Celebrations

Our cook went a little overboard when we asked him to prepare a little extra dinner for a couple friends last night. It was Friday night, another week gone by. Now, there's a celebration.

This weekend marks the end of Ramadan and Monday is a holiday for Muslims, Eid ul Fitr, always an occasion for us to send extra money to Widi's family, is a time for new clothes, visiting, and feasting in Indonesia, and elsewhere in the Muslim world. Many of our Malaysian students have been fasting for the whole month, admirable and disciplined as it is, it's still makes little kids pretty lethargic at school. I won't expect to see them on Monday, as the Eid is a wonderful celebration.

Today begins the nine-day Hindu celebration of Navratri, a time of dance, worship, music and enjoyment. We've got several invitations this week. People set up an elaborate set of dolls, evidently, which represent the gods and goddesses. Not sure what else goes on, but a colleague and our cook, both asked us to stop over at their houses to check it out. We also signed up for a tour next Saturday, the Kolu Trail (http://www.storytrails.in/) which give us a little more information about the festivities.

And in a few more weeks comes the much anticipated Diwali break--the school closes for the whole week, so it's a major holiday. I don't really know too much about it, but we'll be driving down to a French coastal town a couple hours south called Pondicherry to experience the festivities. We'll stay in town for a couple days and then we'll go to a The Dune, Ecovillage & Spa, for some yoga, meditation, and organic food. http://www.thedunehotel.com/ It's right on the ocean and has broadband, so I'm hoping John will be happy there while we rest and relax.