बुक्केट shower

I must warn all of you that for now i am using an ancient computer with a blinking screen, so please don't pay attention to the lack of capitalizations and the many grammar mistakes. this morning i woke up to a critter in my clothes. did i get your attention?

i roll off my cot around 7:30 this morning (late for breakfast, bummer) and stretch on my tippy toes to reach the top shelf of our "closet" and am startled by movement. As i jumped back, i apologized to my roommate (who has lived in Africa- as have many of the other fellows!) for my startled reaction and she laughs thinking it is a lizard or snake (which apparently have become "no big deal"). However as I embark on attempt 2 to fetch pants, i am greeted face to face with a rat (or the Indian version of a rat). I bolted for the door and found myself jumping up and down on the dirt with an audience anxiously awaiting to hear my news. i dont know where it went, when it will be back, and what attracted it there (mom's mix of nuts and dried berries? lets pretend it isnt...) but I will tell you no one had any sympathy for me. Sunita- our incredible guide and motherly figure thus far- said i was lucky to be greeted so early in the morning. so now i shift my understanding of luck.

I also took my very first bucket shower today during lunch. I gasped as each cup of cold water met my skin, but i was still able to accomplish some scrubbing. I wont pretend that all the dirt is gone, but i am remotely clean. I think the trick is to not apply too much soap and to move quickly. The entire time i was stuck inside the stall "bathing" i kept thinking: my sisters would leave the country right now if they were told to shower here. Thats how i knew i was in the right place!

today i am learning how to make paneer and curd so you have recipes to look forward to!

I also saw a monkey hanging out and had my first cup...correction thimble... of chai.