Hi Everyone --

Another week has gone by -- and it's gone by quickly. The Hindus were having their Ganesh festival this week, so it's been busy around town. However, a lot of people weren't out and about because of the swine flu. Doug had Thursday off work because that is the main immersion day for the Ganesh statues. They have a huge parade, with music and dancing and fire crackers that leads down to the river. Then they put their statue in the water and send it on its way. Some of the larger statues they fish back out and use again. Some families have their own small statues, then housing societies, neighborhoods, and parts of town have larger ones. This is one of the Indian's favorite festivals.

We had company from Mumbai this weekend. We had Andy and Bethany Spaulding, and their two girls, Simone and Phoebe. They are here in Pune on business and will stay a couple more days at a hotel, then head back to Mumbai on the train. They are much braver than I am! Because they were visiting and we needed another good excuse, we fixed break the fast lunch after church today. I made chili with all the toppings, potato soup, homemade bread, and Hannah made Legolas Blond Brownies. It was very good and everyone enjoyed it. The Indian folks were brave and tried everything. The chili tastes familiar to them and they liked that.

Since Doug had Thursday off, he took a trip back to the fort we missed a month ago and climbed to the top. He met a group from the engineering school and they adopted him as their own. They really liked his hat! They couldn't believe he was out hiking alone. They took lots of pictures of him and spent a lot of time talking with him. Doug got some interesting/artistic pictures up on the top of that hill with all the fog.

Big news -- I got the 100 baby blankets that I've been making since I've been here sent off to a good home this week. I boxed them up and sent them to Bangalore to the humanitarian missionaries where they will make baby kits and new mother kits to be distributed through Church humanitarian aid. Hannah immediately prodded me to get another 50 done before we leave! The box weighed 20 kg. (44 lbs) and I sent it over road (rather than air) and it cost $22 US. It felt good to have them on their way.

September is our last month of monsoon for the year. The rains have tapered off a bit and there isn't enough in the dams and reservoirs. The newspapers keep reporting that we need the same amount of rain that we have already received in order to fill them up. I'm sure water rationing will be a way of life until the next monsoon!

We hope everyone is well and enjoying life! We miss you all!
Love, Lucinda