Rocky start...

My adventures have begun, albeit with a very rocky start. 

The first road bump occurred when Andhra Pradesh proclaimed a massive state-wide bandh (strike) on Friday and Saturday.  My flight was scheduled for Saturday at 6:45pm.  I asked around, and everyone assurred me that no buses were going to be running, and that I needed to order a car.  The taxi costs ten times what I allotted for the trip to Bangalore, so I wasn't very excited about this.  I was even less excited, when I heard that I would have to leave at 4am on Saturday morning, because of border violence.  Apparently, protesters shut down the borders and vehicles can't really get in or out past 6:30am.  Womp womp.  This sucked.  I was a bit down, but decided to make the best of it.  Even being ten times the budget, the trip would still be under $30, so whatever.  And I decided to be productive and spend my day in a coffee shop or internet cafe, finishing up the last of my grad school apps and letters to grandma.  We scheduled the car.

The day went on.  The car got rescheduled to 5:30, as the border is only 20km away, which was nice.  Also, Kala, my awesome co-worker, and Nirmala, the 6th and 7th grade English teacher at REC said they would join me for the trip, significantly reducing car costs (win).  I packed and got ready and everything was looking up. 

When I arrived to Bangalore, things got even better.  Nirmala invited me to her super swanky apartment in a suburb of Bangalore, where I took a nap, was fed fruit and cereal and tea and cookies, and wrote a letter to grandma.  I was excited that this didn't include spending a bunch of money.  A huge thank out goes to Nirmala for her hospitality and general awesomeness.  Later, she drove me and her son (he's so cute and 10!) to a mall, where he insisted that we have McDonalds for lunch.  This was pretty funny.  I always like going to chains in foreign countries, because you can really see the differences (and if you can't, that says something, too).  Oh, globalization.  It's so tricky and stuff.  Anyway, I had a "Mexican chicken wrap", which didn't taste Mexican, but DID taste delicious.  Then, I was off to the bus to take to the airport!

It was a bit after 4 when we reached the bus stop, which was in a different place than the one I usually go to.  The bus was scheduled to come at 4:30.  The usual journey time is an hour - an hour and ten minutes.  I was already cutting it close, so I was a bit nervous.  (Although, Indians suggest you get to the airport an hour before departure, which means I would've had 5 minutes to spare.)  The bus showed up almost at 5pm.  Now, I was visibly nervous and generally freaking out, quietly, on the inside.  But, everything being out of my hand, I turned on my Visbor playlist on my iPod and tried to enjoy the ride.

And, wow, what a ride it was.  We arrived at the airport almost three hours later, due to traffic, which left about seven people, yours truly included, completely missing their flights.  I have never missed a flight before, so this was a real DebbieDowner.  Also, as I am in India, they really don't care why you missed your flight, so they charge you out of the wazoo for replacement tickets.  Womp womp. 

I don't know what the deal is, but I am way more zen in India than elsewhere.  If I was home, I would've probably cried for three hours and then called my parents and cried to them and then cried myself to sleep in a corner somewhere.  Here, I decided that it was out of my hands by this point, and I had to do what I had to do.  I bought another ticket to Kolkata, leaving the following morning, and silently reflected on the circumstance.  Somehow, I was not freaking out.  I finished the letter to grandma and got the envelope all put together.  I will be mailing it out Monday.  I sat and read my guidebook about Kolkata to figure out what I was going to be doing the next two days.  I napped.  I listened to Vysotsky.  I did not even cry.  I like this.  I mean, I feel like sometimes, crying can be and is very helpful.  But shit happens.  And you have to roll with it.  (I think a redeeming factor is that I don't spend any money at Rishi Valley, so I can actually afford to throw some away.  The only awful thing is the opportunity costs.  I could've done so many things with that sum...  I'm trying not to focus on this.)  I did feel stupid.  And I still do.  This definitely could've been prevented.  I could've arrived at the airport at 7am and sit there for 12 hours all day before my flight.  But, ugh, I don't know.  Bygones?

At least I had a good day in Bangalore.

I'm trying to be more positive in life.


Alright, I'm off to catch my flight and truly begin my adventures.  Hopefully, this is the worst of it, and everything is gonna be awesome from here on out.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.


Much love to everyone. 

I probably won't be able to blog from here on out (surprisingly, Bangalore airport has free internet in a room tucked away behind a bookstore!  Who knew!), since internet access will be very limited ('cause I'll be on a mountain, hoes!), but I wish everyone the happiest of holidays.  And happy new year.  I hope it rocks.