Grande Palace, Night Bazaar with a Thai cover band, and a late night Tuktuk.

After our semi-lengthy hello, Mel and I ran away to the taxis. I told him the road where our hotel was, loaded my luggage of teaching supplies, my laptop, and dress clothes, and we were on our way.  We talk about what we want to do that night seeing that it's only around 8:30pm.  We decided we would drop our stuff off, go eat and grab a drink, let our phones charge, then head out to the city for a sky top bar.

We get to our hotel and are once again greeted by this little Thai security guard. He's so hyper and nice. He drags the suitcase about twice his size, and drags it in the hotel. Were paying the taxi driver and start to head in the hotel. He and the security guard begin to bicker and argue. We have no clue whats happening. The security guard says 'no worries, be happy!' Weird.

We got settled and walked down the road a bit to a nice little shack that was definitely not a regular spot for tourists. There were almost no fluent English speakers, and all menus were in complete Thai. Almost everywhere I saw in the city prior to had Chinese, English, and Thai languages on menus and shops. A couple beers in, and were off to the city!

We plan our route to get to the sky top bar. By the time a taxi gets us to our intersection there it's around 11:00pm. 

We take a stroll down the road trying to find this bar, and can't find it anywhere. We realize we walked the wrong way. Turning around, and eventually going the right way, there's a few tall buildings. This area seems super high class and really isolated. We walk to the entrance f where the bar is located, and it's actually on top of a hotel. We walk in, and it feels like were in the middle of somewhere so expensive and classy, that we should not be here. We ask one of the workers there where the bar is. They point us to the elevator and say '59'. They state there is a dress code but we can change there and borrow clothing free of charge. I guess my gym shorts and Mel's jeans don't cut it.

We feel wrong and awkward but we keep going.

We walk into a multi - glass pillar, water filled room with blue lights surrounding the walls around us. Not addressed about our clothing, we take a seat.

The large glass windows let you see over the city if Bangjok. Unfortunately the rooftop was closed off due to the weather. It down pour rained about an hour ago.

We got a drink, each coding bout 500 each. (That's like... $16.60 a drink)... Never again. But the view is great.

It feels like were in the middle of a James Bond movie up here. We decide were goin to try an check out a place called 'cheap Charlie's' where drinks are super cheap, and right in the mix up of Bangkok.

Getting to Cheap Charlie's was a failure. We walked up and down the streets asking multiple people and all they say so 'ohhh cheap Charlie's is right there.' After about 3 attempts we didn't find it. We saw another bar and just sat there. It was a lame bar, but hey, we got a drink.

Finally we head back to the hotel and get ready for the next day. We plan to drop of my luggage at storage, and go to the Grande Palace. Aleksey is supposed to meet us there, can tour the palace with us, and then pay me back. Checking out of the hotel with all our luggage (my three Mel's one, haha). We get to Bangkok Storage and are able to store my suitcase for a measles 200 baht for two weeks. Awesome!! That's like $7.00!

We continue by metered taxi to travel to the river. We arrive at the Grande Palace and pay 500 baht for each ticket. Aleksey is not here yet and is running late. He won't arrive until right before we need to leave. Mel and I go in the palace, and we both feel 'templed' out. All the palaces and temples are beginning to blur. This is still really pretty, has amazing buildings, statutes and gardens. Temples are everywhere; we pass by them on the way here, I just saw some yesterday, Mel saw a ton in Japan... We know they are all different, but were seeing similar architecture. We still take pics and walk around. 

Here is another one for the books guys!

About a half hour to an hour in, we decide to leave and check out the area. We walk around and look at shops and street food. We find ourselves at our meeting location with Aleksey a bit early, so we get some crab and fish from the corner kart, and sit near te river. Yum!

Eventually it's time for us to leave because we will miss our flight. I tell Aleksey that we should leave since the traffic is bad. He agrees to send money via PayPal and sorry for not being able to catch up with us. It's no worries my friend, just have a good day yourself!!!

Money was sent via PayPal, confirmed, and Mel and I are on our way to Chiang Mai. 

