Just begin...

Some might think that after being back in the States for almost three months now I would be somewhat on my way to being back into my "normal" life style here at home. Well, this is partially true. I have gotten back into the day to day routine of what we call life, and I have been soaking up ever minute of it, or at least trying to. But there hasn't been a day that has gone by where I haven't thought about India; my volunteer friends, the mousi's, the Missionaries of Charity, my little ones at Shishu Bahavan, my friends at Kalighat, the food, and much much more.. When I first got back to the States it was really hard for me to be present to those around me. I was so caught up thinking about India, what I just experienced, and wishing I could go back. I talked to a few of my volunteer friends to see how they were adjusting to being home and one of them told me exactly what I needed to hear (thanks Amelie) "Pam! That doesn't help (wanting to be back everyday)! You are in America, that is your mission, there is only now. God is only in the present." Ever since I had this conversation with Amelie, I have taken what she said to heart and I have been doing everything I can to be present in every moment.

I have found these two quotes by Mother Teresa and they have been my daily reminders to live out my new mission:

"I never look at the masses as my responsibility. I look only at the individual. I can love only one person at a time. I can feed only one person at a time. Just one, one, one. You get closer to Christ by coming closer to each other. As Jesus said,  "Whatever you do to the least of my brethren, you do it to me." So you begin...I begin. I picked up one person--maybe if I didn't pick up that one person I wouldn't have picked up the others. The whole work is only a drop in the ocean. But if we don't put the drop in, the ocean would be one drop less. Same thing for you. Same thing in your family. Some thing in the church where you go. Just begin...one, one, one."

"At the end of our lives, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry and you gave me to eat. I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless and you took me in." Hungry not only for bread - but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing-- but naked of human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks--but homeless because of rejection. This is Christ in distressing disguise."

So the mission is now. Our mission is here. Seeking the face of God in everything, everyone, everywhere, all the time and seeing His hand in every moment. Taking the love with which He has planted in our hearts and sharing it with each soul we come in contact with. One family member. One friend. One coworker. One student. One stranger. One heart at a time. Just one, one, one.

So let's begin.

an ode to india...

(this was written on the plane ride home... hope you enjoy!)

Had you ask me 8 weeks ago
what I thought about this place
I would have looked at you and cried
and with a helpless look upon my face

"what the heck were we thinking?"
is all I could say
"Eight weeks is forever!
 and it is just the beginning of May.."

At first we were hesitant
not quite sure what to do
to the Mother House we went
cause it was the only place we knew.

Overwhelmed by the poop, the trash and the smells
we managed to navigate the crazy busy streets
while avoiding the people who were staring at us
until we reached the place that would bring great peace.

The days moved on quickly
as our routine promptly kicked in
chia tea, bread, and bananas
and unforgettable new missionary friends.

My thoughts surly changed
once we started our work
those adorable, cute faces
were really quite the perk

As time carried on
this place became like home
making memories that would last a life time.
wishing i would never have to leave for Rome.

but the day quickly came
when we had to say "goodbye"
as we hugged and reminisced
with tear filled eyes

I thank you Calcutta
for the time we have gotten to share
my heart has truly grown
while it was under your care.

I cant believe I have been here
it's really quite surreal.
your people are beautiful
your culture so real

I will never forget
what you have taught me
about the beauty of life
and how to just be.

I hope some day soon
our paths will cross again
but until that time comes
take care my good friend.

Home sweet home.

As hard as it is to believe, WE ARE HOME!

I cannot believe that 8 weeks went by that fast. We got home about a week ago and I know that I am still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that yes, I did just spend two months in India. And yes I did just complete something that has been a dream of mine for years. It seems nearly impossible that it has come and gone as fast as it has, but what is done is done. Now it is time to spend the next year or two (or more) decompressing the unique experiences that I was able to have this summer.

I want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for your support and for giving me the opportunity to experience Jesus in the poorest of the poor. Your prayers mean/meant the world to me and I would  not have made it through the summer if it were not for them .

I have plenty of stories and hundreds of pictures that I would love to share with you if you want to see them, just let me know! There will be one more post coming shorty.. I just have to finish putting into words the thoughts that are floating around in my brain.

Thank you again for everything. It truly has been a life changing summer.

(also.. if you havent already you should check out our group blog... especially Allie's most recent post... Moved me to tears.  missionkolkata.blogspot.com)

all good things must come to an end... at some point

Welll , time is coming quickly to an end so in order to give you all one last blog update from India I am going to take the one suggestion that I received and just post a bunch of pictures for you all to see. Just so you all know, I am planning on having at least one more blog update once we arrive back in the states and I have a little time to decompress what just happened in my life.. so stay posted! Enjoy!

1. Crossing things off of my to do list that the wonderful Kylie Maddox made me before I left for this wonderful adventure. One of the thigns to do was to go see a Bollywood movie and I finally saw one this past week. and let me tell you, it is everything that I thought a Bollywood Movie should be. Horrible acting, it was in either Hindi or Bengali so we had no idea what was going on the whole time, and it was LONG. Even though we werent sure what was happening most of the time we were able to catch a joke here or there, and we found the movie to actually be rather humorous because we got to make up the story as we went along! But needless to say we enjoyed experiencing this piece of their culture!

