Dehra Dun & Pepper Pot Cave

(cow in my front yard)

We have had three days of teaching now. It’s so exciting teaching here, in that my students are super motivated and hard working, and are from all different countries. Most of my students seem to be from India, Korea, United States, Nepal, and Bhutan. I totally can’t pronounce their names. My reputation seems to be that I’m nice and good at explaining the math, but that I assign way too much homework. I can see that. Also, I only allow each student one pass to use the bathroom per semester.

Yesterday, Saturday, I made another trip to Dehra Dun with my friend Kristy and my buddy teachers Pete and Dot. We stopped off at the Leprosy Mission which sells rugs and fabrics made by lepers. I spent way too much money and came away with cushion covers and fabrics to make curtains out of. (We have to give back all the current curtains after a few months.) We ate a fabulous meal of Tibetan food which tastes strangely similar to Chinese food.

(Pete inspecting a rug)

(Kristy in front of fabrics)

(looking at a bag)

(Dot and Kristy later at a shoe store)

Today, Darab (the head of the environmental center) and his family took me, Chris, and a guy named Mark to some local hiking. He felt bad that us new teachers were going stir crazy from all the rain. First we looked at rock ripples formed thousands of years ago by the ocean.

(Vanu and the ripples)

Then we hiked up to a place called Pepper Pot Cave. I was so excited to learn about all the new plants, many that were edible and had strong fragrances. Wild thyme, wild marigolds, wormwood, a plant to clean your teeth with, nettles, antidote to nettles, lemon grass, more orchids, a sour tasting plant, maiden hair fern, etc. After talking, we later learned that he is the guy at Woodstock who is still friends with my former landlord’s son.

(in the cave) (view of Mark on the outside from inside the cave) (happy on a misty day) (Darab holding a bird nest made out of moss)

Chris was talking about how he hadn’t been “attacked” by a leech since getting to India. Then, at lunch at China Joe’s, Vanu kept glancing at Chris’ neck without saying anything. Finally, Noz (Vanu’s mom) noticed that it was moving. Here is a picture of the leech on Chris’ neck. The wound kept bleeding for a while because leeches excrete some kind of anti-coagulating enzyme.

(Chris reacted pretty calmly)

I was silently thinking, thank goodness I haven’t had a leech yet. About an hour later, when I was working by myself in the staff lounge, I went to scratch my leg. Doh! This is what I saw:

(Doh!)

I guess I had been leechified too. The culprit had escaped, with enough time for my blood to coagulate! (Pour on salt to eradicate a leech.)