I do apologize for the late blog, bouncing around from city to city and having bad internet connection now that I am not in Calcutta and organizing our happenings in India takes time! :) But on to more exciting moments and stories of the first weeks here in India.
First, did anyone know that there are more dogs than cows in India? Who ever told me about all the stray dogs in India? I must say that was a bigger shocker than any stray cow wondering down the street in the middle of traffic, maybe because I expected that.
Surprise Number 1: Everywhere you go feels like the dog pound or the humane society, there are so many stray dogs and cats you really got to watch your step.
Surprise Number 2: Asking for directions can feel like a board game gone wrong. Your trying to get to your finally destination by the many confusing clues left along the way.....deciphering them is a mind trip.
First, I have to admit I agree with my friend Mariah who went to India this past summer and told me that India is one of the safest places she has traveled too. I 100% agree. Maybe that is surprise number 3 for a lot of people. I didn't doubt that India would be a friendly place because it is all a matter of perspective, each person's has a different perspective. Of course, right? For example.....
The second day we were in India the three of us tried to find Mother Teresa's homes on our own to register to volunteer. I was determined to find it, and I wanted to walk around and see more of the city. We made our way dogging, dogs, baggers, poop, vendors, and every kind of movable object through the city to the street where - what is known in Calcutta as - the 'Mother House'. It was quite an epic walk, trying to figure out what streets we were on in the hot and sticky weather through what I like to call chaotic function - an insane amount of jostling commotion that all seems to work out. Ok, so we are on the right street right....so where is the Mother House? Let's ask....After 20 times of walking up and down the same 3 block radius, asking maybe 10 different people probably getting 9 different answers, and an hour later, we were probably as confused as we had ever been. Picking through the clues in all the answers and looking at the map we decided on a direction and start walking. 10 minutes into the walk I had an ah! moment and realized that I was the one looking at the map wrong and lead us to the wrong side of the street. Unbelievable, my most frustrating moment in India I created! How ironic?! All that to say we made it almost 2 hours late...Indian style and couldn't resister but not to worry you can still volunteer anyway.
Onward to the 'Mother Homes', I don't think I have ever seen so many volunteers in one spot. The first day was like a big - again chaotic function - of feeding, washing, cleaning, reading, drawing, playing, and dancing with kids, volunteers and sisters. I felt like I was getting in the way, talk about not what I expected. But what a wonderful feeling!!! There are so many people willing to help the poor, right?! My hat definitely goes off to the sisters that live and work there day in day out, they are the true heroines. My heart also wonders to the millions of children that are out on the streets who have no home to go to unlike these 60 kids. It is like an amazing blip in the overall situation. I need to remind myself....you do what you can and that is all you can do. I can't save every child of Calcutta. It is a very tide rope....a fine lane between being overly depressed over people's situations and numb cold to everyone. Gone down the depression road -not fun-...and don't really want to be numb, so I struggle to find the median.
Interlude - there are several Mother Homes and you can change it up if you want.
Now the adult home was the same set up but a little different. Here I felt like I was of more use and was told what to do instead of searching for a sister to ask her how I can help. Like the kids the adults are either extremely physically or mentally handicapped, and more so with the adults than the kids are wounds that need to be dressed. Huge sores from knee to ankle exposing the muscle...or was that muscle? Head bumps that I have never seen before and the pleasant surprise of incontinent bowels, but you can also never forget all the lovely smiles, laughs, and gestures. Prem Dhan (the adult home) was really a gift giving experience. The simplicity of walking a pocket 6 flights of stairs to bring laundry to the roof to dry, or messaging lotion on the ladies hands and feet, to feeding them and putting them to bed. Simple things that I can do for others makes me feel human again, while connecting with others from the other side of the world.
"The Flower Market"
A big part of this trip has been 'positive thinking', or serendipitous moments, or whatever word you want to describe the moments where you have the right intentions and something works out.....destiny maybe? Anyway this is just one story of many out of our trip so far. After Christina's poor back injury that left her to rest, Christie and I decided we wanted to visit the flower market in Calcutta. A place we heard that was quite spectacular. According to the map it was not in walking distance and not near the metro. Taxi would be expensive and the bus system...a wonderful experience but dear lord 'chaotic function' times 10. So, we leave our hotel, me not having a clue how to get there, and out of nowhere one of the chai wallah's on the corner of our street whom I was starting to befriend jumped out onto the street and started talking to us asking us where we were going. "The flower market?" We both said with confidence, and then he asked if he could take us there! I was laughing inside, and thinking of course!! Our adventure turned into a personal tour guide of small crowded flower market, but with our guide we had a boat ride over the hooghly river and tea on the side of the road. Christie and I would have NEVER been able to find it in that amount of time, especially before it got dark. This is one of the many reasons why I feel like India is one of the safest places I have traveled to.....