The traffic IS horrible, bumper to bumper, for a while. We still arrive with plenty of time. This time I'm able to not check my bag. Awesome. Makes it easier.

So Bangkok, it was short but sweet. Chiang Mai, for the next 3 nights, bring it on! Our plan is to get to the Night Baazar tonight and walk the streets. Should be fun!

We arrive at the airport, get a flat rate taxi for 150 baht, and arrive at our hotel. The Baan Thai Resort. This place is sweet! It has a pool, a bar, helpful receptionists, laundry right around the corner. Awesome. They also have a couple tiny kittens that are adorable. Makes me miss Lil' G. He was so playful, and wanted attention.

We book a guide for tomorrow to go to the Highest Point in Thailand. We then ask if we can get to the city easily, and they show us a picture of a red truck. This red truck is the new taxi. There are almost no metered taxis in the city, if none at all.

We walk around a bit, hit up 7-eleven, and grab a red truck taxi to te Night Bazaar. The city is basically mapped out according to 'Old City'. Old City is the center of Chian Mai that has a square of streets and water. Almost like a moat. The outside of the square (Old City) has tons of bars and little shops.

We arrive at the night bazaar, welcomed by tons of street food, crafts, and random shops. There are knock off bags, shoes, and clothing. They all feel somewhat decently made though.

We walk around for a little bit but then we are set with a goal to find food. Our stomachs are growling and were extremely hungry. We your around some street food, and find some small sit down areas. We order two meals about 65 baht each. That's about $2.00 each. Mel got glass noodles and I got some form of garlic noodle with seafood. I scarf mine down and then finish Mel's. Soo good!

We continue through the Bazaar and find ourselves at a 'European bar' with live music, that looks like it's a mix of a biker bar and 80s rock. Yeah, why not?! So we take a seat, grab a drink, and listen to the music. 

We are hoping it's half decent music, and were blown away by this Thai cover band. They played covers by Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Creedence, and more. The band and thier vocals sounded frighteningly similar to these popular covers. We were in shock, and thought maybe they weren't singing. They definitely were though. They weren't perfect at mimicking the vocals but it was amazing of how close they got, and without an accent.

I have video so if I have a chance to upload that I will link it. We tipped them and went through to the end of the Bazaar, looking at bags, jewelry, food, and more. Getting turned around by the dark alleys at the end, we was back to the bar we just came from. The band was cool. Haha!

We have another beer or two, and head back to our hotel after everyone starts to close up.

We barter for a red truck taxi, 20 baht each, and say 'Baan Thai Resort'. He agrees and were off!

We get to our resort, and the gate is closed, and locked. Were confused because te receptionists stated we could come back 24/7. There is a door with a lock on it and a sign that reads, 'please lock behind you.' Sweet. We try our key on the lock and it doesn't work. Not sweet. I see a small gap/window in the wall of te driveway gates. I think we can fit. But we look around in the dark alley we were dropped off in, and think it looks a bit different. We look up and see a sign that says 'Paahn Thai Resort'. Well that makes sense, but crap! We look aroun and there is no vehicle or sign of life around. We walk down the streets and look left and right until we see a busy road. We take a turn, get to the busy road, and this time we get a tuktuk. We show the name and location of the resort on a business card to avoid mispronunciation. This tuk tuk had some crazy light show going on and some fun music. He was zooming around everywhere because there were almost no cars out. It was a fun time.

We get to our resort and the gates are open! Home sweet home. I still have to do laundry so we gather my clothes and head off to the washing machines outside. 20baht per load. Much better then 20 baht per item in the hotel at bangkok. I guess they hand wash it there?

I hope three nights is enough to hang dry my clothes!

We stay up and wait for my clothes I finish, go collect them, and come back to the hotel. Mel asks if I have the key, I shake my pants to feel around and all I felt was my wallet with coins. We locked ourselves out!!! We go to the desk and the sign says to go knock on the door to the righ if we need anything. We have to wake someone up to help us. We felt bad. Standing there with wet clothes in my arms, I knock on the door and ask for the key because we locked ourselves out, and te guy comes out with large bags for my laundry. Poor guy thought I was waking him up at 3am to help me with my laundry!

