~~ Nitya's Blog ~~

If you saw my blog, you would have seen my favorite animal. Now that I moved to Chicago, I got the craze for dogs. I got dog wallpaper note books, pictures, posters etc. I’ll tell you a lot of information. If you don’t like dogs, go to the next thing on my blog right away! There are many different kinds of pets. But the most friendly and loving are dogs. Dogs are in many breeds like, German shepherds, Huskies, Poodles, Terriers, Dalmatians, Collies, Golden retrievers, Labradors, spaniels, Australian shepherds, Brittanys, Beagles, Dachunds, and many more. Dogs have been here a long time. Long ago, kings and princes used Bloodhounds and greyhounds for hunting animals and tracking down criminals. Now police officers use German shepherds to bring down criminals and, German shepherds known for their ability of agility and their excellent sense of smell. German shepherds are extremely smart too. Dalmatians are used as fire dogs at fire department. They can smell exactly where fires are and lead the firefighters to it. They are very fast runners too. If you are lonely and are a only child, talk to your parents about getting a dog.

Although dogs are fun to have, they also require a lot of responsibility. They need grooming, baths, somebody has to give it a walk everyday…. You will need to buy toys, bones, food and water. A mother dog usually gives birth 5-7 puppies at a time. Most of the time, bigger dogs have a bigger amount of puppies. A poodle will probably have 1- 4 puppies at a time, while Labradors and golden retrievers might have 5 -16 puppies at a time. In the first few weeks of a puppy’s life, it will depend on its mother’s milk. It does not need any other kind of nutrients to survive.

After four weeks old, a puppy can stop drinking its mother’s milk. Instead of eating solid food immediately, ( the puppies diet from a milk diet to a solid food is a big switch for them) people soak the food in water so it seems more like milk to the puppy. Sometimes a puppies will beg for food because it smells really good but human food can make them sick , especially chocolate, avocados grapes and onions. After the first few months of life, the puppies start chewing things, dogs usually get 42 adult teeth. Dogs have about 1700 taste buds! Some dogs have over a million strands of hair! This is why I love dogs so much.

       Long ago, there lived an old lady. She lived in a small cottage and made her own food .People all around the closest villages spoke legends about her. Some people did not even believe in her. Her name was Eva. She was quite nice once you got to know her.

       One day while washing clothes Eva saw a tiny basket floating down what she called the” herring river”  (which was actually a small stream where many animals paid a visit for drinks). Anyway, Eva waited for the basket to float to reach. When she could almost grab on to it she snatched one of the handles of the basket and pulled out of the water. There was a tiny baby girl. Eva cried out ‘oh for heavens sake!”  “A baby!” she dropped all her clothes, picked the baby and ran inside to warm up some fresh milk.

       Fifteen years later, on a quite splendid evening a beautiful young girl sat in Eva’s place washing clothes but singing melodies too. Melody is what Eva had named her. Alas, the old lady had died two years ago. The memories flashed through her mind. After her blueberry picking she found out that the front door was locked. “Aunt Eva oh Aunt Eva? I’m home’. There was no reply. She tried this many times but nothing replied. Melody was left curious so she decided to use the back door. When melody walked around the corner of the cottage she reviled something which nearly caused her to faint.  Her beloved Aunt Eva was lying outside with a knife stabbed strait into her heart, blood staining the grass a bloody memory. Melody had dropped next to Eva and sobbed through 4 days. Soon she made up her mind and went inside the cottage to look for leftovers.            
                                                                                                                                            
