We have been busy lately, which is a good thing I suppose. I know that it has made each of us more tired -- none of us stays up much past 9PM these days!
Last week held a few surprises. First we had the minor earthquake, which occurred at almost exactly the same time, one year later, as the major earthquake they had here last year. In fact, there was an anniversary vigil being held in the marketplace when this year's 3-second, 4.1 on the Richter Scale, tremor occurred. It was the first earthquake for all of us. Grace handled it with sense of humor; she thought it was funny that her knees wobbled during the earthquake AND after the earthquake. Corrina got very upset and cried, at which point Budhamaya told her, "Don't cry, don't cry!" and 15 minutes later Corrina was remembering with awe what it felt like to be in an earthquake.
Below are some photos from Traditional Dress Day. The girl standing alone is in my 4th grade math class. Her name is Rikzim and she is the cousin of one of the girls in Grace's grade. People use the words cousin and sister/brother very loosely here. It seems like everyone we meet in town is a cousin of Simrin's or Tenchung's.
I borrowed these photos of Pintso and his parents from one of our housemates. We currently have 2 people staying with us: Peggy who is an oboeist and is here to help with the Autumn Concert and Sharna who is a Waring alumna and recently graduated from college.
To the left here is Maria, Pintso's mom, with Pintso. Below is Pintso with his dad, Sonam. Maria teaches Grade 10 English and Grade 11 (she is Grace's teacher) and Sonam oversees all of the construction at the school.
Last week held a few surprises. First we had the minor earthquake, which occurred at almost exactly the same time, one year later, as the major earthquake they had here last year. In fact, there was an anniversary vigil being held in the marketplace when this year's 3-second, 4.1 on the Richter Scale, tremor occurred. It was the first earthquake for all of us. Grace handled it with sense of humor; she thought it was funny that her knees wobbled during the earthquake AND after the earthquake. Corrina got very upset and cried, at which point Budhamaya told her, "Don't cry, don't cry!" and 15 minutes later Corrina was remembering with awe what it felt like to be in an earthquake.
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| A Vishwakarma Puja at our local taxi stand |
The next day was a Hindu holiday commemorating the God of all things mechanical--Vishwakarma! People do "pujas" to pray to this god by decorating their cars and having prayer services in places like the taxi stand and the police headquarters. After school that day Grace and I went into town to buy her a dress for Traditional Dress Day the following day. On the way home, we could barely find a taxi -- all the drivers were busy celebrating the holiday.
The following day all of the cars were still decorated, including our car, which makes driving a little more fun. I realized too late that I should have done a puja for the washing machine -- it STILL isn't hooked up to work!
Grace and Corrina each wore a skirt that we bought in Gangtok. We found a Levi's Store and an Adidas store where we were able to buy western clothes. After this last Traditional Dress Day Grace said she would like to buy a Baku (the type of outfit Rikzim is wearing below) for the next Traditional Dress Day.
I borrowed these photos of Pintso and his parents from one of our housemates. We currently have 2 people staying with us: Peggy who is an oboeist and is here to help with the Autumn Concert and Sharna who is a Waring alumna and recently graduated from college.
To the left here is Maria, Pintso's mom, with Pintso. Below is Pintso with his dad, Sonam. Maria teaches Grade 10 English and Grade 11 (she is Grace's teacher) and Sonam oversees all of the construction at the school.
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