We re explained that we needed our key. He then smiled and gladly helped us. We apologized and thanked him. How nice was that, that he got bags for me?? So kind!

We go back to the room, I hang up my clothes to dry, and we prep for the next big day to the highest point in Thailand.

Here we go! First night was fun! Next day in Chiang Mai is going to be great!

I lay in my bed, set my alarm and fall asleep around the jungle of Clean laundry. Man. It's been a while! (I was on my last pair of socks. Ew.)

A new friend. A new beginning. Bangkok.

Probably the most positive post since LA and San Francisco.. And my apologies for delayed posts! So much is happening I am way behind. Here we go!

Packed up, ready as can be. I walked out of the hotel room, not looking back. I made my way to the counter and the hotel workers say I must pay in cash. I know they have a credit card swipe. I see it. I even discussed trying to use a card when I checked in. They say, 'the connection does not work. We can not use.' I stated, 'look, I understand there have been multiple power outages, though the power is currently on, your phones are working, your internet is working, your cable is on... Let's just try'.

I ask them to let me visually see the credit card swipe. He points to it. It is plugged in, and off. I asked him to hit the power button. It turns on. He says, 'yes but see it will not work.' He takes the card and swipes it. I stated, 'sir you need to put an amount in.' Again, 'the connection is bad will not work..' I reached over the counter, hit the credit/debit button, and said, 'look I was told I could pay by card. I understand if it's not working, but we can at least try to make sure.' The screen changes to 0's. I said, 'put in the total, 4210'. He said okay, plugged it in. I told him to hit 'enter'. Then swipe my card. It processed as printed a copy of the receipt for me to sign. I said, 'thank you, where's my driver, I'm off to the international airport.' We head off and I get dropped at the departure check in doors. I already have my itinerary out, passport is ready, in flying through this place.

I walk in and there is no 'Air Asia' to check in with. I must be early. I walk around a few minutes and hear something about the flight to Bankok. I ask an officer what it said, and he pointed me in the direction of the check in. I hear a voice, 'Bangkok? You going there?!' I turn around and I meet my new friend Aleksey. We go to check in, and head through customs. We help each other out through the process. I lend him a cell charger since his power block broke, and he helps watch my electronics/camera equipment as it gets searched on the other side of the security. He got through way before me.

We talk about India, our time, and our future in Thailand. He gives me a bracelet from one if the temples he visited. Awesome, thanks man!

We end up sitting next to each other on the plane because there was no one next to me. He moved on up! We shared some beers on the plane ride, got some meals - and enjoyed our conversation on what we will be doing after we land. The plane didn't accept card and we didn't have any baht yet. We used my remaining rupees to get the beers and meals. We continue to discuss the next day and decide we both have nothing planned, so we should hang out and explore together. I just have to pick up my sister at night from the airport... Awesome! We got a day to tour Bangkok!

We make sure we exchange our Whatsapp contacts. We land on the runway, get off the plane, pick up our checked bags, and go to the ATM. He seems to be having trouble. He states that his money is just being transferred so it's not in his account yet. I get money out and cover his taxi ride to his hostel. He will repay me tomorrow. I get in my metered taxi (regulated by the staff there). The driver is nice enough to stop at a 7 Eleven for me toget a SIM card for Thailand, which also helps me break to smaller bills so I can pay him. I end up tipping him for stopping. I'm glad to say I was greeted very well by the security guard when arriving to my hotel. He seemed to be extra excited, kind, and helpful. Very hyper too.. Haha. My SIM card isn't working. I'm confused.

I head to the nearest 7 eleven again from my hotel, about a block and a half away. I ask for some assistance from the 7 Eleven crew. Hardly understanding me they help me out and get it working. I had to activate it the correct way. I eventually get it working and message Aleksey that night/morning to get together around 11am/12 the next day. That give us around 5 hours of sleep. I charge everything up, get some sleep.

