And Then The Rains Came

We're getting a real taste of the monsoon season here in Chennai this week. Roads flooded, electricity and internet inconsistent, and John's drama class and Widi's orphanage classes have even been canceled today, Saturday. Our school calendar allows three extra days not for snow cancellation, but flood cancellations. The rain is hard and incessant this morning, it's cool and dark inside, and when the electricity goes, we need our emergency lights to see inside. The cook won't be coming, and there's a lazy day feeling here. The power is back on now, so everyone is happily connected to their favorite game, social network, blog or travel site.

This week we learned that the elementary principal, Kim, with whom I work closely and is very supportive and just fantastic in many ways, has decided to leave at the end of the year. She and our headmaster, Barry, have given me so much support, funding, and positive feedback about every little thing I do or recommend for the ESL Department, that I'm a little sad that she's leaving. But, it's a good decision for her and her family, so it's a new opportunity to experience a new leader in the school. In fact, they're hiring both a principal and vice-principal to replace her, the VP being something she'd been asking for. While the middle and high school's enrollment is down, the elementary numbers--almost all are ESL beginners--keep increasing; I guess the companies are sending more young families to do their time in Chennai.

There are a few other key people leaving the school, and although it seems like we've just arrived, it will this time next year when we'll be asked to decide whether or not we'll be renewing our contracts or not. John was a little homesick this week, asking to go home. We'll have to consider coming back for Christmas next year. Widi and I are so excited about the travel possibilities here, but we miss everyone too!

Yesterday was parent conference day, and John had to present a reflection of his work in math and sit in on all the three-way conferences. While he still has room to put forth more effort, he really is doing great. The only area where he's really not motivated is band, and while he carries that French horn back and forth regularly, he's not very good about practicing, and we're not very good at reminding him to do it. He's excelling with a little room for improvement in all other areas. Three people who I work with that don't see John very often saw us together yesterday going to conferences, and all of them mentioned that he seems to have gotten taller since we arrived. He is now officially taller than Widi.

Now that our March trip to Singapore, Batam/Galang, Yogyakarta, and Candidasa, Bali is all set, we're looking at a stop in Europe for a week on our way home. In March we'll fly to Singapore and take a ferry to Batam, a resort island in Indonesia where a bridge has been built to Galang, the place Widi lived in the refugee camp for six years and me for two, 1988-90. We'll be visiting our old haunts before flying to visit Widi's family and college reunion in Yogya, and then on to East Bali for a timeshare week and side trips to Ubud and Amed, wonderful places we visited back when John was two, but not on our recent trips.

As for the Europe stop, our flight home will probably be through Brussels again, so maybe we can take a cheap roundtrip flight to Barcelona, possibly connect with Jasmine's sister there, and take a short 4-day cruise to Marseille, France and Ibiza. John's taking a semester each of Spanish and French this year before deciding which to continue with in high school, so he'll have his chance to try them both out. We're just in the fantasizing stage of all this, but hopefully it will all come together...

In January, it looks like the 8th grade "Week Without Walls" will take a field trip to Kerala, a beautiful tropical part of South India on the West Coast known for its backwater houseboat trips. The 8th grade teachers will be taking around 40 kids for the week, M-F, to see the sites, do some learning projects, take a houseboat trip, and have a lot of fun! John is excited about it. I hope he'll post some comments and photos on his newly-created Facebook page.