日本語As the New Year dawned upon us, so did the cold! The last week has been very chilly here in Bodhgaya and no one is enjoying this. The education department has declared all schools in the district to close the week and this may yet be extended. This must happen, for many of the children have to walk a long distance to get to school, some for over an hour. This combined with the fog and relatively thin clothing can cause the children to become ill, so this is why these steps are taken. This is unfortunate for the children, who have already missed 2 days of school in the last week due to festivals. But of course, the astute children continue to study in their time off at the hostel.
The evenings have been so cold, that there was an unusual sight at Niranjana; a small fire was lit on the rooftop to keep some students warm before dinner!