Dear readers,
This week at woodstock we have had the unique opportunity to "Experience the Himalaya" in a new way. Over the course of four days, we hosted talks on mountaineering, a film festival, concerts, himalayan banquet, and concluding in the first annual Mussoorie half-marathon!
On November 1st, we were privileged to hear Rekha Bhardwaj, a singer from Bollywood (if you've ever seen a bollywood movie you'll understand how the actresses have GOT to be lip-syncing!) Unfortunately, I was once again in health center that evening, so I was unable to attend. By all reports, however, it was a most fabulous event. (Although as Ishaan said, it would have been 10x better if people had spontaneously started dancing in the last few acts).
The next day we were excused from class at various points during the day to see videos and guest speakers featured in Parker Hall. One of the most notable of these was speaker Steve Swenson, a hardcore mountaineer hailing from Seattle. He described to us his experiences of mountaineering in the Himalayas throughout his life, and his experiences of climbing K2, Everest, and in making a trail up the second tallest unclimbed mountain in the world: Saser Kangri II (The tallest unclimbed mountain is in Bhutan and not available to alpinists). We also saw some mountaineering films, from Swenson about his experience climbing Saser Kangri II, and an award-winning video from an Italian cliff-climber.
A very awe-inspiring way to start the morning!
For lunch we got to have a Himalayan food festival, with Kashmiri rice, momos, nutty ice, naan, chicken kebab, pappers, and more, all of it delicious!
That evening we got to hear a performance from the Tetseo sisters, a group of three women singing Li music. The harmonies were beautiful, the songs sweet, and the sisters engaged with their performance. They traditional Li songs, and then surprised us at the end with their rendition of "Winter Wonderland" with their brother playing jazz guitar.
Post race, and with Mr Steve and Annabelle after he placed second in the half-marathon.
Over 101 people participated in the marathing, including a whole whack of Woodstock students. Runners of the race included Sarah, Kalki, Bendix, Asma, Jinoh, Teva, Megan, Maggie, Rowan, and many others! It was so great to have such active participation in the first ever half-marathon in Mussoorie (even if the route was changed the night before...)
Lots of love and 32 days!
Emily
This week at woodstock we have had the unique opportunity to "Experience the Himalaya" in a new way. Over the course of four days, we hosted talks on mountaineering, a film festival, concerts, himalayan banquet, and concluding in the first annual Mussoorie half-marathon!
On November 1st, we were privileged to hear Rekha Bhardwaj, a singer from Bollywood (if you've ever seen a bollywood movie you'll understand how the actresses have GOT to be lip-syncing!) Unfortunately, I was once again in health center that evening, so I was unable to attend. By all reports, however, it was a most fabulous event. (Although as Ishaan said, it would have been 10x better if people had spontaneously started dancing in the last few acts).
The next day we were excused from class at various points during the day to see videos and guest speakers featured in Parker Hall. One of the most notable of these was speaker Steve Swenson, a hardcore mountaineer hailing from Seattle. He described to us his experiences of mountaineering in the Himalayas throughout his life, and his experiences of climbing K2, Everest, and in making a trail up the second tallest unclimbed mountain in the world: Saser Kangri II (The tallest unclimbed mountain is in Bhutan and not available to alpinists). We also saw some mountaineering films, from Swenson about his experience climbing Saser Kangri II, and an award-winning video from an Italian cliff-climber.
A very awe-inspiring way to start the morning!
For lunch we got to have a Himalayan food festival, with Kashmiri rice, momos, nutty ice, naan, chicken kebab, pappers, and more, all of it delicious!
That evening we got to hear a performance from the Tetseo sisters, a group of three women singing Li music. The harmonies were beautiful, the songs sweet, and the sisters engaged with their performance. They traditional Li songs, and then surprised us at the end with their rendition of "Winter Wonderland" with their brother playing jazz guitar.
Read more anout the festival here: http://www.woodstockschool.in/page.cfm?p=717
Saturday I was unable to attend any of the events. Lighting crew had an all-day work job testing sockets and wires, hanging lights, labelling fixtures and making maps of every plug and socket in Parker Hall. I have an enormous amount of respect for theater techies now! Actors aren't usually in a position to straddle ladders 20 ft in the air reaching up with a sharpie to laboriously label a light socket. Tall people definitely have an advantage over me there...
Bright and early on sunday morning, most everybody woke up at an ungodly hour (5:30 am) to get down to New Road and go to the starting line of the half marathon, as well as designated water stations and checkpoints along the way. Annabelle and I, not being what you might call "athletic" opted to run in the "Fun Run", a 5 km race from the Tibetan Bazaar all the way along the Mall Road to Woodstock gate.
The morning of: ladies getting ready to leave!
Finding our way to the starting line.
Is it bad that we actually had no clue where it was until 3 minutes before the race?
Nearly there...
I made the mistake of bringing with me my camera, iPod, jacket, and water bottle, thinking that there would be people at the starting line to take the stuff. Little did I know that in the email where we were told we could just bring our things to the starting line, and that fellow woodstockers would take our things, that that opportunity was only being offered to the runners of the half marathon, not the Fun Run. I ended up running about 1 km carrying my things under 1 arm until I found Pauline's group at a water station and dropped all my things on the table whilst running by. They were more than a little confused!
In the end, I placed 2nd to Michael Wiggins, the uber buff dude in our grade.
Coming in to the finish
Post race, and with Mr Steve and Annabelle after he placed second in the half-marathon.
Over 101 people participated in the marathing, including a whole whack of Woodstock students. Runners of the race included Sarah, Kalki, Bendix, Asma, Jinoh, Teva, Megan, Maggie, Rowan, and many others! It was so great to have such active participation in the first ever half-marathon in Mussoorie (even if the route was changed the night before...)
Lots of love and 32 days!
Emily
No comments:
Post a Comment