धन्यवाद "Shakria"

After returning to New Delhi from the North we left our guest house morning eager to finally be on our own in India. With the help of new words such as "Shakria" (Thank-you), "Ha" (yes), "Ney" (no), "Hanjib" (yes sir), etc. our fluent Hindi was sure to take us far. After finding a cheap hostel ($4) and buying train tickets to Calcutta ($30 each for AC for a 24 hours ride - we felt it was worth it given the time), we set out in search of the most authentic Indian experience - that of food.

We found Subway.

Try two: after flagging down an auto-rickshaw we learned the driver had been a resident of Sacramento, California for six years and had the driver's license (or at least a good fake) to prove it. Seemingly trying to cheat us, he asked us what we had seen in India. At our hesitation thinking it was a ploy for him to take us on an expensive joyride, he quickly interjected that was not for money but that he wanted to show us his Sikh temple. It (surprisingly - I will address this in a brief follow up post) was a fabulous and sincere experience. The temple was beautiful, and afterward brought us to the Jama Mosjid Mosque, our original destination. We had visited the largest mosque in India once before while we were here on Global, but wanted to see it again. It was wonderfully worth it - this time we climbed the minaret as well.

We then returned to our hostel which is located, believe it or not, very close to where I met my cousins, Morgan and Alexis, here 18 months ago. We are headed to dinner to the same spot in fact...

Tomorrow, off to Calcutta to work at Missionaries of Charity for a month or so.

CM