We had our first rain here on Saturday - which means more than the few drops we had a couple of weeks back. The roads were wet, leaves were blown off the trees, it got all dark and menacing. And then it stopped. It lasted maybe 10 minutes. Everything was dirty afterwards as the rain washed the dust out of the air onto the cars, onto the street. Everything is dirtier after the rain. We are told that this is normal for the first few rains, until the air is mostly clean.

The tennis court the kids train on was all shiny and mirror-like. The janitor swept the water and the leaves away, and the lesson could begin on schedule.

The "Russian Teahouse" is the biggest tea house in the world. It's just a few hundred meters down from what used to be the biggest flag pole in the world. There are people who say that maybe someone has to compensate for something, building biggest somethings in a very poor country that would do better with a good water distribution system, or better electrical lines. If you think this isn't big, look at the cars in front of the building. It's big all right! It's also right across from the tennis court.

Jacob was passing the time waiting for the court to be ready by reading about the death of the Yamato on his Dad's Kindle. Right next to him you can see the President's box, with that little balcony. The President will be watching some kind of tennis tournament at the beginning of next month, or so we are told.

It's gotten cooler during the nights. Sometimes, there is a cool breeze sweeping down from the mountains. Leaves are beginning to fall off the trees, every so randomly. Falls is right around the corner. But the days are still hot. Summer is not going quickly here.

Quiet weekend days. This is our life.