       ”Arf arf!’ it was melody’s pup –Alaska. Alaska was part German shepherd and part Husky. ‘Niegh” went her horse Rosaline –Rosie for short. Rosie was an Arabian, pure white mare with a dark reddish brownish rose like birth mark on her forehead. Melody thought this was a good symbol to mark her belongings so she painted the same symbol on her shoulder and on Alaska’s left ear.  “arf arf “ barked Alaska. Rosie and Alaska were both telling her it was almost past their dinner. Melody gave a little giggle and got to her feet.  She ran toward Rosie’s stable and brought some hay outside. Rosie happily trotted toward the hay she was given. Next she went into the cottage and cooked a few chicken pieces. Alaska was pawing the door like and whining every few seconds.  ‘Coming’ Melody called. as soon as she said that Alaska stopped. She walked outside and set the pieces of meat down on the ground. Alaska padded over and gave melody a happy lick. Melody picked up the scraps when Alaska was finished eating. As usual, he pulled out the scraps and ate everything until there was not a speck of flesh left on the chicken bones.” My, somebody’s gotten quite hungry today!” exclaimed Melody. She almost forgot on checking over Rosie before settling for bed. She walked over to Rosie and walked her over to the stable. Melody was so tired that you could say she was more asleep than awake. She slowly walked to her bed room and lied down on her bed. She fell asleep calmly dreaming of riding on Rosie with Alaska running on her side.

       As she arrived at the cottage she saw Eva  holding one of her favorite berries in a basket She rode onto Eva but suddenly she dropped into a deep pit .as she fell she screamed. She finally fell down onto the hard earth, followed by Alaska and Rosie. “Eva” looked down into the pit made an evil chuckle. “Y Your not Eva” melody stammered. The fake Eva laughed again. Rosie gave a sharp nudge on Melody’s back.  Feeling stronger, Melody shouted out “I’ll get you and you’ll be a goner!’. The fake Eva changed into a dark crooked face. Well, catch me first and gave a one last laugh and vanished. Melody woke up in a huge startle. That dream seemed so real so true. Melody had a strong feeling that the dream was sending her a message. Find Me. Melody was curious, Determined, and scared at the same time. Then she remembered how once Eva had told her to follow your dreams. She thought of what Eva would have done.” She would have set out to find that man” melody said getting more exited. “I’m going to find that man and nothing is going stop me!” she said. Melody took out an extremely huge bag and found some spare clothes. After packing everything which was 2 spare clothes, 3 hams, 2 bundles of hay, a sleeping bag, a long rope,5 slices of bread, 4 water bottles , 1 can of jam, hiking boots, a bug spray,  a net , a matchbox, a thick blanket, a night gown, a first aid kit, a club and  a picture of Eva.
       The next day, very early, melody took Rosie’s saddle and sewed a hole in it so she could keep the bag riding. Next, she fed Rosie lots of hay. Tomorrow her journey would be starting. Melody knew that man was there…somewhere. Rosie and Alaska were puzzled by all the rushing. Finally, at the end of the day melody told Alaska and Rosie what laid ahead of them…danger sorrow confusion and determination?
       It was 3:30 when melody woke up the next day. She had to leave before 4:00. She ran through the field into the little shed so she could find an old watchwatch. She was now roaming in the middle of a dense forest, which was thick with mist. The trees were bare and there was a crunching of leaves in every step. Even melody that was very brave was concerned. CRICK! It was the snapping of a twig. The next thing she knew she was surrounded by eerie pairs of green eyes. As she adjusted her vision into the mist she now knew she and her pets would have to compete against a fierce, hungry pack of wolves.  One, and if she was not mistaken, the leader bared its teeth staring straight at poor Alaska. Melody remembered the club which she had brought with her. She shabbily dug into the bag and found the club. She also found the pocket knife. She held them on either hand. “Please don’t kill me please don’t kill me please Melody murmured. Lucky for her, a big fat moose slowly walked along unaware of the wolves. They wolves lost attention of melody and the animals and ran toward the moose. As soon as they were out of sight, melody told Rosie to go on a run as fast as she could- just in case the wolves come back.

