On to Delhi!

So its Wednesday, were in Chennai, we leave today for new delhi. Six days from now we will be in the USA.

We decide to take it easy, pack up our bags of trinkets and relax until our flight which was at 2 or so. We ate some peanut butter and crackers . I ate one of the 4 protein bars I had left… that should tell u how good the food really is here. Ive eaten only 1 protein bar in 11 weeks. But I was tired of carrying melting caramel and chalk tasting supplements in a wrapper.

The room is packed we called a taxi and left the room. Peace Chennai, thanks for the drum.

At the airport, we went through the standard nonsense, finding the ticket stands, where we were supposed to go, how to apologize for being dumb and for being American. We get settled, find our gate and there is no food or any stands selling trinkets or food. So we head back down stairs to find something to eat, even though were not hungry. More just bored. And we have 2 hrs to kill. And then the flight got delayed. And then delayed again. Coooool. Our classmates David and Emily were supposed to be meeting us in delhi as well. And I thought their flight was later than ours. False. But dint learn that till later. As we are leaving Chennai, I see an airplane that looked like the plane from Air Force One. Odd. Whatever, I tried to get some sleep. I didn’t realize until we were miles away the reason for the plane being there, the reason for the delays and the reason for India was writing about America in the papers was all for the same reason… Hillary Clinton was visiting Chennai to do some survey work on poverty of some sort. Yah I forgot to take a pic. Oops.

I also forgot to include this crazy event. So while waiting for the planning, I'm blogging and charging my computer. So I got the plug adapter on plugged into the wall. An hour later, its time to go. I go to pull plug out via the cord. ARC FLASHHHHH!!! No joke. For those non Electrical Engineers reading this. An Arc Flash is when the current jumps from its source to a new destination. When you see a little shock when u touch a door knob after walking on carpet is a tiny arc. This was big. Like fire ball size of a cantaloupe big. It burnt my eyes. I saw orange and brown spots for a good 20 minutes after. The adapter melted and shot clear across the room. This made a big noise and now focused all the attention on me instead of most of the attention. The joys of electricity.

Bring plane ride. Blogged. But this one guy next to me wanted to talk, so I humored him and listened to him. He talked about the poverty system in India and why there are social classes. In a nut shell he told me that it dates to hundreds of years earlier when there were times of kings. The kings would intentially keep his people uneducated and doing certain tasks. Some people would work the fields some would be security for the surrounding walls. The one unifying part was a religion. It gave the people something to believe in and something to understand. Back then people did not know to ask the important philosophical questions: why am I here? What is my purpose? Is there something better than this? The people would wake every morning, pray, then go to work. This gave the people a routine and no reason to change because they did not know better. That was the task given to them. After generations of this, certain tasks required more skill than others. Some became more desirable. But there was no way to move to another task. You were born into it and your children would take over once you died…

Crazy.

We got to the airport in Delhi and I was craving some Indian food. We ate a little resaraunt in the airport and the food was awful. And the chai was from a tea bag. A rule of thumb, the more you pay for chai in India, the worse it tastes.

We grab a taxi and take almost an hour ride out to meet Preeti, our host for the next few days. Preeti is the mother of one of my dad’s colleagues at work, Duke. Although I have never met either of them, they graciously offered me their home. I was a little nervous, but really excited to see what the next week would hold for us.

Tuesday.

So Mary Ellen did a lot of the dirty work figuring out what was close by and whats worth doing in Chennai. So I give her a lot of the credit for know what was what. We started out at breakfast at a little caffe next door. They had a glass case with croissants and such in it. We ach got one and I got a coffee. I swear I saw something scurry past a plate on the bottom shelf. No, my imagination. Certainly. Right?! RIGHT!!???

So we went to the bazaars to go shopping. We did work. I got an awesome gift for my parents. I really hope they like it. It is perfect for our house. I was so excited. I bartered hard for the price. Even threw in a sap story. I was happy with what I paid. I can not wait to see it in our house! I hope they like it.

As always, there are people that come up to you tring to sell you their junk. Well a guy carrying a bunch of bongo drums approaches me. great. I tell him no. Friend Friend, how much you pay. You my first customer. ‘I'm not your friend, I don’t want any.’ I make you fair price 600. ‘no’ oh friend, its fair price. Feel fell. You like. ‘no, I don’t want it.’ Ok ok ok how much you make me fair price. ‘100’ awww friend, this is real leather, feel feel. 500. ‘no’ then I went into a shop, he was waiting for me when I returned. Fine finefine 400. But I cannot go any lower. I must eat. ‘100’ we kept walking. ‘really dude I don’t want it. Oh but this is high quality. You must feel its real leather. How much you pay. ‘100’ oh friend, why you try and cheat me? ‘100’ still walking. I go into another shop. This continues for 30 minutes. I'm getting a little upset with the guy. Finally , I say ‘listen. Im not gonna buy it. Sorry you are wasting your time’ fine 200 ‘no’ 180 ‘no’ 160 ‘no 100’ 150 ‘no’ 140 ‘no’ 130 ‘no’ 120 ‘no’ 110 ‘no’ 100 ‘sold. Now leave me alone. Haha I bought the drum for 2 USD. I was happy. And the guy left me alone. We went to another bazaar and spent more money. I needed another bag because I bought too much stuff! So I got a bag and haggle all day long it was awesome.

