calcutta/kolkata

We are in INDIA!!! Finally! Whoever said in the Lonely Planet that India was overwhelming and required a few days of adjustment upon arrival did not spend 3 weeks in Bangladesh first. India is such a cake walk by comparison. We have been here 2 days and I LOVE it. I'm never leaving. But let me backtrack a bit...

We spent our last day in Dhaka hanging out with Zabir. We went to his University first and had a meeting with the Head of the Economics department there, to talk about Grameen Bank. A VERY different perspective from what we were fed at Grameen, that's for sure. He had alot of criticism about the bank. There are so many sides to that whole story, it's crazy. Again, too much to get into in blog form, but I learned alot. After that, we saw the parliament building in Dhaka, visited Zabir's house and had a very lovely dinner, and then did a bit of shopping. A nice, relaxing end to Bangladesh.

We took a bus to Calcutta on Sunday, which was about a 13 hour journey start to finish. Long day. Especially for me, as I came down with a horrible chest cold the night before and spent the whole day on the bus with fever/chills, a runny/stuffy nose, and nasty cough. It was pretty miserable. I am slowly getting better now. I suppose the good thing is that if I had to get sick, it was just a cold and not a stomach flu (knock on wood) because it means I am uncomfortable, but not incapacitated.

Yesterday we spent all day wandering the streets and the market here. Calcutta and Dhaka are like two different worlds. Bangladesh is a tough place to be because there are no tourists so you are a novelty to everyone and get hassled everywhere you go. Tourism in India is massive so we are hardly bothered at all here by comparison. Nobody stares at me anymore! There are other foreigners everywhere! In Bangladesh, even white people stare at other white people because we all think "Whoa... I wonder what they're doing here!" Really, it is kind of a big relief to be in India. Which isn't to say I didn't have a great time in Bangladesh, because I did. It is a very interesting country with amazing potential and some fantastic people. But it is challenging as a traveler. Very, very challenging. I'd definitely go back, I just need a break first! I owe a big thanks to my friend Zabir though, because he helped me soooo much in Dhaka, and having a good friend there made the experience a million times better. So, thank you Zabir! :)

In other news, I am learning how to haggle but I suck at it. I keep paying too much because I look too interested. I need to make quicker decisions, and also pretend to walk away. They will chase after you to make you buy the stuff, I just don't let it get that far... I'll practice! Micah, on the other hand, is hopeless. Yesterday he got lured into a shop, and left with 6000 rupees (150$) worth of stuff, including an entire silk bed set with duvet and cushion covers. He needs to get a new suitcase now to carry all this stuff. Hilarious.

Food here is INCREDIBLE. Sadly, when I had my first Indian meal in India, I couldn't actually taste any of it because my nose was so plugged up, but I'm past that now. This is hands down the best place on earth to be a vegetarian. I will spend the next month eating like I have never eaten in my life. I'll have to buy two seats on the plane home because I will be enormous by then. And it's so cheap. A big plate of yummy Indian food costs like 1.50$. And the movie theatres are SOOOO cheap. Tonight I dragged Micah to see Taare Zameen Par (he's a good sport, watching a 2.5 hour Hindi movie without subtitles, haha) and it cost us 1.25$ each. Those were the expensive seats too, cheap seats are 50 cents. The theatre was huuuuuge. (Note to my Aamir Khan buddies: TZP was better without the subtitles! I liked it even more the second time around! I'l probably go a third time yet, since it's soooo cheap.) I am going to see every single film that is released while I'm in India, haha. On that topic, it's really fun being in a whole country of people who like all the same movies as me... I have had like 50 conversations with random locals about Shah Rukh Khan since I got here. I was talking to a guy in the market about Aamir Khan, and he said, "You know what we call him? We call him 'Lollipop' because he's short and sweet." And then I died laughing. Sorry, that's not funny to 90% of people reading this blog. That was aimed at a few specific people!

Tomorrow is our last day in Calcutta, and then we take a train to Varanasi on the 14th. I am pretty excited, though I kind of wish we had more time in Calcutta. But, only a month to see the entire country, so we can't linger too long anywhere. I changed my flight home, I am coming back to Canada on the 12th now, instead of the 5th. I will definitely need the extra week. I don't think I am going to want to leave though... anyone know how I can get a job and just stay here???