If two trains leave Bangalore, one at 2:19 and one at 2:20...

Raise your hand if you were woken at 5:30 to Hindu chants being shouted through a loudspeaker. Thank goodness for earplugs. They really only served as a snooze, because 15 minutes later I was up for good at the sound of a dog fight on the dirt road outside our hotel. It was cool though. With all the packing and eating of plain toast I had to do, it was time get up anyway.

Today was pretty mellow. No big adventures. Instead, we visited headquarters and met the rest of the amazing, brilliant, friendly, courageous, outgoing, funny staff. At headquarters, we were given an overview of what forced labor is and how IJM is working to stop it. We saw two videos of factory owners bragging about the beatings they dole out to uncooperative employees/slaves. It hurt to watch.

After some tasty Chinese food, it was off to the train station to catch a 2:30 train to Chennai, about 6 hours from Bangalore. It was hot, we were tired and most of us just wanted to get on the train and doze off. We had tickets for the air-conditioned cars, so sleeping may have actually been an option.

Our car driver, Nazel, convinced Jerry that it was best to take us to a different station than the one we had planned. This was the second stop on the Chennai train, the first coming from downtown. It seemed like a good plan. We had no idea how good.

3:00 arrived and there was still no train. Then 3:15, then 3:30 until finally, a lady’s voice came over the loudspeaker informing us that our train would be “indefinitely delayed.” None of us knew what that meant, so we continued to chat and sweat at the end of the platform.

Finally, around 3:45, we learned why our train was late. Coming out of the downtown station, the station we were supposed to board the train on, our train collided with another train, causing our train to derail! We didn’t hear if there were any injuries and still don’t really know. Brian got on the phone and within 15 minutes, in true IJM top-notch service fashion, we had 10 tickets on Jet Airways booked at only $60 per ticket. Amazing alternative and really, aside from the beauty of the landscape and the novelty of riding a train, quite relieving.

The flight was a whopping 30 minutes. Before I had time to “put my tray table down move my seat back into a rest position”, it was time to “put your tray tables up and move your seat into the upright position.”

Our flight was smooth. We were picked up by Steve, Mary and Susan from IJM and brought to the Harrison Hotel where I sit now, fading quickly and quietly into the night.