       The next day melody woke to the sound of chirping birds. Then she realized she was in a meadow, a large one. She thought about how she ended up here. Melody soon came up with a solution. After the wolves, melody and Alaska fell asleep. Rosie didn’t notice that and kept on going until she felt extremely tired. She slowly tipped of melody and went to sleep” -AARRRRRROOOOOOOO!” Melody snapped out of her thinking and got up to get some breakfast. Alaska got some ham melody made a one slice sandwich and Rosie got 1 quarter of a bundle of hay.  After breakfast they packed up and set of again. They walked along a short, winding passage which led exactly in the direction Melody wanted to go. They kept ahead of her. Somewhat faraway, Melody made the shape of a mountain. It looked like a steep one, hopefully not to steep.

       Later on, sun high up, melody happened to reach a fresh water stream. It was not much a deal because Rosie could walk over it than less of a step. It was also a good rest stop. Melody jumped of f Rosie and stretched. After that, she took Alaska and Rosie for a drink in the stream. Earlier, while walking in the woods Melody dropped a can of jam and all the jam spilled out. Melody still had the can which was apparently unharmed so she decided to get some water in it later on for Rosie and Alaska. Who knew, maybe the rest of their journey was in a desert or in a dense forest. Melody walked to the stream and kneeled. She cupped her hands and splashed some water on her face. It felt refreshing on a hot day like today. The stream barely had a current. It flowed swiftly. By the look of it, melody could sit down in the stream and the water would only be till her waist. She waded into the water, and Alaska followed melody soon realized this idea she was going to regret Alaska was too light and started floating away. Slowly, it got faster and faster .Alaska was being swept away! Melody pounced on Rosie and made her go on a full gallop. ALASKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!Melody screamed. It was no use. The stream (or now river) was too strong. There was only one thing left to do…swim. It was a hard sacrifice, but it was for Alaska. She steered Rosie into the river. Melody held on tight to Rosie, but her hand was loosing grip. Pretty soon, they were all flowing away and towards …A WATERFALL! Melody swam to Rosie and Alaska and grabbed hold of them. They were there almost and Jump. They were falling down the water fall at a high speed. Melody took one last breath and-everything turned pitch black.

    “Cough cough sputter” Melody. “Oh its my second life” she said, with a sigh. She felt woozy and every thing seemed blurry at first. She kept blinking until the world was clear again. She remembered why she was here and how. Melody was at the end of a river bend and water kept on sliding on and of her foot. She tried to get up, but as soon as she put weight on her left ankle, a stab of pain fled through her body. Ow she cried and suddenly jolted back her foot, regretting herself.” now what?” she asked helplessly. She had a 2 centimeter scratch on her left ankle. About 2 yards away, Rosie and Alaska were struggling against a thick vine. Her bag was floating in the shallows, almost touching her foot. Melody grabbed her source of life and found the first aid kit, and applied a bandage to it. As the pain started to fade away, she held on to a strong vine and with her bag limped over to he pets, leaving a trail of muddy foot print behind her. SQUISH SQUASH! Melody sandals were having a loud conversation and were pressing down and soaking her feet with mud and dead plants.As melody untangled Rosie and Alaska, she stumbled head first into a mud pool. BLECH! She cried wiping of mud from her face. There were only a few mud puddles here and there, so melody decided to take a shower…well not really a shower, just holding her breath under water, with the rest of her body so the mud would wash off. She waded into the shallows and mumbled “here goes nothing” and went under water. When she came back up, the clear blue water had a slight change of brown in it.  She didn’t mind that she was wet because she wanted to get away from any of the mud puddles …just in case. They walked into the forest which was not dense like the one before. This forest had tall spring time trees and birds tweeting sweetly.  It also had bushes, green grass, and bunnies scampering here and there. Melody didn’t notice any of the deadly scratches on the trees. Suddenly, Rosie stopped. “Go on girl” Melody coaxed Rosie. She hopped of Rosie and found it on the ground… deer tracks. ”good work gi-” she said. Rosie neighed.  “I said go-“Rosie neighed again. Melody was confused. Rosie never acted like this unless she was scared. Melodies stood up and started walking but soon stopped dead in her tracks .A gigantic bear loomed over her, snarling and drooling. Melody gulped. “N nn nice b bb beary” she said weakly. The bear reared up on its hind legs, ready to fight. It seemed to roar “GET OUT OF MY TERRITORYYYYYYY!” It practically fell down on its fours. Luckily Melody dodged it just in time. She took her pocket knife stuck it into the bears pelt. It yelped in pain and fell down so its soft fur brushed against her face. Still panting, Melody got up and stared at the big beast. She whispered, “It’s probably just knocked out” She took the bloody knife out of the bear and mounted onto to Rosie with Alaska and her bag she walked away as fast as she could.
       Melody somehow wandered out of the forest and approached to a grassy savanna. As she walked through the endless bed of grass she hummed a tune that Eva had taught her. Hmm hm hm hmmm hm hm hmmm hm hm hm hmmmm hm,.  It was was her favorite song. She now remember ed the words to it. In your heartl, cross the seas, there’s a song you rememb-RRRRRRAAAAAAAH! A cheetah pounced on to the ground. Remember ing that cheetah s hate fire she grabbed a stick and with her matchbox, lit a fire on one end. GGGGGRRRRRRRRR! The cheetah growled padding away annoyed that she couldn’t get supper for the rest of her family. It was dark outside and the moon was up high. She decided to get some sleep. But just in case the cheetahs came back, she lit a fire.

