Even though I rarely write anymore, it’s not difficult to see that I’ve been struggling with living an inspired life lately. “Lately” being a very vague timeframe. But for some reason, I feel it again; I feel hungry and excited and restless — all in a renewed way. I think it’s been brewing for some time, and this past week just tipped it over.

This was one of the shortest international trips I’ve ever taken, and it was to two cities I wouldn’t really consider to be life-changing places. I didn’t do anything particularly special — visited some tourist spots, walked through markets, ate really great food, glimpsed into the life of the luxurious — yet something just clicked in my mind. Maybe it was the company that I had. Traveling with inspired people can inspire you, even if you’re just sitting on the metro.

Now I just need to figure out these bits of emotions that are making me itch for something and what to do with them…

…was so quaint and cute and beautiful all at once. I wish I could write more about it, but my time there was mostly spent working, so I had limited time for adventuring. Prague is a pretty decent city to get lost in though (which is not difficult to do).

I must have walked the Charles Bridge 5 times or so in just a handful of days.

Since my mind is still a bit burnt from my days there, I’ll just share via the limited photos I have accessible on my phone. I forgot my camera’s cord in New York.

The first thing you do in Prague, of course, is drink Czech beer. I like mine dark. Oh, and eat fried cheese and potatoes with tartar sauce.

Astronomical Clock.

Like I said, getting lost in Prague can be a great thing.

Prague, how did you know I love fireworks? I also love you now.

An iPhone 4 camera doesn’t even come close to doing the Charles Bridge and the Prague Castle any justice. Even when you try to Instagram it. Clearly.

Absolutely gorgeous IRL.

The food wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, though not aesthetically pleasing.

As bland-looking at that last picture may look, it was actually really delicious. Unfortunately, I had 5 minutes to scarf it down before heading to a meeting. Timely and efficient service is not a high priority in many parts of this city. S’all good though.

Perhaps more photos, if I ever upload them. (It’s been more than a year since India and no one has seen a single photo from that. Shrug.)

In summary: Two guys traveled across the world in 10 days and made a fun video.

As someone perpetually bitten by the travel bug, I’m more than a little jealous. Wish someone would give me a ton of money and [more than] 10 days off to go on a new adventure!

Still, doesn’t mean I can’t make it count right here in the best city in the world. Adventure awaits all over, even at home.

Last week, I had the great opportunity to meet with Simon Höher (@jimmiehu) and Emanuel Schwarz (@emustweet), founders of Knowable. The two Berlin boys were in town for the Social Good Summit, but thanks to the infamous Christian Vanizette (MakeSense.org), we were able to squeeze in some coffee and chat about development work and their start-up adventure.

The purpose of knowable.org is to connect creative ideas in order to solve everyday problems in developing countries. Currently, the guys are in start-up mode and therefore doing some crowd-funding. Check out their recently released video that better explains their pretty fabulous idea:

I can attest to the fact that knowable.org is not only a great idea, but it’s also run by some really great and super chill guys. I’d recommend checking them out and perhaps donating a few bucks to help get this idea off and running. If you can’t give money but have experience or connections on the ground in developing countries, don’t be afraid to reach out to them also. And if you ever find yourself in Germany, they’re hiring!

Though Kolkata was my last stop on my trip, it was the place where I felt least homesick. In fact, as I’m sitting here in the Kolkata airport waiting for my flight to Delhi, I’m not totally ecstatic to be leaving here. I really do hope that I can return soon — whatever soon may mean — but in the mean time, I need a coping mechanism.

Being sick the last three days of the trip (high fever and intense nausea) has been helpful in me wanting to go home, I guess, but I’ve found that negative thoughts aren’t the best way to overcome things. So let’s go to something positive.

 
When people find out that Kolkata is my end destination before my return to New York, they tend to ask me what I’m looking most forward to. Initially I had a tough time answering that because I try not to “long” for home whenever I travel (it makes traveling less fun, obviously) but I really did start to think about in about a week or so ago.

