THE WEEKEND!! SUNDAY STYLE cont...!!!!:)

So we make it to Thatyur around 12:30, only a 4 hour hike down, compared to last weekend's 6 hour hike down!!!:) We stopped and got some food again and while we were waiting for our food we did a leech check, since we didn't really want to stop and check for leeches WHILE more leeches would crawl up our feet and legs!! WELL I thought I had gotten all of the leeches earlier, and then I lift up my LEFT PANT LEG, and if you look at the picture this is what a I saw!!!:) Not really shocked anymore at the blood, but definitely shocked I did not feel the FREAKIN THING SUCKING AT MY LEG!!! That must have gotten HUGE!! I never saw it, cause once it's full off your blood it just disappears!! It knew salt was coming if I found it!!;) BUT after all of the blood was wiped away it was as big as a misquitoe bite!! So don't be thinking holy cow that bite must be huge, no, it just appears it is from all the blood around it!! It does help to pour salt on it after you get the leech off to quickly neutralize the blood and wound!! It may burn, it may not!! It hasn't burned yet, but others said it does!!:) YOUR MOVE!!! After searching for leeches we sit down and eat our rice and dal!! Half the group got chop suey that was really spicey!! Made Nicole cry which was hilarious!! I asked Tim and Matt if their's were and they're like no!! Haha in your face Nicole and your weak pallet!!! Finished lunch before 1:30 which was when their taxi was leaving to take them back!! THIS TIME we had a mix of people going back!! Dave AND Nicole joined me for the hike back this time!! Matt road in the taxi cause he had lesson plans to write, oooooh to be a student teacher!!:) But it was sweet having a party of 3 heading back, so more people to remember our way back in case of lossness!!:) Which the way back we took was EXACTLY the same as the way up!! So basically 1% chance of getting lost, especially having Dave and his brain AND G.P.S. with!!:) No worries there!! We head back at 1:30 and make excellent time the entire way!! It was 9 miles heading down to Thatyur this way, so we had 9 miles going back!! Since it was the same way going back I'll just skip ahead to any exciting moments!!:) We head through Magra again and are SO ready for LEECH TRAIL!! But we must have sucked up all the leeches going down, because on the way back there were NONE!!! And we were looking for them!!:) Got back on Tehri Road around 4pm!! So had about an hour hike left!! Now compared to the last 2 hikes, my legs were REALLY feeling it this time!! I literally had to keep up a brisk hiking pace for their to be no cramping or pain!! Dave and Nicole noticed this when I would walk ahead like 300 feet then wait for them to catch up!!:) We finished our hike at SouthHill at 5:35pm and at 17.9 miles!!! SO CLOSE!! But Nicole had to walk home which was at LEAST .1 miles, so she made 18 miles!! Dave had to walk uphill home, so he easily made that .1!! And I had to walk to Woodstock then home!! Which is like 2 miles there!! SO we ALL made our goal of 18 miles!!!! After Nicole and Dave split for home, I ran to Woodstock which felt REALLY good!! To actually bend the knees when moving was a different feeling than the past 17.9 miles!!! Arrived at Woodstock and collapsed on the floor with soreness!! Matt was in the LL watching movies!! I stretched it out then we (Nicole, Matt and I) headed to the dining center to await dinner!!! PLEASANTLY to our surprise the dinner ROCKED!! PIZZA!!!! A perfect surprise for us!! We each had 4 little circle pizzas and I had 4 bananas!!! Soooooooo good and perfect for a nice end of a hike!!!:) After dinner I walked home and FINALLY finished my last Saturday's post in my journal!! 15 freakin pages worth!!! Average journal entry is like 3 pages!!! So yeah that felt good to get done!! After doing that WENT TO BED AND RESTED THE MUSCLES!!!!!:) That was the weekend and I'm sticking to it!!!

