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.
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