Opened the double door to my classroom this morning, the first one into the bottom floor of the dank government building, as usual.

Turned the lights on, and - funny - there were scattered flash cards just beneath the supply cupboard. Set my things down, and noticed the two dustbins near the door had fallen over.

I was the last person in the room on Friday afternoon. Now, Monday morning, and I'd say someone else had been there. Went to the supply cupboard, and as I opened the doors, bottles of glue, more flash cards, paper and a stapler fell to my feet.

A scurry led my eyes to the top left corner. Little eyes peered out at me. I grimaced and stepped back in a flash. My fear had finally come true. I had been greeted by a rat. I stood around and thought about how to get it out. My first thought was "No way am I dealing with that thing - I'll have to wait for someone else to show up". Then I thought "Well, I DID take this job, knowing it would not be in clean areas with adequate sanitation. Heck, I can handle a rat."

So, just as I was looking for some sort of stick to poke at the cupboard with, our social worker showed up, (a young woman the same age as me), and started dealing with the rat too (in the same hesitant manner as I, thank you very much).

Finally, we found a short broom (much too short if you ask me), and I jabbed the top left corner of the cabinet. Without a second to flinch, the rat, dark brown and hefty, scurried down out of the cabinet and onto the floor. Then there we were, the social worker, the rat and I all running in circles trying to avoid each other. Finally we got out of the room, and a child's mother came walking in, and in amusement, went around the room to check for the rat. Apparently it had escaped through an open window. We found a gnawed corn cob on the floor as its gift to us.

Oh, I hope I have the room to myself tomorrow morning!!

While eating lunch the other day, we watched this man pull up with
carts of eggs on his bicycle, selling them to the restaurant.

Quite different from the truck delivery system back home!

Well, it started raining again last night after about 2 weeks of wondering where the monsoon was. The city recorded 6 inches of rainfall in only 4 hours --- wow! Here's a story about it.

So, I never got to work this morning. In fact, only 1 person got to our school, and the rest of us all got stuck in various ways. I was able to get on a train, but once I crossed the bay and got into the city, the train had a hard time getting between stations, and finally, 1 1/2 hours later, pulled into a station a few before mine, and I got off to try and find my way back home. 

I watched as people waded through knee-deep water on the roads in some spots - luckily I avoided that! I met up with another girl I work with who happened to be on the same train, and we caught a train heading back out of the city. Meanwhile, the other railway lines had closed completely because of flooding! 

So - hope we get to open our school tomorrow! 

Yesterday we went into the city to spend the afternoon. First, we
visited the Haji Ali mosque, which sits out in the bay offshore from
western Mumbai. A concrete causeway leads people in droves to and
from the mosque, which is open to Muslims and non-Muslims alike
(quite a treat).

Along the causeway were goats being fed scraps of plants, beggars of
all kinds - blind, handicapped, loud, silent... There were men
selling bright green cloths with arabic inscriptions, others selling
bangles, shoes, purses - the normal fare for street stalls.

The weather was nice - we had a few quick showers here and there, but
overall the breeze from the Arabian Sea was refreshing. Palm trees
swayed in this breeze, encircling the courtyard of the mosque. Some
people left their shoes to enter its interior, while others (like me)
lingered in the courtyard.

After that, we headed to Crawford Market - a famed market area we
hadn't visited yet. We found the area to be swarming with people,
taxis and hand-pulled carts. The fruit and vegetable section smelled
delicious - a nice respite from the other smells in the area.

We finished our little trip with a light dinner of pav bhaji, dosas,
and two cups of chai!