Today arrived word from Jeanine and several pictures including this one taken after a watermelon seed spitting contest. I am left to wonder if this is a routine event at the school or if the idea was imported from Indiana by Jeanine. Both Jeanine and Maya are dealing with sore throats and head colds as are Nicolai and I but they seem to be managing OK. Jeanine reports “I miss bathrooms, cold drinks, wearing shorts and taking showers”.

Even though he is fighting off a bad virus and possible tooth abscess, Nicolai performed in a 4 member band at the high school radio station this evening. The boys, who had not played together before, spent the afternoon rehearsing for the 5 song set. The appearance was in support of the senior project of a fellow student. The lighting effects made a photo of the entire band impossible but I did manage this solo image of Nico on kit.

I returned home to a wonderful e-mail from Maya:

Hi Papa,

Attached to this email are pictures of the buffalo farm we visited and me milking one of them. We visited an emu farm as well, but the pictures didn’t turn out as well and I wouldn’t go into the cage with them to get a better shot. Emus are hilarious creatures because of the way that they run and bob their heads, but they are scary. Girish, our go-to-guy, told us that an emu can split a femur in two with its kick, and they also look disgusting. All of their feathers are greasy and in some spots their feathers are gone and replaced with huge scabs where they ran into the fence. Yesterday, we visited an ashram, temple, and the Usgaon dam. I didn’t get many pictures, but some of them turned out pretty well. There was one picture that I couldn’t get at the dam because every time right at the last minute I’d have to lurch forward and scratch my foot. It turned out I was standing on a fire ant colony. They bite hard enough to draw blood, so I decided the picture wasn’t worth it. If only I was wearing your hiking boots. Today we went to a market. Anything at all can be found there including; dried fish carcasses, once used nail polishes, and unprocessed tobacco leaves. One of the union worker’s wives works there. After showing us their business (makeshift tent selling fried something), he brought us to a nearby jewelry place. He, Girish, the merchant, and one of the cook’s apprentices that we brought along, all were speaking in rapid Marathi. They forced some bangles on my wrists, outfitted both ankles in matching garments, and swapped out my earrings for something a little more Indian. Mom kept it simple with a “gold” necklace. The price was bargained for us by Girish and the others, who knew what the right price was. The whole excursion only cost 380 rupees (7ish dollars). We are having a great time and hope your trip went/ is going well.