Hi Everyone --

Only 2 1/2 weeks until Egypt!

Doug had Monday off work for Muslim Eid, so he went to the market with me that day. He had been to the market and grocery store before, but not on grocery shopping day. Because it was Eid, all the Muslims were dressed up and greeting each other and very happy. It's the last day of their fasting for Ramadan. It was fun to see them all in their finery. We saw a bullock pulling a bullock cart of ice blocks for the fish market and all dressed up too. I had Doug run back and get a picture. The driver put his hand out for 10 rupees, but Doug just pretended he didn't know what he was asking for.

Hannah and I have made an effort to get out every day that we have the car. We got out four days this week. We don't have to do a lot, just a small errand and then lunch. We usually go to malls and safe places, rather than the streets and markets. We went to a furniture exhibition on Thursday. It was supposed to open at 10:30 on Thursday, and we got there at 11 a.m., but the vendors were still unpacking, unwrapping, unloading, and setting up their booths. They let us in without the 10 rupee entrance fee.

It's starting to get hot again. Monsoon is nearly over. We had thunderstorms in the evenings this week, but no daytime rain. The reservoirs are 80% full.

We had 3 at church again today. It's good to know it's at least us!

I was asked by Shiney to go with her and her little Sumya to go to grandparents day at the pre-school. I was happy to do that. We put on our fancy clothes and listened to the little ones sing English songs -- Twinkle, Twinkle and others. They gave out prizes for the most "traditionally" dressed grandma, the grandma with the most bangles, the grandma with anklets, the grandpa with a picture of his wife in his wallet (didn't exist), a picture of the grandkids in his wallet (didn't exist), and the grandpa with the most white hair. We had snacks -- crisps (potato chips), orange punch (Tang), juleebee (Indian sweet), and a little spongy cake with vegetable soup dipping sauce. Very common snack foods here. The pictures are of the kids all dressed up. They are very cute!

The monkey came visiting our "garden" again. He was sitting on the fence, then came down on our driveway to drink out of the puddle of water there. He ran off pretty quick when he saw us watching out the window.

Have a great week!
Love, Lucinda

Hi Everyone --

Another week has passed quickly by. Only 3 1/2 weeks until Egypt!

Not much happened this week. The rains have slacked off, but there's not enough water in the reservoirs, so I'm not sure what will happen. No electricity, no water for farmers, no water for the city . . . Could be anything. Because it's not cloudy any more, it's much hotter here now. It will be for about the next month, until November comes and things cool off again.

I started making more baby blankets, and gave away 2 already. There are a couple new moms in the Mumbai branch.

We try to get out whenever we have the car. This week we went to the Ishanya mall, which has all kinds of home improvement and decorating stores. There is a store called @Home and it's the closest thing to Home Depot there is here. We were just looking and didn't find anything that caught our eye.

Our friends from Mumbai came yesterday. He went golfing with a friend, she came and we went out shopping. We found exactly what we were looking for. Part of it he called elsewhere to get it brought to his shop. He said it would be 1/2 hour and come by Tempo (a 3-wheeled cargo hauling vehicle). He was right! It came in 1/2 hour and by Tempo and there were lots of other things loaded on the Tempo for delivery at his shop. We were very lucky that our items were put on the Tempo just in time to come across town. Shopping in India isn't always so easy or productive.

We had 3 at church today -- yes, just us.

I guess that's it for this week. There's just not much going on.
We miss you and love you!
Lucinda

Hi Everyone --

This week we had some exciting things happen. Friday morning my housekeeper came in and said I needed to come outside and see the monkeys. I grabbed the camera and ran. There were 3 large monkeys hanging out and making their way down the street. Two stopped to pose on our front gate. I was amazed at how large they were and notice how long the tail of the one on the right is. Then off they ran to give the people down the street a thrill too.

We had a hard rain Saturday evening. It was really coming down, and we don't have the greatest drainage around our house. Then Hannah noticed that the light fixture in the dining room was leaking water. We got the fixture cover off and dumped out the water, then we went upstairs to find the problem. Doug found it right away -- the drain on the terrace off our bedroom was clogged, and there was about 4-5 inches of water backed up. He unclogged the drain and it all went down. We saw a large -- 6" -- lizard out there too. Fun! Hannah had a lizard in her bedroom this week, which she shooed out the window. I don't mind them as long as they say outside where they live, and I can stay inside where I live.

Good news -- We got our tickets to Egypt this week. They had even gone down in price, so we saved $150 between the 3 of us. We have a tour company working on our train tickets and our Nile cruise tickets. We are getting very excited to visit Egypt!

Our friend Mahaswari (the gal that's going on a mission to San Jose, CA), left Pune this week for Hydrabad. Luckily we finished the temple preparation lessons, and she can finish everything else she needs to do down there. We had 6 at church today. Our member count in Pune has declined a lot. We've lost Mahashwari and Mary and Joy. We still have 1 family of 3, and a single sister, and a single brother that are somewhat active. Somehow it's just nicer the more people that come.

Have a great week!
Love, Lucinda

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

Hi Everyone --

This was a pretty quiet week. It hasn't rained too much, and it's gotten much hotter -- because the cloud cover is lifting. There still isn't enough rain to fill the reservoirs, but there's still time.

We went shopping at Tulsibaug for trinkets for Shiney to take back to friends and family in the US. I picked up some things for our families and some cake dresses for my magic trunk.

Heather had the packers and movers there for 3 days. We went over one day to keep her company as she had to be there in the apartment with them. We also went to a farewell party for Heather and Chris at another friend's house. It was quite a party. I made homemade salsa and homemade chips. It was a hit!

