COUNT DOWN!!

Hi to all,

I have been very busy with getting ready to come home!! We are finishing another round of testing, arts and crafts for the Holidays and lots of Birthdays in Dec. This will be my last post, look for me in Stanwood at the Starbucks having coffee with friends. I can not believe how fast that went by. It seems like we were just getting ready to move here. Well I only have 16 days happy counting:)
Love to All

Halloween Pictures

To many pictures for one post.

United Nations Day, Conferences, Halloween and Diwali

Hi I know it has been a long time since my last post. We have had UN Day, Conferences, Halloween and this week we celebrate Diwali, which is the festival of lights. It is traditionally a Hindu religious holiday. They are so many activities here it is hard to get teaching in. UN day was amazing, seeing all the flags come in one at a time from all the different countries was a real treat! One of my kindergartners help her dad carry the flag for Austria. Halloween is big here everyone dresses up and there is a Halloween parade around the school and kids stop at various places along the way to get candy, then a big party in the room after. In between all of this we finished conferences and now this weekend it will be the Diwali celebrations. I'm looking forward to the day off on Friday. I hope you enjoy the pictures from UN day and Halloween.

We went out today to just walk around our neighborhood, the picture is from a rickshaw we decided to go get ice cream at Baskin Robbins. I will try and put more pictures on just trying to figure this out with my new camera. Well I hope you enjoy the pictures I actually did this myself for a change. Carlina is a great teacher!!
Check out the construction here, there are no safety checks!

Exploring our neighborhood

FALL BREAK

Well I have been on break all week and spent most of my time working on my classroom and doing report cards. Our shipment arrived so I was anxious to have all of my own materials to use. The room looks great and I'm ready to return to school. We are going exploring this weekend around our area where we live. There never seems to be enough time. Started to count down the days until I'm home for Christmas can't wait to see my husband!! If I have any good pictures from the weekend I will post them.

Gingee Fort

Well I have not been feeling well this past week, had to have some dental surgery done. So this is a little late. We went to the village of Gingee Fort on Sat. Sept. 25th. It is about 2.5 hrs south east of Chennai. Gingee Fort is a 13th century military fort. The fort was strategically built atop a mountain surrounded by large boulder fields below. The climb took 2hrs in the mid-day heat. I know what all of you are thinking about now, How did she do that? I really don't know how I made it but I'm sure glad I did. The view was amazing!! I could have done without the Monkey guards though, that scared me a lot. We met some very nice college kids along the way. On the way home we stopped to eat at a hotel/restaurant at least that's what the sign said. The food was good even though we had to share it with the flies. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Gingee Fort

Indian Wedding

Hi to all, I hope you enjoy the smile box of the Indian Wedding we were invited to. Our drivers son got married last Thursday. George has driven for us for about a month now. We were so honored to be invited to his sons wedding. As you will see in the picture's we were treated like royalty and given the red carpet treatment. A good time had by all!! Enjoy

Indian Wedding

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Welcome Back Picnic

Saturday was the annual Welcome Back Picnic at school. There was lots of games, food, and entertainment. It was nice to have a day to visit with the families.

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Surprise Anniversary Present

Our 9th anniversary was on Aug.17th and my wonderful husband surprised me with this beautiful vase and flowers(artificial). This was a great day for me!!

Feeling Better

Well it seems that things are coming together. My classroom is finally in order after a major cleaning session. My aid Ms. Monica is amazing and she is great at organizing things. I'm finally feeling better and I think my body is getting used to India. I love working 5 days a week, the days just fly by. After school our driver usually takes us shopping for veggies and fruit, I love the little markets that we have found. We are eating so healthy here and I have started cooking. For those of you who know Kory he would be so proud! I will post more pictures soon.

On Sept. 16Th we are going to a wedding. Our driver's son is getting married and he gave us these beautiful invitations and said it would be an honor to have us at the wedding. We are so lucky!!!! As for the drugs, no prescription needed just walk up and tell them what you want( or write it down) and you get it in a little paper bag. It is usually around $1 or $2 for the medicine. We have been going a lot lately! I have been sick the last couple of weeks but finally getting better. Enjoy the pics.