We got back to the hotel around 4 or so, just in time for a quick lunch/dinner. We went next door to the café which has a Mexican restaurant upstairs. So we order some chimmychangas and enchiladas and ask for a hotdog croissant/pig in a blanket from the glass case for an appetizer. Another table of 2 gentlemen sit down and they too order a pig in a blanket croissant. Then I see the one gentleman react negatively and take a picture of the food. Soon thereafter, he calls the manager over and shows him the picture. The manager gasps and flushes red with anger and embarrassment. I over hear the customer saying he is going to send the picture to HQ. Then the manager grabs a napkin and picks something off the plate. I could hear a crunch. The crunch you only hear when you crush a bug, like a roach, like an Indian cockroach. I call the manager over and cancel the order for the croissant. The guy at the other table smiles and acknowledged me and my decision. Both Mary Ellen and I temporarily loose our appetite. But soon our food comes and we devout it. It was really delicious. And I didn’t see any bugs, so I thought maybe we were ok.

Later that evening we went to this giant mall. I mean huge. Like NYC or Chicago huge. The security was as tight as the airports. No joke. 2 sets of metal detectors and guards checking bags at each entrance. Separate lines for men and women.

Monday.

David and Emily had to go to work, so we said our goodbyes and called a taxi, that never showed up. We managed to flag an auto driver and made our way to the bus station, had an awful jelly bun thing and found the bus to Chennai. We got on early so we got window seats, which is good because for the 4 hour journey there is no AC, just windows. And we had a nice fiasco with our luggage because there is no place to put it and the ticket collector wouldn’t let us buy an extra seat for our bags. Long story short we made it to Chennai around 1pm and both of us had sun burn. From having our elbows resting on the windowsill. Can you imagine that?!

We got to the hotel after only little confusion. We are really getting this whole travel things down pat. We booked te hotel about 3 weeks ago. It was the only thing with above a 30% rating online. It cost more than we wanted to pay, but we needed proper accommodations. The first day there we walked around a bit, got our phone recharged (we ran out of minutes) and ate some lunch from a street vendor. We each got a few deep fried somethings. One might have been fish, another onion, another a piece of cheese, another a rice potato mixtures and then one of deep fried bread. We had 2 servings of this and I got chai. It cost us about 3 dollars total. Incredible India. We had a low key night. Just chillin out watch TV, and I caught up on my blogs, sorta. We sent our a few pieces of dirty clothes down to the hotel laundry to be clean. We knew we were going to be charged heavily, but nothing was clean, and half the stuff was wet and growing aesthetically displeasing matter and producing foul odors that stung the nostril.

We really were not that hungry, so we decided to go to the Chinese resraunt next door. It was a nice place and we were certainly under dressed. Oh well. So we thought lets just get soup and apps. Then I saw they had tiger prawns. I love those. So we each ordered a soup. Then we got chicken lollipops and potstickers. OMG so full of flavor and texture. And we also got 1 or 2 entrees to split. Our bill was 2000 Rs or so. So much for not being hungry. It was worth it. And none of it was alcohol, just delectables.

Sunday.

Today was a much more mellow day. Got up late and had a small breakfast. We went back into town and browsed the food market. It was packet and noisy and smelled like India. How I will miss these places.

We got some refreshing drinks at some grassroots kinda place. I got a lassi, which is a milk and curd mixture. It is kinda like a yougurt milx shake, with ice. It was ok. Kinda thing not recommended to try, but you have to if you go to India.

We had lunch at this tiny little hole in the wall pasty shop. Three little ladies worked the counter . We all got a few samosas. Then, as tradition between Mary Ellen and myself, we sometimes get a few desserts and split them. So everyone picked one or two desserts and we all tried them. The ladies were giggling at us and we took pictures of them and the food. And the total was 130 Rs. So we paid 3 dollars for everyone to get stuffed on food and dessert!

That evening the French cooked tomatoes onions garlic and potatoes. It was quite good. Felt good not to have a meal soaked in salt and oil

Pondy D1

So the bus arrives and I can barely move. My legs are numb from not moving. I brush the cobwebs off my boots and force myself to rise. I grab bag one and bag two and descend from the bus, stomach growling. we sit down on a bench and grab a few pastries. They tasted pretty gross and had gummy little plugs in the middle. I only at half of mine and then bought something fried which tasted considerably better. Mary Ellen went to a phone charge station and put some charge on the phone, calling Dave and Emily, looking for directions of what to do next. So we argue over price over a rickshaw, which costs considerably more than in Patna. Were riding along and I see this white figure wave at me. It was Emily! On the back of a motorcycle! We kept waving back and forth it was pretty cool. Everyone was smiling ear to ear, it felt like we were home for some reason.