THE WEEKEND!! SUNDAY STYLE!!!!:)

6:30AM RISE AND SHINE IT'S HIKING TIME!!!!! Sunday Hike to be exact!!! Not Saturday!!!!:) BUT that doesn't mean breakfast is different!! Walked to Woodstock and again on the way got the usual: water, cookies, and gum!! Same stuff in my bag as last Saturday!! Figured if I survived last Saturday with what I had, why add anything!? Especially since that would make my bag heavier and possibly tire me out quicker IF we got lost again!!;) So arrive at Woodstock and have another delicious breakfast!! SCRAMBLED EGGS, POTATOES, TOAST, AND WATER!!!! Packed a pbj and some bananas in the pack and Matt, TIM, and I were off for our hike and to meet up with the rest!!! Same as last week we met the others at SouthHill and headed off on Tehri Road, same direction and path!! However, this time we weren't exiting Tehri Road at the GAP, BUT we passed the GAP, passed the Chai shop we stopped at on our very first hike and continued on Tehri Road!! Different to our first hike, this time it was CLEAR as day!! Absolutely beautiful out!!!:) Walking down Tehri Road with the view on our right was simply stunning!! The rolling hills and clouds placed ever so perfectly around the hills was amazing!!! We passed the Himalayan Weaver's shop and took a side trail off Tehri Road and onto NATURE'S TRAIL!!!:) There was a stop along the trail that was a scenic overlook and it was perfect!! Standing on it you could see down the valley for miles!! After that we entered LEECH trail!! It wasn't called that, but might have well been with all the freakin leeches we saw!!! Cookie had the best technique and that was SCREAMING her lungs out when she saw a leech climb up her boot!!:) Everyone else was more calm and simply grabbed the leech and threw it off!! Both techniques worked equally!! One more louder than the other!!;) I thought I had all of my leeches off, but you'll find out if I missed any!! And since last Saturday leeches don't really freak Matt or me out anymore since we had a BILLION on us sucking our skin!!:) Our first checkpoint on the hike was Magra!! Made that with ease in the first 2 hours!! There was a small village there, not too big and a lot of mud around to walk through!! After Magra it was pretty similar trail throughout to Thatyur!!! Matt and I saw our EVER so helpful road that lead us to our lost adventure last weekend!!! Took a picture of it and never spoke of it again!!:) We passed these two girls playing in the water on the way to town and we continued asking them if we could take a picture, but they kept saying NO NO and kept playing in the water!! They really enjoyed that water!!! SUNDAY CONT...

THE WEEKEND!!!!:)

So Saturday, for those in America who do not know this, was INDIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY!! And also Korean Independence Day!!! BUT apparently Woodstock throws a HUGE festival for their Independence!! And it was awesome!! Colorful, men and women had to dress in their formal clothes!! I wore my Kurta and Pyjama's!!! The flag raising ceremony started at 9:30am in Parker Hall!! We were going to do it at the actual outside flag pole BUT it was a little too wet for that, sooooo we had to move the pole inside AND raise the flag inside!!! After that we had some guest speakers along with a Korean game and the history of Korea's Independence!!! Then these really sweet Indian dancers did a dance on the history of India!! Unless you knew the history it was kind of a confusing dance!! You could tell what was happening but not the significance of it!! There was no dialogue or facts to go with the dancing so we had to guess what was happening!! ALL I KNOW is half way through the dance they played the game Kho-Kho, a tag game we teach in Phy Ed!!!!;) This was Saturday morning!! After the dance there was DELICIOUS INDIAN food down in the quad for all to enjoy!!! Different vendors set up with exotic Indian food!! Basically an Indian buffet!! So did this for about an hour, then Matt and I drifted off to the Lyon's Lounge to replace the usual Sunday lazy day with a lazy Saturday!! BECAUSE SUNDAY WE HAD A VERY NICE HIKE PLANNED FOR THATYUR AGAIN!! This time we planned a shorter way down!!! Saturday night we headed over to the Farley's for some AMAZING pancakes, cooked by Chef Nicole!! They had an entire breakfast dinner planned, but Matt and I really got into this one corny stupid horror movie called Storm Warning, and missed that!! But apparently there wouldn't have been enough food for everyone anyways if we showed up!! Apparently we eat a lot?!?:) Who knew!! Luckily though there was pancake batter left so she made me 8 pancakes!! All delicious and sprinkled with chocolate powder!! After pancakes it was MOVIE TIME!!! The Incredibles!! Watched that while people were going in and out to Megan/Jenny's place right next door playing games!! After the movie we all herded over to Megan/Jenny's and played some Catchphrase!!! There were some interesting guesses made and some very interesting gestures and hints!!:) I left shortly after we started watching cause we had a very long hike tomorrow and needed some sleep!! SUNDAY HIKE NEXT!!:)

Friday!!!!!:) cont...

