Hello India

*posted by Kayd

It took us 25 hours to fly from Minneapolis to Kolkata only it seemed much longer than that because we saw the sun set, then rise, then set again. Here are a few things we learned:

• Airport food really does suck, especially when it will be your last American meal for a month.
• When traveling with people who need a wheelchair make sure (double & triple sure) that the airline knows you need to board early. (Stupid Frankfurt airport)
• I used to love airports but now loathe them. There is no longer anything exciting to look forward to after you’ve seen the “dark-side” of the airport.
• If Bengali people are being rude to you it is okay (and acceptable) to be rude back. These were wise words from Kakima, sadly it was about 10 hours too late on the advice when we needed it. So much for killing them with kindness.
• International Flights rock! (or at least they are a lot better than what I was expecting) We flew with Luftanza and both Abhrajeet and Arny agreed it was the nicest plane they have ever been on while traveling.
• German security check point people have no patience when a motion sensor door is involved. (really! How are you supposed to move towards them while crossing in front of the motion door without setting off the motion sensor?)

We did not get out of the airport in Kolkata until nearly 2:30 in the morning, 1 ½ hours after we landed. Abhrajeet’s bag did not show up in Kolkata – we are crossing our fingers the airport calls saying they found it. After we arrived at the house in Kolkata, where Abhrajeet and Arny’s aunt – or Pishimoni – lives we ate dinner around 4am then went to bed.

Kolkata is 10.5 hours ahead of Minnesota and although I convinced myself that I could beat jet lag she failed miserably. We all slept until 1 pm, took a few naps through out the day and 3 days later are still on a different sleep schedule.

The family flat is wonderful and there is so much marble everywhere! There are two bedrooms, two bathrooms (with flushing toilets just in case you were wondering) a kitchen, a dining area, a balcony and many areas to sit and rest under the fans in the Summer heat. Everyone said we would ‘die from the heat!’ but so far it hasn’t been bad at all. The rain keeps most of the heat away. *MARY – it feels cooler than it did at the cabin when Amy and Brian came to visit us on the 4th and there was absolutely no wind reaching our deck. We are also staying in a guest flat which has more bedrooms on the 8^th story of the same building.

The view from the roof is incredible. You can see for miles and we’re surprised that many of the trees are eight or nine stories high.