My New Schedule, The Post Office, and The Bank

Today has been a good day. The only fault with it (I have to say) was the fact that I woke up at 4:00 a.m. this morning and could not seem to fall back to sleep. So, other than my exhaustion throughout the day, I've been good!
Today at school the students were still taking their exams in the morning (they have a different test every day) and since I'm not taking exams yet (I am SO lucky- let me tell you!) I spent the morning in the Biology lab. During my two hours though, I went to the Principal's office to meet with her about changing up my schedule a bit. I've been here a month now, and I think I have a pretty good grasp on what's working out for me and what's not. I told the Principal that I'd like to learn as much as possible about India and the culture while I'm here and that I felt like taking so many classes was a really bad idea for me because, not only are all of the classes hard, but I'm not taking any of the special classes either.
When I first was signed up for school I was put in an 11th grade class- the 11th grade has only one special period every week called "Moral Science" when the Principal will come in and talk about pretty much anything- the last two times she has talked about relationships with people and then today she talked about stress management techniques (I listened closely today!). But, what I didn't know up until yesterday was that there are in fact several special classes that are offered to the younger students- Art and YOGA! So, today when I went in to re-write my schedule, the two of us (the Principal and I) did it strategically. First we filled in the times for the classes that I want to stay with- English and Biology (both with my 11th grade class) and then I told her that I wanted to do a math class, but that the 11th teacher, and the math that we're doing was much too complicated for me, so she put me in.....a ninth grade math class! We then filled in some of the remaining periods with all of the art and yoga classes that I could fit in. I'm happy with my new schedule, but there is one set back to it- I have LOTS of free periods. I have some ideas about what to do with them (reading, studying for the SAT, writing, and also blogging because the Principal made an exception and is going to allow me to bring my laptop to school a few days a week!) but I need some more thoughts. I'm reaching out to you! I was thinking that I could do an independent study type project on some things about India, but I need some ideas for it.....

After school today I rode the van back to the apartments and got in at about 2:45 p.m. My host mother wasn't home yet, but it was only a few minutes until she called me on my "mobile!" to tell me to come down and meet her outside.
We drove to the post office around the corner- a small yellowy building with an opening to a "waiting area" where there was a single bench situated on the wall. To the left were four small barred openings where people sat behind on computers. It was dark, and my host mother and I went to the first window and inquired about buying stamps. I handed over my letter in it's envelope, and we ended up paying 25 rupees (about fifty cents) for a stamp to put on a letter to my parents and sister. After gluing on the stamps, we placed the letter in a beaten up maroon box on the wall that had the barely legible word "letters" painted in white on the front. I'm really hoping that it gets home safely!
After leaving the Post Office, my host mother and I drove around the corner and made a quick stop to get some bread, cookies, and three pieces of cake for us to eat. It was a very hasty stop, but the shop smelled amazing! It could have been because I was hungry, but, you could smell the freshly baked bread, and the sugary treats being made in the next room- (for those of you in Ashland) it smelled something like Puck's Donuts in the evening hours when the freshly baked dough teases your taste buds!
We then went to the bank. We drove for a few minutes, and then pulled over into a dirt parking lot where there was a two story building with signs posted ll over the front. We got out of the car, walked up the steps, and, instead of going in the door, we turned to the left where there was a flight of stairs leading to the next level. When we reached the top, there was a man in uniform, holding a gun sitting in a chair outside the door (this was surprising...and a bit scary). But, when we went inside it looked like a bank. There were ten desks situated around two walls of the room, each one with a teller sitting behind it, and a waiting area where there were black metal chairs set up.
When we finished at the bank we drove back to the apartments where we both sat down to a lunch of egg on toast and an apple together.