Wait, Fast, Meditate

Wednesday The hardest part of being here is figuring out what to do with myself. There are no friends, restaurants, TV, and there is limited internet, mobility and time. After a long hard day at Lab, I leave to catch my taxi in the dark and it's hard to motivate. Yesterday was the festival Rathyatra. Two brother gods leave their house once a year in a big chariot to visit their grandma. That's it. It's kind of a kids holiday where they make their own miniature chariots and pull them all around the city. I have never seen this many children on the streets of Kolkata. It was fun. The boys grabbed their chariots and raced each other, and the girls in their party dressed smiled and held their parents hand. The chariots got very elaborate. I saw one blocking half of the EM bypass. It looked like a huge lit up christmas tree with a large stereo system in the back chanting "Hare Krishna." A whole team of families needed to help pull it. I decided it might be fun to get some beers and watch the festivities from my balcony. Finding a liquor store and then one that was open was an adventure. When I finally found one it looked like a drug dealership--if they had store front windows. A bunch of men crowding a barred window and being handed things wrapped in newspaper. Then they would stuff it in their bags and walk away. Yes I was the only woman and no mom don't be scared, I got them and was on my way. I went home, turned on some Manu Chao (which my college roommate taught me makes everything better) and cooked some thai vegetable stirfry (vegetables, thin noodles, coconut milk, lime and ginger). Then I went onto the balcony with my hard earned beer and watch the few kids in our neighborhood out and finished my book Bel Canto. Thursday It was a stupid day in lab. My PCRs, which I'm doing beautifully thank you, are having unknown problems. But the stupid part is, we do a PCR and then literally wait for it to finish to figure out where to go next. My first PCR finished 3 1/2 hours later and didn't work. Then we started the next one at 6, and Moumita I think was a little peeved when I said I didn't want to stick around (until 9) to see the band. I did however have a talk with her about possibly doing mutliple PCR's at once so there is always something to do and we could have multiple results at a time. Moumita said, yes that would be great but we only have 2 PCR machines and Shubrutu needs one too. FUCK. Our lab is so poor it's so sad. I planned on writing an angry email I would most definitely regret as soon as I got home. But I got locked out of my apartment (new complicated locks were installed at our apartment). The only thing I had with me was Siddhartha. It all just seemed so laughably fate- like I didnt' write that email and instead read for an hour or so waiting for Michael to come home. Little note about the heat: You know when you step behind a car exhaust and you feel that intense fleeting heat? That's Kolkata. And then add humidity you can bite through. Michael and I switch off who gets AC every night. I look forward to my nights and my heart skips a beat.