The next day I try to do laundry in the morning, but it's 20 baht per item. I decide that is way too expensive, don't wash clothes, and tell myself I will hand wash them myself when Mel and I get to Chiang Rai since we will be there for 3 nights. That should be good enough for them to dry if I do it right away. So I head to Aleksey's hostel. The taxi driver doesn't know exactly where it is but I use my data to navigate when we get close. I walk in and see Aleksey hanging out charging his phone. This hostel is nice! Computers, wifi, laundry room, nice showers, nice toilets, a bar, a help desk, a ton of pamphlets... Awesome. We charge our phones at thier help desk while we walk around the block.

We find some street food here and there. We decide to get exactly what the Thai family is eating next to us. We say we want 'that' and point at their dish. They all laugh.

Then we find a currency exchange as well that has no commission. SWEET! My rupees are now bahts. We head into a 7 Eleven... Which are literally everywhere!

(This water was 6 baht. Aka a whole 20 cents.)

We get our phones, and head to China town. Grabbing a taxi is a lot easier then in India. You don't even have to barter that much for them to turn on thier meters. At least during the day.

We walk around tons of shops and markets. We try street food.. Not sure what some of it was. Eventually I try squid eggs for the first time. It wasn't too bad. Aleksey convinced me to even though I almost vomit from the sight of it. There were squid body, squid tentacles, and eggs to choose from.

We also had some sort of fried cake mix with a hotdog in it. Mmm!

After hours of walking around we are trying to get to the Grande Palace. It closes at 5pm and it's around 4:00pm now. We are walking and walking asking for directions at every corner. Finally were about 4 blocks away... And then not realizing that yet, we get a tuk tuk. Ohwell. We got there.... Then the signs say closed at 3:30pm! Whattttttt?

(On our way... Check out the options for chicken...haha)

Okay so we should try and see something else that's still open. We head in the direction of the Reclining Budha. Tons of men are around trying to tell us that it is closed, but we can go to other places around that are still open, and free. We are disappointed because our books and maps say it closes at 9pm - and it is directly around the corner on the next block. About two or three guys do this to us, all ending with, 'here you can take a tuktuk'. Aleksey and I both look at each other and just simply say thank you sir for the information. We continue to walk and the men tend to take our maps and write on them, circle them, etc.. I started pulling it to leave and he grips it and says, 'wait wait wait.' I also think it's fishy how they all happened to have pens and want to write down the same information on our maps. Only one guy had a different route and was talking about boat rides instead.

Finally I say to Aleksey, 'let's just go see the Reclining Budha.' And we begin to walk away as we hear, 'noo, why you go that way? Nothing to see! Everything closed!'

We arrive at the Reclining Budha and we enter for a fee of 100 baht. No where near being closed! Check this place out. It's amazing. We were literally in awe and amaze by every corner. Beautiful place.

We head out at around 5:30pm so I can make it to the airport in time to pick up Melanie. My goal was to go to the BTS rail station (that goes directly to the airport from center city Bangkok). Aleksey was going to catch a train right near by my stop. Unfortunately tuk tuks and taxis are not using meters during the night.. We can't get anyone to agree on a  reasonable price. They keep saying 400 baht, 300 baht, etc... It cost us around 90 to get to where we were between the taxi from the hostel and the tuktuk to grand palace. Noooo way. Aleksey and I keep on going and going until we finally get a taxi at 6pm. I'm a bit worried now because the trains come every 15-30 minutes and it take 30 minutes to get to the airport. It takes almost 45 minutes to an hour because of traffic. I paid the total for the cab since I was going that way anyway and Aleksey needed money still. I actually offered more to him because he had to go back down to his hostel. He ended up going a completely different direction then what he should have been, because he we with me. We dropped him off early on the way to the station. I got there, and found my way up the steps to a ticket counter where I purchased my token for 45 baht. The station is PACKED. I need to get on the next one. I weave my way in and out and find a spot close to the edge. About two minutes go by and the train comes. It's 7:20pm. Perfect. I just made it in time.

I wait for the 30 minutes on the nice cool clean train and get off at the airport. I'm running around looking for Mel maybe he landed already and got to our meeting spot? Maybe she didnt? Still in customs? I run around to each location and cant find her. I go back to the arrival gate exit 3 where it lists her flight as landed. I wait for about 40 minutes more and Mel walks out smiling. YESSSSS!!!!!!

