Hello everyone!
Aakash and I had a very wonderful Christmas season filled with wonderful family, friends, and food. Teresa, Aakash's mom, arrived in Kolkata on Dec. 21st, just in time to see my new choirs perform at the Christmas Fete. I'm so proud of all the hard work the students did, memorizing over ten songs in less than four weeks. The teachers and parents seemed to love the performances, especially the songs with motions, of course. Instead of one big concert, the two choirs alternated singing every half hour, so they could also enjoy the festivities. But the school's founder, Auntie Maushi, wanted us to sing for longer, so we repeated favorites and prolonged the music. (The senior choir sang Joy to the World at five times- even twice in the same set.) There is no doubt it was a success. The students were very gracious and gave me an absolutely exquisite handmade card. I'm looking forward to working with them again.
Aakash and I had a very wonderful Christmas season filled with wonderful family, friends, and food. Teresa, Aakash's mom, arrived in Kolkata on Dec. 21st, just in time to see my new choirs perform at the Christmas Fete. I'm so proud of all the hard work the students did, memorizing over ten songs in less than four weeks. The teachers and parents seemed to love the performances, especially the songs with motions, of course. Instead of one big concert, the two choirs alternated singing every half hour, so they could also enjoy the festivities. But the school's founder, Auntie Maushi, wanted us to sing for longer, so we repeated favorites and prolonged the music. (The senior choir sang Joy to the World at five times- even twice in the same set.) There is no doubt it was a success. The students were very gracious and gave me an absolutely exquisite handmade card. I'm looking forward to working with them again.
The first full day Teresa was in town, we took a two hour car trip to see Aakash perform with Tanmoy Bose at a Bengali book fair outside the city. The excursion lasted almost twelve hours and definitely felt not worth it, until the band FINALLY went on after nine p.m. It was such an exciting wonderful show. Not only did they perform with Tanmoy Bose's regular band, they also performed with some Baul singers (prounounced bowel). You can see a short clip here. Baul singers are Bengali traveling minstrels, who live off the food, clothes, and donations given to them for their music. It was absolutely incredible. And I got some English books for Christmas gifts at the bookfair!
| Christmas/Aakash's birthday was wonderful. We had a party on Christmas Eve and a lot of friends were able to come, including Aakash's teacher and his sister. We had loads of sweets and food, and even though I asked Aakash to buy his birthday cake himself, he seemed surprised when we brought it out with candles. Cole made it for the whole party and we ended the night singing carols with the few lingering guests. We woke up leisurely on Aakash's birthday and after skyping with Meera for a long time, opened up stockings and presents. The afternoon was spent in perfect Aakash fashion, ie watching hours and hours of Star Trek. I'd say it was a very successful holiday in all. | 
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The next day, we again met Aakash's teacher for lunch, and while Teresa accompanied Aakash to his lesson, Cole and I visited Victoria Memorial. The highlight of that excursion was when two school girls approached us to ask where we were from and see if they could take a photo with us. We were more than surprised when after saying yes, we found ourselves surrounded by over a dozen girls in uniform in perfect formation for the photo. Oh India.
On the 28th, I flew to Hyderabad for a few days to meet my parents and spend some time with family. I was there to celebrate both Indu and Venkat and Prashu and Clara's anniversary. It was special to be there since I actually remember both weddings! Unfortunately, as we left, the entire crew in Hyderabad was sick, as was my dad and eventually my mom.
| We arrived in Kolkata on the first and despite illness on virtually everyone's part, had a lovely time. My mom and I went shopping for a few days (hooray!) and she even found a few Indian tops for herself! She also came with me to a tabla lesson. One evening, Mom was kind enough to let me invite some friends over and accompany us while we sang Christmas carols (despite it being January 8th.) She also made her famous hot fudge recipe for us, which was delicious! Mom (and Dad) also accompanied me to work one day. The day was filled with nothing going according to schedule, which gave them a good idea of what teaching in India is like. But they were able to see my teach two classes, see the massive amount of children I teach in a tiny, tiny room, and witness how wonderful some of my students can be. | 
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Dad and I spent an afternoon visiting Bishop's College, which turned out to be in the north side of the neighborhood I live in. Although I had apparently visited the college in 1993 when I was six, it was all new to me. We wandered through the entire campus and library, and even found his name inside some of the old college chronicles. Although there's now a new building and a flyover right next to the college, it seems as though most things are still the same. It was definitely one of the highlights of their trip for me.
| On Mom and Dad's last day, we went to Nizam's, a restaurant in New Market, which apparently Dad had been telling Mom about since the day they met. It's a kabob/roll restaurant and it was absolutely incredible. We went with a friend of mine and Dad ordered a mutton curry that we all agreed had the best gravy we had ever tasted. | 
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Anyways, it was truly wonderful having so many visitors come, but I must admit it's nice to get back to the regular swing of things. Work is going well. I am starting to prepare my classes for a function (or program) in May, as well as audition and get started on the Wizard of Oz, which I'll be doing with students in Class VI-XI. Besides that, I'm just working on getting my house back to it's normal working condition and finding time to hang out with friends. Aakash was in Delhi over the weekend to perform at the AIIS conference. He said it went well and I'm looking forward to seeing the video.
I hope you are all doing well, and I give you kudos if you were able to make it to the end of this extremely long email. Know that you are in my thoughts often and I wish you all a happy, healthy, and wonderful 2014!
Love,
Jayanthi
I hope you are all doing well, and I give you kudos if you were able to make it to the end of this extremely long email. Know that you are in my thoughts often and I wish you all a happy, healthy, and wonderful 2014!
Love,
Jayanthi
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