We got to their compound said our hellos and got cleaned up. We got some food at this French pastry. Croissants and fried eggs with chili sauce. So good. We learned what the others have been doing in pondy, testing rocket stoves. We met their friends, French students working at the same company. They took us to this meditation studio which was beautiful and amazing. There is this fish pond that houses fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. It sounds kinda gross, but they are the size of gold fish and it tickles like nothing else. I have pictures of 50 or so of these fish chompin away at feet. I know there was dead skin, I hadn’t changed my socks in 4 days. Well I hadn’t showered or changed any of my clothes for 4 days. So I was a pretty sight for sure.

We went into town to do some shopping which was fun as could be. It was so great being with these other people. The first 9 weeks we have been surviving one on one. Now I could bond with another male that speaks English and Mary Ellen could do the same with a female. I didn’t realize how much I needed this. And David, they guy in pondy, is also my roommate for next year. He;s a really cool guy and has a girl friend back home as well. We ate lunch at this little bistro, eating a whole bunch of different Indian foods. Then we went and got blessed by an elephant. He was HUGE. Like monsterus. And the tusk was so coarse!

We did more shopping and I got a pair of custom made sandals.

WE went back and hung out at their apartment area. A little while later we went out for dinner which was Indian and delicious. We had a few drink before bed and then called it a night. Everyone exhausted from the days events, but especially us.

i made it

im home. i made it. i love my family. ill post more of last few weeks tonight or tommorw. stay posted!!!

bday in delhi

so today was super cool. went to church at this english church. had an awesome breakfast of deepfried toast and chai. david and emily left, sad to see them go. ten mary ellen and i went on this tour of an incredible place. i forget the name. it was free and gorgeous. no pictures aloud. bummer, i woulda had fun. then her and i went shopping, i finished getting all my gifts, for me and others. then we went to see a movie delhi belly, but it was sold out. so we went to see sharadimin instead. i think thats the name. it was mostly all hindi. very strange hah. before that we went to hard rock cafe for appetizers and drinks. got a free birthday shot!!! woot woot.

cool day, fun night. i turned 23. im getting old.

i gotta return my internet dongle to my Fr paul in patna tmrw, via mail, so this may be the ast update till im home. im working on getting caught up on the others. ive been busy, very busy.

love ya all. cya in 48 hrs cle!

delhi delhi bo belly. delhi

today was so much fun. less stressful, but equally as exhaustive. i have a sinus problem, which sucks. but today was a blast. from taking pictures in funny poses, to taking pictures with random indians, to just goofing around in Delhi, we had so much fun.

I am going shopping tmrw with Dr. Singh, not that i need anymore stuff, lol, but i am sure i will be getting plenty more. were leaving in the late morning so ill hop on tmrw and post some more stories!

cya in a few days America! until then. Delhi

agra

i made it back from agra.

what a trip. i am completely worn out. very overwhelming. very stressful. i got some stories to share, but for another day. tmrw were going on the delhi HOHO tour hop on, hop off... should be fun!

***where i am now***

hey hey! yah so i posted a whole bunch of stuff! im almost caught up. im in Delhi now staying with a contact my dad works with, Duke. We just had an amazing dinner and spoke with his parents for quite a while. They are both warm, friendly, and very hospitable. Tomorrow we (me, mary ellen, david and emily (our friends from UD working in Pondicherry)) are going to Agra tomorrow to see the Taj Mahal! We leave at 7 am and breakfast is at 6! yikes!!!

ill check back tmrw! hope all is well back in the states! Enjoy the party, mom and dad, see ya in 5!

What’s today’s date?

We woke at 3:00am on what we thought was Saturday. The train station said Chennai. Our eye contacts were dry. Were dehydrated, tired, dazed. The train is emptying. People were running, babies were crying. Stressful? Well the stress was certainly building. So we get off the train, start walking to the main entrance. There were more people sleeping on the floor than awake and walking. We exit the station and are mobbed by rickshaw drivers. One of the fathers told us it’s a real short ride to the bus station. So Mary Ellen believed we could walk and refused to take an auto. I knew it was good 15 minute ride at least and we needed an auto or taxi. She was avidly against it, but finally agreed after seeing the area she thought was a bus was a public toilet. The guy way over charged us. But we made it. It was 4 am. We went into the station. There was no one at any help counters. The station was sleeping as were many many of the people, on the floor, on tables, on benches, crazy. We finally figured out the bus we needed to take was in the number 3 spot of 42 spots… so we headed over there. Its 427. The next train leaves in 8 minutes. Its non ac, we have no place for our luggage so we agree to let it go. And wait for the next one, hopefully ac. I get a chai. Then we found a guy selling electronics that looked black market and he sold us a phone charger. we got back to the bus, which you don’t buy tickets for until you are on. Stressed yet?