Saturday we went to pick up Mom's trunk. It turned out really nice and it's just cute! We have a "before" and "after" picture -- I'm sure you can tell which is which.



We also went to the movies yesterday. We saw "Race to Witch Mountain", which Hannah assures me was out on DVD a year ago. It was a fun movie and an OK way to spend an afternoon. There really haven't been any English movies for a while and also the movie theatres have been closed due to the swine flu panic. The kids are back in school now (mostly) and the rest will be in school next week. There are still teenagers dying from this -- it seems that this is the largest group succumbing to the infection.

Today we had 7 at church. We are still having the temple prep lessons, and they are going well. Only 2 left and that's it! I know I've learned a lot from them.

I guess that's it for this week. We love you and miss you!
Love, Lucinda

Hi Everyone --

This was a sad week -- we had to send Brice back to the US and to school. We finished all his errands and running around by Wednesday. Thursday he packed and was gone in the afternoon. Feroz took Brice to Mumbai, and they almost made it to the airport, but were delayed by a flat tire (or I should say "tyre") as they were about at the drop off at the airport. They put the spare tire on, got Brice dropped off, and Feroz had to spend the night in Mumbai and drove back the next day. Yesterday, Feroz had 4 new tires put on our car. That's a good thing -- they needed to be replaced.

We assumed Brice made it to the US, but no one had heard from him -- not Craig, who had his car keys, not Martin who had his belongings, not Grandma and Grandpa Johnson. Craig assured me that he was fine, wherever he was. We did get a visual report and a skype call Saturday night. I'm glad he made it back safely. That's a long and grueling trip.

We have had more rain this week -- even record breaking rain 3 days in a row, but the newspaper reports that none of that rain was in the proper area for catchment in the reservoirs. Consequently, we are again on 1/3 water rationing every day. Our electricity has been more consistent and reliable lately -- knock on wood.

Sham's wife had her kidney stone blasted last Saturday. She was in the "hospital" Saturday and Sunday and then went to her mother's. She is up and about and coming back to Pune today. She is much better and is very thankful for the treatment. Thanks to all who contributed toward it!

We are in the middle of the festival season here. We begin today the Ganesh reverencing time, when they pray to their idol and then sometime in the next 10 days take it to the river to be dunked. There are a lot of idols thrown in the water and a lot of pollution/garbage/debris left over.

This is also the middle of the swine flu panic. Last weekend was the worst, when everyone stayed home, stayed in, no shopping, no school, no movies or malls, no vegetables or produce. Luckily, two days of laying low and the panic is over. More people have gotten the flu, more people have died, but the people here believe it is over, so it's over. John Deere is on swine flu alert also. People who were going to visit from the US are not coming, and large gatherings of people have been cancelled.

We had 7 people at church today. Our message was on enduring to the end. I felt that this was given just for me! Not only do we need to put in our time, but we also need to do it with grace and responsibility and a good attitude!

Have a great week!
Love, Lucinda

Hi Everyone --

We've had a very fun week here in Pune. Interesting since Pune is now the Swine Flu Capitol of the World! Out of 1 billion people in India, about 800 have the swine flu. Of those 800, 400 are in Pune. The newspapers and TV have the whole place spooked. No one is out, schools are closed, the malls are closed, the movie theatres are closed, the markets are closed, the grocery stores are closed. Everyone that is out and about has a mask on for protection -- I'm just not sure whether the protection is from them or from everyone else. There have been 50 deaths attributed to the swine flu, and 21 have been from Pune. Did I mention that there are 6 million people in Pune? The statistical odds that we get the flu are very small. We have been out and about as usual without any masks. There are some other states in India that are not welcoming people from our state of Maharashtra -- meaning no travel. I think it is interesting that the Indian government is cutting off the food supply -- i.e. markets and grocery stores -- to contain the flu. I guess they just want to starve us outright.

That said, we have been out this week getting new glasses for Brice, custom tailored kurtas, medicine for his toes, shopping for electrical widgets, we've been out to dinner twice, and Doug and Brice went up to Mulshi Dam for a hiking/trekking experience. Brice and Dad have done some serious male bonding, including eating at various questionable Indian eateries. They insist these were not "street food" vendors, but legitimate restaurants. They are still doing some serious bonding by laying around and moaning and jumping up to use the toilet regularly. Brice started his medicine today. Dad is going to tough it out and be a man about it.

Speaking of Doug, this has been a hard week on his body. Monday, as he was walking up the stairs, he missed a stair step and caught it right on his big toe. It turned all sorts of colors of purple, blue, black and swelled up. It was so sore he had to come home from work early because of the pain. We think nothing was broken, just strained, stretched, bruised, and mistreated. Then, yesterday, as they were hiking at the dam, Doug slipped and bonked his elbow on a rock. It started swelling immediately and Brice got a nice picture of it. It has started to go down and he says it doesn't hurt. I don't have enough Advil to make it through the next few months at this rate!

Yesterday I took the funds that have been donated to the clinic where Sham's wife received her treatment for the kidney stones. He called today and said it was successful and her pain is now gone from the stones, but it will take 4-5 days of rest and medication for her to get back on her feet again. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible. We have plenty of funds and feel that they have been used wisely. I will send a receipt to everyone for tax purposes.

It has been really fun to have Brice here. We've played lots of games and had lots of fun time together. He goes back Thursday afternoon (Aug. 20), just as he was finally beginning to get over his jet lag.

We hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Love, Lucinda

P.S. -- Extra special thanks to Dr. Ryan who has been on call all week taking the medical questions on broken toes, bruised and swollen elbows, and swine flu. Not all the world's medical outsourcing goes to India, some goes to Dr. Ryan!