Hana's Daily Routine

Hello friends~

Lots of people have been asking me about what I DO here in India. So, I have decided to write out a description of my day! Here goes-

I wake up every morning at 6:30 and make breakfast for my mom. She is in school right now to get her Master's degree from a really good Grad school here. So, she is gone most of the day. I make her eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast- whatever she wants. She puts in her order the night before and I have it ready by 7:00...ish. I go get the paper for her which is stuck in our gate about 7:00 and we read the headlines and the funnies. She leaves the house around 7:50 and walks to school.

Then, I water all the plants. We have them on the roof, on the balcony, and on the ground foor. So, that takes a while. I also fill the water tanks. Let me explain our plumbing situation to you. We have a water sump under out carpark and a pump that pumps water up the three tanks on the roof. So, when we turn on the water, it runs down from the tanks on the roof and into our sink or whatever. So, I fill those up so we have water for the day.

By then, dad usually is up and he reads the headlines and the funnies and starts working on the cross-word puzzle. (I might add here that he has a really good vocabluary) Then, I make him breakfast- pancakes, eggs, bacon, omlet, whatever he wants (you see, this way i get to eat breakfast twice!) For some reason dishes always seem to follow....

Laundry is on the list as well. Sometimes, mom runs a load of wash through the night (yes, we actually have a washing machine!) In the morning, I hang it up on the lines for her.

Then I do my letter writing. I write about three letters a day. One always goes to my bestest friend in the whole wide world, and "partner in crime" Melodee Blackwell!! I also write my brother Philip, my sister Ruthie, Grandparents, and lots of people in KY and GA. And, of course I send chai and food to my wonderful friend, Kari Masson, in France!

After that, I set out to mail my letters. I ride my bike down to the post office (about 3 min.) and carry on a nice conversation with the post master. We are good buds, he and I, seeing as I go there every day! Sometimes, he has stamp and sometimes he will sell them to me and sometimes he likes to "hang on to them, for those who need stamps." (And they say this isn't a developing country!) So, I have learned to stock up on stamps. When he will sell them to me, I buy as many he he'll let me buy at one time.

Then, I ride down to the litte Muslim store (another 3 min.) and buy eggs milk, vegies, flour, sugar- whatever we need. The milk here comes in a little square bag! And it is pretty good. Not American milk in a gallon jug, but it works.

I load all my stuff onto my bike and head home. I'll have you know that I have only broken ONE egg! By the time I get home, it is about time for lunch and I make dad something. I do a lot of inventing and he is a good chap to eat it all. Yesterday I made pasta salad, which he liked okay. I think I'll try potato soup tomorrow. Anyway, dishes always seem to follow lunch...

Then it is study time! I took an Anatomy and Physiology course last fall and brought all the books with me. So, I spend a few hours studying. This week I am in the chapter on "Cellular functions" which is really interesting (to those of us who find that stuff interesting!)

The rest of the afternoon is spent cleaning my room (an eternal job) painting, writing letters, planting flowers, email, etc.

Mom comes come from school about 5:30 - 6:00 and makes supper. Then, we often play a card game or watch a movie. I go to sleep (after shifting all the junk from my bed to the floor) around 10:30 - 11:00.

6:30 comes and it starts all over!