Retreat!

Woodstock choir retreats are NOTHING like Rocky Ridge!

First thing this morning (after calling home!) we took the bus to St. Pal's church. Some EPIC photos from the drive:

Ok, so this isn't actually from the drive, but I stuck it here because it's awesome ;)

Campus!

The village

Kalkidan is chillin'

At church, we played icebreakers and RED ROVER! Kind of excited about that, considering it's totally illegal in Canada. :D

We went through 3 songs: Ahrirang, Thirty Second Fa-La-La, and Over The Rainbow. After that, we went out to lunch at a cute place in Landour. I got to try Momos and chicken fried rice, although what I ordered came later: an inch thick 20cm diameter banana pancake. Possible the best pancake ever, it was crispy on the outside, moist and fluffy on the inside, and had the perfect ratio of bananas, finished off with a hot chocolate. Mmmmm...

Also, on the walk home with Apa, Annabelle and Kalkidan, we had the opportunity for male-female interaction with a couple of choirboys, Bendix and Martin. This was fabulous for me, as I haven't talked to any guys (aside from Dad and Will) for about a week. I'm drowning in estrogen!!! (Take note LukasBenMattDannyWill, I will be desperate to hang out with guys when I get home)!

Chez Midlands, I watched the Olympics (Japan vs. Korea women’s volleyball-tensions running high! Also found Rosie MacLennan’s gold medal win on YouTube) and skyped home. It was raining waaaaaaaaaay too hard for me to want to go out to dinner, so we ended up eating toast and bananas and watching Brazil vs. Mexico.

On the edge of our seats...

Well done Mexico!!!

Then, Kalkidan decided we should do facemasks:

Allie, I miss you!!!

(Glacier clay, LUSH, take note)

And then Tanya, Tanuvee, Devika, Kalkidan and I watched Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. How have I never seen this before?!

We stayed up until 2:30 chatting about differences in our cultures and everyone around the school. I love everyone here so much, it’s just amazing. We slept 4 people in 2 single beds. As Terry Prachett said “In such a space, you could get three people in there if they knew each other well. Four people would know each other very well whether they liked it or not”.

Sunday has been pancakes & cereal, one sick friend back in the health center, and Chapel. Chapel was very interesting; we discussed how Christianity has influenced India and its effect today. After that we visited Uma and Tanuvee, who have both been locked up until further notice.

I love hanging out with friends whilst studying. You get so little done, but you get culture shock about once every minute!

Aaaaaaand now the water’s gone until 6 am. Crap…

Love to all:

Emily

PS. Wide Awake by Katy Perry. I have heard it enough for a lifetime, that’s all I’m saying.

PPS OMGOMGOMG Independance is on Wednesday OMGOMGOMG