2. My parents are always asking me "so what are you eating there?" So I finally started taking pictures of some of the foods that we eat here in India. There were a couple of places that we just bounced back and forth between eating at and we just recently started being adventurous and trying need street stands. The top two places that we love to eat at: Blue sky Cafe- which is a fantastic restaurant that almost only caters to foreigners. They have every type of food (Chinese, Italian, Indian, breakfast foods, desserts...). Noodles street stand: if you ever want a heeping plate of the greatest noodles you will ever taste (with indian ketchup on top) we have found the place for you. and it is dirt cheap! 17 rupees for one plate of noodles! (thats a whooping 40 cents!)

3. Things that we encounter as we walk the streets of calcutta. First: Public Potty's: this is one thing that i will NOT miss once i am safe and sound back in the States. These are the grossest things I have ever seen. You legitametley have to start holding your breath a good en steps before the potty and continue holding it ten steps after or else you might loose your lunch... Second: hundreds of sleeping people... and this is NOT an exaggeration people. Third: if you have a phobia of getting trampled by a herd  of goats (or possibly other animals) Inida is not the place for you.






4. You never know what might be sleeping in your bed during your stay here in Calcutta. We have had quite some hilarious moments in our room attempting to capture the friends that we find when we wake up or come back from a long day of volunteering. Almost every morning, the first brave soul to enter the bathroom has to battle it out with anywhere between 1-3 cockroaches. Word on the street is the Laura has declared war on the roaches... so no need to be alarmed when you hear loud noises in the morning.. its just Laura dominating the crunchy bugs.The other friendly creatures that we have just started to notice creeping around in our room are these very adorable gecko's. But dont let these precious little things deceive you. We found out from our wonderful door man Gupta (well thats not really his name.. its just what we call him) that these little things are poisonous! (My apologies to Cora, I promise i wasnt trying to kill you when i told you you should try and catch one). Needless to say, we are now on the look out every time we come in our room to see if we see any little things squirming on the walls or across the floor (thanks to laura and the great gecko catcher gutpa we have now caught two of these things in out room)

5. This is a tribute to the greatest sandals I have ever owned

 

.6. Now this is what a call Monsoon wet. (I believe there is a ride at worlds of fun that is named something along the lines of Monsoon? Weel, let me tell you... when you stand on the bridge waiting to get smacked in the face by a gaint wave that is caused by the boat going down the hill... well.. thats how we felt the day of the monsoon)

7. Another check mark added to Kyli's to-do-list! I finally decided it was time to fulfill the promise I had been making to one of the ladies on Sudder street that she could give me a henna! I sat with these wonderful ladies for a god 45 mins as they decorated my foot and the fanned my foot until my henna dried. It is incredible to hear their life stories and what has lead them to be beggars on the streets.

8. Last but not least, Mother Teresa still continues to kick my butt (go figure).

Brain Fart.

Only 6 days left in Calcutta (well India). Only 4 more days left of volunteering (I already miss the kiddos). Only 10 more days until I  am back in the States!! Boy time flies!

I have been wanting to update the blog the past couple of days but I am just flat out of good ideas for a topic! That last post took everything in me i guess. Please comment if there is any certain topic you would like to hear about and I will do my best to come up with a blog post for you!

India's Philosphy of Dung

(WARNING. For all those with weak stomachs. Beware.)

To poop or not to poop?... that is the question. (or is it?)
.
Well folks, the topic you have all been waiting for.  Poop. Feces. Ca-ca. CACA. "the runs". Diarrhea. Whatever you call it in your homes, we've got it. This bodily function (or should i say excretion) has become the center of many conversations here in India. As horrible and disguising as it sounds it is actually very important to keep those around you informed as to how your body is functioning, should we say, outside of the states (for lack of a better term).

Things I wish I would have known before coming to Inida: That poop only comes in two forms here: explosive diarrhea or unsatisfying constipated turd. If i could put into words, the pain we go through daily bouncing back and forth between relaxation and the constant need to run to the bathroom, I would. But what can you do. Through these traumatic experiences we have all come to know each other, i am sure, more than we ever thought and or wanted to know about each other.

Needless to say, we are a longing for the day when we reach the states and we can experience once again a normal bathroom experience, where we leave satisfied, and not feeling like there is something stilll stuck in our intestines or that we will only be back in the same position in less than thirty mins.

To all of those who were scarred by this post, I am sorry from the bottom (no pun intended) of my little heart. But this is our reality. And im very glad you all are just reading about this (or at least hopefully) and not experiencing.

To all of those bathrooms and or squat-a-potties out there. Thank you. For putting with our "stuff".

(Let's be real. (as if I havent already been real enough.) I have been debating whether or not to post this certain blog.... and well if you are reading this I guess I decided to... but let me know what you think? slash if i should delete? this blog blog is one big, poopy mess. thanks for putting up with it. k bye)

(slash Allie and I might have almost died (of laughter) SEVERAL times during the creation of the worlds greatest blog post....)