We did it.

Venture on with a Sista you can trust!!!!! Hahaha.

Next up:

One weird night and day in Bangkok.

Arriving in Chiang Mai- Highest point in Thailand, Doi Suthep, and night life.

Chiang Rai- In the mountains with the villages.

I'm trying to catch up on the blog!

The Destitute, Dying, and Bar Hopping

I woke up, and headed to meet all the volunteers at Mother Teresa's Tomb. I left around 6:45 to get their by 7am. I walked in and there was no one. I was a bit confused. I looked around a bit, and still nothing. I looked at the time and it just struck 7:01am, there is no way they all left already. Breakfast was also being provided so I thought maybe I went to the wrong place. I went up to the location and checked there. Again, nothing. I'm very confused. A Sister says, 'other, other!' and pointing in the direction of the place I was just at. I say I was just there, and no one else was. She holds up 8 fingers. I don't get it, I was told 7am, but now she is saying 8. Either way, I thank her and head back down and decide that if I'm an hour early I'll just hang.

I walk in again and there is, not surprisingly, nobody. I walk further this time. I see a volunteer go down this little hallway and into this back area that is on a slightly lower level. There they all are! Everyone was packed in this hole!

I get my provided breakfast which consists of a banana, two pieces of bread, and chai tea. Mmm chai is so good but I've had some craply kinda here.

Angus spots me and walks over to sit with me. :) awesome. Were just making small talk and waiting for things to begin. She has a cold so she leaves quick to get tissues. I feel bad because this is our last interaction. She leaves, and then they call us to stand and separate into our groups after singin a shirt hymn. She hasn't returned yet and I have to go..

Agnus!!! Thank you so much for taking your time and spending it with me. I feel honored to be the one who spent your first meal and first days walking the streets if Kolkata with you. Good luck in your 10 weeks here!! You are going I be amazing! Goodluck with medical school, and Goodluck with the boyfriend from home! His visit will be an amazing experience for you and him, and keep building yourself stronger! Haha (remember.. Just like terminator!)

Freddie, Lizzie and I make contact with each other through the few people between us. We separate. Lizzie is off to the children where Freddie and I are going to Kalighat with two other people. One is a longer term volunteer who is showing us the way, and another who is just starting as well. We run outside, hop on a bus, and were off.

We get a tiny stub for our ticket: 8 rupees.

We get off at Kalighat, walk down a road a bit, and we arrive at the Mother Teresa House for the destitute and dying in Kalighat.

At the House we are not allowed to take pictures. Completely understandable. This is not a place for show and tell. This is a place for pure generosity.

Everything starts happening really fast.

We enter, and turn around to a picture of MT and some small religious statues. We sing, and then get to work. We rush to the aprons, I snag one. Throw it on me and before I know it I'm elbows deep in a large cube of water, reaching in for laundry to ring out. I do this with many others for about an hour. Were at the second tub, rinsing and ringing out sheets, shirts, pants, pillow cases, etc..

I'm then pulled from the group to help clean beds/cots. Freddie was pulled for cleaning walls. I have a rag with what seems to be a bucket if bleach, or cleaner. These are hard metal beds that don't fold. We just run them down, turn them on thier side, rub down the bottom side, then stack them all on top of each other. I'm continuously carrying these beds and stacking with people I do not know. There is no thinking or count cation were just moving fast. One after the another, on to next task.. After the beds I try to introduce myself to someone I've been carrying beds with. He hardly responds with his name and looks around for the next task at hand. It's not inconsiderate though, he's just in a mindset. Everyone seems to be.

I'm slowly but surely realizing that I was struggling with more than one language barrier here. I went from having one, with Hindi/Bengali, to Chinese, German, French, and maybe a few others... Luckily mostly everyone learns at least a bit of English in the world. Me and my lazy American self are quite lucky.

