at the back for the first 1k (all downhill) and slowly worked through the crowd. Overall the race was downhill with one large switchbacky climb which most people (including me) walked. A long flat section and then a long downhill to the finish. Groups of young kids would surge ahead on the downhills and then fall back on the flats and climbs. People (including many of the soldiers) would take shortcuts across the switchbacks and I bet took 2k off the distance!
The 2 Chrises finished in the high 40s and I was happy with close to 1h. Then2 girls came in a ways back but it was the first race they had ever done.
At the finish there was a Bollywood band and many of the students dancing. Also many police and soldiers with automatic weapons and officials screaming at people. We hung around for awhile and then walked back to town for breakfast and eventually back to the house ( about another 4k uphill) hoping for a hot shower. Of course the power is out and their no hot water!
Electricity and hot water finally came on around 3 and then we headed down to Lehview Hotel to have "special tea" and so the Chrisses could say goodby to,t and Lamo.

9/10
Woke up with no I'll effects from the race and proceeded to experience one of the strangest teaching days ever! First, it is going to be difficult getting used to starting school at 10- I wake up at 6 and will have to start running or something after I do my exercises and before school.

So, today was the secondary school's celebration of National Teacher Day- an all day program planned and put on by the 12 class (seniors), and no classes. At the morning assembly with all kids sitting on the field in front of the temple, which starts with a buddhist prayer, singing national anthem and announcements, I met a number of other teachers including another chem teach (tsering) who is very qualified and almost completed a phd in inorganic chem and material science- much more qualified than the young woman I taught for on Friday. I also discovered that there are a number of teachers who have just started at the school within the last 3 weeks- kind of odd since it is near the end of the term..? Apparently the new teachers and I will be introduced formally tomorrow morning at the assembly and receive our Kathas (silk scarves used to honor guests)
Anyway, after the assembly all the students were told to go to the Hall by 1030. At 1030 the entire student body of the secondary school (6-12) were seated on the floor of the auditorium with all of the teachers sitting in chairs around the edge. On the way in we received khatas and cards and presents-actually all morning the students were giving cards and small gifts to all of the teachers.
Then the show began and the students sat on the floor from 1030-4 with a 45 min lunch break! The show started with a few speeches by seniors about teachers- some in English and some in Bodhi (Ladakhi)-, but mostly various groups of students doing choreographed Bollywood to dances to very loud Bollywood music. Some in costumes and some in just normal clothes. There were a few songs by a small rock band and a few students sang. At times the audience would get very excited and dance, but mostly,they sat and seemed to enjoy it for almost 6 hrs. Every so often they would stop the performances and call out teacher names to come on stage and participate in games. During the call up for musical chairs I heard "Sir David" and had to go of course.   Of course all the teachers were dancing to the Bollywood music and it got pretty competitive. They seemed to think it was funny when I ended up sharing a seat with a woman teacher and neither of us would get up. They also seemed to like when I pulled the sit out from another woman teacher. It got a bit weary for me by the end, but was well,done and the students seemed to like it. The RHS student leadership could learn a lot about assemblies from these kids!

Went downtown after school to see if the Internet was up yet. Still only the satellite is working- the fiber optic cable to the whole region is cut. I was able to get some emails in and send a few that I had already composed before it shut down again. Hopefully things will get better soon. I did get an email from Shannon asking if I had felt the Chinese earthquake ( did not even know about it) and realized how cutoff I have been- I have not seen or heard any world news in a week. I then walked by the meditation center to find out about yoga classes but it was closed. Checked out KCs- a restaurant that has music , outdoor movies, afire and music every night- I think I will go Friday- they close down on the 25th.

At the Internet cafe I met 3 people ( 1 girl/2guys) from Telluride who were trying purchase tickets out to Delhi and had just completed a kayak expedition of the Zanskar and something that feeds it. It was interesting that they knew Dave Farney, who ran the climbing school I went to in 68 in Telluride. I have lost track of them and wasn't even sure if Dave was still alive- found out he is and even where he is now living. Another small world event.

On the way out of school today I ran into a young Italian woman looking lost. Turns out she is a lecturer in philosophy at a university in the Netherlands here for a week to volunteer at the school. She had been put into an elementary class this morning to teach and had been given about as much information as I got. She was totally confused about how things worked and I think I helped a little, although I am also feeling a bit uniformed still. I did tell Mr Eshey that I wanted a couple of days observing in the regular teacher classrooms before being expected to teach. He seemed OK with that, so hopefully I will do that tomorrow- I especially want to see Tsering teach.  

Almost forgot the most illuminating event of the day in terms of differences in culture. When I asked Mr Eshey, principal, wear the bathroom was: his response, with a wave of his hand over the fields around the auditorium," if you need to urinate anyplace, or there is a bathroom in the main office"! I can piss almost anywhere, but it definitely felt strange doing it on a school grounds!


9/11
No observations today- the physics teacher is absent and I am the sub- no lesson plans or any idea what he is teaching. Not to mention that the 2 11th grade classes meet twice on Monday and Tuesdays. The first period class ended up being class pictures anyway and we spent the entire class outside waiting for the principal to show up for the picture.
So far LOTS of classroom disruptions.