Were on the bus. Its leaving. There’s maybe 40 seats, no ac. And at least 50 people on the bus. People keep loading on. We stop about 15 times in the city. People get on, people get off. We leave Chennai with about 60 people on the bus, 20 or so standing. I fall asleep. Its 630, its sunny. We should be about half way, I thought. wrong. 730…830.. we stop at 930… still another 40km to go. So why did we stop??? So I got off and went to the bathroom and got chai (2 separate actions). After about 5hrs, we made it to Pondicherry. What a relief!

The 32 hr Choo Choo

So we are in the train station. And we’re exhausted. Fully fatigued from the day’s journey. But we need food for the next day’s trip because we were told that the food on the train is sometimes contaminated or intentionally drugged. Father told a story of a whole bogey being drugged from the chai vendor who put sleeping pills in his chai. Great. So we decided to bring our own food to dissolve this potential problem. So we bought 2 of about everything in the case at the sandwich shop at the station. I felt like I was in Harry Potter, trying one of everything out of sheer curiosity. Like most of the time we are in public, someone came up to us and did the hand-to-mouth please feed me motion. This is a very common occurrence and never before have we wavered in keeping our food to ourselves. But it was time. Time for my good Samaritan act. I bought the lady a veg puff pastry. She scurried off without a thank you, but looked at me once, very confused. I felt good about it.

So we got around 5 or so pieces of food each, chicken internet, chicken puff, mutton flake, veg sandwich. They all looked fried and flakey. W.e beats dying. So we sit down on a curb and these Indians kept staring at us, coming over to us. Mary Ellen was obviously becoming uncomfortable. I assured her we were ok and kept shooing the people away. Finally, the guy got in my face. And as patient as I am, this crossed my line. So I stood up, squared my shoulders and told him in Hindi we don’t need help. We can carry our own bag. I was obviously not happy with him. His buddy start laughing and pulled him away from us. It could have turned ugly. I don’t like to be told what to do, I don’t like to be bothered repetitively. IF you push to hard, there is an issue, and I don’t mind a good fight now and then… I always carry a knife; it gives me an extra sense of security, even thou I doubt it will ever be used on anything but a mango. Still. Its always on my hip.

We board the train. Get situated. Its 12:05 am and the train is full. Luckily it was only a 2 tier, but I still got the top bunk. I locked up my luggage and made up my bed. We ate one more sandwich and hunkered down for the long night ahead of us.

I woke around 7 and was cramping hard, sheets off my bed. I went to the bathroom, luckily the floor had not yet been covered in human bi-products. I returned to bed, but couldn’t sleep so I just thought. India has been the best trip I have ever been on. Last summer’s was beautiful in its own way, but this, this trip has been rewarding in so many ways.

People started rising around 830 or so. I tried the chai. Very good. Only 5 rs. Ate another sandwich, 2 left. Really didn’t do much. Read a paper I bought the night before. More bombings in Mumbai. Its hard to understand, but very easy to believe how these thing occur. The safety isn’t the greatest in all these areas. Its impossible to secure every inch of India. If something bad is designed to happen, it very well may happen. I always pray I am not near these troubling events.

Another family on the train, a bunk past ours, bought every food item that went past. So vendors walk up and down the train selling water and snacks, chai and veggies. The pantry workers came and took lunch orders, but we passed because we didn’t trust it… The day progressed we slept, relaxed, used the bathroom. Average India stuff. I managed to use a hole in the floor toilet without falling backwards and getting stuck. That was a huge accomplishment on a moving, rocking, shaking train! I found how to open the train door while its moving. I kinda hung out it while taking pictures. I got some neat shots, and the fresh air was well needed. They asked if we wanted dinner, and I said screw it… sure. So I ordered veg something or another. He asked if I wanted 2 of something. Sounded like bread so I said sure. So he took my order. An hour or later he comes back with 2 full trays of food. Ahhh shit. Oopps I dint want this much food. Mary Ellen is laughing. Im confused. The family next to me looked at me like I had 3 eyes. Well, I guess I ordered 2 plates so I started eating… I was full after about half. So I gave it to Mary Ellen she ate a little bit. I hate wasting food. So we finished it. It was sooo good. And only like 100Rs total I was stoked I tried train food. The day ended with sleep. My computer was dead. No internet. The phones dead, can’t find the charger. Let’s hope we don’t get lost…

The day after that.

It poured all night. Everything outside was soaked. We went for a morning walk into town. We were wearing flip flops, which are the cheapo old navy 2 for $5 type. But they work. I took some cool pictures but the camera was getting wet and sluggish so I put her away.

We ate, packed and left this magical place behind. Lataguri, great city. Can’t wait to see ya again.