Here is my list, in no real order, of things I have missed and/or am excited to return to after a summer away:

• Family + dog.
• Boyfriend.
• Our list of things to do.
• Friends.
• New York City — truly no city like it. And the best there is. I still stand by that.
• An appropriately temperatured shower.
• Not having to drink out of a bottle all the time.
• The plethora of food options in New York.
• A real bed. With a real mattress.
• Normal clothing, etc. — my clothing, etc.
• Less bugs. Less variety of bugs.
• Sun!
• And with that, the beach.
• Not having a layer of grime consistently as my second skin.
• Increased level of hygiene in general.
• X-Men: First Class.
• Captain America.
• Putting my experiences to use — hopefully!
• English-speaking, American-accented church.
• English-speaking, American-accented everything, actually.
• CUSTOMER SERVICE. God bless America’s tipping system & general politeness (believe it or not!).

I had about half of this on my way to the airport this afternoon and I realized maybe the thing I am looking forward to the most…no offense to friends and family…and the dog…and the boyfriend…but truly, CLEAN AIR.

I feel like I haven’t breathed in over two months. Not a single place I went to had anything remotely resembling clean air.

So there, clean air is the winner as of right now.

 
And so for the next 23 to 24 hours until I land and see Popsicle’s face at the arrival gate, I will focus my thoughts on the positive things that I am returning to in order to deal with leaving Kolkata, the wonderful people I’ve met here, and the super cute kids that I played with pretty much every day.

I’m entering my final week of my trip. I want to say right off that it doesn’t feel like I’ve been gone for 2 months but when I really think back to when I was in China or previous places, it seems like quite a bit of time ago.

This past weekend was my last weekend before heading back to New York, and I’m glad this was my “concluding” weekend. It was absolutely awesome.

I’ve been staying with Shaina, the India program coordinator for NEST (which I plan to write about soon!). She’s here in Kolkata for at least one year — possibly more — and lives in a quaint and relatively convenient part of town. It feels like “real India” in her neighborhood, and I’ve had the chance to meet her local egg man, sweets man, and tea man, among other friendly folks.

Shaina also knows a good number of ex-pats living and working here, as well as short-term volunteers, so I got to meet some people — Americans too, finally!

So a breakdown of my weekend?

Friday:
Went with Shaina to Destiny Reflection, one of the social enterprises that NEST partners with in India. I met the founder Smarita Sengupta, whose birthday it happened to be!

 
Trekked up to Sari Bari, taking the Kolkata Metro for the first time. Will make a post about Sari Bari later on.

 
Stopped off at South City Mall, a super modern mall that makes me feel like I’m in another world within Kolkata.

 
Met up with Shaina and we headed to dinner at Bar-B-Q on Park Street with a bunch of Americans living in Kolkata.

 
Went to the cutest coffee shop in Kolkata, Mocha, where I somehow managed to finish an entire Kit Kat milkshake. Great menu and great ambiance.

 
 
Saturday:
Met up with Kate, the other volunteer at FTBK, up at New Market. Got some henna so that some of the older girls at the center could do some mendhi. Ended up spending far too much on jewelry made of real silver and stones. Said bye to our friends at New Market (Babalu’s family) since we weren’t going back after Saturday.

Kate left to go to the movies and I met Clementine, a MakeSense member who is currently doing a traveling tour to meet social entrepreneurs involved in addressing hunger and malnutrition issues. Ate at Blue Sky Cafe, a popular ex-pat and tourist restaurant in New Market (clean food is key in India!).

Met an Indian man on the street who just returned from a trip to Hong Kong and whose brother attends Boston University (“Have you heard of it?” haha). He spoke French as well as some Chinese.

Walked to Maidan Park and walked through a religious festival for Krishna and Rama before discovering an open park with families sitting around. Reminded me of Central Park. But a small, Indian version.

Met a nice family with a young son (high school age) with whom we chatted for a while. He took a picture with us on his phone, haha.

On our way out, we met a man named Munoj. He works with the Children’s Welfare Committee in conjunction with the U.N. and is very proud of Kolkata. As he walked us to the Metro, he gave us some history and stories behind some of the buildings, including a government building he described as “where the corruption begins.” He also recommended a restaurant to us that has the best Bengali food in all of Kolkata.

