Only in India

On Friday, we a day in Kolar Gold Fields that can really only happen in India. We started the day by listening to the stories of a couple of women staying at Wimochina, a women's shelter that we, too, had stayed at. Their stories were fascinating, but they were interrupted when one of the women spotted a scorpion in Kirk's shoe, ready to sting. Kirk reached to poke it, but the woman exclaimed "NOOOO! You will die." I was stunned to hear that. It seems so strange that something so innocent and free like a scorpion could kill someone. As it turns out, the scorpion wouldn't have killed Kirk; it would have put him through some extreme pain though.

After listening to the women speak, we packed up our stuff and headed to the bus to go back to Bangalore. Problem: the bus was stuck in the mud and had nestled itself in about half a foot deep trying to get out. Dr. Kittelson looked more anxious than usual, but I think we all knew that it wasn't actually a concern. These things happen in India; the problem would be fixed. The knowledge of all the people standing around regarding how to get un-stick stuck vehicles was pooled and with the use of a couple of wooden boards and the maximum strength of about 2o people we got the bus out. We drove the 60 miles back to Bangalore in about three hours, meaning we made good time for Indian roads.

A few of us decided we wanted to get some ice cream, so we got out of the bus in the village near Visthar. The store we had planned to go to was closed. Why wouldn't it be? I mean - 4 o'clock on a Friday afternoon. That seems like prime closing time... Instead we went to a much smaller store. I bought something called a "Chocolate Nutty" from the guy. It was a chocolate coated ice cream stick. The ice cream had rose water in it. Again, why not? Rose water makes everything better doesn't it? We walked back to Visthar through some very squishy mud. Although India has a monsoon every year, the roads around the area are made of dirt, so every time it rains, it's more like walking along the shore of a beach than it is like walking on any road I'm used to.

At 6 pm we left to go eat dinner at a local politician's "restaurant". It was important for us to leave on time so that we could be there at 7:15 as we had scheduled with him. We were there at 7:15; he came at 9:30. His flight was delayed. There were about 20 of us there and they had around 16 bottles of Kingfisher wine there for us. While we waited, we talked to some of the other random assortment of people there. I talked to "Guru", a man who studied in the United States and now works in politics in India, though he doesn't seem to know what his job actually is. I asked him several times, but somehow he always managed to redirect the conversation to the wild Friday nights he had while in the United States. After food (delicious! the spiciest I've had yet in India), we exchanged a couple of songs and then we decided to sing the song "We Shall Overcome" all together since we would all know the song, Americans and Indians alike. I had never heard the song before in my life, yet all of the Indians in the room knew the words. Love it when that happens!

Oh India...