yesterday was full of fun surprises and exhausting events. we worked at mama t's which was really cool because i busted out some of my bangla with the women there and they were so surprised that they gave me all the fun jobs. after we went to jojo's with our new friends kate and claire which was totally refreshing to sit around the table and do girl talk. in this city you are able to quickly bond over the fact that being white in this city can get exhausting. then we did some laundry, by hand of course, so i went to language class completely soaking wet from sweat. when we get home, one of the girls was doing laundry and the exposed shower pipe broke. at about 1230 am i hear "hey natalie. can you come here a minute." i wake up and go to the bathroom to see water spraying everywhere. there is no way to turn off the water so in my half zombie state i just kinda stand there. we fill up the buckets and just have to let the water run till the tank empties. i went back to bed. so this morning we had to take bucket showers which actually arent that bad.
today was a day committed to exploring this crazy city. our target destination: south city mall. we looked up directions last night on google so we set out with our directions around noon today. our house is pretty much at the south end of the city so originally i thought we would be pretty close to the south city mall. based on the directions i got this thought was completely false. the google directions take us pretty far north so we get off and start following the directions. we ask someone on the street where it was and they kinda laughed at us then told us to get in a cab because we were so far off. we asked someone else and they gave us directions from the metro so we head back to get on the metro again. we asked another person just in case and it turns out the new directions we had were also wrong. at this point it had taken us 2 hours and a bunch of rupees to get lost but we were determined to find this mall that was like an american mall. we get the correct directions from a super helpful girl. then we squeeze onto the metro like sardines. what you have to understand is that on the metro there is a ladies only section so women do have to be touched and harassed by men while riding the metro but during rush hour you pack in and cant really move. this guy was totally looking out for me and made a way so i could get into the ladies section. we got off and made it to the mall. it was such a strange feeling walking from the chaos and poverty of the streets of kolkata into a nice, newly built, air conditioned mall. we just walked around for an hour because we needed a taste of home. we found a coffee shop and read then ate pizza hut and went to the equivalent of a super walmart. it made me forget if only for brief moments that i was in kolkata. i am now refreshed and ready to start another week.
when my current reality consists of so much brokeness, poverty and chaos, is it bad that we find comfort in the familiarity of the mall?
It's not bad at all, dear. Sometimes you need to escape for your own sanity.. be it from homesickness or just overwhelming feelings of helplessness or despair. It's allowed. It's also a cultural experience.. as similar to an American mall as it might be, there are difference. I don't know if it's the same in Kolkata, but in Bangkok, the mall is just a big hangout place.. very cultural! Kill two birds with one stone.. escape, but also reflect. :)
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