MONSOON.

That is correct ladies and gentlemen! Monsoon season slapped Calcutta in the face today! It started yesterday with a horrible dirzzly rainy day all day and came with a bang today. We woke up this morning and it was just like any ole rainy day back in Kansas, not to hard but not light enough to call a drizzle, but as the day went on it only picked up. All throughout the day at Shishu Bhavan the volunteers just kept peaking out the window, thinking we were going to miss some huge part of what they call monsoon season or something i guess, in awe of the amount of rain that just kept falling from the sky. I am here to tell you, and I am sorry for all of you who think this is an exaggeration but it is not, that monsoon rain is exactly what you would picture monsoon rain looking like except ten times more. The rain that we have been watching (or should i say treading) through all day I swear only happens every once in a blue moon back in the states.

When it came time to leave Shishu Bhavan today, I was trying to decided on my way down the stairs whether or not I should tr and find an auto rickshaw to bring me back to Sudder street. But that is the farthest that thought got in my head, because the minute I walked outside I was soaked head to toe in water and decided getting a rickshaw was pointless because I was already soaked. So I began the 20 mins journey back to Sudder streeet. It wasnt that bad, for the first 20 feet of walking, a puddle here, a puddle there (and when I say puddle... I mean like 3-5 inch deep puddles) then all of a sudden the water was half way up my shins. By the time I got to the road I had to turn on to go to sudder street I was walking knee deep in water. The water continued to be at least knee deep and even at some points reaching mid thigh all the way back to our hotel.

I cannot even begin to describe in words what the streets of Calcutta look like during Monsoon season. You have taxi and rickshaws that are staled in the middle of roads because water is coming up higher than the engine. You have rivers of water flowing down every street with a nice layer of trash and sewage floating on the top. The streets are so dirty and the water is filled with so much trash and human and animal feces that you cannot see your feet through the water. I must say, that the whole time I was wading through this water, just trying to get home, it took most of my energy to keep my mind of how disgusting the water I was walking in really was, but even more so, what was in the water that was making it so gross. Every time I felt something wrap around my ankle in the water I just told myself in was only a plastic bag (and then I closed my eyes and started praying that ALL it was was a paper bag). There was thoughts of "oh my gosh, I can only imagine what diseases I am catching as I walk through this water" and "I cannot wait to get to my shower".

As horrible as I just made that who adventure sound, you will probably never believe me when I tell you that it was actually really fun to wad through the water. I mean lets be real, not very often do you have a chance to tread through knee deep water in your clothes, more or less through the streets of Calcutta or any street for that matter. (and I must say, to all my camp adventure friends out there: wading through that waist deep, leech infested creek at camp is going to need a little extra spunk in order to be called an adventure after experiencing wading through these monsoon flooded streets!)

Well, I think that is all that I have for you all now. I did have a picture that I wanted to post on here but 1. i forgot my camera. 2. it is probably better that I dont risk carrying it around... you never know how deep the water may get here and i dont want to ruin my camera!

(i decided to find the most realistic pictures I could on google for now, just so you all could have some picture in your mind of what I am talking about... real pictures to come soon!!)

( I am not even joking... kids were doing this in the streeets ALL over the place... Monsoon season = public swimming pool as made it to Calcutta.

(this is what the rain looks like. slash. EVERYONE carries an umbrella. everyone. One of the biggest dangers during monsoon season is getting your eye poked out by someones umbrella...)

(the most dedicated people in Calcutta... bicycle and man pulled rickshaw drivers. No matter how deep or how hard it is raining... the will still pull you on their rickshaw... but dont be deceived... they will charge you literally 100 times more than you should.. i asked a rickshaw driver how much it would cost to get to sudder street.. he said 500 rupees... normally it is 5...)

 Also..  Rule #354 for Monsoon season (this rule is normally only learned by experience...) do NOT walk on busy streets during monsoon season. Use the sidewalk. Or else you WILL get hit with a tidal wave of water....

I hope you enjoyed this post! I waded through knee deep water to get here just to create this post for you all!
Here;s to trying to stay dry! HAHA! NOT!

stop. and listen.

