Quick update

Not feeling inspired today, so here is a boring list of events of this week. Sorry!

• On Monday one of the volunteers from last year came for a week & a half visit. She's lovely, and it's been really nice having her around. She's helped us see a side of the Thapas that we hadn't before.
• Last weekend Rosalie & I did some shopping at the tailor, and so are now proud owners of gorgeous cotton salwars and some hilarious tailored shirts that didn't quite turn out as expected. The shirts were so cheap that it doesn't matter, and they look quite funny. I also had a pair of pants made up, but clearly they only make western pants for men, as they've made me a pair of men's trousers! Again, it's not a big investment so it's not the end of the world, and made for a good laugh! My salwar is amazing though, and I'm in love with it.
• On Friday I had one of my best field trips ever! Classes VII - X got to go down to Siliguri for a science-related field trip. We got to come along as well (I guess to "supervise", but the older ones are complete angels), and it was so much fun. We took a bus down (the children sang songs the whole way down - anything by Akon seemed to be the most popular choice). We went to 2 museums. One of them was full of taxidermied animals - lovely! - and animals preserved in formaldehyde. The best (aka worst) exhibits were the baby elephant and leopard fetuses in jars. You could see spots on the leopard. It was all a bit macabre to say the least. I preferred the other museum, which was all about plants, and (which seems to be unusual for Indian museums) had a decent amount of information (as apposed to just rooms full of labelled displays). We then went to a park for lunch, and the children played on the swings and see-saws (so cute!), and then to "Science City", which was kind of like the Indian version of Science World, but much less flashy. We did get to see a 3D movie, which was really fun. The children were so cute - after a particularly good scene, they started clapping. We then finished with a trip to a little amusement park. Again, it felt a bit funny at first as we seemed to be the only ones there, but it was good fun. Bumper cars, and a particularly rickety ferris wheel/rollercoaster were highlights. The whole day was so much fun though, and it was really nice seeing a bit of Siliguri, which looked a bit more "Indian" (hot, busy, and cows everywhere). We didn't leave until after dark, (and after the driver had his dinner), but rather than sleeping on the way back, the teachers got the children singing songs again, which they did the whole way. So cute.
• Yesterday we went to Shanta Bawan, which is a convent nearby. The nuns there take in and look after orphans, and find them homes. The babies were adorable, and seeing them was really bittersweet. It's heartbreaking to see all these lovely little babies who don't have homes, but they were really well looked after by the nuns and the women who work there. They also apparently have more prospective parents than they do have children, which is also nice to know. The nuns themselves were absolutely lovely as well, and so welcoming.
• Next week we may be going to Darjeeling (fingers crossed) for the day, and are doing a little talent show at the school on Tuesday. We came up to Kurseong today to buy prizes

Ok now I really don't have time, so will have to stop! Miss everyone masses and masses