Got back too early to Shaina’s so I wandered her neighborhood and stopped by a sweets shop. Chatted with the couple who owned the store, as well as several of their customers, for over an hour! They welcomed me to the neighborhood, invited me to go for morning walks with them, gave me free food, discussed culture and language, suffocated me during their incense burning, and shared parts of their lives with me. It was fun.

 
 
Sunday:
Went to Kolkata Christian Fellowship with Shaina, a church with mainly local Bengalis but also a good amount of ex-pats and visitors. Service is held in English translated to Bengali.

Went to lunch with some of the folks from KCF at South City Mall. Met some interesting and encouraging folks. Tried to get a pedicure and massage with Shaina but that failed. Instead, we caught some street cricket action.

At night, we went to Kewpie’s, the best Bengali restaurant as recommended by Munoj, with Clementine and Melissa, an IJM summer legal fellow. The food was super yum.

Despite having had very spotty Internet access, taking freezing cold showers, and exchanging Kristen, Shaun, & Mortimer for geckos, armies of ants, and large unidentifiable insects, I’m incredibly glad and grateful that Rick & Jiji opened up one of their houses for me to stay at. Living in a barangay in Consolacion (as opposed to staying in a hotel in the city area) has given me opportunities to meet the local people and do some “local” things, which is good for me because I’m not too into the touristy things of traveling.

Thus far, I’ve…

• Hung out & chatted with a good amount of locals — from kids to adults — and gotten to see a very small glimpse of their lifestyle.
• Ridden on rickshaw tricycles, motorcycles (pretty much everyday), jeepneys, and taxis. I really enjoy motorcycles now, actually.
• Played barefoot basketball in the rain with local girls.
• Participated in the prepping and grilling of a Filipino barbecue!
• Experienced the market here…very interesting!
• Visited the local high school and watched an intense dance practice.
• Helped out at the tutoring center for local kids.
• Visited the homes of people living in this barangay.
• Learned a couple of phrases and words in Cebuano/Visayan

Probably more…but really, I just love talking with the people and getting to know them. It’s been really fun and equally as educational/informative as my time “working” in the anti-trafficking field.

I haven’t actually uploaded most of the pictures I’ve taken in Cebu so far, but here are some from my local area from the first few days here…the rest (i.e. barbecue) will come later hopefully!

This girl is the best — she doesn’t really speak English but she knows “hello” and every time she sees me walking down the street, she runs right up to me, smiles, waves frantically, and squeaks out a hello before waddling off.

It’s funny how I don’t really mind living in a shack, I don’t mind “showering” in an ice-cold trickle of water (or only when it rains — shout out to Peru), I don’t mind having a huge cockroach a baby lizard and an army of ants as my roommates…but as soon as you unplug my Internet, I get upset.

Currently at a friend’s church facility borrowing their wifi. Let’s see how much I can do in an hour

Actually, I’m in Consolacion just north of Cebu City.
But I landed in the Philippines with minor issues (like almost not being allowed to leave Hong Kong to come here…or having a 1.5 hour plane delay). Situated now at Rick and Jiji’s home. Already, an interesting experience! Tomorrow, I’ll be meeting with some people from Good Shepherd Welcome House and being thrown into a jeepney to go wander around. Will be interesting and educational, I think.

To Rick’s surprise, the Internet is working here. Assuming that it stays working tomorrow, perhaps I can finally update this blog!

Also, several Filipinos have asked me if this is my first time in the Philippines and when I say yes, they’ve responded with something along the lines of, “Ah, getting in touch with your roots is always nice” or “Welcome home!” I then need to explain I’m not Filipina.

I have wifi finally! But I’m about to board in a few minutes. #ofcourse

Part III of the Asia Extravaganza: the Philippines.
Already had some trouble with the airline but hopefully the rest of this trip is relatively smooth sailing…!
See you in Cebu…or Manila…or wherever I can get some Internet access