We're winding down the cement road, everything looking very fresh and familiar in our minds since it has been only a week!! If it wasn't foggy during our hike back, it would have been a very BEAUTIFUL hike!! Which we'll make another time, with a Hindi speaking friend to translate for us!! But for now we're going solo and only Enlgish speaking!! We wind around some hills and forget how many hills it is until we reach their house!!! So we kept saying, oh it's the next one, oooh no no the next one!! Nope the next one!! We knew we weren't lost but just forgot how many hills it was until we were on the right one!! Well the answer is 4!! It took 4 hills until that 4th hill came and we came around the bend and sure enough the wide open area along with the house was right there!! We walk the deja vu path to their house again and sure enough the two are there making some dinner and almost like they were expecting us!! Not surprised at all and very friendly again to greet us!!:) We say hello and again they offer their stools to sit on!! Walking in the room for a second time brought back pleasant memories of the first time!! While they made dinner which we did not want at all, cause we didn't want to impose on their dinner!! But he insisted we have some Chai and since we said no the last time we couldn't refuse it again!! They brought in cups and nice warm chai and sat down while we sipped our chai!! At that point we handed them our gifts and since we didn't speak Hindi we didn't know really their reaction!! Their faces were somewhat happy but I think overwhelmed as well!! Almost like it was too much!! But they accepted the gifts and THEN brought in food to feed us!! We at first said no, but couldn't really translate that to them so we ate the food not to offend their hospitality!!:) The food AGAIN was amazing and we offered them some but they refused!! We got through half the meal and said we had to go!! Said our goodbyes once again and took a picture with them!! The wife was very hesistant but the husband was all for it, we think!!:) We hiked back to civilization again and met up with the rest of Woodstock Staff at the Tavern!! There ordered a delicious fruint punch AND my fruit ice cream!! A very fruity night!! Everyone else arrived at the Tavern around 7, while we got there around 8ish cause of the hike!! We asked if everyone else had major traffic to deal with because of Indian Independence on Saturday!! They said OH YEAH!! The streets were so chaotic and full of cars/taxis it was pretty ridiculous!! So many out of towners, THAT WEREN'T US!!! Cause we're true Mussoorians!!:) Freakin tourists!! But the streets are so narrow, so it only takes 2 cars to cause a traffic jam, one trying to go uphill and the other trying to go down!! At the Tavern we had an awesome time!! Telling stories, jokes and trying to throw little pieces of paper in each others drinks!! This went on for a couple hours, until there was a backup of people waiting for a table!! The waiters and owner kind of pressured us to leave!! All we wanted was our songs to sing and then we would have happily left, BUT the guy literally said, when we tried to request them, the owner will not let me cause he wants you guys to leave!!:) That was our final clue to hit the road, and it was getting pretty late anyways!! So we wanted the check and of course that took like 15 minutes to get!! While all these people at the door were giving us evil stares!! Like what can we do?!? We don't have the freakin check!! As we were figuring out the checks, other customers started hovering over us so as soon as we got up they literally took our spots that instant!! Kind of rude won't lie!! Lousy out of towners having no manners!!! All we were trying to do is have is some fun!!:) We left the Tavern and walked back to our houses!! On the way home Greg and I stopped by the Clock Tower Cafe and I ordered a nice pizza while Greg ordered a carrot cake! BOTH were delicious!!!:) Ate that, paid the check and went on our seperate ways!!! Got home around 11pm and was planning to write in my journal and finally catch up!! As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out!!! Completely wiped out!!! And that has been this past week up to FRIDAY NIGHT!!!

Friday!!!!!!!!!!

