Strike 15, You're out

How many people does it take to fill up a micro?
Everyone walking, check out the smoke from the tire

So I'm on my way to work this morning, but I have to leave early (8:30), because I need to be in some place called Tikhidewal at 10am. The bus is driving along, when all the sudden we just stop. I'm a little annoyed b/c I needed to be in New Baneshwor by 9:15am and It's 9am. After about 10 minutes the bus starts to turn around and I realize, oh no, it's another freakin strike. I try to ask the guy how far it is to New Baneshwor but he just points me in a direction. The main road has several things lit on fire, mostly tires and tree branches. There is absolutely no traffic on this road so I start to walk. There are crowds of young men standing around the fires. This one guy tries to enter the college building and they start throwing large rocks at him. I think I'm about to witness a murder when the guy appears to beg for forgiveness and runs away. I finally reach the New Baneshwor and find Smriti. We try to take another route, but neither of us has ever been to Tikhidewal. Also, due to the strike and the severe gasoline shortage (the lines for gas are at least 100 cars long) all of the vehicles are full to the brim, see the picture above. We end up taking 5 different vehicles: 1 bus, 1 tuk tuk (a 3 wheeled tin can) and 3 microbuses. We finally get to this place called Lalitpur, but then we have to walk to Tikhidewal. It was sweltering today, and I almost turned Britney Spears on some taxi's that were about to hit me, (turning Britney Spears is when you attack a vehicle with your umbrella). Anyway, we finally made it there and it was 1pm. It took me 4 1/2 hours to get there. BOO STRIKES.

On another note, I got an email from the school about my team's practicum project. Apparently Mrs. Bebee (that would be the first lady of Arkansas) was in the Delta when she ran into a man who was trying to start a Boys and Girls club. He told her that the directory we made was really helpful and showed it to her. She liked it so much, she wants to meet with my team to discuss the process so directories like this can be made in all the counties. Hooray, I worked on something and somebody noticed. I feel like I’ve always been a hard worker and an intelligent human being, but until recently, this has gone largely unnoticed, at least in the job department. This totally makes up for walking several miles in the hot sun and spending wasted money on public transportation that doesn't take you anywhere.

In other good news, my 10 hour layover in Chicago next week is going to be intercepted by my amazing boyfriend, David. He's pickin' me up and we're going to get Italian food. Sounds like my kind of welcome home party.