Philadelphia

Veliyapappa picking us up from the bus stop

We took the bus from DC and my uncle Veliyapappa came to the bus stop in his car. Thirty minutes to his house. I was excited to see them and they were too. We had hoagies that night. I could not finish mine. Sharang and Gokul had picked up slight fevers, probably from the accumulated walking of the past few days. We slept in a proper house for the first time since leaving India.

In the morning we walked outside and I looked around at the neighbourhood and it looked exactly like San Andreas. Completely. In the best possible way. We went to IHOP for breakfast, first time I had ever been. The pancakes were good and the whole family came: Veliyapappa and Veliyamummy, Thankoi Pappa and Chinnu Aunty, Benny Uncle and his wife and a couple of others. A full table. After breakfast we went to Thankoi Pappa's house and then all went into the city together, saw a few places, walked to the Liberty Bell, took the bus back to New York. Philadelphia was not in the original plan and it was one of the best parts of the trip.