The One Where I Forgot the Title

Hi delightful daffodils!  I hope you're enjoying my favorite time of year when the world prepares for it's winter hibernation while I sit in 80 degree weather.  Winter in West Bengal is not even close to winter, autumn even, in Missouri.  Everything is still green, except for the rice paddies, and wildlife is still bustling.  They cut the two-foot tall grass on VSSU's lawn to prevent snakes from making hiding spaces in our backyard, and unfortunately they found a baby king cobra snake!  As I bent over the bucket where he was kept, he started hissing at me.  I felt like Indiana Jones going on a thrilling adventure through a snake-laden cave.

Soma and I at my birthday party

Wednesday was just another normal, unbirthday-day, except for a wonderful surprise from one of my bestest friends.  I received a call that morning and I thought it was a call from the network so I disconnected it the first two times.  The third time I picked it up and told him he had the wrong number. He proceeded to say, "You're Kelsy. VSSU. Village: Ullon, South 24 Parganas..."  Nonetheless, I was a little freaked out! How does this stranger know where I live? Then he said he had a package from my friend and I finally understood that he had meant to call me and ask for directions.  I couldn't understand his thick Indian accent so he asked, "Can you please give the phone to someone who speaks English or Hindi?"  I was speaking English!  Apparently, he needed to talk to Soma in Indian English to understand how to get to the tiny village in West Bengal to deliver my package.  I anxiously awaited the carrier's delivery all day (wondering if all the visitor's that came to VSSU held my mystery package), and finally after the work day was over at 6 p.m. a man arrived holding my surprise!  It was chocolate birthday cake, flowers, and a card sent just for my birthday.  I'm still perplexed as to how my friend sent all this, but half of the surprise lies in the mystery of it all.  The cake was super super yummy, much better than the dry, tasteless cake from the train station I tried.  It was so yummy that Nadira and Soma smeared the chocolate cream frosting on my smiling cheeks!

Aurelie and I proceeded with our celebrations at the Kali Pooja pandal outside Mr. Mondal's house.  It was the same as any other Pooja, except for the fact that I electrocuted four girls... We were dancing in a circle, and as you might be able to guess, the electrical expertise for the lighting of the pandal is not the most professional.  I was minding my dancing feet and accidentally touched the tube light, resulting in jumps and exclamations of shock from all four girls that were holding hands in a circle with me- you could see the dominio effect taking place on everyone's faces.  After recovering from our shock, they surprising continued to dance with this electrifying American!

After completing our office work the next day, some of us from the office went out for dinner in Lakshmikantapur to celebrate Aurelie's and my birthday.  It just so happens that my birthday is exactly one day before the other intern's- what a coinkidink!  The porata was a nice palette change from the mundane rice and potato curry.  Nadira bought both of us a huge box of chocolates and Appy Fizz, just like my favorite fall apple cider drink.

I was so busy the whole week celebrating my birthday that I hadn't had a chance to see the kids who had returned to Ashok Nilay for school.  After one long month, I saw the children again on Saturday, with temporary tattoos in hand.  It was difficult to control their excitement as they all gathered around me, waving their chosen tattoo in my face, but it was worth it; only the smiles on their faces expresses their joy in such a simple gift.  I stayed the night with Soma in the Home for Children, enjoying music and a bit of gossip as our evening treat.  Tagari came into my room the next morning at 5:30 a.m. yelling, "Auntie, Auntie" to wake me up.  I groggily got out of bed to see the foggy pond outside and Chameli leading her fellow students in the morning prayer.  These children have so much more discipline than I did at their age!  Soma and I walked around the grounds, enjoying the beautiful hibiscus flowers while awaiting a rickshaw van to take us to the train station.  It was a bit of a rough morning that didn't exactly go how we had planned: the train was delayed and the market in Kolkata was not open when we arrived.  Everything worked out for the best though; we met Nadira in the market to buy our tickets for the movie, Autograph, a Bengali film.  The cinematography and camera angles were really creative- just something I noticed since I couldn't understand the dialogues.  I also bought a super-cute orange purse (sorry I don't have a picture of it yet Leah), two gold bangles, as well as some sweets to share with Soma before we boarded the train back to Lakshmikantapur.