"Felicity," I am moaning and barely holding my head up, "Do you have any bread?"

"Why's that, Kate?" Felicity is grinning her evil Irish grin, "whatever would you be wanting bread for this morning?"

I grin my sheepish American grin.

"Is it just the hangover, or is it something else?"

"It's just the hangover."

"Good. That's a sign of good health." (Felicity feels like everyone's Irish mum) "I had no idea you were drunk. You just seemed really happy. And you kept saying you weren't drunk at all, and then you wandered right on off."

Yes. That sounds about right.

And then she turned to her friend and said with a laugh, "Kate is our token American and she got so pissed last night at her Obama party that when I came home and they were dancing Austrian folk dances!"

Which is true.

I came home with the vodka and rum declaring, Obama won! And Christoph said, "hurray! let us all have a drink!" And Brenden showed up with some mixers, and Katerina and Anita and Christoph got out their wooden flutes and harmonicas they bought on the street and Carmel sang some Irish songs and soon we were all dancing around the courtyard.

And I really didn't drink that much. But Carmel told me the next day. "It's not that you drank hardly anything at all. It's because you were drinking first a shot of rum, then vodka, then schnapps (the schnapps is really good by the way, and homemade by the Austrians from walnuts and it tastes like licorice). I think you don't understand that your mixers shouldn't be other liquors."

And I'm telling you this because it's my birthday now, so my mum isn't allowed make any comments (or sighs) regarding alcohol. Because Obama won! And happy birthday to me!

So Anita said, "O.K. let's get serious now. We've got a party to plan." And she took out a pad of paper and Christoph said "I will buy whiskey and DJ the music." Good. Good. And I will buy flowers at the flower market (because Mrs. Dalloway decided that she would buy the flowers herself) And Felicity will buy banana leaves to use as plates, and Esther will make a giant cucumber yogurt salad , and tonight I asked the street vendor to make me 100 samosas and 20 plates of veggie chow mien (and that will cost like ten bucks. I love India) And Stephi will buy incense and flowers. And we will buy beer and rum and Neev's friends who are musicians are coming and said they would play. And I hope people come. To the best party ever.

Because it is also a goodbye party. I leave Calcutta in just a few days. To head to the mountains for just a few weeks. And then I come back to get ready to go home. I can hardly believe it. And I'm not ready for it. When I bought my tickets three months seemed like such a long time. And now that I am here it is too short of a time. All day Stephi says, "you need to change your ticket. You should stay. Three months is too short." And she's right. And I'm thinking about it. Because it is hard to think of leaving this new home that I've made.

And yet. And yet. I will come home. And see you all very soon. And that feels good.

But first. I've got a birthday to go celebrate! And some mountains to see.