Weekend Full of GI

This weekend was supposed to be a relief from my rat infested nights. Yes, that's true, that it was, but what I did not expect was an immediate attack of GI (gastro intestinal problems -- aka um, being friendly with the toilet). And so I stayed in my apartment all Saturday, which was probably the first entirely sunny day since being in Mussoorie. I stayed close to my bathroom and slept half the day with a massive headache. At one point, I tried a trip to the local store to buy rubber gloves in order to clean my walls with bleach (to get the mold off from the monsoon), but they didn't have any. Anyhow, I managed the 20-minute round trip okay.

Here are some pictures that I took. It was the first time I have seen the snow capped Himalayas that all the old timers have been talking about. This is what living at Mt. Herman is supposed to be about -- the beautiful views! Finally!!

(these beautiful browning ferns -- the monsoon is practically over!!!)

(path to Sister's Bazaar, 7 minutes away from my apartment)

(turn your head to the right, and this is what you see)
(they look like clouds, but look closer, they are pointy! The snow capped Himalayas!!!)
(Sister's Bazaar)

Fortunately, fellow new transplant Catherine decided to stay over that day/night. She is a supervisor at one of the dorms down below, and needed some respite from the kids. Dorm parents have it rough, with about one weekend off per month. She kept me company and brought me lassi, a liquidy yogurt kind of drink. It was nice being cared for by a friend and a registered nurse! I really didn't have the energy to walk all the way down the hill to the health center and wait for stool results, so I just popped the Cipro antibiotics that my US doctor had given to me before coming. If I had bacteria, then I was in luck. If it was amoebas, then I don't know.

In between naps, my aiya came. Her name is Sheepchandi (spelling), and she cleans, does laundry by hand, and cooks for me twice a week. We were both on the same wave length, bringing notes for each other -- communicating about the mouse/rat.

(For Chini Mam...Chini mam I will say you that is your house in big mouse come...etc... see, we both spell phoenetically!!)

(Chuha pakar liya hai = the mouse is caught. I read it to her.)

We have a lot of fun doing charades, and she said "mouse?" while making the motion of slitting her throat. And I said, "Gi, mouse" while slitting my throat. Ha ha. Gi means yes. And I showed her the picture on my blog that you can click on, on the previous entry.

Today, Sunday, I was feeling at 70% capacity which was pretty good. I spent the morning indoors working on grades and re-energizing. Catherine enjoyed her day off, taking strolls on the natury paths. Karen came over and kept me company, and we climbed on the roof of Mt. Herman. There were no monkeys, but Karen is a natural monkey anyway.

Then tonight, many of our new teacher/residence friends came up the hill and enjoyed a potluck at Mt. Herman. The place was invigorated, and dinner was delicious! I was able to eat it, yay!!! If you ever meet Neeraj, you need to ask him about his magic tricks. Unfortunately, my pictures came out horribly, but here are a few that were okay.

(from right to left: Jack/John the Mystery Man, Casey the Bday Boy, Dan the Man, and his son.)

(from right to left: Jackie, Asha, Asha, and Roxy. That's right, it's an Asha sandwich!)

It was a great night! I'm feeling good again! But...now that the antibiotics have kicked in, I sit at my computer enjoying a nice online chat with another high school friend, and what pops out to join? Another rat, straight out of the internet pipe! "Ah!" I yell, and it pops down again. I stuff some aluminum foil down the pipe and some cardboard. It's an all out war now. If the cardboard is chewed up tomorrow, then I know the rats are not deterred by metal foil, and that I have new friends. My three traps are set again, sorry animal activists!!!

(notice the pipe next to the ketchup)

Maybe it's the rats that are chewing my phone lines or something? But yesterday, my phone line died too! Of course, yesterday was the first day that I saw and heard monkeys on my roof! (They always go on the roofs of the dorms, but I haven't seen them on my apartment before.) So maybe we're all celebrating the end of the monsoon!