End of Course, Part One

The coming of Spring brought about the long-awaited final month of the course. To celebrate, almost the entire month was dedicated to end-of-course parties. First up was the final party at my own house. We had a packed house of over 50 people, and it was great to close the year with the good friends I'd made throughout the course.

Me, Jeff, AJ and Jose

Standing: Dorji (Bhutan), Naeem (Afghanistan), Riva (Indonesia), Dung (Vietnam), Jerome (Lesotho), Ali (Oman) and Ruwan (Sri Lanka); Seated: Celestine (Nigeria), Michael (Zambia), Ahmed (Saudi Arabia), Zul and kids (Malaysia)

Vikas, Jeff, Steve, AJ, Alex and me

Gangs, Rohit and Neetu, Jeff, Phady and me

AJ and Alex smoke cigars--they'd both be sick within the hour.

Other assorted parties followed shortly thereafter, including...

Naeem and I enjoying cocktails at Anurag's house.

Me, Naeem, Ali, Anurag, Mohammed and Amin at dinner.

Bangladesh National Day and Alim's son Arik's birthday. L: Alim and Lia hold Arik; R: Alim, Dung, Celestine, me, Michael and Santosh

Posing with the Bangladeshis...Siddique and Alim

Party at Jeff's: Me, Tim, Jeff, Mohammed and Ruslan

Another highly-anticipated end-of-course event was the Mounted Gymkhana. This exhibition was put on by the riding club and showcased the many equestrian events at the College. Though I didn't participate in the riding, it made for an interesting morning and no one fell of their horse.

L: Mounted ceremonial guards R: Regimental pipers...who knew there were so many Scottish Indians?

Polo exhibition

Tent pegging--basically, charging down a line and spearing a block on the ground...preferably without falling off of the horse or turning yourself into a pole vaulter

Equestrain team parade

Show jumping

The College still holds traditional fox hunts...here they display riding to the hounds.