        The next day, Melody woke up in a unusual place. She was in a place where everything was made out of marble. Suddenly, an incredibly hairy,  thin…something approached. It had a greenish swamp color skin, and many, many warts. “ahhheemm” it began, “presenting … Ramblote.”. A tall thin man with a slick black cat walked through the marble doors. Melody immediately recognized  the person she saw in the dream. Melody gasped. The tall man started saying ‘As you know, I am Ramblote. He had a accent which sounded like “Os you know, I am Raimblotte.”  “I am the person who sent you the dream.” “None of your powers will stop me so don’t try t-“what powers?” Melody interrupted. Ramblote glared at her for a moment and started saying “As I was saying-Wait, you don’t know your powers?” “Uh-uh” melody said, shaking her head. “Well well, He said spreading a nasty smile across his face “refresh your mind with this story. Long ago, when you were born your mother was a sorceress. She had the most wonderful powers anyone could imagine. In fact I was so jealous that I killed your father. Your mother knew I would come after you next. She gave her most powerful powers and  sent you down a small stream, hoping that  someone would find you and you know the rest. Melody you see, the powers is in your blood.”Melody dropped her jaws and stared in disbelief. “I’ll give you 2 options number 1: just let me take your blood in a shot so I can get your powers and be set free. and number 2: fight me with 2 weapons and when your gone I’ll take your blood myself. Melody hesitated. How could she choose? Suddenly, a small voice whispered “fight”. “Okay she took a deep  breath and quietly added “I’ll fight”. “Get your 2 weapons and come with me”. Ramblote said. Melody took the knife and thebug spray. Melody also took Rosie and Alaska. They came to a dark room and Ramblote said “ we will fight here”.  Melody stood at 1 end of the room and Ramblote stood at the other .Now! melody cried. Ramblote ran towared Melody but SSSSPPPPPRRRRAAYYY! Melody sprayed Ramblote in the eyes. ARRRRAAH!he cried covering his eyes with his hands. Waiting for her chance, Melody stabbed the knife in Ramblote’s stomach. Ramblote yelled in pain and pointed his hand at Rosie Alaska and melody. Shriveline! he yelled and green light burst out of his fingers. Slowly Melody started to collapse to the ground. Rosie and Alaska had the same problem. I’m dying she thought. And lay motionless on the floor like Rosie and Alaska.

