a break from election stuff

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this is my fifth day in Kolkata, and I want to say that I am used to the city but everyday something shocks me. The temperature is nice...it is humid, but not as hot as Bangkok. The food is awesome and I am having such a fun time trying to different stuff! From the lassis and pomengrate juice to pakoras sold on the sidewalk in little bags made from newspaper.

On a typical walk down the street I can see people bathing near a tube well, an entire slab of cow hanging in front of a butcher's stall, a guy selling bananas or other fried yummies, five Dick Tracy style taxis zooming by me (and about 2 inches away from pasting me to the floor), a man running down the street pulling a carriage with people in it, a muslim mosque, a hindu temple, somebody asking for money, somebody trying to sell me something...an impeccably clean and beautifully bright sari gliding a dirt laden sidewalk.

I flew from Bangkok to Kolkata late on Wednesday evening, and arrived shortly after 1 am on Thursday morning.

After several unsuccessful attempts to call a few Kolkata guesthouses for a room for the first night a few days earlier while I was in Bangkok, I gave up and hopped on the plane saying, "I'll figure something out." I was aware of retiring rooms at the Kolkata airport, but they are only available for persons flying out the next day. However, all I did was tell the airport manager my situation and he allowed me to stay in a room until the next morning! I guess I expected it to be a lot more complicated than that--(truthfully, I was a little scared to leave the airport so late, so I considered sleeping in the airport until daylight)--but it was a relatively easy first night!

I am staying in a Salvation Army dormroom, now, shared by 4 other ladies: one italian, irish, eastern european, and japanese. It's such a great atmosphere -- and they are all very neat women! For the past four days, I have been going to early morning Mass (6 am) with three of them at the Motherhouse -- where Mother Teresa served and is buried -- and since my project won't really start for a week or so, I have started to volunteer at two of the seven places run by the Missionaries of Charity (the order to which she belonged).

I have been spending my morning in an orphanage where I play, help feed, and clean handicap and disabled children; in the evening I go to Kalighut, which is Mother Teresa's home for the dying and destitute.

My days have been long and tiring...not so much physically demanding, but emotional. The first day at Kalighat, was particularly rough. I had never seen rows of cots filled with people who were so frail and I was so scared that I would hurt them if I touched them. Occasionally throughout the hour I have no idea what to do--and wish I knew how to speak Bengali, or how to massage an arthritic pain-- but I am finally starting to feel like the days are rewarding. After I helped one lady into her cot today, she used all the muscles she had to pull me close to her face so that she could give me a kiss on both cheeks. Now if that isn't rewarding...

(it's getting late, but hopefully i can post some pictures soon!)

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Comments

[anonymous]

weighing in on Kolkutta
I am enjoying the blog very much - but one important question: where did that cute boy go you were travelling with? You should have kept him around!