We head to the airport and eat this bomb lunch of mutton and chicken and pork and potatoes and a buttery chipatae. We ate well past our fill. We hung out for a while then as were getting in line and there’s this white guy who head nods me. WAIT a head nod?!!? That’s not an India move!! That my move. That’s an American move. Could it be?? Could it really be?!?!? He was next to me in line so I was chatting with the lad. He’s American but living in Australia. Where in America? Ohio. Haha where in ohio? Cincinatti. Haha get outtta here! What college did you attend? University of Dayton. Really? Really? Im in a country with 1.6 billion people and a guy that has lived the UD dream, been to milanos and Tims and lived in the ghetto is standing next to me in line and sitting next to me on my flight back to Kolkata? I guess the world isn’t that big after all. So we chat like were long lost friends. He graduated from UD with a communications major and long story short is working in Australia for 3 years in a service/counselor position. I might go visit him next summer. The guy is cool and we take a picture and get yelled at by security. Haha silly Americans.

Once in Kolkata, there is a public transportation strike. So no buses, no cabs, not auto rickshaws. Kolkata is very much like Chicago. Its one of my favorite cities I’ve been to in India. Imagine Chicago without taxis. Chaos much? We arranged for a driver already but Paul, the UD grad, dint have a ride and surely would been stranded, so we give him a lift to his place. We swap contact info and wish him on his way. What a coincidence.

We go back to Samik’s compound, still full from dinner. We drop off our gear and head out to buy some tea. We get to the shop and it’s a neat lil thing. There a wooden crates stacked high to the ceiling. They pull the tea out with a hook and weigh and bag it. I have some people back home who love tea… so I got alittle bit from India. Ya know just a cool 4 kilos. This is gonna be a blast getting through customs… sir u have 4 kilos of dried leaves… uhhh yah its tea. For grandma I swear… I'm hoping for the best.

Oh little story. So this is a cool history lesson. So we all know about the Boston tea party, but I never understood why the harbor was red. Until now. So in Hindi, red is lal, it’s word for red is what I mean. So Mary Ellen cant have milk which is a shame cause it makes the tea unreal. So she has to order lal chai or red tea (like black coffee) and the tea has a red tint if you don’t add any milk. Its like an amber red. So these huge crate are full of the stuff. So when the rebels threw them all into the harbor, it was when the British used the East India Trading Company, and one of their main exports was ivory and tea of course, lal cahi. So these crates are in the water, just filing the harbor with this amazing tea with incredible smells. It much have been an wonderful thing to be a part of. But silly me, when I was a child I figured all tea was is in the little tea bags, so I pictures a whole bunch of tea bags floating in the harbor. Haha woops.

Yah so we get a lift to the train station and say our goodbyes and that’s it. Its about 10 pm and the train doesn’t leave till midnight. Let the train festivities begin.

The next day

This is about the time I lost track of what day it is… I was just living in the moment. I had no agenda, no plan, just being me in the Himalayas, sucking in the pure mountain air, drinking the finest chai in all of India. Each day was its own magical place and time. There were no expectations, or if there were, they were few and far between. We had made a few guesses about the trip but those were soon forgotten.

So we rose round 8ish, after sleeping in the softest bed yet. The mattress was at least 2 inches thick which is over double what we are familiar with. We had our breakfast of toast and fried eggs. Had some chai, packed our bags and headed out for the trek, the whole reason we came to Kolkata. Btw we were no longer in Kolkata at this point, but rather West Bengal.

Last night it rained, rather poured. There was still moisture on many of the leaves and puddles filled the pot hole ridden roads. After a solid 30 minutes of driving up winding roads through tea gardens, we reached a small village of about 15 houses scattered across a few km. The jeep parked, we got out and headed down the path. It was a stone/concrete path, not dirt and rocky like we would have guessed. The scenery was stunning. Pictures will have to explain this better. The view was breath taking really. The clouds and mist were covering parts of the mountains nearby. You could make out the step farming techniques the indigenous people use to grow rice paddy.

I was learning how to take shots of the waterfalls, to make them look silky and the white foam lapped over the rocks, but the light was too great and it burned several of my shots. Further down the path there was a larger river so I hopped off the train and headed down by the rocks to get a better shot. I took several and Simek joined me. Then I felt the first pinch. Felt like I got stung or bitten. I scatched my hip and felt nothing. Then I felt something crawling on my ankle, but didn’t see anything. Another pinch at the hip. I lifted my shirt and saw a tiny mabe inch long leech. So I quickly ripped him off and flicked the little thing off my finger. The I examined my hip. Nothing but a small scratch. Good. The I checked my boot. I had to leeches, bigger in size stuck onot my sock. Only one got a chance to just barely nick my skin. Samik didn’t get so lucky. He had two fully sucking his blood. On on his sock, that he ripped off causing his spck to turn red, onlay a small spot about the size of a quarter, tho. There was one on his calf, holding on for dear life. The one thing you don’t want to do is just rip them off. They have an anti coagulating agent in their mucus they ue to draw the blood out of you. That’s why they are used in surgeries with blood clots (thanks mom). They naturally will fall off and will seal up the wound with a coagulant so you don’t keep bleeding. Well that is if u don’t rip them off first. So we walked about a quarter mile and see this little yoga/massage/private therapy resort thing and the guy at the gate said rip it of with the knife. So I unsheathed my knife and he did. Blood came. And kept dripping. Not even tissue paper would stop it. This continued for the next 6hrs! that’s a lot of blood loss from one leech!

