Today Michelle and I woke up early – 4:30 AM again – so that we could go to Mass at the Missionary Sisters of Charity. We decided to go alone for two reasons – first, we could tell that we had absolutely exhausted Mayadidi running all over Kolkata the past few days. And secondly, we decided that we needed to experience getting around an Indian city on our own, since it was what we were going to be doing for the next two months!
It was raining still when we woke up – it’s annoying being wet, but it’s so much better than being sweaty all the time. We found a taxi within a few minutes, gave him the address for the Motherhouse, and were on our way! We arrived with no problems, and even refused to give him the 30 extra rupees he was trying to charge us. We later learned from Mayadidi that taxi drivers always add 30 rupees when it’s raining, and that he wasn’t doing it just because we were white. Oops.
Mass, along with returning to the Motherhouse itself, was nothing short of incredible. I will never forget the feeling of sitting up the in that room, along with 50 amazing, incredible women, praying and reflecting. Sometimes it’s really difficult for me to relate to Mass at home, and I had really stopped going at college. I’d even slept through Mass the Sunday before I left home. But these prayers had so much more meaning to me, because I knew that all the sisters depended on this time for reflection and prayer to give them strength to go out each day and work among all the suffering and hardship they see. Listening to them sing at one point actually almost brought tears to my eyes. There really aren’t words to describe what it felt like being there, and I hope I carry my new appreciation for silence and contemplative prayer home with me.
Little did I know that in my short, reflective time before Mass began, Michelle had been experiencing Bathroom Adventure Number 3. While I was being all reflective and peaceful and at one with myself and God, Michelle had been exploding three day’s worth of Indian food all over the bathroom in the Missionary Sisters of Charity. After finishing, she once again found herself with no toilet paper. All Indian toilets have a little bucket of water underneath a spigot next to the toilet, because that’s how they clean themselves, so she tried to start using that. It barely made a dent. There was only one option – the rag hanging next to the sink, meant to be used to dry your hands. Michelle had learned her lesson, so she didn’t try to throw this one out the window once she was done with it. Instead, she rinsed it in the sink as best she could, and handed it to the first sister she saw outside the bathroom. “You stupid Westerners,” the sister said. “This always happens. You really need to remember to bring your own toilet paper!”
On a more serious note, after we were done celebrating Mass, we headed downstairs to have breakfast with all the volunteers for the day (even though we weren’t actually staying to volunteer – shh! We figured we’d be doing enough of that for the next 2 months and Mother Theresa would forgive us). Breakfast was chai & bread and it was delicious. It was really awesome to be sitting in the room as all the volunteers – Mother Theresa’s mission has literally drawn volunteers from all corners of the world. It was so inspiring to see that. Before leaving, we gathered together and prayed the Apostulate’s Prayer, which is what a newly professed Missionary Sister of Charity prays before she heads out to her first assignment in some poverty-stricken area of the world. Afterwards, we finished reading the timeline of Mother Theresa’s life and spent some time by her tomb, praying and reflecting. The first time we visited, I really wasn’t impacted by the experience. It sounds bad, but I have never really used Mother Theresa as a role model for myself, and for some reason could never seem to be fully inspired by her. This time I was completely overwhelmed – I don’t know how to describe it, but this time, I “got it.” I felt so at peace with myself and want I want to do with my life, and for the first time, I think I truly see Mother as a role model. I am going to carry the feeling I got sitting by her tomb with me for the rest of my life.
After we left, we walked around the surrounding area a little bit. We kept trying to picture Mother Theresa walking where we walked, seeing what we were seeing. We also decided to pay a visit to a huge Catholic cemetery we’d read about in Lonely Planet just up the road. Lonely Planet described it as a “jungle haven” away from the busy street. That is a lie. It was the creepiest place I have ever seen in my life, complete with unearthed graves, broken tombstones, and huge, gigantic black crows. We decided to peace out when a dog tried to follow us.
We took the BUS home – I know Asim, the bus alone!? Mayadidi has trained us well!! We got on the right bus safely, paid the money collector the right amount, and sat next to each other. Our only error was that we got off the bus a little too soon. Finding a rickshaw to take us back to Maya’s was a little challenging – we ended up sticking our cellphone into his ear, while Maya explained to him over the phone in Bengali where to go. We learned our lesson, and when we get to
The fact that we had been awake since 4:30 AM finally hit us when we were back in our room, and we fell asleep right away. When we woke up, it was 6 PM, and the power was still off. We came outside to find Mayadidi sitting at the kitchen table, looking a little scared. “There is a very alarming situation in Kolkata,” she said, pointing to the pouring rain. As it turned out, a cyclone had hit the city. She reassured us that we would be safe inside, and so we headed into our room with candle and spent some time talking with her some more about her life and all the amazing work that she does. She really is an incredible woman, and I don’t think we’re ever going to be able to thank her enough for sharing her home and her life with us these past few days.
Assuming all goes well with the weather, tomorrow evening we leave on our train to
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