Well. What a crazy last 36 hours it has been over here on the other side of the world.
Yesterday morning I woke up around 4:45 with the chills rally badly (to the point where I searched until i found an extra sheet to cover up with... and this NEVER happens in Inida). The chills in India can only mean one thing - a fever. So after grabbing a blanket I grabbed the thermometer and took my temp. To my surprise I had a temperature of 102.5. I informed my friends before they left for volunteering that i would not be joining them that day. They all left for mass and i feel back asleep, to only be woken up three hours later (at 830am) by Cora saying "I talked to Sr. Mercy Maria, she thinks we need to go get blood work done" In my half-awake brain i thought to myself "is she really being serious?". and to my surprise, she was. So I slowly woke up, and tried to wrap my mind around the fact that I actually might be sicker than I think. I sat there for a while trying to figure out how i should tell my parents what was going on, and well, the only way to tell them was to just tell them. So i called my parents and let them know about the fever, and the fact that we were going to go to the doctors to make sure everything was okay.
We got to the doctors, and unfortunately I was a little dehydrated so i was not able to pee in the cup for them... hahaha. Then we went back to the patient room and we got ready to give some blood. I warned Cora before hand about how i fainted getting my shots to come here, so we immediate asked the doctor if it was okay for me to lay down and give the blood. In the end it was a very good thing that i was laying down, becuase with being sick and already having some dizziness before hand, it took me a good 10 mins before i was able to sit up without the room feeling like it was spinning. We left the doctors and later that night received the results and to my grateful little heart the results all came back negative... no malaria, dengue fever, typhoid or polio. And today the fever is mostly gone, just hovering around the low 99's/.

I was chatting with one of my favorite volunteer friends, Ebony from Australia, last night. And as I was complaining about having to stay home another day and be bored out of my mind she goes "Maybe, God is trying to tell you to slow down and take a break. Maybe He wants to tell you something." So i am going to take that wonderful peice of advice from Ebony and spend today listening to what God might be trying to tell me.

HOLIDAY

Well, today you all are going to get an update of some of the monumental things that have happened in the past week!! Here we go!!

1. Tea time at Shishu Bhavan. This time is normally just a relaxing quite time and nothing really happens. Small conversations and maybe some laughter. But all of that has changed this past week. The Masi's have started trying to talk to us and have conversations with us, so this always leads to an interesting and very funny break time. One particular break this past week left me and one of the other volunteers, Caro, in tears. It probably will not sound funny to you all via a blog update (but i am going to tell the story on here anyways) but make sure i tell you the story when i get home!
Tea time started just like normal.. everyone crowding into our little stair well. volunteers first, and then everytime a Masi wants up the stairs we have to part the way so that they can get up. One particular Masi, as she was coming up the stairs, accidentally hit her hand on the railing and her chai went flying everywhere. (this is when me and Caro started dying). She said something in Hindi that we didnt understand, but in our heads it was hilarious. She left to go get a rag to clean up the mess, but in the mean time another younger Masi is trying to get up the stairs. Caro and I tried to warn her about the tea in the ground, and in doing this we got the attention of some of the Masi up above us. One of the Masi looked down, and again in another language, started speaking very loudly to this young masi. *Side note, me and Caro were creating our own diolague for this whole situations since we could not understand a word that they were saying... this is why it was SO hilarious to us* young Masi tells the older one that it was not here who spilled the tea, and then both of those masi start to laugh as well. With tears streaming down our faces at this point, and barley able to catch out breath, Caro and I look up to see that the masi who had spilled the chai tea has return and is cleaning up the mess, while yellng at one of the masi sitting at the top of the steps. We figure that the Masi were making fun of her for spilling the tea. All in all, I seriously dont think I have laughed that hard in my entire life. Needless to say, it was a grear break time and we ended up bonding with the Masi's that day via our ridiculous laughing fit.

2. I love my volunteer friends. This past weds we had a volunteer party to say goodbye to some of the long tern volunteers who would be leaving within the next week. We met at the hotel  right across the street and had some drinks on the roof and just chatted with each other. It was a blast! There was an older guy from Britain who i think on his own drank a whole bottle of whisky and dicided to give all of the volunteers on the roof a little concert of his own. He started singing along while one of the volunteers played the guitar. The best part was he wasnt singing a song that anyone knew.. he was making the song up as he went. I believe it was called "the Sudder street blues". HILARIOUS. my friend Cora and I were on the floor laughing. We left the roof of the hotel around 1130 pm and headed to and Indian dance club with a group of the volunteers (shout out to Kyli Maddox! I never thought I would cross this one off of your to do list!) the night club was a blast!! We left the dance club at 100 and headed back to the hotel.

3. That leads me to my next thought. The streets of Calcutta at night. I thought that the streets of Calcutta were peaceful and my favorite place at 530 am.... well that has now changed. Walking back to the hotel the other night at 1am was the most peaceful thing i have experience in Calcutta. IT literally felt like we were in a different world. There was not a car on the road, not a car horn to be heard for miles. No people walking up to us asking us if we wanted henna, gum, or to but some stupid flute from them. There was no one. The few poeple that were awake were sitting on their "beds" or should I say their piece of cardboard, jsut waiting for sleep to take over their bodies. We walked past hundreds of people peacefully sleeping under the street lights. Hmm. give my a few more days to decompress this experience and i am sure i will be able to put it all into words a little better.

