Well, I'm packed.  And there isn't much else to say for now.  Except that tomorrow, here's where I'll be....

Yikes!!!

I absolutely cannot believe that I’ve already been in Alaska for a month and that I am at the airport to leave.  I worked at the daycare for 4 weeks, which was great to be able to walk back into a job for just a few weeks.  Because of the strange living situation my family is currently wrapped up in, I stayed with a few different friends up here.  Thanks so much to Nick and Chance, Kathy and Makenzie, and Patty and Nicole for letting me stay with you.  I was so excited to have a chance to come back home for a few weeks, and it definitely wouldn’t have been possible if you all hadn’t let me stay with you!!  So, after 4 weeks hanging out with kids at the daycare, visiting with friends, and enjoying Alaska, I’m back at the airport again!

Tonight I’m flying back to California where I have 3 days to help my dad load the moving truck (he’s driving a U-haul up to Alaska next week to move my mom back into her condo up here) and re-pack my bags.  Then, bright and early on Saturday morning I board a plane to Kenya!  I can’t believe it, but its only 3 days off now.  Speaking of which, I now have several different countdowns going; here’s an update:  I will be back in Anchorage for Christmas in 114 days, and back in Wooster in 135 days.  Both of those seem really far away at this point, but I get to have a whole Kenyan adventure before then!  I don’t have much else to say at the moment, but I will post an update once I get to Kenya and have internet!! 

Yikes, I definitely didn’t mean to wait this long before writing again!  Well, here’s the gist of what happened after I arrived in Calcutta…

When Varun picked me up from the train station on Friday afternoon, we went back to his flat, had lunch, and then went straight to the US Consulate.  After going through some obnoxious security, I was able to fill out all of my paperwork for the emergency passport, only to find out that I didn’t have enough cash- $135 or 7830 rupees- to pay for the new passport.  At this point it was after 3pm on Friday, so we agreed that I would come back first thing Monday morning and I would be able to get the passport that day. 

So, we went back to Varun’s.  On Saturday, my parents were able to wire money to Varun (I couldn’t claim it since I didn’t have a valid form of ID), which we picked up at a Western Union branch.  I also had to get new passport photos because the extras I had brought with me from the states had a gray background and apparently the Consulate requires a pure white background.  After running those two errands on Saturday, I laid pretty low the rest of the weekend, running around without any ID just seemed weird to me.  So I sat and worked on some remnants of work for GSE and rested after a few exhausting days. 

On Monday morning, I was at the Consulate, with money and new passport photos in hand, by about 10am.  Getting the emergency passport wasn’t to much of a hassle- I had to wait for about an hour and a half because they do actually make a totally regular passport right there and then, but it took a little time.  But by noon, I had my new emergency passport in hand, and I got a taxi and went straight to the Foreigners Regional Registration Office to try and get my exit permit (since I lost my visa with the passport, I needed permission from the government of India to leave).  When I got there, I got directed to a room full of office workers, and when I finally got to talk to one of them, he directed me upstairs to talk to the chief.  Oh boy.  So I went upstairs and sat outside the chief’s office for about 2 hours, and when I finally got escorted into his office, he only spoke with me for a few minutes.  After asking me briefly what happened, and then seemingly less pertinent questions like what I am studying, who I am staying with in Calcutta, how I know him, and what he is studying, he said I was clear to receive the exit permit I needed, and directed me back downstairs to get the necessary documents.  

When I went back downstairs, I spoke to the same man who originally referred me to the chief, and when I started giving him my documents, he started yelling at me saying that I needed to go back to the FRRO in Bangalore, since that is where I was originally approved.  After I explained that the chief approved me and that I really couldn’t go back to Bangalore, he said fine and looked through my paperwork.  He said it was mostly ok, but he gave me a couple of forms to fill out, asked for additional copies of my new emergency passport, and he asked for a letter from Varun’s family verifying where they lived and that I was staying with them for the rest of my time in Calcutta.  Alrighty.  So I left the FRRO for the day, and went back to Varun’s to work on the paperwork.  After I finished it all, we just hung out for the evening so I could be back at the FRRO on Tuesday morning.

When I went back to the FRRO the next day, I met with the same man again, which was especially helpful since he already knew what I was working on.  After giving him the rest of the forms he requested, he asked me for a few more things- an additional passport photo, a copy of my train tickets throughout India, and my flight itinerary leaving India- which I don’t think he expected me to have with me, but when I did, he was suddenly munch friendlier and helpful.  We went through my mountain of documents and paperwork, and he assured me that it was all there and now they just needed time to process it all.  He told me to come back on Friday afternoon, which made me a little nervous since I flew out the following Monday, so if something went wrong, I wouldn’t have much time to fix it.  But he didn’t give me much choice, so once again, I left the FRRO without the exit permit.