I'm then pulled to mop/dry the floors. One issue is that as they were doing prior to my help, the drain in the floor was clogged. Pretty badly. A man was reaching far down the drain trying to unclog it, with no avail. He decided to get up from the pool he is laying in and sweep the water across the doorway into the room I was in. There is a larger drain much like a sewage cap. Myself and another volunteer hardly are able to make conversation but the water is rushing towards us fast, and it's assumed that we should push the water into the drain before it crashes into everything, as well as us. We have large squeegees. I immediately start thinking of Jake, Timmy  and the guys.. I'm playing hockey right now. He one timers the wave of water to me and GOALLLLLL!!!! Were laughing havig fun because we both know what were reenacting. Were both saying 'one timer!' Yeahhhhh! The game ends with a total of 25 waves of water in the net. 25-0, volunteers win.

Were now rushing back to the laundry. More things to rinse and ring out. Were doing this for another 30 minutes or so.

We all make our way upstairs to the rooftop and start hanging the items to dry. There are SO many items. The sun is beating down on us like crazy. Were all sweating bucks it's like we are drenching the laundry when we pick it up. Freddie had some sun screen, we both apply. Were up here for probably an hour or so. Next we go downstairs to the patients.

Were told we will be given massages. I feel very odd about this. I know Freddie did too. I'm not so sure I want to please a grown man physically....... Awkward.

A bunch of volunteers dive right in and massage thier legs, heads, backs and feet.

I am given a man who is looking up at me  raising his leg to rest on my knee. A cloth separates his thighs and knees. I begin massaging his knees/thigh area and he begins to shake his head like a 'good job' but then he points down. He motions go lower. I'm thinking okay his lower leg.. I use my other hand to start massaging his leg, no barrier this time. I'm a bit grossed out I don't like physically touching people I don't know, and being honest, I have no clue what could be growing in this place.

He motions to go lower again.... I look down at his feet. His foot is blown up like a balloon. The top of his foot is swollen so badly that when I finally gain the courage to place my wrist bone on his foot, it leaves an imprint like a memory foam mattress. This makes me want to vomit. I can hardly contain myself.

I continue to massage it for a couple minutes very gently. (For two reasons, I don't want to press too hard and hurt the guy, and I don't want to for my own well-being. I just feel nauseous now. Finally it's break time.

We've been working for about two-two and a half hours. We are given a break, provided chai tea (mmm) and some cookies/crackers with bananas. This work doesn't feel too extreme that wee not able to handle it, I feel pretty good about this stuff. It's just hands doing work... Except the massages. Making small talk, I ask the guy across from me if he was religious at all, specifically catholic. He says no. Same as the guy next to him. Another 'no' and another 'me neither'. Hmm. There definitely are catholic volunteers here but I found it funny that the few I ask, along with Fresdie and myself, are not practicing.

I really need some more water, I ran out. Freddie wants to smoke a cigarette, so we walk outside and roam a bit. Were discussing how massaging them is awkward. He described it in a funny way, 'it's like I was an escort or something..' We then discuss the rest of the day and what we may do. Another volunteer house? Rest/nap? Lunch/dinner? Bar later on? Were unsure..

We head back to the house to finish up our volunteer shift. Were only there for around 4 -5 hours total. (Until 12ish).

We start bringing food downstairs to the big open area where they are all sitting. Huge bowls of easy made food, banana, and hard boiled eggs. I get a plate full of food and head over to a man who is anxiously awaiting to be spoon fed. I moosh most of the food together and get the first spoon full to his mouth. This guy is eager and dives down into the spoon. I motion to him to slow down, take your time. He slows his chewing down but still dives in. Probably around 15-30 minutes go by of me spoon feeding this guy. He keeps getting it all over his mouth and chin. I use the spoon as a scraper to scoop of the food around his face.

As we finish up, there are sounds of pain and agony throughout the area. Men are hurting. Can hardly breathe on thier own...one man can hardly sit in his chair, stiff as a board. There are multiples with swelled feet, boney legs, one with a gash in his head, more with mental health issues, many with physical disability, and one with a leg in horrible condition. He lays on a bed with medical personnel attending to his wounds and breathing as his body just lays there.

I have lost track as to when in the day we set the beds back up. I'm confused, we did so much. Though the beds were set back up with sheets pillows and blankets.

