(So I wrote this post in November but never posted it. Sorry for the delay.)

Last week Liz and I traveled by bus to Jogdeeshpur (a very small town in Chhattisgarh) to celebrate Thanksgiving with some American friends who work at a mission hospital. We left Friday morning, excited to spend time with Americans and filled with anticipation for the Thanksgiving feast. The first leg of our trip to Raipur was very uneventful. However our journey from Raipur to Jogdeeshpur was the opposite.
The bus itself looked like it was over thirty years old. I honestly don’t know how the vehicle managed to move. It was covered in rust, the upholstery on the seats was nearly nonexistent, and everything was covered in dust. So it was old. Really old. Nevertheless, Liz and I found seats and settled in for the four hour ride. Thirty pages of a James Joyce novel later, the bus started shaking and violently rattling. As I’ve mentioned before, the roads in rural India are not exactly in stellar condition. The windows of the bus were rattling so hard that the window next to Liz cracked. The fissure led to a small shower of glass shards. Swell. Further, the bumpy roads provide a roller coaster effect, which is problematic for those prone to motion sickness - the woman sitting in front of us was one of the unfortunate. She sat hunched forward and vomited all over the floor which splashed onto my feet. Then she stuck her head out the window and proceeded to vomit many more times. However, she did not realize that the vomit came back through our window and sprayed Liz’s face. Not only was Liz covered in shards of glass but now vomit as well.
With two hours to go until we reached Jugdeeshpur, I tried to occupy myself by talking to fellow passengers (I am able to make limited small talk in broken Hindi). Of course everyone was impressed that I could speak a little so they started asking lots of questions: where are you from, why are you here, etc. My favorite inquiry was “Ap celebrity hai?” (Are you a celebrity?). I hastily responded negatively and tried to stifle my laughter.
When we finally arrived in Jugdesshpur we thought that our eventful journey was over. However, one of those pesky shards of glass managed to get stuck in Liz’s foot. Fortunately we were visiting doctors so they took care of it.
Despite the long bus ride it was a wonderful weekend filled with pumpkin pie, attending a wedding celebration where I was slathered with turmeric, and eating my first green chili for Rs. 500. Good times.

Mary