So we trekked back and had a snack of momo’s these fried onion stuffed dumplings that are boiled and served with a spicy chili sauce. So good. We had chai too. Fresh tea from the tea gardens is the best. I need to buy this stuff. We learned there are 2 types of tea in India. The kind from Dooars and the kind from Darjeerling. The kind from Dooars, where we are is the very tasteful but less aromatic type. The other is very aromatic, but last tasteful. Blending them is frowned upon.

We drove for a while more then got out again and trekked down this stone laden path which functioned as a road as well. The scenery was again stunning of the mountains. We hiked for about an hour and made it to a location called rocky island. More waterfalls. coolest pictures. Then it started raining so we retreated inside and had chai. About 8 cups, it rained for the next hour or 2 I kept taking pictures, playing with the lighting.

Finally when the rain lightened up we put on our rain gear, first time using it. It worked well the road was now a stream. Soo glad I bought water proof shoes. Mary Ellens got soaked and took about 4 days to dry out. We all got pretty wet, b ut it was so worth it. I working on taking motion blur photos as we were driving. It looks like we’re in a warp tunnel! Trekking was an awesome adventure. It’s hard to write about it tho. It was simply awesome. I will be back. I want to get to Everest base camp. It only takes about a week or so.

We went back, dried off. Had dinner and talked more about movies and hiking. I swear this guy was a cool dude, but the conversations were very limited.

Lemme see those elefantttz!

In a perfect world we would have taken 2 weeks for this trip, but we dint have that, we had 3 days. The bus stopped twice once at midnight, once at 6 am. Random times. And you force yourself to get off an walk around. We ate the sandwiches which were surprisingly very tasty. And in the morning around 10am or so we arrived in Siliguri, the gate way to the Himilayas from the west. The eastern is in Pakistan, I think we chose well… So we go to this restaurant and have a chicken sandwich, very good, but not like u would imagine. Ill upload a picture. This was also the first time we had a bathroom with a door in the last 18 hrs or so… thank goodness.

So we met a few people and got into a jeep looking vehicle and headed out to Dooars. We made it!!! and some how we slept. This was a very bumpy ride. We got to the lodge where we would be staying for the next few days which was amazing. I would totally come back. We had a great lunch and retired to our rooms to get cleaned up. Palm trees everywhere, inside the Garumara national park. Everything I so green. I feel like I’m in the Amazon, not India. This is not what India looks like. India is deserts and dirt. Not this. Yah ok. India is huge. It is very very different all over.

Early evening we head deeper into the park and prepare for the safari ride. Oh, yah were going on a safari ride, in an area with leopards, rhinos (my fav animal), elephants and a whole bunch of other animals. So its not exactly like they show in the movies, but we were in a cart pulled by buffalo. Pretty cool just the same. So we go up the Madla Watch Tower. We saw a whole bunch of birds, then some elephants off in the distance!!! So cool. I got some great pictures. I dint see as many animals as I would have liked, but it was awesome. Then as the sun was going down, elephants crossed the river! WHATTT this was cool. I got great shots.

Then they took us to this tribal dance which was cool and of course I videoed it. You tube when I get back. Very very cool day. We went back to the lodge, had dinner at 10pm and tried red rum for the first time. It tasted ok. We chatted about movies till almost 12 and then went to bed.

Monday funday, sorta

So we woke up on the train at about 730. Well that’s when the alarm went off. I woke up at 4 something, 5…6… 7… yah it wasn’t that great of sleep. Well our train rolled in around 8 or 9 I don’t remember. We grabbed our luggage and started to hop of the train. Groggily we walked with the herd of people and some guy yells TIM! What the…???!! TIMMM Who the ….?!?!? Ohhh its our guide Samik!

