a couple days...

i've had an interesting couple days in Kolkata (complete with being so tired i've chosen not to get online at all...which was actually quite nice - after all, i do have a love/hate relationship with the internet...)

On Tuesday i was at Sari Bari. the indoor space was full (ladies were starting new blankets, which takes up lots of room)...so me, and 3 others ended up sitting outside on a mat, sewing patches onto bags that needed to be completed. it was so fun...and perfect weather. you know, that perfect sun that shines on you and warms you just right...where you feel like you're glowing from the warmth of the sun? man, it was amazing.

then, i went to visit Radha, one of my co-workers who had been quite sick. it was a fantastic afternoon with her, but it did make for a long day.

and then yesterday, well, yesterday was a day that really can only happen anywhere but home. i was going with Gita out to the prevention unit. we had a graduation party (which i love!) and we were delivering Christmas presents out there for next weeks Christmas party - so we hired a car. the big bags on the train would have been a little too much. i was expecting to be back in the city by 4pm have a few hours at a coffee shop to study and read, and then Bangla class at 6pm...that is NOT what happened. here's a run down of my day...

8:00 - leave my house to meet Gita, and supposedly the hired car. wait.

8:45 - the car shows up (finally) - start driving. now, i've never gone by car to the prevention unit, however i have a pretty good hunch its going to take longer than the hour and a half long train ride.

9:20 - after driving around the city for a half hour, arrive at "New Market" which would have been a 10 minute ride from our house if the driver would have taken the most logical path (at this point i thought we were half way out of the city...but we weren't - not at all) - oh, also, theoretically we're arriving in Canning at 10am...NOT going to happen.

11:00 ish - the car is having trouble starting. (they always turn off the cars at stop lights). i'm afraid our late, wandering car is now also a broken car.

11:10 - fear relieved...on the road...no problem...hit lots of speed bumps going too fast and nearly hit the ceiling...i was literally air-borne more than once!

12:10 - arrive at the prevention unit...laughter, story telling (i read them one of the stories i wrote in Bangla for my class...they loved it, and corrected my pronunciation over and over) - eat Biriyani (amazing amazing Indian food), celebrate graduation, dance a little

2:30 - start back to the city - hit lots of speed bumps, fly through the air

3:45 - car starts having trouble starting again, get a push start.

4:00 - car stops starting. driver tries to push start it himself - eventually gives up. i feel helpless cause i want to help him push start the car - but figure its a bad idea for lots of reasons

4:10 - driver gets some tools, looks at the engine...tinkers for a bit - puts the front seat back together (the engine is under the front seats) - and DISAPPEARS w/o a word to me

4:30 - decide its time to call for back up... i don't know how broken the car is - or if i will need to abandon the car and get myself home another way. i call Upendra and we have this conversation,
m: Upendra, the car stopped working
U: where are you.
m: i don't know (but i do know that i'm not close enough to Kolkata to use public transport to get myself home)
U: let me talk to the driver
m: he's gone. i don't know where he is.
U: i will call you right back.

4:40 - Driver comes back with a mechanic and a new battery for the car. Upendra tells me where i am, and says we should be on the road again soon.

5:00 - car is back in action...i've pretty much realized i'm not going to make it to my 6pm language class.

5:30 - we're back in the outskirts of Kolkata - feeling hopeful that this day is going to be over sooner rather than later

6:00 - Car stops working AGAIN (also, i kind of want to tell him about a part of the car called the "alternator" which seems to be the problem since we ran a second battery dry in about an hour) - but i know where i am...and its about 5 minutes from the metro stop i was going to anyway

6:10 - Call Upendra...tell him the car broke again...and ask if its okay if i just abandon the car and get myself home...which was no problem (however, where i am happens to be about an hour from home, even using the metro)

6:30 - after waiting to settle the car rental, sign the correct forms etc - i'm off to the Metro.

7:15 - arrive home (hallelujah!)

oh Kolkata. oh kolkata...and really, in the midst of the crazy unplanned day - it really wasn't horrible. i listened to a few podcasts. i read my books...i got to dance and celebrate with the Canning girls...really, not a bad day (although, it was exhausting)...