       Melody woke up in a the voice of a thousand angels singing. “Where am I?” she whined. A person with wings came up to her. “I am the queen of angels”  “to answer the question, you are in heaven. But you must never tell any living human about this.” she said. She had gentle blue eyes and a silk gold dress and wings.”You may call me Queen Sophia” she said. “To gain wings like many others you must go on a journey again. Remember, you will not die”. Melody was wearing a silver dress but no wings. Melody nodded.  Melody quietly asked” Where’s Ramblote ?”. Queen Sophia pointed to a cell on one cloud. Inside, ramblote thrashed around trying to break out. On top of the cell there was one engraved word: HELL. Queen Sophia added softly, “he was the first one”. The Queen told Melody that it was time to go on the journey to gain her wings. She got up and started walking on the golden clouds to Rosie and Alaska.  “One more thing “called Queen Sophia. There are a few people I’d like you to meet. Suddenly, a man a women and an old woman walked out of nowhere. Melody’s eyes filled with tears when she realized who the old lady was. “Aunt Eva ! Melody ran to Eva and cried with joy “Aunt Eva! I missed you so much!’  ‘There there my child” eva said. Queen Sophia smiled slightly. Melody suddenly realized who the two other people were. Her parents! “Mother! Father! She cried. She wrapped her arms around them. They chatted for hours. Soon Melody decided to start her journey. Melody told Alaska about where they were and everything, and walked with her pets, into the sea of clouds.

Nityaaaa! My mom called me for the fifth time. I got out of bed, woke my sister up and brushed my teeth. Since we had slept in our dress, we didn’t have to change them. I tied my hair in a high pony tail and did my sister’s into one too. “Go downstairs..Get your jacket..get your sister’s too..put on your socks and boots…” – the instructions kept on pouring. CLICK! Our van seats buckled and then there was peace. Not sure how long it lasted, because back my sister and I slipped into something we love to do – sleep.

At the airport parking place, we unloaded the entire luggage and took the shuttle. The airport was a busy place! Where are all these people going, so early in the morning, I wondered. We headed toward the check-in-line. It was pretty long before we got our turn. Plus, we also had to switch a few things because our luggage was too heavy to put on the plane. By the time we were at the gate, it was almost time. We took off and shortly after, yep – you guessed right – I went to sleep again.

I was awakened by a…let’s call it a “pain in the ears “. It said – Put on your seatbelts. Why do you sound different, mom? and don’t hurt my ears I wanted to say. Then I opened my eyes and it all made sense. It was the flight attendant announcing the plane was landing. That explains my “ear paining mystery”. Some of you might think it is weird but it is true. My dad said we had to hurry ( as if we were not all this time) to catch our connection. We didn’t have a minute to lose! Suddenly, I heard an announcement saying that the Cancun flight was delayed. Thank you announcer, you are my Hero. When we got to the gate, I was very hungry but I kept it to myself. My dad said he would find a cafe so we could eat, but my mom pretended that we could wait for a little more time. Soon we all mutually agreed that we were all very hungry. Me, Navya and my mom went out looking for a place to eat while my dad guarded the bags. Sure enough, we found a good place to eat and rushed back to tell my dad before all good seats were taken. By the time we got back, most of the good seats were taken but there were a few left. A waiter came over and gave a menu for us to pick from. Navya and I picked chow mien noodles, orange chicken, and a bunch of yucky broccoli (of course the menu called it something else).

After we ate we went back to our gate and boarded the plane. I thought it was a nice time for a cozy, warm nap. It took me some time to get all settled for the nice cozy nap I am talking about…

Nityaaaaa! I woke up yet again with a startle even though it was just a whisper. It was my sister’s call. Sometimes I feel like she should get into the Guinness book for wanting to play the most in the world. This was one of those frustrating, annoying times. I said we could play the animal game. In case you don’t know how to play these are the rules: First, the person who is “It”, thinks of an animal. Next, he/she gives four clues to the guessers. Finally the person to give the answer gets to be “It”. My sister is a fan of the animal game but she hardly even remembers her animal, and keeps on changing the answer. Anyway, fortunately we landed after a little while…okay fine maybe it took a long time. Still, it seemed short for me. After we went inside the Cancun airport we had to go through security clearance. It took a while for our turn since we were at the very back of the line. A man behind a weird looking counter and a weird looking machine told my dad to put his thumb under a scanner. After our checking was over, we got our luggage and took the shuttle for our rental car. As we stepped outside I felt a warm breeze on my face. This was Cancun…I could feel the smell of ocean and could imagine the beautiful beaches already. It felt like paradise!

