It is Sunday evening and I just left the third floor, my floor, to use my computer. Outside one of the bedrooms there is a tiled roof that is open and nice to sit on if not raining. Today there have been times of mist but no downpours. So I sat out on the patio (in Upavista Konasana) and shelled peas I bought at the market yesterday. My suite mate, Svetlana, who is a young women from Slavakia was on her back taking pictures of these huge bats flying over us. There is a park next door to the Shahani’s house and efforts being made to clean up the dump next to the house. Not so long ago, it was a huge dump and the city burned trash regularly and you can imagine the smell! Now some trees are down and a clearing and only remnants of trash that some people continue to throw things. At 4;30 ish in the mornings and 6:30 ish in the evenings the birds start swarming in and are so loud its deafening. Its always a topic when you stay here. Earplugs don’t begin to help, but somehow you adjust. Tonight, before dark the bats were the show because of how large they are and watching their flying patterns mixed with the large black birds. It is quite a show. I thought sitting there what great entertainment in its simplicity,  getting the veggies ready so Monday between classes I can fix a quick meal. Saturday was wash day and I use two (looks like 5 gallon)buckets and soak my clothes for several hours then rinse using the other bucket. There are large clothes racks to hang the wash on and a trick I was told, is you leave the fan on in your room and the clothes will dry in a day or two. Two because of all the rain now. Another basic chore is boiling water to drink. The Shahanis have a filter on the water spiket in the bathroom so I get the filtered water out of there and then boil it, let it cool and it is then drinkable. It takes a few days to get the rhythm of water prep, getting food,  and clothes ready to wear. All basic and one of the things I love about my time here. Life is so simple. I could make it more complex and I have in the past by running around shopping and eating out, but this pace is so calming and good for my head and heart. As I sit here typing,  the outdoor sounds seep in through all the open windows and doors—birds faint now, rickshaws, motorcycles, faint sounds of children playing in the park next door. I am sitting on the stairwell of the second floor so I can get WiFi which is not available on the 3rd floor to write. If I could have had my computer on the patio, I would have been on it and missed the bird and bat show while shelling peas! I appreciate my time here and it makes me appreciate home.