India 2009!

When I woke up this morning it took me a long time to remember that I was halfway around the world in India! Katie and I have been planning this trip for more than six months, but it still blows me away that we are actually here…that we actually did it! We thought that the reality would sink in the moment we stepped on the plane to India, but the truth is that it still hasn’t sunken in. I am sitting here staring out the window at the street below our apartment and it doesn’t seem real. It feels more like I am watching a movie. Lol I guess it will just take some time :)
After we recovered from the shock of waking up halfway around the world, we had breakfast and just played cards until Ms. Maya Karmakar came over to the apartment. We sat down with Maya and planned out a schedule of events for each day until we leave for Allahabad. It was awesome planning with her because she seemed so excited to have us there. We talked a little bit about some things we wanted to do, and then she gave some suggestions of things she had been thinking of. What is amazing is that she took off of work for the whole time we are here. She literally has put her life on hold in order to help us adjust to life in India. We couldn’t have asked for a better person to spend our first week with in India.
While planning with Maya, we decided to go to the volunteer orientation at the Missionaries of Charity and then go shopping for some Indian clothes and other little things we needed to get. We left our apartment and walked across a busy street to get to Maya’s apartment. Maya shared with us some books about the societal issues she has been working on in India. She is very passionate about women’s rights and has devoted her life to improving the lives of women in India. We are so lucky to be spending some time with her because she truly is a great role model for both Katie and I. She has so much experience and is willing to share all of her wisdom with us.
The taxi ride we took from Maya’s apartment to the Missionaries of Charity was truly incredible. It was our first real experience in Kolkata and I don’t even know how to begin to describe what we saw. First of all, there are just people everywhere! Driving is insane because there are no lanes on the road and it is just mass chaos with people swerving in and out. There is also just continual honking—its not like in America. People hear honk all the time to let other vehicles know that they are coming. There are a whole lot of different vehicles on the road as well. Most of the roads are packed full with taxis, buses, motor rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, and a few personal cars. One of the things that really stuck me on our way to the Missionaries of Charity was the level of poverty. We were in the taxi for about forty-five minutes and the whole time I was just staring out the window trying to soak in everything I was seeing. It’s unbelievable and so different than anything I have seen before. The slums they show in Slumdog Millionaire are no exaggeration. There are huge areas all over the city that look just like the slums in the movie. It was so powerful to see this poverty with my own eyes because there was no running away or ignoring. The plight of these people was right before my eyes.
When we arrived at the Missionaries of Charity, I was so excited that I thought I was going to hyperventilate!!! It has been my dream ever since working with the Sisters in Norristown to come to Kolkata and see where Mother Teresa began her work. We went to Shishu Bhavan which is a shelter for children and then attended an orientation for volunteers. It was amazing just talking to some of the other volunteers and finding out that they were from all over the world. I was surrounded by a group of people that like me had been so inspired by the work of Mother Teresa. After the orientation, we walked around the shelter for a little bit and saw some of the children that live there. Shishu Bhavan serves as a shelter for young children that are going to be adopted and also as a shelter for handicapped children. The children were all adorable and full of smiles.
We then walked down the street a little bit and arrived at the Mother House. This is where Mother Teresa lived and worked, and it is also where she is buried. We walked in, took off our shoes, and actually got to stand in front of her tomb and pray. It was such an incredible experience and I couldn’t believe I was actually standing there. I had so much to pray for and be thankful for and I almost starting crying just being in the Mother House. Then we went into an exhibit that was basically a summary of Mother Teresa’s life. It was amazing to read even more about her and see some of her things. The best part in my opinion was actually seeing Mother Teresa’s room—the room where she lived and worked for all those years. It was very small and simple, but it was like you could feel her presence there. It was amazing to walk out of her room and just stare around the Mother House. I was seeing the same things that Mother saw every morning when she woke up and walked out of her room. It was an amazing experience and I am so glad that we got to go there.
After the Mother House, we spent some time looking for clothes and other things we needed to buy in Kolkata. We went to one store that looked a lot like a department store back in the United States but just full of Indian clothes. We also went to a place called Big Bazaar that had everything from clothes to food to medicinals. We found a lot of the things we needed at Big Bazaar and got to meet on of Maya’s nieces, Tandra, and her son. We also had this amazing dessert of frozen mango which was nice after being in the heat for so long.
On the way home from the bazaar, we took a cycle rickshaw and that was an interesting experience as well. It was an amazing day just full of experiences. There is no way to describe Kolkata to someone who has ever been here before. It is jam packed with people and so chaotic, but I think the best way I can try to describe it is to say that it is alive! I felt so alive all day. There is so much noise and so many people and you just feel so alive. Katie made a great point though that she understands now why mediation and yoga are so common in India because you need a break from the chaos and the noise. Meditation allows a small amount of time each day when you feel like you can just settle down and be alone with yourself. I cannot believe that we are having this experience. Both Katie and I are so lucky to be here and experience these things. It has been awesome to just experience Indian culture. We both have been trying to write a lot because there are just so many things that I want to remember and take back with me to share with everyone at home. I feel like I have been in India for a while now, but this was basically our first day here!