rain rain here to stay

Some of you probably know that we picked a pretty weird time to come to India. All of the guidebooks (and most of the humans) I've consulted imply that we're crazy. The reason is that this is monsoon season. It usually starts raining in June and doesn't stop for four months. Well, like clockwork, the sky opened up on June 2!

At first it was pretty shocking and scary. It rained a lot! It rained so much that large amounts of water were flowing down the street, fast! It rained so much that some roads were flooded with over a foot of water. This all happened within about 2 hours!

One night last week, I left the yoga institute and found the streets in this condition. The routes I knew to get back to the flat were closed, and I walked through disgusting water up to my knees (just kidding, Mom!) trying to find my way home. Not my favorite day in Pune! Now I know my way around a little better, so hopefully that won't happen again.

I took these photos yesterday, looking out of my window. The building you see is the post office across the street. You can't see it in the picture, but it has an enormous orange tarp over it to protect it from the rains. It's hard to really capture the amount of rain, but I think you can see the water pooling in the streets.

On the plus side, the trees and plants are already getting greener. And it's really cooling off here. I think it's hotter in Bloomington right now than it is in Pune. And I can't think of a more perfect time than during a monsoon to curl up in your Indian flat with your milky, sugary tea and read a novel. I finished Jane Eyre, by the way. On to the next book...  -Sarah