The Jubliee Party

We’ve been watching all the Jubilee celebrations on the BBC and it looks like it’s been a great weekend in the UK.   We had our own Jubilee party on Saturday afternoon at the British Army house, based on a tea party with sandwiches, scones, cupcakes and Pimms.  Getting hold of Pimms, tonic (for gin and tonic) some of the sandwich fillings (cress!) and teaching one of the cooks to make scones was a bit of a challenge, but we managed it!  Felicity (7), part of the Royal Navy family made crowns for everyone, and even the ex-colonials (Aussies, Americans and Canadians) that we invited seemed to enjoy themselves.

Jubilee Party at the Army House

The following day we were up early for a DSSC trip to Pykora Lake and Ooty.  The weather was nice and we had a nice morning at the DSSC Boat Club on the lake, before the rain set in as we headed off to Ooty.  We had a washed out tour of the Botanical Gardens which was quite comical in how bad it was, with the tour guide and the DSSC staff member who’d accompanied us, arguing in Hindi about whether or not it was relevant to tell us about the Bollywood films that had been filmed there. Luckily we had a Hindi-speaking spy with us so that we could appreciate the full humour of the situation!  It was still raining as we were dropped off in the centre of Ooty, so we’ll have to go back as it’s supposed to be a lovely hill-station town.  Oh yes, and there’s a Domino’s Pizza there!

This week Neil has been working in a single-service syndicate with all the other international air force officers (of interest, there are 9 of them out of 36 international officers, and there are 95 air force officers in total, out of 450 officers on the course).   So we thought we’d take the opportunity before the course proper starts, to branch out of our current western social circle, and meet some new people.  We used the Dambusters anniversary (admittedly 2 weeks late) as an excuse for a party, and had all of the international air force officers and their families round on Tuesday afternoon.  We had a Ghanaian, a Namibian, a Bangladeshi, Saudis, Indians, a Malaysian, an American and an Indonesian here.  It was really interesting talking to them all, and Daisy enjoyed playing with all the other children that came, even though most of them didn’t speak the same language!

International Air Officers at our House

The main staff course starts next week with an opening ceremony on Monday which all the wives are invited to.  The Married Quarters are starting to fill up now as all the Indian officers arrive, and we have neighbours on all sides and above us.  Our closest neighbours are upstairs and are a naval commander, his wife and 2 daughters (3 ½ and 5 months), so maybe another friend for Daisy, although she’s having a great time playing with Fatima and Anandh’s daughters, Angel and Grace, at the moment.

An Indian Officers Furniture and Personal Effects Arriving

Meanwhile, Louise has been finding some places for lunch with the other wives, whilst Neil is at work.  So far, she’s found a nearby French restaurant with amazing views over the plains.  There may not be many more places to find, but she thinks she’ll be happy with ‘La Belle Vie’ for the time being.  She’s also starting tennis lessons next week and Daisy starts kindergarten for 2 ½ hours every morning, next Wednesday. 

Lunch at La Belle Vie with Nicola and Elaine, the other Brits

Tomorrow night, we’re going to our first cocktail party in the Officers’ Mess and it’ll be Louise’s first opportunity to wear a saree – picture to follow.....