Back to Kolkata

Rickshaw Accidents: 4

We're back in Kolkata! We got in this morning after taking a night train from Varanasi. Our trip was SO much fun... but we are both really glad to be back in Kolkata! We spent the morning walking around trying to find a new guest house to live... everyone wants to "help" you and it can be SO annoying! After about an hour or so of searching we finally just said we don't care where we live... we're taking the next place! Our new little home isn't so bad though... we even have a TV!

Our trip was so much fun...Delhi was beautiful and not at all like I expected! We saw lots of temples, lots of historical things, and I even got my nose pierced(sorry again Mom...)! It was actually a lot cheaper than Kolkata so we did a little shopping and lots of sight seeing. It's not nearly as dirty as Kolkata and our guest house had RUNNING hot water!! It was a-mazing to take a hot shower! My standards sure have changed since I got to India.. our room was small and the bed had this thin little mattress... but after the table that I called a bed for a month it was like I was sleeping on clouds! I was in Heaven! We spent a day in Agra and had the best time... the Taj Mahal was beautiful and we met the friendliest people there. I even got to RIDE a camel! We found a local festival and Shells and I were like celebrities... we even made the Agra newspaper! Our train back to Delhi was late and so we sat at the station and played with the little children who live there for over an hour.. it was SO much fun and the children were adorable! It was pretty obvious there was no NGO in Agra... I don't think many people play with these children from the way they acted! We also went to Varanasi for a couple of days and loved it.. it's such a beautiful city built on the Ganges River. The city is known for is burning ghats... they are pretty much crematories all along the river... I think there are about 350 on the 7km stretch along to river. It was really strange... you can actually go up on a balcony and watch them light bodies on fire. It kind of freaked me out... we didn't stay there long. The city itself though is beautiful... I spent an entire morning just sitting on the steps to the river, reading and writing and playing with the kids. Varanasi is what you think of when you think of India.... men bathing in the water, temples everywhere, and cows ALL over the place! A monkey even came into my room one morning! We met some really adorable kids while we were there, too... if there's one thing I've found that is the same in every city it's that the street children are always so, so cute. And they're almost always so, so bad... which is probably why I love them even more!

I'm excited to go back to work at Sealdah in the morning.... I've missed my little friends there more than I can say! I'll write again soon... adios from Kolkata!