The Monarch Ootacamund

... sense of belonging is in relationship to others of a similar background." <br><br>I am a TCK. My mother was living and working in Zambia when she met my father, and I was raised there until the age of seven when we moved permanently to Canada. The realization came with a chuckle, and my hosts nodding their heads as I described my own experience. &#8220;And your choice to live outside your native country is classic TCK behaviour,&#8221; said John approvingly. I didn&#8217;t know that I ...

... about in fits of rage or fright on stage. <br><br>It was a good show, and I enjoyed seeing onstage the students I&#8217;d met earlier in the day. Our time had been sweet but also short, and we were bundled off to catch our bus just a half hour after the performance end. Ooty is in fact an amazing place, and seeing Hebron was a huge privilege. I promised to return, with Amanda, who as a teacher will be interested in the school, and as a traveler will love the journey. I will be back, and better dressed. <br>

... the year to expand children of all backgrounds. The school was still Christian in approach though, and though students could be of any religious heritage, Hebron faculty is required to be practicing Christians. &#8220;Our staff must have a religious calling,&#8221; Noonan outlined. &#8220;They have to, really, after all the job doesn&#8217;t pay well and its full time in a remote place.&#8221;<br><br>The school&#8217;s original tenets have also been maintained ...

... the rest of the places we'd visited. Maybe it was the relentless rain and cold temperatures that made everything and everyone lifeless and grey, but there did not seem to be the optimism and hope that we'd seen elsewhere. And it was the rain that made our first day in Ooty truly miserable. Umbrellas were proving to be useless and 4 inches of rain running through the streets ensured that we were getting soaked from both above and below ...

... haven't seen elephants since Hannibal and when we climbed out at various stations to wait for the engine to catch it's breath, we had to make sure the monkeys didn't make off with our bags. Five hours, and only 46km later we crawled into the beautifully cool centre of Ooty. Well, not quite the centre, you see the Brits were here big time in cahoots with the local Maharajah and enjoying the good life, the centre of the town was a full size race course ...

... Of course back in the days of yor our ancestors were so impressed with the hard working Tamils they took them to Sri Lanka (Then known as Ceylon, although many Sri Lankans still refer to it as Ceylon) to work on their plantations there. The rest is history, as they say. We ate at the restaurant downstairs at lunchtime and the tables were being cleared by 2 boys, aged approximately 10/11. There was something in the newspaper yesterday about ...

... once we had a plan, but I indemnify myself by saying that I was doing so only from written dates in Sumis notebook, as I cannot be trusted to do things off my own back that way. So the Nilgiri Express arrives - there is plenty of time to board as it is the starting station - so no mad panic, and we find our carriage easily. '29 and 30' I say to Sumi when she requests what berths we are, only then, a man says that he is 29 and shows me his ticket. He must be mistaken ...

... I have read my books in nature, in relative silence. I haven't been able think with all of the honking. I have seen men and women going to the bathroom on the side of the road, or on the sidewalk. I have seen poverty at it worst. I have still seen smiles in half-naked dirty little children. I have seen cows stop traffic. I have seen crippled cows and dogs and cats, hit by vehicles. I have seen people spit, ****, belch, cough, sneeze... on or next to ...

... told me to wait.So I waited and waited....a guy came to my rescue in the que and bought us tickets-I thought great and tried to pay him 50rupees he said it was only 12!Sounded strange,found out why when he was gone that they were only childs tickets-Oppps!!!!These teenagers that were talking to Glenn helped us asking at the counter and then finding the guy who got us the tickets so we endeed up goin with the guy who got us the tickets and his kids-Mad!!! So eventually ...

... the Indian driving experience - but for the rest of us it was a great time. They dropped us off at a nice hotel - and we said our good byes. But only till April when they hope to visit us in Canada! (Must get house ready...) The plan is pretty simple for Mysore - the Palace of course, and Chamundi hill are likely all we'll get to visit - but we hope to see the bird sancuary as well. Rabin