4. AIR CONDITIONING! MY friends Grier, Elizabeth and Ebony who live next door to us have just recently gotten air conditioning in their room and OH MY GOSH. I have never been so thankful for having an air conditioned home back in the states. Being in their room was the first time that I felt good air conditioning for a VERY long time! Let's just say i got the goosebumps and didnt know what to do. (i think we might be treating ourselves to some air conditioning before we peace out of the beautiful humid place)

5. INDIAN FRIENDS. This might be my favorite thing about being in India, is becoming friends with people who live here. I mentioned these  people in one of my earlier post, Vivek and Bikash (they were our tour guides when we went to the rain forrest) This past Thursday, aka our holiday, Me, Cora, and FIona met up with Bikash and and he took us to his house which is in west Bengal (outside of Calcutta, in the country) it was the best day i have had since arriving to India. It was so fun to get to see where he lived, meet his family members, and just hang out away from the city. We literally just hung out all day. Cora and I just kept looking at each other and saying "this is our reality" "we are in india" it was one of those moments where I couldnt believe i was actually in India. IT was just a laid back day, and it felt lke i could have been home in Kansas hanging out at someones house. While we were at his house, Bikash sister taugh the three of us how to make out favorite Indian meal. IT WAS DELICIOUS! (lets just say we FEASTED)

WEll my camera just died, so i guess that is all of the pictures you will get for now! the first picture is a picture of Fiona and I cutting up the unions and the potatoes. The next picture is all of us learning how to roll out the dough to make the rotti. The picture on the far left is Bikash entertaining all of us. and the last picture is a picture of our delicious home made meal!!

Here's to more adventures! only 20 days left here in Calcutta! (it is going by so fast!)

A day in the life of a missionary..

At my mom's request, she has asked me to put up a blog entry similar to one that my friend Laura has posted on our group blog. It will just be a simple post, but it will walk you through what my day to day routine is like! Prepare yourself...


4:50am: Just barely after the sun comes up, I roll over in disbelief wondering how it could possibly already be time for my alarm to be going off. It takes a few mins for reality to hit that yet  another day has just begun. I get out of bed, half sleep walking, and start to prepare myself for the day. The biggest thing to remember in the morning is to not brush your teeth with the tap water... or if you are doing your laundry... dont accidentally throw your last clean pair of underwear in the laundry bucket...(lets just say that leads to a very interesting day... or should i say morning..)

0520: We begin our 20 min walk to the Mother House as the streets of Calcutta are just waking up (and so are we)  This is my favorite time of the day. It is the most peaceful time (well that I will be awake to experience) in the streets of Calcutta. As we make our morning journey, we tip-toe past hundreds of people (of all ages) sleeping everywhere: on top of taxis, rickshaws, on the sidewalks. We watch people brush their teeth and spit into the gutter, there are always lines of people at the public bath tub, and groups of  goats standing on the meat market street that we always wonder whether or not they will be there on our journey home... The walk is always full of smells but luckily it is not too bad the heat has not had a chance to release the wonderful aromas that come form human feces, trash, meat, and dead animals.

0545: arrive at Motherhouse. Quietly walk in, and greet the sister sitting at the front door. We make our way up to the chapel, always remembering to take our shoes off before entering the chapel. The chapel slowly fills up with sisters, novices, volunteers, and locals. The the best part of the day begins. Mass.

0700: After mass the volunteers are herded to the volunteers room downstairs. This is the one place in the Mother house where we are allowed to talk... and let me tell you.. with anywhere between 30 - 80 volunteers everyday, we can end up being a very rowdy bunch. We eat breakfast with all of our fellow volunteer friends which consists of a very delicious glass of chai, a piece of white bread, and a mini banana. The banana is a bit longer and a bit thicker than a man's thumb (sometimes we are lucky and we get normal bananas!)

0730: pray and go with the Missionary's blessing to your respective destinations. Shishu Bhavan is only about 5 blocks from the Mother House, so unlike most of the volunteers who either have at least a 30 mins walk or very long bus rides and have to leave right away, I hang back and help the sisters clean up the volunteer room if they need it. Eventually our small group heads out to Shishu Bhavan to spend the morning with the kids we love and adore.

0800: Once at Shishu Bhavan, we go upstairs and wait outside the room until the sisters arrive. Once the sisters come, we pray with them again and then our day begins. As soon as we go in the room we put our belongings in the volunteers cabinet and then go put on our aprons (which is a must unless you want your clothes to be covered by every type of body fluid, food, or vomit). As soon as you walk in the room the kids faces light up and they are ready to play. For the ones who are not already awake, it is the cutest thing to be able to go pick them up and cuddle with them until they are.

8:15 After the sisters have gotten settled in for the day we line up all of the kiddos and we pray with them. One of the novices leads the prayer and all of the children echo after her (it is the cutest thing ever... i will be getting video of this on my last day).

8:20After prayer we bring the kids together and we have about 10 mins of meditation time. During this time the lights are turned out, clam music is played, and it is our job to make sure these little goobers sit quietly for 10 mins (and depending on which kiddo you have that day for meditation, this could be a huge challenge). After meditation time we say hello to all of the kids and sing this adorable song "(insert child's name here) is so wonderful, (insert child's name here) is so wonderful, (insert child's name here) is so wonderful, so wonderful la!" It is the cutest thing to watch each childs face just light up as the here you singing there name. Precious.