Well I know I've been slacking on keeping up with my blog BUT nothing really blog worthy has happened during the week!!!! It's pretty much the same everyday!! We're still in our Cross Country unit for mostly every class except grades 1/2/3 which is working on movement currently!! So this past week we brought up our classes to the top of Chukkar Hill and ran their cross country route that they will run for Inter House Cross country day!! WHICH is a really sweet day when the entire school shuts down for this day of running and competitions!!! STAFF INCLUDED!!!:) And each house competes to earn points for their team!! Eagles of course will dominate the Condors and Merlins!! Sorry Red and Green but TEAM BLUE ALL THE WAY!!!:) Tuesday night was laundry night so I went over to the Farley's again and while laundry was washing and drying we watched Harry Potter 6!! Watched that twice and yet have not seen 1-5 and really have no desire too unless with a group!!!:) Sorry but give me Rocky 1-6 over any 1-6 anyday!!!!! Wednesday night some Woodstock staff went to the Tavern and I had the strawberry smoothie AGAIN!! SOOOO delicious!! We had a blast as usual singing our songs: Country Roads AND Zinhonsadnian!! I forgot the name of it, but it started with a Z and had the ooooooo's!! THEN THURSDAY CAME AND IT WAS THE FIRST DAY OF AFTER SCHOOL SPORTS!!! OF COURSE we're in monsoon season and JUST as school got out it DOWNPOURED!!! Thus we had to cancel the first day, very similar to a certain Shakopee summer tennis first day!! JENNY I told you, use your powers elsewhere, leave India alone!!!;) So we had to cancel the first day and only the inside sports continued, TaeKwonDo, Table Tennis and Climbing Wall!!! THEN yesterday came along!! FANTASTIC FRIDAY!!!!:) Not only Friday itself was awesome but the expectations for this weekend was on the verge of happening!! We had planned a trip to our savior family after school Friday, so Friday during school just flew by!! After school Nicole, Matt and I packed up our things from school and headed to the outskirts of Mussoorie again!! On the way their I had to stop home and pick up my somewhat still wet hiking and VERY smelly hiking boots, along with my camera!! We also stopped at some stores to pick up our gifts we were going to buy for them!! First was a random store which we bought a plastic cricket bat and ball for their son, and some jewelry for the mom!! Then the bakery for some baked desserts!! Next the grocery store to buy some hard cookies that will last longer than the baked goods!! Finally we stopped at a tailor and bought them a nice blanket!!! After we packed up that we headed for the road that winded downward from the bazaar to the hills of Mussoorie!! It was all too familiar again, BUT this time it was light and a little foggy!! Hike cont....

August 8th, 2009....a date that I'll always remember.... Part 7

I leave the bathroom all nice and clean and refreshed ready for some FOOD!! ESPECIALLY PIZZA!!! I sit down, take off my sandals and let my feet breathe, probably not humane in a restaraunt, so sue me!! I order an Orange Fanta to get those sugars back, and a WATER!! Then the pizza comes and it's mouthwatering amazing!! The first bite was hot but I didn't care, the heat warmed up my entire cold wet body!! Unlike at the house, I had my appetite back and ready to devour a pizza!! Knowing not to over eat myself after not eating for so long, I had only half a pizza and boxed the rest! Also, I wanted to save room for strawberry ice cream, get some calcium in my bones as well!;) I paid the bill, tipped the waiter 100 rupees for a 500 rupee bill, I didn't care if that was a lot the meal was amazing and the service again was perfect!! On the walk home the emotions finally came out!! Tears galore from being tired, and exhausted, and staying mental tough for 9 hours (6 of those being lost)! It felt really good to get that out of my system!!:) Made it home and immediately took a shower! Washed the blood off the feet from the leeches, washed the stench of sweat and India rain off, and soaped up everywhere!! After my shower I got the leech socks out of my bag and sure enough the 2 leeches I left in there were still there, poured a CRAP load of salt on them to make sure they were dead, they died!!:) Turned on my i-pod and within 5 minutes I didn't even make it past 2 songs I was out like a light!! Didn't even notice Stephan getting home at 1am!! Also, apparently Nicole called like 8 times from 11-12 to see if I made it home safe, yeah didn't hear that at all either!! This morning waking up felt not to sore but looked at my feet and whoa, leech holes everywhere! 4 holes on my right foot and 1 on my left! Emotionally just drained, no energy at all, and was so glad it was Sunday, lazy Sunday! After gaining full consciousness I caught up in my journal! Once again my hike post will take up a lot of pages!! Last hike entry was 9 pages! I started this one, got to 3 pages so far, and that's at the temple! So have lots to write still for that! After that downloaded my photos onto the computer, all 275 of them from the one day hiking trip!! And then headed to Woodstock for some lunch! That was a very very very long walk to school!! I could feel the soreness now and still no energy at all! Made it to lunch at school, and since lunch 12:30 I've been blogging and now finally caught up!!! I hope everyone had an amazing Saturday, at least a dry one!! And for those just waking up or will eventually have an AWESOME Sunday!!!!:) One last thing, I highly advise running a marathon once in your life, you never know when you'll need that mental toughness and muscle to accomplish and overcome extreme obstacles in your life!! And don't panic if you turn left when you should have turned right, if you stay focused, calm, and collective you will come out just fine!!! I finally got my wish of an exciting adventure in India!!:) Just glad to be back in the real world and not lost in the hills of Mussoorie for 6 hours!!! Love you all and happy smiling!!!!!!:)

