As a young student in India, every June, on the first day of school, I was asked to write an essay which was always titled: "How I Spent My Summer Vacation." “And make it interesting,” my teachers advised. I supposed that the simple account of my days spent reading Nancy Drews couldn't be considered "interesting." Not even my detailed accounts of making paper straws and trying to make bubbles with a glycerin solution. So I was always making up something, like visits to quite exotic places like Poona. I made sure that the locations were not very exotic (I was once very tempted to write the Himalayas) otherwise the teacher would smell a mouse. Now that I'm older, I can tell it like it is. So here's an excerpt from my diary from a few weeks this summer: Week #1. 1: Every year, we have faithfully vacationed in Camden, ME. It truly is a wonderful place right on the ocean and deserves a very relaxing vacation. This year we thought we'd try something different and booked ourselves a pilgrimage to Disney World. Along with apple pie, a trip to Disney World probably completes the quintessential American childhood experience. So we all flew to Florida. The first day it rained so much that the twenty minute drive from the airport to the hotel took us three and a half hours! The eldest daughter (SD) at some point during time no. 2 broke down and demanded that we return to Boston immediately. We finally made it to the hotel in one piece and had a great time. Disney World was all good. The girls had fun and we really enjoyed the hotel, its pools and the drinks! In the end, SD told us: "Camden, I'm not so peaceful"? If this was meant to be a hint that we should go there, I pretended not to have understood it. She quickly added, “I also love Disney World, especially the pools”! Week n. 2: We took the girls to sign up for the summer reading program at the local library. I could rave and rant endlessly about most reading programs aimed at children, but I'll save that for another time. Both SD and her youngest daughter (YD) dutifully signed up and immediately received “prizes” as incentives just for signing up! The librarian chirped enthusiastically, "And if you read your share, you'll get more rewards." That was all YD needed to hear. He asked what his quota was: six picture books for the entire summer.