We got into a limousine like car to take us to the car rental. My dad checked out a car for rent and off we went to the “NH Riviera”. At first we were totally lost since our GPS did not work in Mexico and we did not understand Spanish, but we finally managed to find our way to the resort. As we entered the lobby, I knew this hotel was a very grand one. In the lobby there was a huge fountain, a mini bar where you could order drinks from, a theatre, a ticket counter and an enormous room with soft sofas for visitors to relax. We went up the elevator to our room. It was on the 4th floor and had a magnificent ocean view. After we changed and settled down, we went to a buffet dinner. There were so many yummy things to choose from…which I wished my mom could make! After our delicious dinner, my dad mentioned about a show. It seemed like a good show and so we decided to go take a look. The show was entertaining and had many dancers and singers singing Mexican songs.

But since it was a long day, we were all tired and we decided to go back to our room and rest.

The next day I woke up with a lovely feeling. We had breakfast ordered in our room and we ate in the balcony viewing the ocean. After that I made a fuss about going to the beach since that is what I have been dreaming all along. Finally we convinced my parents into going. When we got there, my sister and I had a blast. We played so much in the beach, chased the waves and collected sea shells. My family and I made a city in the sand, and decorated it with sea weeds. We called it the eye of the Kabala – since it had kind of a mysterious shape.

When we were finally done playing, we had white sand all over our body and even our hair! After a relaxing bath, we had a great lunch again with many many delicious items. I felt lucky in being able to see such beautiful places and eat such great food. When our lunch was finished, we went to the pool and had so much fun! In the middle of that my mom bought me and Navya two yummy vanilla ice-creams. When my mom asked me t o swim across the pool my stomach twisted. I hadn’t practiced for a long, long time. I got into the very shallow water and took a long jump. Thinking I could fool my mom and dad I made a fake smile. After all the fun in the pool we went back to our room. In the evening, my mom wanted to do some Mexican shopping and dad drove us to a place called Playa Del Carmen. It was big marketplace with many stores. As my mom was wandering around, we watched a man painting amazing pictures with spray paint. There was even a spray can which sprayed fire. It was amazing to see the pictures he created within a few minutes. When I looked at the great artist I wondered how the man got so much paint on his hands. Maybe because he was not careful? Maybe he did so many paintings that his hands got soaked in paint? Maybe he has paint in his veins, instead of blood? My mom returned with two lovely Mexican dresses for her princesses.

They were blue and red in color and we liked them right away. We also shopped around for small gifts and trinkets for our friends back in Chicago. Walking around the marketplace, with the many street vendors and tourists was a nice experience. The traffic was bad, but I could feel my Dad’s excitement as he was whizzing past other cars while changing the gears, as if he was playing my Nintendo DS.

The next day we drove to a world wonder called Chichen Itza –an ancient Mayan temple. It was a long drive maybe four or five hours long. We stopped at many places for directions, but could not understand the language very much. I was the Spanish expert in my family, but sorry to say that I was not of help. Actually, I only knew a few words so you can’t blame me! I was listening for words I knew but no one was saying those words. Weird huh? Closer to the Mayan temple, we passed many beautiful villages .It reminded me so much of my travel through rural India. There were stray dogs running around, kids coming back from school –everything!

We stopped on the way and bought some nice dresses. We also bought big yellow plantain bananas, which I love.