Yanchan told me last night that the "lecturers" (highest ranking Teachers with masters) make a lot of money, 30,000R/ month (about $600)! I couldn't. Bring myself to tell her we make 10x that and that that is pretty low for a professional in US. She also told me many teachers
Eave the private schools for govt teaching jobs, because of the security and pay, but that many get sta

Namaste, Eating Indian breakfast buffet in terminal 1 of Delhi airport. Shannon dropped me off at PDX at 9AM Monday, it's now 4:30 PM Tuesday (PDT) and I don't get to Leh for another  4 hrs-Long trip! Luckily Terminal 1 is very nice- even better than last year when we were here with Ian and Will: very clean, air conditioned, nice restaurants and comfortable chaise lounges for sleeping- just wish I was a better napper!

The flight on Asiana Airlines was fine:comfortable seats, Korean food and lots of movies. Would have been nicer if my Korean/American seat mate didn't belch and fart the whole 12 hrs from Seattle to Seoul. The arrival in Seoul was a bit exciting with a large lightning struck out the window, followed by a huge, sudden drop and then an extra 20 minutes circling to avoid the storm and an American woman barfing the whole time.   The flight from /Seoul to Delhi was filled with old Indians who either did not understand or refused to listen to the poor Korean flight attendants and were walking around in the aisles and changing seats up to the last couple of minutes until we landed and then were up in the aisles again as soon as the wheels hit the ground!

Arrival in Delhi was easy and customs, baggage claim, etc all went without a hitch-everything made it. The free transfer bus to Terminal 1 was either much smoother than last summer, or Will, Ian and I took the wrong bus. Luckily check in was open at 3AM, and I got my seats and bags checked through to Leh. It was clear I was back in India as soon as I walked outside the terminal and started sweating profusely-even at 3 in the morning.

Unfortunately there is no free wifi in the terminal, and the only way to get wifi in India is to have a mobile phone to receive a text with a security code (the same stupid system used to boot tickets on trains here). I do have a phone to use here but won' be getting a SIM card until I get to Leh, so hopefully I will be able topmost this to the blog when I get there.

So, why am I here? So many of you have asked that or made comments alluding to the fact that I am either amazing (not) or that you could never do something like this (also false!). Thirty years ago my sense of mortality was rocked when my 40 year old brother died unexpectedly and suddenly of an aneurysm.  Thirty years later that rocky sense of mortality became a monstrous force in my life when Ter died suddenly and unexpectedly of the same aneurysm! I've known since then that you can't put off living and doing the things you want until it's too late. But in truth, the answer is much more complex but at the same time pretty simple.

Josh and Emily are grown and off on their own in Colorado and don' t need me hanging around, and even though Shannon and I are still newlyweds, 3 months isn't that long and I'm not sure how I'd be hanging around trying to find things to do this fall as a new retiree. I already miss you babe

I've always felt most alive and useful when I put myself into unusual living situations: moving to AK, living with the whale hunting Inupiaqs,etc

Teaching in America used to be a good job. Cuts in funding,number of days, increases in class sizes, focus on THE TEST, student apathy all have made the job that I am good at lose it's fun and it is time to do something different. Turns out I still care about education and maybe going to a place where teachers are still respected, students don't act like entitled  brats (if you were my student and are reading this- it probably doesn't apply to you), students are happy  with a desk and slate to write on (and don't need $87 million monstrosities to learn in) will get me fired up about what I've been doing for 20+ years again

I'd like to "pay it forward,back, sideways,inside out"

And finally, spending 3 months in the Himalayas is exciting!

9/5/12, 0900

Finally, last leg-will be in Leh in an hour!

Last night, flying over Indian cities (including Kanpur, where I lived in 1965/6), I was thinking how they didn't look any different from US or European cities at night with the lights on from 30,000 ft, and now flying out of Delhi I realized that even it just looks like a BIG sprawling city anywhere, when you can't see the cows, homeless on the sides of the roads, unbelievable traffic, hear the sounds, and smell the shit and garbage.

Been in the air about 15 min and already see the Himalayan peaks out the window to the north. 

The GoAir magazine says their is a marathon in Leh next weekend- my knees couldn't run a marathon anyway much less one at 11,000'! Maybe there OSA 1 mile race.....

Not sure what the plans for the rest of the day will be, but thinking I should try to stay up and get on a regular schedule. Sure would be nice to find a shower someplace- not sure about that though. 

1143

Picked up at airport by a school employee and driven to the school. I have met the principal, Mr. Eshay and my host Yonchan, the school nurse. They took me to Yonchan's house and I have been instructed to sleep and drink 2 large bottles of water to recover from the trip and start acclimating to 10000' elevation. I will follow directions.

When I was in Mr Eshay's office two former students came in to give him a present- it is National Teacher Day.  One of the students is working on the marathon and told me there is a 10 k also. Maybe I will try that.......

9/6012, 1322 hr

Julay 

Spent most of the day yesterday sleeping and drinking water to recover from jet lag and adjust to the11,000+' elevation. Starting to feel more human this morning. Got up, has breakfast with the British/Kiwi dental team working at the school, went over to see morning assembly , met the science teachers (looks like I will actually be teaching classes), some students, and Bill Kite ( the guide/charity organizer running the dental, glasses and women's health programs in the area. Then I walked to town ( about 20 min), found the free wireless cafe/coffeehouse and am figuring out how to post. Will send more afterI have some time to settle into school.