Perfect Setting

It's 6:30 in the evening, the sun is setting, and a cool breeze is rustling through the leaves. Finally I can breathe a sigh of relief - the worst of the afternoon heat has been swept away. I am sitting on our porch and in the distance I can see mountains rising up from the green plains. In less than a month most of the greenery will have taken on a brownish tinge as the country enters into the height of the dry season. Thick, cotton ball clouds hang over the mountains, but they will dissipate before they reach us; a shower is a rare event between the months of May and August. Most farmers planted their dry season crops in March/April so already rice paddies are filling in and sugar cane is shooting way up.

A group of babblers, very noisy birds, are hopping around in the driveway fighting over a scrap of food. Early in the day, Lizzie and I spotted an Indian Roller perched on a stump in the yard. They are very colorful birds - this one had a bright blue body and orange patches on its faces. We also saw a monitor lizard on during our afternoon walk. The cat I mentioned in the previous blog is still hanging around. Lizzie and I constructed a barricade out of masking tape for the window gratings in our room last night in an attempt to keep the cat out. So far it is working!

Time to take a quick shower after an afternoon of running and yoga (which attracted a lot of unwanted attention). Smells like Uncle is making roti and pol sambol for dinner - don't want to miss that!