Wedding Invitation and Drugs on the Corner

Anniversary DInner with Friends and the Express Mall

Paul and I celebrated our 9th anniversary on Aug 17th, it was sad to be apart but Carlina made the day great by inviting friends to go out to dinner and celebrate. We had a great time and ate some really good Indian food! Carlina's car was also delivered to the school that day so we had a car and driver, that was so nice:)
The rest of the week was just working and trying to get our rooms in order for Open House. On Saturday we went to the Express Avenue Mall. It has over 400 stores and 4 floors, it gave both of us a headache. Well enjoy the pictures!

New Pictures---Enjoy!

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Busy weekend

Well I finished up my first week of school and had a great weekend. Friday after school we were taken shopping to some great places. Saturday we got a rickshaw and went to the school to go swimming then off to Marla and Marks house, Marla teaches 2nd grade. Our rickshaw driver stopped three times to ask for directions, that worried me a little but we made it. It was nice to get to know other teachers and their families. Sunday was monsoon time, thunder, lighting and a lot of rain. I live on the 4th floor and two rooms flooded. The rain comes down so fast and with the wind it just came through my windows. They are fixing it tomorrow. I also have many critters that visit. I have had 2 geckos and a chipmunk so far. Cows roam the streets freely and are considered sacred. We had two on our street this weekend. Well I will post more pics soon.

Great Sunday!

We slept in today and then got ready for a trip to the city, (by way of a rickshaw) to go to church. We went to San Thome Church which is catholic. It was beautiful and the noon mass was in English. We then ventured to the school for a relaxing swim. It is so nice to have the pool. On the way home we stopped to get some fruits and vegetables for dinner. Two bags was 198 rupees which is about $5. We will be so much healthier here. We had a nice dinner and then started to finish the last minuet stuff for our first day of school tomorrow. I'm very excited to get started on teaching. Enjoy the pictures.

Classroom Looks Great!

Well Friday was very busy with meetings and getting ready for parent orientation. My room is looking good. My assistant Ms. Monica is amazing! I feel so lucky to have her helping me this year. My kindergarten team has been great to work with. I'm the only new kindergarten teacher this year. Our first day of school is Monday. The kindergartners only come for a half day the first week, that will help! The school had a welcome back party pool side with amazing food and lots to drink! We went to the school today to finish our rooms. We took a rickshaw home, a great adventure! We are now waiting for Pizza Hut to deliver our dinner because we are to tired and have no groceries. The pizza was good! I will send pictures soon.

Mosquito Netting

Classroom Set Up

The last two days I have been making my way through over 50 boxes that are in my classroom!
There is so much stuff to put away. My teacher assistant will be in class tomorrow so I'm looking forward to meeting her and for her help. We have a staff meeting tomorrow so we will meet all of the returning teachers. We will have a Welcome staff BBQ at the school on Friday Well it only took a few days for the mosquitoes to find me. I found some spray that works and the school put a net over my bed to help. The school is so helpful, what ever you need they find a way to make it happen! I'm feeling very spoiled here!

Ideal Beach

HARD AT WORK!!!!

Ideal Beach Trip

Well we thought it couldn't get any better but then we got picked up and drove about an hour south outside the city to Ideal Beach Resort. You can look it up online to see pictures. It was great pool, sandy beach and all the food and drink you wanted. Lobster and salad for lunch, WOW! It was so relaxing getting to know other new staff including our new principal and his family. It was a good time for all!

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We Made It!

Carlina,Domenic and I had a great flight and are enjoying India. The school is spoiling us! If they are not delivering lunch and dinner they are taking us to 5 star hotels. We have been shopping,toured the city and school. I feel so blessed to be a part of this. I saw my classroom and my name is already on the outside of the door, how welcoming. My three bedroom apartment has 4 bath rooms and air conditioning in each room. It has not been hard to adapt except for a little jet lag. If you have a need or you want something for the apartment you make a phone call to the school and within the hour it is taken care of. The school has us on a busy schedule with a lot of activities and time to of course work in our rooms. Carlina has taken some pitures along the way so enjoy and I will have an update soon.

Classroom Pictures from Chennai