August 8th, 2009....a date that I'll always remember.... Part 6

The rain at this point is in full force. I'm wearing a very breathable light long sleeve training shirt, and Matt's wearing a t-shirt and shorts. He luckily had an umbrella so that helped a little even though the rains were coming all which directions. We made it to another top of the hill when THANKFULLY I see in the distance the village we saw from earlier. Of course to get to that village, there was this opening of flowing rapids and puddles galore. With water flowing rapidly beneath our feet towards the village. We slid down some rocks and into the puddles, not even thinking about leeches at this point, just trying to get to the village. We SPRINT through the rapids and make it to this stone wall out of the water. We walk down a path towards the first house we see, and I walk past first and see no one there so I keep moving forward. Luckily Matt was a little ways behind and calls me back, cause this man is at the door inviting us in. We walk up their path and under their roof. He had a wife and kid, probably all wondering who are these two and why are they walking in this weather. But this family in my eyes are saviors. They invite us in like we're family. They set out these stools and invite us to sit. Both Matt and I, out of energy sit down and just collapse. Exhausted. After a minute or so we remember to check for leeches on our feet, running through the water like that. Of course we find just a few..... we take the flashlight shine it on our feet and one by one we start pouring salt on the leeches. Luckily I brought some. I had 5 on my right foot, 1 huge one, the other just getting settled. I had 4 on my left foot, 2 huge ones already sucking blood, and 2 others trying to get settled. I had one on my upper leg and one under my right knee. Matt had a ton on him as well. So we each one at a time went outside and started to pour salt on them, watch them curl up, then immediately grab them and fling them off, stepping on them once they landed on the ground. After that I dared to take off my hiking boots and socks, sure enough 3 more leeches (big ones) were on my right lower part of my foot, all well established and making huge divets in it. QUICKLY poured salt on them and then checked my left foot. Luckily only found 2 little ones trying to establish sucking. But it's crazy to think all they need is the smallest of holes and they can get in their like "that!" I mean these leeches went through my hiking boot, then through my sock, and finally to my skin. And you don't even feel them doing this. After we have sat and napped a little bit, this man comes back with cookies. We didn't know what to say we were so speechless with thanks. We tried signing thank you to him, of course he only spoke Hindi, but an attempt that I think worked. I slowly ate mine, feeling the signs up vomiting if I ate them to fast. But Matt luckily had the stomach he could eat with ease, which is all I cared about at that point cause I know Matt was struggling with the food. Once he had that in his system he took over with the lead. Asking if I was alright and trying to strike up convo. All I could muster was hmm mmm. But I could get 2 cookies down. Then the man turned on the tv and we watched a really cheesy Bollywood movie with the main guy shooting up everyone. That brought smiles to our faces, not big ones but enough to calm our nerves a little. We did constant leech checks every 5 minutes, and sure enough every time we found a couple here and there, trying to establish on our skin. The power went out, and we lost all lights and tv, so I went outside (by this time it was night, about 7:30pm) and I saw the GREATEST thing we've seen in the past 6 hours!! THE LIGHTS OF MUSSOORIE!!! We asked the man earlier and pointed to Mussoorie and we knew it was somewhere over that hill, but seeing those lights at night made us feel so much better! We attempted convo with the man again and found out his daughter went to school in Mussoorie and he knew of Woodstock! So now the confidence is slowly coming back, if this man knows of both Mussoorie and Woodstock School!! He asks us if we want rotti (bread) and some other foods we didn't know what they meant. We said yes yes yes yes yes, thank you thank you thank you. His wife started the meal, while both Matt and I tried getting in a quick nap in the chairs. Matt commented that you know