We arrived in Calcutta this morning around 8. We got our things and got off of the train. The cars were already there waiting for us so we hopped in and began heading to the guest house. It felt good being back in Calcutta. You could certainly tell that we were by the way that everyone was driving. It was nuts. Every now and then you would see a few people that had the remains of paint on their faces from Holi. We made it back to the guest house in about 30 minutes and everyone went inside quickly to get some rest. Some took showers... but I just dropped my things and laid down for a bit. I opened my computer and the wireless connection from one of the previous nights was back. So, I am taking advantage of that right now. Im talking to Kelly and a few other people. Im also going to send out a few emails. I'll have to get in the shower soon because we are going to the new market to shop and to see Mother Theresa's grave. It should be a very interesting day. Today was alot of fun. We went to eat lunch at the Mani Square mall before going to The new market. We ate at the McDonald's and it was actually pretty good. After eating we walked around the mall for just a little while before meeting back up with everyone and heading back to the cars. Once we got in the cars we stopped at an atm so that we could withdraw some rupees to shop with. I took out 3000 rupees which is about 60 dollars. Then, we went to the market. We met up with P, Antu, and Poonam at a KFC near the market and we split up into groups to go shopping. Myself, Jared, Trey, and a few others were with P. The streets were so crowded. There were people everywhere selling things and apparently we were not even in the new market yet. There were cars lined up on the side of the road with things on the hood that people were trying to sell. It reminded me alot of China town in NYC. We entered into the New Market and it was basically what I expected. Halls and halls of little stores with all kinds of stuff in them. There were people everywhere trying to get you to come into their store because they wanted your money... especially since we were American. To India, America equals money. There were also people that were not affiliated with any store, but they would take you to certain stores according to what you were looking for and then the owner of that store would pay them for bringing them a customer. So, there was a guy that followed us around from the time we entered new market to the time we walked out. When we mentioned what we were looking for he would take us to the place to find it. It was a really good time. I bought all of the things I needed for everyone. The best part was being able to bargain with the owners of the shops. i got pretty good at it by the end. I would name a really low price and they would automatically say no... then i would start to walk off and that is when they come after you. They can't stand to lose business.
So when I would start to walk off they would grab me and say "what is the most you will pay?" I would tell them and if they still said no... walk off. Then they would grab again and most of the time it was an ok. A few times the workers would whisper in my ear and tell me not to tell anyone. it was alot of fun. We got everything we needed and left the market. We were now on our way to the tomb of Mother Theresa. This was a really cool thing. Her tomb is in a room at a nuns convent in Calcutta. They have made it accessible so that you can walk through and see the tomb. You have to take your shoes off when entering the convent to show respect. It was a very cool thing. I don't know too much about her, but it was cool being there beside her real tomb... in this amazing city... with so much culture... and so much history. I was seriously falling in love. It was all such a mystery. There was a man in the room with us while we were there that was praying beside her tomb. It was a very interesting sight. Oh, and by the way... before we entered the convent we were standing out on the street and a fight nearly broke out between a very rough looking man and another guy. It was very very funny. We left the convent and there wasn't really anything else to do. So, we headed back to the guest house. When we arrived P emphasized how important it was to finish getting the photos that they specifically wanted before tomorrow. So Trey and I sat down and looked at what all we had gotten and what we still needed to get. I was getting tired very very quickly. Dinner was being talked about and we left shortly after to go to Pizza Hut. We walked there and it was a cool but warm night. I loved the walk but wish it had been a bit shorter. We got there and had already decided that we weren't walking back... but it was time to try out the Rickshaws! We ordered our pizzas. Alex and I split some kind of chip appetizer that had cheese and other things on it. It kind of quenched my mexican cravings. I was getting so tired. The pizzas came and I only ate 3 out of my 6 pieces. I was falling asleep and just wanted to get back to the room so that I could go to sleep. Once everyone was ready to leave we paid the guy what our bill was plus 100 rupees just for him to keep. He didn't quite understand and he kept trying to give it back... but we left instead. We went in a drug store and then through the mall for a few minutes before heading back to the guest house. We finally rode in a rickshaw and it was so awesome.
We told the driver what our address was and he didn't quite understand. So, we had to kind of point him to where the house was... which worked. It was so much fun. We made it back to the house in like 2 minutes and it was totally time for bed. I checked the internet connection and there was none. So, now I'm in bed. And it is 8:30. I'm exhausted. I can't believe tomorrow is my last day here.
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