Sunday 3

Hopefully this will not be a rehash of Sunday 1, and not as good as Sunday 2, which though the darkest chapter in the series is critically acclaimed as the best.

OK so after the crazy weird half-mall, half department store Happiness Sale, Scott and I ventured off what I think was North only to find nothing but slums and a woman with a baby begging who tried to follow us (tried very hard not to look at the baby).

We then tried to cross the street. Normally this would be a story, but when you are dealing with 4 lanes merging with no lights that I could see and general anarchy it was like a game of Frogger but I have only one quarter and it is my actual life. You have to be quite alert and unfortunately neither Scott nor I were a hundred percent seeing as the time difference made it about 5:00AM our time (have to stop doing that math...). Anyways we finally made it across the street in once piece and started walking up the street. Again words don't really do any of this justice but Scott has photos. Once classic element was a building where the storefront was intact but the entire front facade of the rest of the building looked like 'Children of Men'. In fact a lot the place looked like that movie now that I come to think of it, except a lot more people, especially children. Anyways, we saw all kinds of stuff I don't understand, a guy machete-ing goats heads, a big rooster just walking along the street etc., garbage just dumped everywhere, buildings looking like they are going to fall down, and then we came across a brand-new Subway franchise. That is how this place works and its nuts. Note: Chicken Meatball Marinara aint to bad. I still have not been able to find my beloved McDonald's though - need to add India to my 13 sample countries for Quarter Pounder with Cheese or nearest local equivalent (still not sure what that will be India).

We crossed the street back a couple more times and I tried (unsuccessfully) to get a phone at a super-new Vodaphone store that had no phones on display (no idea why not). We went back to Happiness Sale to get an alarm clock and I eventually bought one next door for a price I would rather not reveal. It was a situation of a willingness-to-pay, low selection and wanting to get back to civilization as fast as possible. We hired a can to take us home, at first the cabby was going to just use the odometer as a guide to what to charge us. I made sure he noticed that I took note of the number and so he turned on the meter. The drive back was pretty harrowing but I have just come to accept death during the rides so I take it is stride. The final fare was actually pretty good so we may do that from now on.

Getting back to campus we both remaked on how much relaxed and at home - this just shows how relative these things are.