Good at words

Oh hai there, friends. It's been a decent few days, though not ones that are particularly remarkable. We went down to Lower Dharamsala again and swung in to a few fabric stores.

Note the stack of "monk burgundy" in the front.

I really wish we had lots of little fabric stores like this near home. There are a lot of bolts of synthetic material I'd probably never choose to use, but there is also an awful lot of really nice cotton. I'm tempted to buy a whole bunch of it and ship it home, though I'm not sure it would actually be any cheaper once transportation costs are figured in.

Oh! I found this! :D

I have no idea what the actual event is about, but "So Many Socks" is something this knitter wasn't about to simply ignore. Every so often I see Tibetan women knitting as they tend their street stalls. Usually they are using brightly colored acrylic, but once in a while I see one knitting something, socks perhaps, out of a nice subtly-colored wool. I always want to start a conversation but don't, because I don't have anything to show myself. I guess I could show them my tattoo and be like "See? I knit too!" Maybe one of these days I'll go for it.

In other news, another new teacher arrived today. We were on our way up to McLeod for a short tour when an incense box dropped from above us. It was a little unexpected and startling, and sure enough:

Monkeys.

The one started sauntering right for us, not menacingly but deliberately, and so we retreated a bit just in case. The last thing we wanted was a monkey bite. Rinzin had actually just told us that her sister had been bitten by a monkey earlier in the week, so it was fresh in my mind as a distinct possibility.

They lost interest within a few minutes, so we continued on our way.

At one of the shops in town I spotted these creepy mannequins:

I suppose the phrase "creepy mannequin" is redundant...

At one of the shops on Jogiwara Road, the Indian proprietor made a point of telling us that it was our store, not his, and that we should not feel pressured at all. "Come in any time, and take your time! Look at everything!" This was the same guy who responded to Verity's compliment that a shawl she tried on was very pretty with "It is not pretty, madam. You are pretty." Lol. I've gotta give him credit for being a pretty good salesman.

We circled through town and got back to Tibet Charity in time for dinner. Once a month they provide a nice dinner for all of us teachers as a way to say thank you for volunteering. Tonight's menu included, along with the usual rice, cauliflower cooked in a whole bunch of garlic, and delicious roasted potatoes. Yum! As someone who spent a considerable amount of time being a broke college kid, I have developed an appreciation for free meals.

The director, by the way, expressed considerable appreciation for the supplies that you guys have sent here. He was telling us that there is some red tape that makes it difficult for them to accept money from foreigners, so donations of actual stuff is often more useful. We may be looking to get more flash cards, puzzles, and other such materials.

In class, my students read an article today about Okinawa and how its people are some of the healthiest, longest-lived in the world. We were studying adverbs of frequency (always, usually, often, never, that sort of thing). It was another one of those days when I said "ok guys, take a few minutes and read this article, then we'll discuss it" and then I kept getting called over to define words that were new for them. I eventually decided that my strategy could use some rethinking and so I reined them all in, did a group vocab lesson, and we read through the article together. I think they get it, but sometimes they surprise me. Their homework for the weekend is to write a page comparing their home to Okinawa, and what are the similarities and differences?

Last night Brij, Marie, and I got together and played a Scrabble-esque game called Bananagrams. I'd heard about it in the past, but had never really played it. We came up with some good words, I think.

"Pristine," "mediators," and "dewclaw"... Yeah, we're good at words.

I think we may use these in class with the students sometime. I'm interested to see what kind of things they come up with.