8:30 After mediation time we move all of the kids to the tile floor and we give them all of drink of water. *important note that all of you should know so I don't have to say it every time I mention food... a good majority of these kids are blind and or have trouble swallowing... so when it comes to eating and or drinking... this becomes a very challenging task*

9:00 After water, we move into exercise/play time for the younger ones and class time for the older ones. When working with the little ones this is mainly a time to make sure that they are moving and that their muscles are getting some excerise. A lot of these kisd are not able to walk and I am a firm believer that it is because they did not have proper care when they were younger. So having the chance to help them strngthen their legs is only going to help them in the ong run learn how to walk. When working with the older kids at this time, we are teaching then their alphebet (aka... ABDC... nothing more than that), numbers (1,2,3) and colors (blue, red, yellow, and green) After an hour and a half of class/playtime it is time for break and we give the kids either some chi tea or juice.

10:30Once all of the kids have had their tea, it is time for the volunters and Masi's to have their chi break. (one of my favorite parts of the day).

10:45After break we come back and help feed them lunch (which is a very long and messy process).

11:30Once everyone has eaten, we clean them up, change their close and put them down for a nap. As we leave for the day the kids always blow us kisses. (we are normally heading home around 1130-12)

The afternoons are filled with eating, emailing, blogging, reading, praying, and most importantly, napping.

0500: walk to the Motherhouse for adoration and a communal rosary. This is one of the best parts of the day because it gives you a great time to reflect on the day.The only bad part about this time of day is the streets are very crowded with traffic. WE are always dogging left and right rickshaws, taxis, motorcycles and bike riders. IT is always a relief when we finally make it to the Mother House.

0700: eat dinner which consists of either eating at a noodles street stand (which is only 17 ruppes for a whole meal... in american dollars... that is less than 50 cents), or some other cheap Indian restaurant, or the very famous Blue sky Cafe which is a restaurant with every tyype of food, hello french fried and grilled cheese!

8:00-9:30 back at the room and getting ready for bed!

10:00: lights out!

Blog entry soon to come about our most recent adventure on our day off! Yeah for having Indian friends who invite us to their house in the country!!

What a wonderful day! Today we got to celebrate the birthday of one of the children in our room at Shishu Bhavan! Because of this joyous occasion the Sister allowed us to take pictures of the kids during the birthday party! (we are planning on developing a good chunk of the picture that we took so that they can decorate the room with updated pictures of the kiddos). So here is a little sneak peek for you all of the little (well some of them big) bundles of joy that I get to play with every day! I am not going to go into much detail about each kid in this post, this is just to give you all a little glimps of the goofballs so when i mention then in future posts you can have some faces to names! Enjoy!

Ryah the birthday girl!  With all of her goodies!! Let me tell you, the Sisters (and Masi's) know how to throw a good party!

  Oh my goodness. This one is a heart breaker! Ronit (or pronounced Rony). Every day when we walk into the room this kid just lights up with the biggest smile. You can never have a bad day when Rony is around. Such a huge heart and a contagious bundle of joy. (yes, i want to bring him home with me. He is the one that I spend countless hours laughing with every day! BAH!)

Andeep. Love this kid. 

Mita! Possibly the cutest kid of them all. Mita is blind (she has no eyes) and she has the biggest personality. This girl is like a human stretchy band. She can model herself into any shape (aka she can cross her legs behind her head). She likes to do head stands as well! She is also one of the best cuddlers around! Mita is my girl when it has been a long day. We just sit and hum songs together. 

Amrit. He is the cutest trouble maker you will ever see. Cant ever take your eye off of him.

Oh Rinku. Rinku is 15 years old. And most of the time.. she acts like a 15 year old. She thinks she can get whatever she wants. She also has a huge heart and everyday when I walk in and say good morning to her, she grabs my hand and give me a kiss. And everyday and we pass by her bed to leave, she blows us kisses. 

Love me some Masi's. It is great getting to know these women and actually laugh with them. Even though half the time it looks like they are mad at the world or the kids, they really do deep down inside love the crap out of these kids and would do anything for them.

 

I hope you all enjoyed this sneak peek of my new friends! 

I hope all is going well in your lives! It gets pretty lonely sometimes over here on the other side of the world! If you have free time I would love to hear how things are going in your life! (shoot me an email!)

this is my reality.

HOLY SMOKES. what a week. WE are on the verge of completing our second week here in Calcutta which feels UNREAL. I cannot believe I have been living here for 2 weeks and that our adventures are almost a third of the way over. :( but enough of the depressing stuff. I have lots to tell you all about!

Two HUGE events occurred this past week that I have been dying to tell you all about!

1. FINAL VOWS. That is right folks! This past week was a busy week for the Missionaries of Charity. Monday evening about 15 sisters made their first vows, and Tuesday even 26 sisters made their final vows! Praise the Lord for religious vocations! But the best part about this, well not really but it is still exciting, is the fact that the sisters invited all of the volunteers to come to participate in the mass for the sisters taking their final vows! Side note before continuing. They wanted to invite us to come see the first vows, but that special event was happening in the chapel at the Mother House and like it should be Sister Mercy Marie explained it very simply and well why were not invited to that ceremony because "The family's of the sisters making first vows get first choice of seats in the chapel. They are the ones giving up their daughters to the Lord." I dont think any one was hurt by the fact that we weren't invited after hearing that. BUT. Tuesday evening we went to the church where the final vows were taking place and the church was PACKED. 26 sisters making vows means 26 families, plus over 100 other missionaries of charity, plus locals and volunteers. It was a beautiful mass, and an experience I will never forget watching these sisters give their lives completely to the Lord.

