July 3 - A Peaceful Saturday

Have a blast this weekend Lucas side! Happy birthday celebration Grandma!
Today I woke up, of course before my alarm, and was able to talk to Mom for a few minutes. Then I went to breakfast and indulged in some tropical fruit and an egg. (Bananas, papaya, and mangos are all very good!) However, I hope I will still like them after my trip. I will probably need to take a break for awhile! I came back to my room and decided not to go to the city with some of my friends - they were going to see this famous mosque in Hyderabad. I was not feeling up to the city life today, so I decided to hang back and have a luxurious and peaceful day on campus. I am happy I did. I am both an extrovert and an introvert - and today I just needed some "Leah time" to recooperate from the week. I also am working hard on preporatory tasks for college and I have a lot of classes to pick and our "common reading list" to complete this summer.

I always wake up before my alarm here, so I decided to try and take a little nap before lunch. I first tried to get into the book, The Kite Runner, once again, but only made it a few more pages before calling that quits. (Sorry all you avid Kite Runner fans!) I set my alarm, tucked myself into my mosquito net covered bed, attempted to shield the sun's rays and block out the shouts from the cricket game outside my window, and I went to bed. . .eventually! I woke up after an hour and then went to lunch, where I was surprised to see some of my work friends. I sat and talked with them and had a nice time.

While walking to lunch, I was surprised to see the Ganesh statue - not just to see the statue, but to see the yellow Ganesh statue! This is the first time that the statue has been entirely covered, so that was interesting. I will try to get a picture of it later for you to see. I noticed some women cleaning it this morning. I think I will head off to find the gym and the pool and see if I am able to get in there without a membership. We swim a lot, but they may be more strict on the gym during the weekend. (Our campus is like a resort for the nearby city and lots of visitors come to swim in the pool, use other facilities, or just hang out. They have to pay to get in and for a membership, though.) On another note, I have some other exciting news. Supposedly the mosquitos intensify during the monsoon because of all of the standing water, but Claire and I have not been getting any bites lately! And, the welts on my face from those sneaky 'squitors are finally almost gone! Woo-hoo!

Today I am missing Grandma Shirley's birthday party on the Lucas side. It is sure to be a blast with lots of faces, food, and fun - as usual. Even the Texans are back for the occasion. I decided, since I cannot be there, I can at least draw a little picture for Grandma. Maybe someone will print it off and show it to her if they see it before they are on the road! More later, I am off to the pool and gym.