The dreaded left hand butt wipe is not the horror its made out to be, in case you are wondering. It's not that you use your hand for the TP as much as you use your hand to deliver water to the approprite spot. Then you wash your hands with soap and water. I'm wondering if after its all said and done, it's better than the western public bathroom if you forgot to wash your hands. The bummer (haha) of the Indian style toilet is the wetness. The wetness of the whole bathroom: the floor, the seat (if there is one) and your rear end when you are finished. Who wants a wet rear end?!!! Who?!!! God bless America, land of the free, land of the tiolet paper. I can live without it, butt....

The Indians shake (or bobble) their heads, as some of you may know. This can mean: Sure! Yes! I inderstand! But it does not mean "no." This has caused a few moments of confusion for me and others. I might be offered tea and say "nahi" (no). But I also shake my head since I am used to doing so. So, they receive a mixed message and hand me tea. I have recently learned a hand signal that means no, and its working out much better.

The stories and things I see here are heart breaking. I'm always surprised when I feel very little inside as I see unbelieveable poverty or hear a horrible story. It's later at night that I cry. Yes, I'll admit, I cry. I cry because its so awful. Because I have been so blessed. Because I'm so thankful for such an amazing place like Maher, and that I'm getting to be a part of it. Because of the joy and generousity that are here and it just pours out of me. India is very _____. Very horrible. Very wonderful. Very beautiful. Very Ugly. So I end up feeling alot of things, but there isn't alot of medium here. India is very.

My language skills are improving at a snail's pace. Speaking of snails... there are Indian slugs!!!! They have a ridge down their backs. Other creature sightings include a mongoose darting across the road (how exciting!!!), and a gecko that likes to craw on my window every night to give me a show eating bugs ( I see him, tummy side.) Most creature sightings leave me clapping like child. I pretend not to hear people mutter "bogel" under their breath: it means crazy.

My name is very hard for Indians to say. I feel this is fair. I have a really hard time with many of the names here. The children want me to remember their names soooo badly. But there are so many!!!! And the names are new sounding to me :Abishek, Pranali, Rupesh, Akash, Yogita, Shniel.... if I learn 2 a day, I'm lucky.

I have been working in the office alot. I have been typing addresses and other simple things. I still haven't been tutoring but perhaps I will get that figgured out after Sister Lucy returns from Goa. I have no problem being flexible. Anyway I can help is just fine. I still feel like a guest but they are letting me do more of my own dishes and such. There are 4 other volunteers in the office: Z Germans. They are all (3 girls and 1 boy) around 20 yrs old and live in Pune at their own flat since they will be here a year. It's nice to have someone to talk to about being a foreigner, and they are quite fun. I hope they will take me to the cinema soon, I think that would be a nice change of pace.

The main house in Vadu is a village, just like you might picture for a village. To get to it you turn off a road in Pune and follow a very busy, very choppy road for 15 minutes or so. At home, it's called off roading, here, it's just the road.  You pass dog after dog, each looking worse than the next. (Is that one dead?!!! No- he's just sleeping by the road. Is THAT one dead?!!! Oh, yes, he is. Dogs are not the pets that they are in the U.S. They remind me more of how we view crows, picking through our garbage and always around.  Someone told me they eat snakes so its good to have around. It's hard for me to see, but in a place where there is so much poverty, it's not the saddest thing you see in a day. I try to not think of it.) You pass cows pulling big carts of sugar cane. Their horns are painted blue or red. I like the white ones best.There's a stream and women are washing clothing in it. Then, there's Maher's welcoming gates.

My blog may be choppy in it's delivery. I don't get internet often, and it can be very short. I often don't have time to spell check or even read through what I've written. You will all have to deal with it. I could write for a very long time on India: it's a big subject! Enjoy your cold and your toilet paper, till next time.