Well last saturay elyse and i went up to the picnic as fast as we could but just as we almost got to the art gallery the children were coming back to school. they all had their adorbale party clothes on; Kushagar in a red leather jacket, Arpana in a sleeping beauty dress, all manner of wonderful outfits. elyse and i walked with the principal and another teacher and as we were going past a reastaurant one of the boys fathers asked us in for a drink. at this stage it was 4pm and we were starving so he gave us indias favourite 'butter jam toast'.

on sunday we went stayed in the house just resting and hanging out with the family. it was the first time since our arrival we hadn't gone anywhere on the weekend. time went very slwoly that day.

monday at school i taught class one english, i really loved teaching the kids although i think they only understood about 5 of the words i said because when i asked them questions about the story no one could answer me. although class one is the naughtiest loudest and rudest class in the school, they are all really sweet and i really loved teaching them. i did the same again on tuesday and also we made paper plate faces with all the kids and cut up paper plates and each child made a collage on the flower shape. after teaching grade one their teacher came up to me and said she'd really learnt a lot from the way i teach and is going to apply it to her lessons. i was very surprised at this becuase shes the one with the teaching degree and i simply made up the lesson as i went along, so i really didnt think i was of much use.

wednesday after school elyse and i went with teh teacher Hotoni to her house and then went to her friend Sonu's house. Sonu's mother had heard how much we (we mainly being me) loved Haloa so she made us a massive pot of it filled with walnuts and almonds. The best way to describe haloa is think of cous cous but a little bit smaller and made sweet with lots of ghee and sugar. WE sat around talking and drinking copius amounts of chai. Just before we left she presented us with Kullu Topi's (the hats that the men wear) which was really sweet.

it still amazes me at the kindness of indians particulary in himachal. they go to such large extents to be hospitable to any guests, and constantly want you to feel 'at home' even if its the first time you've met the person.

on thursday elyse and i went to Mimi and Awon's (2 teachers from school) house. the house was absolutly tiny with them sharing a bed, no table or chairs, and a small tiled area in the kitchen being their sink and shower. they put on a wonderful feast with about 3 types of dahl and even coleslaw! however the coleslaw had about 5 chillis in it so it was rahter hot.

on friday the teachers had a party for us, with each teacher bring a different type of dahl or subzi. they even bought neopolitan and butterscotch icecream for us! we decided to make an 'australian' dish of honey crackles (the only thing elyse and i knew how to make on a stove) and we made about 50 which were devoured by the teachers within about 5 minutes and they all wanted the recipe. in the morning the children all sang songs for us and then they presented us with a cake they'd all brought money in for. elyse and i had to make a speech about our time at John Wesley and i was almost in tears. The teachers gave us gifts of a beanie and a kullu embroided bag and then the traditional scarf.

on saturday we went to frenny our GAP reps house with principal and sonali, and thne to Anupam (another teachers house) althou it was about 4pm she insisted on feeding us rajma and rice and more haloa as well as biscutis and about 4 cups of chai. saturday night elyse and i stayed at Monika's (another teacher) house. she gave elyse and i a pair of kullu socks as a gift, and her mother espiclaly made sidu for us because she heard we liked it. that night we listened to all the BIG western hits in india including backstreet boys, ronan keating, boyzone, britney, and for some reason everyone here seems to have an obsession with bryan adams. for breakfast she gave us a special treat of haloa again!

on sunday we went to Anamika's (another teacher) house where we think she made us a type of lamb curry but we wern't shore. depsite being a vegetarian here its a big deal for when an indian has guests to serve meat even if they are vegetarians themselves.

all the teachers have constanly said how much they don't want us to go and how much we're now family and friends to them and we have to com eback to their homes next time we come to india. it's really sad to leave the family and the school and im still having some doubts as to whether i made the right decision to leave early. all in all the experience of living with a family and working at the school has been amazing, every moment i will treasue and i'm really going to miss everythng about living here.

well i'm now off to the post office to send 2 massive bags to australia and wales and i really hope they get there wth everything still in tact. it could be some what of a challenge because no one speaks english at the post office and they get rather confused if you want to send anything other than a postcard.

off to dehra dun on wedenesday to meet Jo and Daisy to start the next travelling part of my indian adventure!

luv alex

xxxxxx