These are some pictures from Divali plus the train ride to Cuddalore. That is me and Alesha, the Indicorps fellow placed in Nagapattinam, relaxing with some tender coconut. And then the family in Kallipalayam. And then that is Prashant and our Tamil teacher (who randomly was on the same train as us to Gujarat--we invited her to our cabin for tea, but we didn't tell her there were mice there!)

Today is my birthday. The day was started off by the cook knocking on my door in the morning to bring me coffee. They know I like it and that I never get it. So that was nice. And then to treat myself, I washed only half an outfit this morning, instead of the usual daily dress washing. The girls all said happy birthday, and now the cook is at the office waiting for me to make the caseri (sweet) for which I bought the ingredients earlier today. I am making all of them come to the beach with me to celebrate this evening :). I think we'll be taking our food with us--that might be the only way to get everyone to go! It's more of a photo opp than anything else! I do miss the American culture of the birthday girl GETTING the gifts instead of GIVING them!