2. RAIN FORREST. We took our first real adventure and we traveled to the Sundraban Tiger Reserve. I think we took every type of transportation possible to get there except for a plane. We took a taxi to the train station, rode a train for an hour and a half, then a jeep ride for an hour and a half (half of the group had to ride on the top of the jeep), then a ferry ride for 20 mins, and a bicycle rickshaw for 40 mins. It may sound miserable, but it was a blast! WE had so much fun watching the scenery around us change from smelly, polluted, crowded city to the wide open, non polluted, beautiful country/rain forest. The trip was lead by some hilarious young India guys (Vivek, Vikas, and Eugene) Shout out to my brother Andrew McGown, I found your indian twin on this trip. Vikas (whom we called Twinkle) plays the guitar like no ones buisness and the whole trip we just had sing along time, singing the greatest songs. I had high hope that we would be spending the night sleeping in a hut made of hay, but praise the Lord that was not the case. Because we were in the country, where pollution dosent hide the sun it was hella hot. WE could feel the sun baking our skin. So we were thankful for the hotel rooms that were provided for us with fans in them. The night we arrived in the jungle we got a tour of the village and then just had a chill night listening to Twinkle serenade us on his guitar.The next morning we woke up bright and early and headed to the dock. We boarded the boat (on which we spent 7 hours touring the jungle) and began out adventure looking for tours. Unfortuantely no  tigers were spotted on this adventure, BUT WE DID SEE A MONKEY! All in all it was a great trip and lots of great memories and stories were made. Here's the the incredible tan lines we received and the countless laughs that were laughed on that trip.

Shout out to the camp crew as they are all getting ready to head to Williamsburg for staff training. Wishing I was joining you all for another unforgettable summer. Praying for you all!

Week ONE

We have survived our first week here in Calcutta! What a relief! I cannot believe we have already been here one week. I have a terrible feeling that this adventure is going to start flying before my eyes.I thought I would put on this blog the few creeper pictures I have snapped along some of our walks to the Mother House. REason being why there havent been many pictures those far is becasue ITS AWKWARD to take the pictures. I mean imagin this... you are sitting outside the shop you own, or sitting on the side of the street begging for your daily food or money... how would you feel if some crazy foreigner snapped a picture of you?  Yep, that is why the pictures are at a minimum now. I will work on my stealthy creepiness some more, but I hope that these photos will do for now.

FRIDAY - This past Friday we went on our first real adventure in Calcutta. One of our volunteer friends, Geer, had a birthday on Friday so we got a group of people together and ventured to Kalighat to this South India restaurant. In order to get to this restaurant we had to take the metro (shout out to Allison Sutton.. metro's in India ARE NOT like the metro's that we loved in DC) WE were packed in like sardines for a 10 min metro ride to Kalighat. Boy did that mess with this claustrophobic one... This is a picture of my first actual India meal here in Calcutta, and I must say. IT WAS DELICIOUS.

This is a picure of the one and only tomb of Blessed Mother Teresa! Everyday they decorate the top of it with flower pedals (normally making it say a phrase or something like "only all for Jesus"), but today it is decorated with the number 25 on it because yesterday two sister celebrated their silver Jubilee. 25 years as a missionary of Charity! What incredibly holy women.The sisters definitely know how to party when events like this occur. (I have video of some of the festivities) but the novice sisters (there are like 50 of them here) put on a dace right after mass for the two sisters and then all the sisters sang this really sweet Jubilee song. Many prayers are being prayed next to this tomb for all of you.

This next picture I like to call "peace within  chaos". The streets of Calcutta are so crazy ALL the time. I mentioned in a previews post the honking that occurs, but the traffic is ridiculous. I think a lot of people from the states would end up getting killed on the streets here because we are so used to pedestrians having the right of way. Well, that does not happen here. I cannot tell you how many times we have pulled each other out from in front of on coming taxis or motorcycles. They will get as close as the possible can without hitting you. As chaotic as it sounds, it is very organized chaos. There are no such things are driving lanes, and I am very surprised we have not seen any collisions while we have been here. The reason I named this picture that title is because this is one thing that I cannot wrap my mind around. EVERYWHERE we go we see people sleeping on the streets. Every morning when we walk to the mother house (5:30 am) we see families and children sleeping on cardboard boxes and under tarps. I cannot wrap my mind around how the feel safe when the are sleeping right there. I try and think what it would be like in the states to just plop myself down in the side of a busy street and sleep. (I dont even know what to think). Anyways... this is something that I will struggle with the whole trip I am sure. But sweet dreams my friend. You are one brave soul, who can find peace in the middle of chaos.

