Work has started on the basketball court! The day after I came home with the hoop, a crew of five laborers started paving the courtyard in long strips. Today is the fifth day of work. They mix the cement by hand, making a crater with cement and sand filled with water. When they cement is laid and flattened they top it with a shiny coat of plaster. The pole for the hoop is under construction and they left an opening in the concrete where we can dig the hole. It’s going to look really good! We invited the best school basketball team in NE India to come play when it’s finished and it would be a lot of fun if I could play with them.

I’m teaching the students Christmas carols so tonight we will stand around the little plastic Christmas tree Uttam has and sing Jingle Bells, Rudolf, and Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. We might get interviewed because there is a student from Guwahati studying at Wesleyan who is doing a story on Parijat. Also at the Christmas festivities will be my new friend Bhaswati (pronounced P-haswati). Uttam introduced me to her a few days ago and I immediately trusted her not only because she seemed cool but because she had volunteered here two years ago, commuting from home two hours each way. It takes a good heart to do that. She has lived in Delhi most of the past five years and offered to show me around! So now I have a tour guide when I get there and I don’t have to try my luck with sketchy hostels and wander by myself in a city of 22 million people. I could not be more excited, so I think I will extend my stay a few more days in Delhi! Yesterday were walked around Guwahati, eating at choice restaurants, walking, getting to know one another, hopping between public transportation and getting a drink at a top floor bar. I had whiskey, neat. I gained some confidence and took an auto and two trekkers to Garchuk by myself, bought some necessary provisions from Prodip and walked home. For those who are curious, the “trekker taxi” is a red-painted, stripped down Range Rover-looking SUV with a bench in front, another in the middle and two benches parallel with the road in the back. They have set route that they run like a bus. It’s a standard sized American SUV but here, a comfortable ride holds 12 or 13 people and the record so far for a trekker I was in is 20. I always count. The far is cheap, the destinations are printed in English on the front windshield and my body fits slightly better than in a bus, so it’s my preferred mode of transportation.

This week marks the end of a short era in my life – life without Americans. Steuart showed up on Friday, a student from Reed College. He actually recognizes my sister…said he had a class with her before he dropped it, but it doesn’t seem like a huge coincidence because of all the people to show up here, a Reedie seems the most likely. It’s great to have somebody to talk to about American stuff and keep me company, but I really enjoyed the time away from my countrymen. He’ll be in and out for about a month.

In two days I leave for Darjeeling for 8 days to trek around the mountains with Henry Teron, a friend of the family. I previously mentioned to him that I wanted to visit Darjeeling, so he said, “OK, I’ll come with you and organize the trip.” What luck! Five of us are taking an overnight train to New Jalpaiguri and a morning taxi to Darjeeling. I am really excited to see some Himalayas! Three days after we return we also take a one night trip to Shillong and Cherrapunji, the latter being rainiest place on Earth. It receives an average of 128 inches of rain each July and holds the world record for most rainfall in a year with 1041.75 inches! But it doesn’t rain at all in January and I’m fine with that.

When I get back I will be halfway done with my stay at Parijat. The time has gone both very quickly and very slowly.