Baltimore, Maryland

Sundar and I took a bus to NYC. We stopped at a Donut shop to enquire about the directions to reach Chinatown. There had been a bank robbery on that street and there were a lot of police cars out there. We took subway to reach Chinatown.

Chinatown was very crowded. Many Chinese women approached us asking if we needed a bus ticket. There was no one to clearly guide us to the bus. It was really funny. I did not feel like I was in the US. When we asked people about the bus, they pointed at random buses that was parked there. Finally, we did board the correct bus. 

At Baltimore, while waiting for my cousin, I spoke to an old couple. Their bus had broken down and the driver was repairing it. They were part of some organisation that help the poor. They told me how they collected the soaps and other items placed in hotels they stayed in and gave them to the poor or old age homes. 

Uday Bawa and Lekha came to pick me. Sundar's friends came to pick him up. I was happy to meet my cousin Shanthi Akka after such a long time. We spoke a lot and I ate some good home food. 

Next day, on the 4th of July, we visited Washington. We stopped by to view the Whitehouse and Washington monument. There are a lot of museums here. We chose to visit the Air and space museum. We watched an interesting film on international space station on IMAX. 

The parade was impressive too.

We visited a Shanthi Akka's friend's house for dinner. Firework was burst to celebrate the US independence day. 

On the 5th of July, we visited a Siva vishnu temple about 30miles from Baltimore. It is a impressive temple.

In the evening, we went to the Baltimore harbour area. It was very lively out there. There was a guy putting up a juggling show which was interesting  Shanthi Akka and I spoke a lot about spirituality.