TRASH EVERY WHERE. I am sure I have talked about this already but, man it is disgusting. Along with the nasty smell of trash, we always get a wiff here and there of the bodily fluids that people release right there on the curb. I think the one thing that I will never get used to is the smell of urine and poop all the time. I mean, I smell in on the streets as I am walking places and I smell it all day when working at Shish Bahvan.. I mean I think my clothes permanently smell like pee from the number of times I have been peed on...

 

Not much more to update you all on. I: bought my first Indian outfit the other day from a really great street shop owner who started playing John Mayer in his shop while I was there. Needless to say I will be buying all of my clothes from him...Our two fellow travelers will be joining us here on Weds and I am super excited for them to finally be here! I hope everyone is doing well at home!  Would love to be kept update on your lives!

Survival Guide 101

I think the blog post might be frequent here at the beginning, but once the whole crew arrives (Laura and Ally get in next weds) we will be more busy with travels and adventures :) But for now I am going to enjoy having the time to fill you in on life here in Kolkata.

First item on the survival guide... housing.
Trying to find a place to live for the next 7 weeks, that doesn't have bed bugs, and will not roast us alive has been quite the adventure.Ill walk you through our stressfull, yet very informative adventure.


Hotel #1... Hotel Maria (aka the Shit Hole)
WE thought that Hotel Maria was quite a catch.
There was a fan, a toliet, and A SHOWER!
We each had our won bed and we were also given little pillows.
We were informed that almost all of the rooms in Hotel Maria had bed bugs so we were a little worried at first. We check out beds, and never saw a bug.. or got bitten. Despite the fact that we had a fan, the nights were hot and we woke up every morning sticky and sweaty. You as soon to see why we have named hotel maria what we did once you see the next home that we moved into.

Hotel #2 - Galaxy Hotel (2 person bedroom with extra mattress on floor) (aka "light at the end of the tunnel")

When we first walked into this room at Hotel Galaxy, we were for sure we would survive this summer. The bathroom was huge, and it was so much cleaner. The only down side was, bad air curruclation. Being the only girl, I was the one sleeping on the floor on the "Extra mattress" and it was like sleeping in a furnace. I did not sleep much the past 2 nights, woke up so sweaty I had to change my shirt. But, we were thankful to be out of the bug infested Hotel Maria, so I was willing to suck it up.


Hotel #3 - Hotel Galaxy (4 person room) (aka "Heaven on Earth", "Home sweet home")
That is right!! 3 times a charm!! We found the place that will be home for the next 6.5 weeks. Do not judge us by the looks of the room. It looks like a paradise, and it feels like it too. But we are still living at the bottom quality, and barely staying in our budget. WE do not have air conditioning, only ceiling fans, which are life savers. So the survival guide tip, dont stop searching until you have lived in a shit hole, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and then finally made it to the light and can call that place home... for now.

Other random thoughts/discoveries:
1. If getting honked at in India meant that you looked good... well I would look pretty damn good. But alas, the people here just love to honk their horns whenever they can get a chance.. and I mean, even when it is unnecessary...(maybe that is when they are honking because I look so good :) )
2. I wish I was European... Sometimes. The number of single, brave Europeans that I have met is out outrageous. These  people just decide to take months.. sometimes even years and travel the world. They claim they are trying to find themselves, I say why do you have to travel the world to do that? BUt hey, its a good excuse right?!

Exciting event of the post:
Thursdays are days off for the sisters, so that means it is a day off for the volunteers as well. But on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, the sisters have put together a trip for the volunteers who want to, to go visit the brothers who run the leper colony. So you guessed it! Today we went with a bus load of volunteers and got to go visit the Lepers. One thing that really got me thinking when we got there was when out tour guide was giving his introduction, he kept mentioning how Jesus ate with, hung out, and loved the lepers, and how blessed we are to be able to participate in an event that Jesus loved doing over 2000 years ago. I couldnt stop thinking all day what a special experience this was, to be able to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, that not many people get a chance to do. I had a great time at the colony today. It was pretty much a tour of the facilities, but we were able to go into the rooms where the patience were and greet them. The joy that radiated from these people who are suffering so much, was more than contagious. I am hoping to be able to go back to the leper colony one more time, even if we only get to interact with the people for a spit second, I would do it again in a heart beat to experience their joy.

This was a long post! I must apologize, but I dont see them getting any shorter in the future :)
The rest of your crew arrives next weds! I am more than excited to have some fellow female travelers around.

Until then! We are keeping our fingers crossed that monsoon season holds off until they arrive! WE had our first rain today. It wasnt that bad, but I have heard that Monsoon season is soon approaching! EEK!

Peace, love, and prayers from Kolkata.
(a little side note, I dont want people to be getting their hopes up for cute pictures of the adorable kids I work with anytime soon. The sisters have a rule that no pictures are allowed until your last day of volunteering. SO here's to saving all the memory I can on my memory stick so I can try and capture these priceless, joyfilled smiles in one day!)