Hi Everyone --

The week has flown by again! I just don't know where the times goes, but it is interspersed with interesting happenings here in India.

Doug flew to Udaipur in Rajistan on Monday. That is north of where we are and also a bit west -- its western border is with Pakistan. Doug was in the eastern part of the state. They were talking with prospective John Deere customers on what they would like to see in tractors. There are lots of farmers in Rajistan I understand, and it's possible they even use tractors there.

This week was the end of the big Ganesh festival (finally after 10 days). They took their idols down to the river to immerse them in the water. This also entailed lots of loud music, dancing, firecrackers, singing, and parading with the idol. From what we can figure out, they just leave the idols in the river, then the government has to come with a backhoe (which there aren't very many of) and fish them out and junk them. The Hindus enjoy this celebration very much and it is one of their favorites.

On Friday, a guy came on his bicycle selling mats and spider web catchers. He has all this stuff strapped right on to his bike and he sells from door to door. He is happy to take everything off so you can look at everything before you make a decision. He had been by a few times, but I hadn't been home. So Friday I was home and he stopped by. We needed a new door mat and a spider web catcher on a long handle for outside. He took everything -- everything -- off the bike. We looked at all the choices for mats. We took one inside to check the size. We looked at all the dusters and things. He wanted 500 rupees for 2 mats and a long handled web catcher. Mary was out there with me to help bargain. First she said, "Madame, you shouldn't have come out. I could have gotten a better deal." There was lots of tongue clucking and "no" and different prices being tossed around. Finally, Mary said she was going back inside. I told her to wait -- I wasn't going to do this on my own. Little did I know that going back inside was part of the bargaining process of walking away to get a better deal. We left when our bid was 300 rupees. Mary told me to offer 350 and not any more. In a few minutes I went back outside and offered 350. He came back with 380, then 370, but I held firm at 350. The great new mats and spider catcher were mine! I asked if I could take his picture when he was loaded up again. He was very pleased to do that! They just don't have shopkeepers like this in the US! (The pictures are on the blog site.)

Saturday we went to the movie "Bourne Ultimatium" for $3 for both of us. The movie was at 9:35 a.m. and they always stop the movies in the middle for an intermission. The slide they show on the screen says, "The popcorn is calling you." When we got home, Hannah wanted to take us to her favorite teenage hangout for lunch. They serve all kinds of wraps, panninis, crustinis, and milk shakes. The milk shakes are more like chocolate milk -- not very thick and mostly melted by the time we got them. Doug had to go to work in the afternoon for a couple of hours.

Today we went to Mumbai to church. It was a nice drive because it wasn't raining. The countryside is still green and looks nice. One of the men at church went home the week before and asked Hannah what she wanted from "home". She was feeling like Little Debbies. He had a huge duffel bag of treats that everyone had "ordered" from the US. It was very nice of him. Others had things like chocolate chips, brownie mixes, marshmallows, mac and cheese, etc. Aren't we a crazy lot of folks!

We are still doing fine -- Hannah has Monday and Tuesday off school for Ghandi's birthday. Be sure you have cake that day and sing for him (Oct. 2). Doug has Tuesday off work. We'll have to figure out something to do.

Have a great week! We love you and miss you!
Lucinda