On Wednesday, since I didn’t need to stop into any offices, I actually got to do some sightseeing.  First I went to Victoria Memorial, and then I tried to walk to St Paul’s Cathedral, but I never could find it, and no taxi drivers could understand what I was asking for.  Oh well!  Then I asked a taxi driver to drive over Howrah Bridge- one of the biggest and busiest bridges in India- and it had a really neat view of the river and the city.  After the detour, I got dropped off at Mother Teresa’s house and tomb.  However, when I got there, they were closed, but were scheduled to reopen at 3pm (it was about 1:30).  So I wandered around the area for a bit, had lunch, stumbled upon another church that I stopped in to visit, and then went back to Mother Teresa’s.  That was a very interesting visit- I really didn’t know too much about her, but they had an excellent exhibit about her life, which was really enjoyable to read, and seeing her tomb was very powerful.  The nuns were very friendly and showed me her old bedroom- a tiny but immaculately organized. After bidding adieu to her home, I barely grabbed a taxi before it started pouring rain and I made it back to Varun’s for the night.  

Thursday I left Varun’s house and checked in to a hotel for my last few days in Calcutta- his cousins came into town from the US, and it was going to be one packed house, so I gave my thanks and ventured out on my own.  I didn’t do a whole lot on Thursday, just wandering around the new area of town I was in.

Friday it was back to the FRRO.  After some initial confusion about what time I was supposed to show up (they told me 3pm, but they actually called Varun to verify that I was staying with him and they said they were expected me at 1pm), I had to meet with a few other people, and finally got the stamp that said I was approved to leave.  That’s all it was, after a whole week of paperwork and meetings and waiting- a stamp that said “permitted to leave India” with an initial next to it.  Oh boy.  While I was waiting in the FRRO, I started feeling a little sick, so I went back to my room and took a nap and then just read for the rest of the evening.

Saturday morning, I wasn’t feeling any better.  I laid in bed and read most of the day and then in the late afternoon I met a few Wooster people at South City Mall to see the new Batman movie, which despite the fact that I haven’t seen the first couple movies, I still enjoyed.  When I made it back to my room, I passed out again for the night.  Sunday was a lot of the same: I wandered around enjoying my last day in India, went to the mall and bought a couple last things for people, and then went back to my room, napped, packed, and went to bed. 

Monday began the torture-test that getting back to my parents house was.  I went to the airport around 1pm, and flew from Calcutta to New Delhi, where I had to go claim my bags, go through immigration, and recheck my bags.  Then I flew to Hong Kong, which was fairly uneventful.  I got to Hong Kong around 9am, and sat in the airport until 2am- one of the longest layovers I’ve ever had.  The layover was- naturally- uneventful, and even though my flight left two hours late, I was glad to finally get off the ground and begin the last 13 hour flight back to the states.  When I arrived in San Francisco, there was a really long line at customs, and after some additional questioning because of my emergency passport, they let me through, I claimed my bag, and met my mom outside security.  After a big hug, we got in my moms car and drove to a hotel where we spent the night, since it was about 2am and we had a 6 hour drive back to Santa Clarita in front of us.  We both zonked out, and got up around 10 the next morning.

The drive back to Santa Clarita was uneventful, and after stopping at an outlet mall, we made it back around 7pm.  On Thursday, mom and I went and found an Indian grocery store so I could cook an Indian dinner for her and dad that night, which was pretty fun.  We ran a couple of other errands, and then I started cooking.  I made several dishes, a drink, and dessert, so I spent several hours cooking, and then we finally ate around 8pm.  After way to much food, we all went to bed.

Friday was pretty uneventful as well, mom and I ran a couple of errands to get me ready to come up to Alaska, and we ordered pizza and had a quiet last night in as a family until Christmas. 

Saturday morning, I showered and packed up the last of my stuff and headed to the airport.  I flew from Burbank to Seattle and then up to Anchorage, where Nick picked me up, since he is the first person I am crashing with while I’m here.  We grabbed dinner and then I settled in to his office and crashed for the night.  Sunday was a really nice day in Anchorage, we walked around downtown a little bit, met another friend for lunch, and then did a little shopping in the afternoon.  Then I had to mentally prepare myself to head to work on Monday morning!

So now its Wednesday and I’ve been back at work at the daycare for 3 days in my old classroom- Denali.  My mom is driving up to Anchorage now as well, and I’m working on catching up with some people here at home and still making it to work on time!

Now that I’m here and settled into a semi-normal schedule I probably won’t post too much (not that I’ve posted much the last couple of weeks, but whatever…) but I will be sure to say a few things before I leave for Kenya!

Happy August, everyone!