Pause. So these last 3 weeks we have been dying to hike. To trek. To climb mountains and rocks and be awesome. Well snap, the Himalayas are like right there… hmmmmm. Lets do it. Yah well so is Nepal and they have unrest and no government and we read in the papers about kidnappings and killings… yah okkkk. So Everest isn’t gonna happen this year. So I joined forums and researched hardcore where we could trek from bihar in a few days. Nowhere. Nadah. I actually had a few people tell me bihar is a lot worse than Nepal. Well that’s news… Mary Ellen’s cousin has a friend who knows a guy that trek’s outta Calcutta (aka Kolkata, both spellings are used in the city, no joke). So we’ve been emailing him and we are stopping through Kolkata for few hours maybe we can do something. Then we get this idea if we leave bihar a few days early, we might be able to do a little trekking. So we email this guy back and forth and send him our pass port info and he sets this trip up. And well… here we are… ill explain the trip as we go… but yah he works for a trekking company and its kinda his job so it wasn’t like just a random dude. Well it was, but, hey, he knew what he was doing. We just weren’t sure when he was gonna kill us and cut us up. We had ideas tho…

So he finds us. We shake hands and get into a cab. This is too public of a place to be sliced and diced so we figured we were safe, at least for now. So traffic is a pain in the butt, but were in an old school yellow cab, the kind in the movies from the 50s and its beat up, dented, paint from other cars on its bumpers and side panels. Which is explained by how they drive, which is more civilized than Patna, but they are aggressive. Many bumper to bumper, metal to metal sandwiches. So that’s what these cars are made to do. Cool!

So we get to his apartment, well the apartment theat he shares with his mother, father, uncle, and his wife. There are 2 bedrooms and a tv sorta room, which I think might be another bed room, a small kitchen, a small dining area and a small sitting area. Our school has bigger apartment for students. He has lived there since 1988. Crazy. This is common very common and part of the culture, imagine that. So bags dropped off we grab our cameras and get some lunch. WAIT sorry. I forget when we still had our luggage like 2 hrs ago he asks u hungry for breakfast. Yah sorta. Its about 10 am. He asks, kfc or mcdonalds. Umm I guess mcdonalds. I donno if I can stomach either right now tho… so we get to mcdonalds, a post by itself really, and we eat spicy chicken sandwich and fries and a coke. Wow. This is really good. Ok back to the story. So we get lunch sit down Indian place we get way too much food. Have a beer each and get to know each other, cuz we really don’t know much about the guy. Turns out he has a very small repertoire to talk about: photography (im cool with this tho), trekking in general, his hike to 4 peaks (a really cool hike where u can see 4 of the 5 highest peaks in the world and movies. That’s all. But its cool.

So we go to this really random place but super cool. Background, we are in a very Hindu region and eveyr year there is a huge festival where they throw these statues into the river. They are made of mud and straw and are very biodegradable, but it’s a big deal. They a crafted in Kolkata and shipped around the world. Cool. So we check it out, really interesting. Got some got pictures, learned something too, about photography and the religion.

Then we took a ride on a tug boat. That’s all the event deserves. Cool pictures too tho haha

Then we got our luggage, so our small book bags, with 2 pants, 2 shirts 1 extra pair of socks tooth brush and few medicines, just in case. To the mountains we go. We stop at a sketch shop and get sandwiches. Chicken internet and chicken sausage in a bun… this is gona be interesting. Glad we tried sketch food before we came (we had only minimal damage from the food btw) we say goodbye to his wife, a very quiet but nice lady and board the bus. Not the most comfortable, kinda like a greyhound, but the seats reclined as far as the person behind u would let you go. So this is the position I am in for the rest of the night and half of tmrw. This is my first night bus, 13 hour ride. They put a movie in Hindi on. Worst acting and editing ever. Ive made better. This was bad. Really bad. Bus is moving. Im sleeping. Let the adventure begin!

Later Bihar

So Sunday we had church and we wore our sweet India outfits. The full garb. We actually looks pretty sweet. Ill try to post some more pics. People wished us well from the church. We took some pics and then ate and changed. It was a pretty low key day and we finished packing wow… we got a lotta sutff

Father asked us if we want to go to the big bazaar. Yes. Why not. Haha. So this is like a 4 story shopping mall with some really cool stores. The security here was greater than any of the bus or train stations we have entered. Metal detectors, bomb wands, each store had a private guard in it. They open the door for you and take your bags, giving u a ticket, idk if its to prevent you from stealing or so u don’t have to carry them. Either way very top of the line service. America, take note they do it up right here in India.

So the place is brand new and they have so many stores that are un occupied already, and plans for a movie theater up stairs. But starting on the ground floor, there is a 3 story big bazaar food store. Crazy right! No cameras, no bags. Cell phones off. Seriously this was cool. Until we got inside. It was like black Friday, India style. People everywhere, buying everything. I got dizzy. Mary Ellen got lost. Father got confused. We went to all three stores, it was kinda like a Walmart mixed with a junk store, compressed and elevated. Food, clothes, and furniture were all over the store! They had food where u had to order from one counter pick it up from another and eat in another spot. What!! Let’s play the confuse the American game. Seriously. We don’t know what were ordering, help us out, please! So we ordered a potato stuffed thing, awesome, then a veg stuffed thing, super good, then a deep fried thing with spices and no discernable veggies or meat, so good. Then we ate this creamy flaky thing that was super rich we couldn’t finish. We made a scene. And it was funny.