When we got there, there was a huge entrance. It could actually fit a play ground in there. We parked our car and got in line. When we were finished with the tickets and stuff, a guide came walking towards us. He asked us if we wanted to look around with a guide or by ourselves. We fixed his price and picked the guide tour and started walking. We saw a really cool pyramid and if you clap at the right spot, a bird- like- squawk will echo back. I did it over and over – because I thought it was amazing. We also saw a deep well. Mayans would push prisoners in there if the rain was late. It was really scary. What if all the prisoners were dead and there wasn’t any more to push into the well? I thought. It was sad to think that people thought their gods would be happy killing another person and give them rain in return. Fruits and veggies - okay those are a good thing to sacrifice but humans? I don’t know - it just seems so wrong. We saw many little temples and took pictures. There was also a huge field to play ball. Our guide told us that the team that loses are usually killed right there. So you only play to win there, or you are dead. Spooky stuff, if you ask me. But those were different times, and maybe it made sense at that time, my dad explained.

We bought some little things like magnets and mini totem poles. We sat on the grass and chose to go to an Arabian show back at the hotel instead of Chichen itza night show. The drive back was quicker since my dad took the freeway.

When we got back, I got into a beautiful dress. We walked down to the lobby. We had a little path way out side were we could come through to get to the lobby. Outside it wasn’t cold at all. It was even warmer than inside the hotel building. As we walked down the little path, we passed the swimming pool and the place where we got the ice creams from. When we reached the lobby, we sadly realized that the night show was already over. We had spent too much time at Chichen-Itza. It was such a loss. Since we had come all the way, we took some of the food and sat down at the table. I thought the food tasted quite good, but I did not eat all of it. I was saving up for dessert, so I finished quickly. I waited until the rest of the family was done eating. My mom suggested that we should just go outside with the desert and sit under the moon. We did that and enjoyed a delicious desert. I flopped on to the bed the moment we got back to room. My mom told me at least ten times to brush my teeth. Finally I mustered myself and obeyed her. When I was finished, I changed into pajamas and settled down into bed. My dad turned on the TV, so we could watch it lying down. This was surely much better than a working day. It took me a few minutes to sleep, but soon I was dreaming away.

The next day, we had buffet breakfast - Cinnamon rolls, French toast and pancakes and a thousand other items whose names I don’t know. After breakfast, my dad & I spotted a huge chess game. It was so big, the pieces were half as tall as me. After a round of chess, we went to the pool again.

This time swimming came back to me and I could swim all I wanted. My mom lied down on a folding chair and took a nap. While my mom was asleep my dad , Navya and I played in the pool. The pool we were in was connected to another pool so people could float there. There was a cool bridge where the two pools were connected so you could float under it like small boats. My dad decided to go to the other pool and enjoy the view. I did not want to get hit under the pool so I did the back stroke without moving my arms. When we got to the other pool my dad set Navya on his back and tried to catch me but I swam away and was too fast for him. After that my dad showed me a flip under water. I wanted to learn how to do that and my dad showed me how. He told me to take a deep breath and let it out slowly under the water. I kept on trying and soon enough I was an expert. If you forget to keep breathing out, you will have water in your nose and you will feel really weird. When four hours were finished we went out for lunch. There was soup, rice spaghetti, hamburgers, salads, fruits, dessert, cake - you name it, it’s there. In the evening we went to visit a family friend of ours from California. They have two daughters. The elder ones name was Athira and the younger ones name is Ariya. Their mom Bindu Aunty was my dance teacher in California. When we reached their hotel, they met us at the lobby. I was so glad to see them after many months.

We spent almost two hours with them, playing in lobby and talking to them. Navya, Athira, Arya and I ate some ice cream. Bindu Aunty took us to a shop where we all got magnets and little cool stuff, while my dad and Prathap Uncle kept talking about stuff. When it was time to say good bye, I felt very sorry but was grateful that we at least got to see all of them and spend a lovely evening with them. We had to be in bed early that night since we were catching an early morning flight back to Chicago.

The next morning, a sad “Nair” family started off to the airport. When we reached the airport, we sat at the gate waiting for our flight.

While I was playing the Nintendo, I got a startle when “the Grinch” came behind me and started talking to me. It was someone dressed up in a costume and we looked around and saw many Christmas characters. After a little while, we boarded the flight. I sadly whispered “Goodbye Paradise” as our air port grew smaller and smaller until it vanished.