No, I'm Perfectly Comfortable. Why Do You Ask?

One aspect of living in Kolkata that takes some acclimating to, is not having your comforts of home, or much comfort at all for that matter. The sensory assault here, is unrivaled, I assure you, even if you are a city dweller. The only upside is that living here is so exhausting, I somehow find a way to sleep solidly, at least for a couple of hours.

So here is a picture from my first night's sleep in the Kolkata Made By Survivors flat, just for some levity.

The reason I'm here is so very serious, but I've learned if you can't laugh at yourself a little, you're not going to make it a week in Kolkata. This shot was taken pre-pillow purchase. The pillows here are like bags of cement mix, the room is HOT, the mattress is hard as a rock and about two and a half inches thick...and this is the GOOD mattress.

The only way I could get comfy enough to sleep after 35 hours sitting on a plane was to indeed use my travel neck pillow in bed, and an eye covering (thank you, Jet Blue). The noise, well there really is no remedy: the morning vendors yelling, the neighborhood night guard who bangs his stick on the ground and uses a whistle at 3am so the thieves KNOW EXACTLY WHERE HE IS AT ALL TIMES, the incessant honking of cars, taxis, rickshaws and autorickshaws, the demolition work happening in the apartment below us, the crows on the patio and the dogs barking in the streets. It makes you just want to put in a pair of earbuds and cue up "I'm So Tired" by the Beatles off of The White Album for commiseration.