DAY ONE

18, July 2011

            Sleep was so nice! I can't believe how well I slept with all the rain, birds, and traffic noises outside my balcony. I sadly did not wake up in time for a prayer service followed by brunch. I would only have been able to attend the brunch anyways, but just to let you know there usually isn't brunch. I woke up and immediately took a nice shower. I had to turn on the water heater in my bathroom to give me hot water, although to be comfortable, I only took a warm shower. I felt so refreshed and clean! I knew right away that it was going to be a good day. I was excited when Shilpa offered me Kellogg's Corn Flakes for breakfast! Something I had actually eaten before! There was also fruit, and I enjoyed every bit of my breakfast. I was soon feeling tired because of my jet lag, but Shilpa and Vinayak said I had to go with them to register and verify with the police that I am here with the Gokhale's for school, and I am not a terrorist. When we got to the police station, we realized that we did not have the correct forms, so we had to come back home and print them off the internet. But before we went home, I had to get passport size pictures taken for use in the verification. When we got home, Vinayak went straight to work on filling out the forms. I laid down for a minute and then was out.

            When Shilpa woke me up, she had prepared some lunch for me. A sort of potato with curry and a wheat tortilla. She also gave me some pop called she called Frooti that was mango flavored. Yum. For a small dessert, there was a bar of coconut and mango. It was surprisingly good even though I do not like coconut very much. We then went to a different police station. The main police station for the city, instead of just a local one. We still didn't have everything we needed, so we had to come back home. But this time I was able to stay awake. We then went back to the first local police station and turned in the paperwork. That part was completed.

            When we returned home around 5:00, I immediately went to bed and slept until 9:00. Shilpa then woke me up and made me a fried egg sandwich with ketchup, but she called it an omelet. After that, I was able to go online for the first time since I left home. There were so many e-mails and facebook notifications! It was comforting to know that everyone was thinking about me and wishing me the best. Although I could have stayed online for longer, I decided to spend time with my family. We watched a soap opera together along with a singing show, and on every show we watch, someone in my family knows an actor or actress. Shilpa and Vinayak have friends on TV and Mruga has a classmate. It seems crazy to me!

            I started feeling tired again so I decided I would try to go to bed and hopefully get a full night's sleep.