Notes from Barbara

The monsoon season is really over - the days are sunny and brisk, the nights are cold. We bought firewood yesterday for the stove in the entry/dining room, several electric heaters for the upstairs bedrooms, and a gas heater for the living room. There is no central heating in the school at all; hence it closes down during the coldest part of the winter - mid-December to early February. We will finally get away from the campus (we've only been down the mountain once since we arrived in July) to the Portugese beach town of Goa with many of the school staff.

I am pretty tired and ready for a break now - it is grueling work in a boarding school. We teach a full day, have meetings and activities after school, and weekend activities with the boarding students, as well. I should have done this years ago when I was younger! The boys are enjoying the independence, as Jeff and I are often too busy to accompany them to all their activities. They join right in with the boarders and are looked after by the dorm parents. The music and sports programs have kept them both busy before and after school, and the school work is challenging, especially in math and science.

We would love visitors - the ideal time is in the spring before the monsoon starts again in June. It is beautiful forested country - you will get in shape quickly just hiking to and from the buildings nestled on the mountainside. I walk the equivalent of 30 minutes on the stairmaster just going up the hillside from my house to school each day.