when you're exhausted when you can fall asleep in a stool bent over, which was very true. So we caught up on some much needed rest while they made dinner. The smell from the next room smelled soooo good. While it was cooking he came back in the room with clothes. Now this house was 2 rooms, and was barely filled with materials. This man who didn't even know us offered the clothes off his back to warm us up, we couldn't say yes to that. But just the gesture was so amazing and powerful. Then they brought in the most delicious meal we've had in 6 hours. It was rotti, some type of dal, and chai tea. Now the tea we didn't drink just because it could possibly be tap water, and no good there. But everything else was fair game. All I could eat was 2 pieces of rotti, which when nervous and focused I'm not a huge eater, so I knew that would be okay. I was just happy Matt was going to town on his food cause I knew he needed it to reenergize. So Matt was getting reenergized I was still focused on the trip home. The man then came in with blankets and sheets to start making a bed. Now he was offering us a place to sleep. This was truly a miracle and the nicest/kindest thing that anyone could ever do for another human being. We declined the bed and sleeping cause we knew we had to get back tonight otherwise some may get worried if we didn't make it back that night. So we said no no no to the bed and waited for the rain to stop. Another motivator that had us not stay the night was this HUGE spider right above us by the light, did not want that crawling around us in the night. Finally the rain started to simmer down, not end but not a downpour at least! In the distance I heard this man doing some late night prayers, I checked my watch and sure enough it was 8pm, and it was the same chants I hear everynight at home!! Then we heard the dogs!! So both were unbelievably comforting sounds and again grew our confidence!!:) It was around 9pm when the rain finally stopped. We knew this was our only chance and had to take it. I gave the man 1500 rupees for their troubles. We packed up, checked for leeches and followed the man with his flashlight to his path. He pointed to Mussoorie and shook hands and he was very grateful, but not NEARLY as grateful as we, and we wished so much we could communicate with him how much thanks we had, but I think he may have gotten the point...hopefully. We head down the path and within 10 minutes we see the greatest thing ever: CEMENT road!! A sign of civilization and close to a real town!! Not shortly after we see this single headlight coming down the path, it was a scooter, another great sign of things to come! We head up the path and to the Langdon School, which is what he said we would end up at, he also said bazaar/marker would be there too. We enter town just relieved to be in some type of civilization with other people around!! We walk up the path and more zig zags, but this time we don't care aobut the zig zags! When we reach the top, Matt quickly recognizes where we are, the MAIN BAZAAR close to the Clock Tower!!!! Walking towards the split to both the main bazaar and my house, we give a big man hug to each other and congratulate a HARD fought battle mentally and physically to get home and couldn't help but think what would have happened if we chose left way back there and not right! We didn't even want to think about that outcome at all. After we split our ways I headed straight towards the Clock Tower Cafe, knowing a LARGE PEPPERONI PIZZA was waiting to be eaten by me!! I didn't know if they were open or not but it didn't matter I was headed there to find out! I see the clock tower, I see the cafe and BAM it's open!! I walk in to the greatest smell in the world, baking dough!! I sit down just exhausted, even the waiter came up to me and asked are you tired? I explained to him I just hiked with a friend from Tatur and left around 1! Before I did anything I took off my boots and quickly put on my sandals that were packed in my backpack, luckily! That felt soooo good! My boots were soaked and a little blood soaked from the leeches! Cause after you take off the leech the hole that it creates still has blood coming from it, you can pour salt on it to neutralize it, but minus the slight burn pain it still doesn't stop it completely! Went to the bathroom and washed my hands for 5 minutes! They were a LITTLE dirty from the hike! Dinner and Sunday cont....