After the feeding, I look around as I hear the moans and groans of pain. They all sit in chairs and the voluteers begin dragging the chairs with the men still in them. This must be the easiest way to relocate them to their beds.

We all physically drag these chairs and men across the hard cement floor. Many are unable to walk themselves. We get then to the beds, one by one. It's like in the morning, no one is thinking just going.. Completing the tasks. I lift up a man's body, along with another volunteer and gently place him in the bed. Number 16, done. I'm told number 19 needs to be put in bed. Body's lay everywhere, moaning, shaking, eyes rolling in the back of their heads. Some wave us off I not get placed in the bed. I'm confused. I gotta get out of here. I'm looking around for a temporary escape to catch my breath, and an Indian family runs up to me. They walked in the home, with a picture in their hand. They show me a man in the picture and look around. They want to find him, maybe he's here? In one of these beds?... Does he even look the same from the picture where he is healthy compared to now where almost all bodies are shriveling and smaller?

I tell them I do not know but they keep trying. I don't understand them as they point at the picture over and over. I feel horrible because of the language barrier, and two because of how eager they are.

I motion for them to come with me, and we go to one of the sisters. I'm able to hand then off to the sister and she takes over. Thank goodness. She gives them some sign of hope with figuring it all out. They turn to me and say 'thank you'.

I guess that was somewhat of my escape.

I then find myself folding the laundry that was now dry from the rooftop. There are still some that are wet, so I gather them from the group and run up to the roof myself, and begin to hang the still damp laundry. I'm under a small overhang on the roof because I feel rain drops. Better to hang them here then out in sun it may rain harder soon. My luck, I just finish up hanging them and it downpours. I'm on the roof alone. I just wait a minute for it to slow down then I bolt for the rooftop door.

We are pretty much finished and are packing up our stuff to head back. We may return at 3 if we'd like. I only signed up for the first half. Freddie and I are going to take the subway back, find Lizzie, and see what we want to do.

We use GPS on our phones to find out where the nearest subway station is, head down and buy a one way token towards 'dumdum'. Sweet! We hop on, get off a couple later, and walk down Partk Street a bit.

We make a left and were passing my hotel in a short walk. 

We keep walking all the way back to his dormitory where he and Lizze are staying. It's nice. It's gated. It has a little yard area with nice grass an benches. Wifi. Nice.

It's only about 400 a night though! You have to go through the Mother House to get this though. Man, Kolkata is great.

We find Lizzie and all hang in a common area discussing what we all did. Our conversation continues to revolve around how everything seemed so robotic as not with a genuine care. We think that many of the 'tasks' should be slowed down so the quality if life given is better then just 'putting them in thier beds'.

I spoke to Kat about this, and she mentioned that it could e tough to keep order if they aren't like that. I agree, but it still just felt like it was almost contradicting what the goal was. What do I know though, I only did it one day. Still felt nice to help out.

Lizzie said it was similar with the children too. Even some with more severe disabilities were being neglected. Hmm.

So we kept discussing and then found our way talking about food. Freddie and I walked down the street to a corner that has some nice chow mein. I got some hot garlic chicken chow mein, and a double egg roll. It was so good!

After eating we were outside their dormitory and were playin with some street kids, swinging then back and forth in the air. 'One, two, threeeee' : over and over again.

We were continuously doing this and at one point a man walked right in front if where we were swinging the boy. The boys foot hardly hit the man. He stopped dead in his tracks and started arguing with us. Freddie and I put our hands up and say 'sorry sir, we were just playing with the child, we didn't mean to swing him into you.' He responds with a jumble of words, 'what are you doing?! Why you here? This is not a place for you. You come and take picture or video. India is not a place for you. Where are you from?' Freddie says 'England' only to have the man reply, 'yeahh English would do this! Not like America, Americans wouldn't!' We look at each other and laugh, and we say, 'he's American.' 'I'm American.' He looks at us and is silent. Ten starts rambling again how India is a place and this is not okay. Taking pictures of us with children and their family. Freddie says, 'sir, it is okay we are friends I've been interacting with them for the past three days. We know each other. Thier family knows me. We are friends.' He replies, 'you are not friends! And these video and pictures' as he points to Lizzie with the phone. I say to him, 'memories.' He says, 'not memories.' I simply say, 'sir we have different beliefs. This is a memory for us. Not you.' He then rambles about Ghandi. We agree with what he is saying, Ghandi was a great man. A crowd is watching around us as the man yells louder cutting us off.