The rest of the day was pretty drab, had dinner. Said our goodbyes. Went to the train station, yah this was the day of the biggg crashes. We got really lucky it didn’t affect us. We were only a few hrs late leaving. Many trains got cancelled. It was reported as terrorism, but many people seem to view it just as an unfortunate event at the fault of the conductor. We were very happy it wasn’t our train. These things happen tho… nothing is perfect… On board and in our seats we locked our luggage up and made up our beds, I got top bunk again, lovely, and passed out.

Peace out bihar, its been real.

Oh I almost forgot I left a little present for Anand (Anon, my friend with polio who helped us incredibly in Bihar) We shared a bond words can’t explain, but will have to, just not today. Another day, another blog, another item on the bucket list.

Saturday july 9th

We wanted to see a movie. Transformers 3 was in theaters in English, woah, and even tho we didn’t see transformers 2. We checked the papers, packed our little bags and headed out, souped to be seeing a movie in India, well in rural India. So we can navigate parts of Patna pretty wel, but once we got there, buying a ticket was a whole ‘nother ordeal. so to start, the movie we wanted to see wasn’t even there. So we decided to see delhi belly, an offshoot of the hangover, based in India. Copycats. So were waiting in the que, the it disperses and people are moaning and shouting and moving and were a kinda confused/dumbfounded so we don’t do anything but stand there. Finally about 5 minutes of this, ive had enough and ask the guy whole was holding a rope in one hand and a lard bamboo rod in the other where we can buy tickets. After attempting this question, this simple question in as many pronunciations as I could manage, he still didn’t get it. So I talked to the guy behind him. He said the movie is sold out and you have to reserve tickets online. Thanks for the heads up, fathers!

So were walking back from town. Laughing, hungry as can be, we decided we have come this far, 7 and a half weeks in bihar and not tried any street food. Really? Come on! You cant leave India without trying the food, the realll Indian food… right? So we stop at this one shop that dint have as many of flies as the others. Crowded as can be, so we figured it was good. Oh and you could rent a room upstairs, so they must be hospitable hahahaaha. Right so, We tried ordering from the cook who was outside the shop. He said something. We dint understand. Obviously. So we figured we had to go in. the board to order from had everything written in Hindi, so again we couldn’t understand, but we know samosas are deep-fried dough in triangular shape aka most of the bacteria is killed. We only wanted 2, but we got four with some chili sauce. Its like a heavenly explosion of potato and spice in our mouths. Well worth the 30 Rs we paid haha. We are ab le to decipher about half of the spices and objects in the breaded creation. This was incredible. Like nothing before. We kicked ourselves why we hadn’t tried these sooner.

So were on our way home, ready just to be done, and we stop to grab a soda. Then we see this sweet shop, sure lets try some more food. It was gooey and sticky and so delish. Haah. Well we leave tomorrow, so I needed a lock for the train so I don’t lose my clothes and stuff, so I got 2 for 30 Rs. What?? Theres another street? Are those bangles?? Yesss! It was a mutual lets continue shopping…. Well one shop led to another which led to another, which led to another. So much for going home… we spent the next 2 hrs getting the best deals. At each shop. We cleaned house. We are not amateur hagglers. We are relentless. We slash the price in half, stand firm in spots, we fight tooth and nail for the discount. We have walked out of shops and away from offers for 5Rs (about 12 cents) Imagine arguing over 80cents and saying no, 68 cents. What u wont compromise! Why are you trying to cheat me store owner. The absurdities. Haha. What a trip. We had so much fun.

We got back and the kitchen was exploding with smells of India and heaven mixed. Chili chicken, potatoes, pork. This dinner was incredible. Like words and pictures don’t do justice. India has given us too many good foods and not enough opportunities to burn them off. Do the math, look at the pictures. It was our send off dinner and included a little bit of whisky. No complaints from us. This was one of the best days in India. I feel like I say that a lot… I also feel that’s ok!

Meeting the American

a friday like 2 weeks ago:

So I skipped breakfast today, a rarity for me, so I could sleep and use the bathroom without interruption. Around 830, Fr. Paul knocks on my door and informs me the American father, Father Kennely S.J., was coming around 10 to meet the American Mango Hero. Damn, I have to function like a human today and not the zombie I feel like. I shower up and around 11, they (the father and the American from Harvard creating a documentary on India) show up. So we talk to the m for a while, and they stay for lunch. We swap stories on India, about the service we have been doing, the people weve met, the times weve had diahrea and all the crazy things weve eaten. They were both pretty impressed with our accomplishments, but very disappointed when I informed them I had eaten 24 mangoes in 4 days, in a single day, or a single hour, or a single minute. We swapped emails and that was that.

I made myself ginger tea and tried making ginger pop. Both tasted like… gingercrap.

Check point.

Whats up friends and family!? Im in chennai right now, still in southern India. Ive had no time to blog and no internet connection, so sorry for the lack of updates. Were taking it easy tonight, so Ill try to post an overview of the past 2 weeks