No TP

Sunday, September 9, 2010
7:45 am
 **Note--my blogs will most likely be posted in clusters as my internet access is limited.
    So after about 38 splendid hours of traveling…I arrived to Kolkata, India at 9 am on Saturday.  India Air is the best airline i've ever flown… yes for real.  They kept feeding us meals that by no means met the crappy criteria for airplane food--I felt like i was in a restaurant eating curried tofu, rice, and spicy lentils…even the peanuts were spicy!  My new friend who sat next to me for 8 hours said the food was awful so it looks like I've got a lot more good food ahead :)

    On my 30 minute ride from the airport, we came within inches of hitting countless people, cars, bikes, curbs, poles, cows.  Driving is on the opposite side of the road thanks to the English peeps.  Lanes don't exist and the horn is used about as frequently as one blinks.  I basically just laughed and giggled the whole way home.  I'm guessing this may be attributed to lack of sleep, and I hope my driver assumed that because otherwise he may have been a bit nervous as to why I kept bursting out laughing.
    I arrive to my humble abode (which square footage may equal that of my living room at home) with pale pink walls, white tile floors, 2 toilets, 1 shower next to one of the toilets (this is awkward because the toilet gets soaked when you shower) a cute little kitchen with one hot plate, eclectic decorations from a little glass dog figuring, a elephant horoscope looking' tapestry thing, some Betty dolls in the boxes (Betty= Barbie), and 2 bedrooms.  Now when I arrived I met my roommate Colleen, (my driver informed me that I was going to stay with someone named Collins hehe).  Sam is the man who we are living under who sort of gave us the run down on whats going on.  I guess he rents his house out to ATI so the students can stay here?  Anyway, Colleen's room has AC, mine does not--- or should I say now, Colleen's and my room has AC and now there is a spare room with my clothes in it :-)  Problem solved lol.
    Collins (I told her I'm calling her that now) is from Asheville, NC and is AWESOME! I think this will be a great 3 week living arrangement.  Anyways I basically arrived and we headed out to explore!  The streets are booming with vendors, people, taxis, cars, bikes, rickshaws (I think thats what they are called--motorized tri-wheeled bike things with a seat in the back), and the melodic tune of everyones horn honking as the soundtrack. I'm in love with the colors! Its such a crazy contrast because the streets are brownish and dirty but then there are colorful buildings (like the big green temple we now use as a landmark) and woman in beautiful embellished, sparkling saris and kamees.  Bright oranges, reds, greens,  pastel pinks, magenta, electric blue, gold, black, turquoise,  silver, yellow, royal purples, bright whites, and pale violets…EVERY COLOR EVERRRR!  Needless to say its very visually stimulating. Collins and I decided that we needed some Indian woman gear STAT so headed off to the mall.  Due to our delirium and jet lag we felt the mall was a good place to take in all the energy and people without mistakingly walking into some situation our normal non=sleep-deprived selves would not normally walk into.  We got lost anyways  BUT we did get some sweet kameez and churidar that I cannot wait to wear!  Needless to say it was a great first day here in Kolkata. 
    I'm tired of writing and hungry for some crazy amazing breakfast, so I'll just leave you with one bit of info that I want you to ponder…. as I was not aware of this prior to arrival….

    They do not use toilet paper here.

Namaste.