After multiple attempts of having a civil response, I look at him in the eyes and say, 'sir, we are all different.' I point to Freddie and Lizzie and say 'different' I point to myself, 'different', I point to others around, 'different'. I point to him, 'different'. 'We are ALL different, come from different cultures and countries.. But we have ONE similarity. Happiness, no?' I point to the child and say 'happiness'. You can see the family smile, and the people around smile. Freddie and I swing the boy again. 'One, two, threeeeee' and you hear the boy laugh full of joy. The man simply walks away.

That was the first and only negative reaction I've encountered in Kolkata this far.

That was odd. We head back in to make our plans. We decided we would all split up, nap, and meet at Stuart Lane (my street) before we go to the pub since it's on the way. I make my way back to the hotel and try to sleep. I can't. I just blog.

We all know we want a nice cold beer after today. We meet up at the corner and head off to the pub! We try to get a tuk tuk but they are charging absurd amounts. We take a bicycle rickshaw to the corner of Lark street where all the big stores and bars are. This is nicer here. Crazy how much development and how westernized it is. Cool!

We ask some locals the direction of Olypub. They were very kind and pointed us directly to it. There was a 15 minute wait so we walk down a block to mcdonalds and scarf down some grub. We head back over, I help a group of guys take a picture, then head on in. We find a table near this gentleman who starts conversation with us.

Funny. These beers are called 'He-Man' haha!! Awesome. There ya go KU APD. Mmm I could really go for one of these right now :)

He's a well traveled guy, and designs boats. Very interesting. He chats with us on and off, not fascinated by us, but just normal conversation. I like that. We aren't a novelty. We invite him over to sit with us and he ends up buying us a round. Very nice guy.

Turns out someone he knows just sat down near us. Two girls and they mention that there is live music at a place down the block. We try to get in but can't. We were a bit under dressed haha!

So the guy we met, knew another dance club about a block away. We went there. This was great. Were all hanging out and dancing.

We meet a few really cool people all crowding around and drinking beer. Were cracking jokes and hanging with this guy who is super down to earth. He's talking about his charity work he does and the kinds if work he likes. We snap some pics to remember the great night. We decide that were going to head out soon as it approaches 1am. We all walk outside with our group we formed of random people from different bars. Were all talking outside and joking around for about a half hour. We decide were going to try an get a taxi back, but then we had an offer for the whole group to take a ride with the guy back. He's says he can save us money and it'll be easier, no worries. I first though that sounds like a really bad idea. But then u remembered I'm not alone. I'm with Freddie and Lizzie. And then I'm with this other guy as well that we met at the first bar. We pile in and we get to my hotel. I'm worried about getting in because the hotel gates were closed this morning when I left early. I tell them to wait a minute while I check. I run up the alley, I check and the gate is locked shut. I say, 'hello?' The man says 'okay okay'. Perfect. I say I'll be right back, and bolt back to the car and yell, 'I'm good!!! See you guys!!!!!!'

I run back to the hotel, give the man a tip, and book my way upstairs. I lay in my bed, charge my phone, and begin to close my eyes as I think, 'crap... Thier curfew is 11! I hope they can get in!!'

That's the last I've see them. I try using Whatsapp to make contact. No response. I just hope they are okay.

I have to wake up and check out by 11:30am. We made plans to meet at 1:30pm at the 'New Market' and the 'clock tower'. Im a bit unsure if they will be making it because of our crazy night. I'm not sure if they will sleep in, or even remember our conversation about the market because it was hours and hours ago before we met up again. Either way the next morning, my task is to pack check out, and make it to the market.

I pass out. And sleep for only 4 hours. I can't sleep. I've woken up hung over, no sleep and I have a long few days ahead of me.

Venture On! Even when you are hung over... Here is to the next 48 hours - I gotta catch a train at 11:45pm.