Monday April 21, 2008
Today was a pretty uneventful day. I just sat around and finished my book Crytonomicon. Well worth the read but now I don’t have anything to do. It’s too hot to be outside so I sorted out my Itunes Library and made sure all the names and artists names were correct. Then I took pictures of the Staff here at the Mission India Bible College.
Thursday April 24th
Tuesday we took a flight to Calcutta b/c I was sick of riding trains and we got two plane tickets for 100 bucks so that was worth it. The flight was good and definitely better than sitting in a hot dusty train for 12 hours. Dev had never been on a plane before and he handled himself really well, he got stopped at security for having shaving razor blades in his carryon. Dev also took a million pictures with my little camera b/c he was amazed at everything. When we got to Calcutta we met up with a missionary and he took us to his brothers house but he wasn’t there so we went to the YMCA and it took forever to get there through all the Calcutta traffic. The Y in Calcutta is actually really nice, 25 bones and we got a double room with AC and hot water shower! I was impressed. After I took a shower we wondered around the markets and then stopped in Dominos pizza for dinner. Nothing like a bit of Americana. After this I was beat so we went to the room and watched Pearl Harbor in Hindi and I had to explain the premise of the war and events to Dev who was pretty vague on the details. When we got up we met with the missionary again and we went to the Indian Museum and made a quick tour around. The British built the museum in 1814 and have stocked it full of awesome stuff. After the whirlwind tour we took a taxi to St Pauls church another British monument. I think it was built for Queen Victoria so when she was in India she had a church to go to. Next we went to Queen Vics Indian Palace/House/Estate and marveled at how huge it was. The statue of Queen Vic in front of the building was covered in Bird shit, which made me sad but it was also funny. Next we took a ferry over to the train station b/c ferries are actually the best way to get around if your near the river that is. Traffic is insane and cabs don’t have AC so you just swelter in the heat. We rode past people scattering ashes into the river and then bathing in the river and cutting their hair. Sons cut all there hair off when their parents die. We got to the station and that was my visit to Calcutta, I wish I could have spent more time in Calcutta, I really liked the city but oh well. The Train Journey wasn’t bad I had a top bunk and tried really hard to sleep but failing miserably I just opted for listening to my ipod, reading the bible, since I finished Cyptonomicon and watching India flash by for 12 hours.

Now I’m sitting in Devs Uncles sweating b/c the power gets cut here for a couple hours randomly, and without a fan and air movement I’m done for! In a little bit we are going to catch a bus to Devs parents for the night and they live in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere so that’s going to be fun! Then tomorrow it’s back to Nagpur and hopefully the Internet! I need an Iphone …

Saturday April 26th
Back in Nagpur! The train journey here was not bad at all we rode on an express train and I had a reasonably comfortable seat. I was back for about 3 hours and I decided to go to the MI office to use the Internet and I got roped into designing a brochure and taking the photos for it today. I didn’t even get a chance to use the Internet! I thought I was done with my work in India but it never stops!

Well to get Devs parents from his uncles we first had to take a rickshaw to a bus/suv stop and take an Suv across town and then wait for about an hour for a rickshaw to take us to Devs village and theeeeen we had to walk a mile down dirt roads till we got there. His parents have a little farmhouse with two bulls in front for plowing and pulling carts and a well in the back and open-air bedrooms just roofs! They only had one small tabletop fan and I was dieing in the heat and just passed out for most of the day so Dev decided we couldn’t stay the night b/c I would have died so we went to another village and stayed with the Pastor that baptized Dev and his family. This pastor had a big cooling unit, which worked when the power was on which wasn’t that often but at least I got a good night sleep under a big fan! In the morning we trekked back to the train station and back to Nagpur.