Peace only comes when we give up everything.

So, here I am guys. I'm back home.
The trip here was long, but relatively uneventful. Prior to arriving in Kolkata, I had spent about 36 hours in and out of airports and airport buses. I have decided that I will not be doing that ever again. Being in the airplane was not so bad - on my 14 hour flight from Newark, NJ to Delhi, India I watched "Y Tu Mama Tambien" and a Bollywood film that I cannot remember the name of but which had Shah Rukh Khan in the starring role. On my 2 hour flight from Delhi to Kolkata, I watched and Indian cooking show. In between these things, I slept and finished a book called "Kabul Beauty School" (not terribly well written, but a very good and inspiring story lies behind the so-so writing). But the airports were fairly grueling. Did you know that you cannot get a vegetarian sandwich anywhere in the Seattle airport? And that you can't enter the Delhi airport until midnight the morning of your flight? I spent a good 2 hours in the ticketing office next to two red-eyed Indian men who stared at me while I read about Afghan women and their troubles with their husbands, fathers, and brothers. And airport benches are not my favorite thing to sleep on.
So I've decided that the next time I make my way over here, I'm going to make sure to have at least a day or two at whatever International Airport I fly into before my flight to Kolkata.
But now, I'm here and I am so happy. I gaped out the window at the city on my taxi ride to Sudder St, the volunteer/traveler area of Kolkata. My taxi driver was that rare breed that actually does not dart around traffic at a kajillion mph, so I saw a lot more than I ever had on my way in. It was fascinating.
I arrived on Sudder St and was dropped off amidst a whirling mass of Bengali boys, beggar women, and foreign travelers. If the taxi I had taken in hadn't been behind me honking and a motorbike coming at me from the front and someone trying to sell me something on my right side, I might have just stood there and cried at the beauty of it all. Instead, I pushed myself forward.
To my great surprise, the very first people who I recognized on my way in were Kartick, Abdul and Kishore from the food stand Tirupati's. When I had left last, Tirupati's had gone out of business temporarily because Kishore had left for South Korea and the other two boys didn't like the new management (and/or vice-versa). Since then I've heard rumors about the boys coming back and starting up on their own but I didn't actually expect them to be here when I showed up. And I certainly didn't expect Kishore, who was supposed to be in a different country. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. I love these three people with all of my heart and I'm quite happy that I didn't have to work very hard to find them, though I would have.
The rest of the afternoon has been finding a guesthouse and meeting with old friends. For those of you who know and care, I'm at the Modern Lodge for now, in a small room on the bottom floor for Rs. 100/night. I plan on moving to the Paragon once I get settled in, but for now I'm quite satisfied to be in a dinky little room for only about $2.
I've seen Wassim of the Bengal Travel Service, and little Deepok from Juice World. Also, many of the beggar women (from now on, let's call them didis because "beggar women" makes them sound like they're not good people which they are) remember me and I have 3 offers to get my henna done. I "Namashkar"ed the old rickshaw wallah (Akhbar) and bought pants from the Paragon man. Everything about this feels right. So far, so good.
My plans for this evening, if I can keep myself going, are to go to Orientation with the Sisters and see my kids at Shishu Bhavan for at least a little while. I need to find a watch, so I'll be visiting New Market. I plan on dinner at Khalsa's. But mostly, I just want to sit back and soak it all in. It's good to be home.

Love love love!
Melissa