India 2009!

Okay first of all, WONDERFUL news!! Katie’s rash is starting to go away. It looks so much better than yesterday and the fact that it is improving has just made both of us more comfortable about the situation. We woke up today and started filling out all the forms to register with the police. It’s not quite so easy to just show up in Allahabad as a foreigner and start living here. We have been filling out all kinds of legal documents.

We talked to Kamal and figured out all kinds of logistical things with her about food and money, etc. She is an amazing woman and she is looking out for us so much. We are very lucky to be renting from her for these next 2 months. The theme of this trip for me and Katie has literally been strong, independent women. Kamal is married, but her husband lives in Delhi for his work. She has such a strong personality and loves hosting all types of foreign people in her home. She also has a servant, Saresh, who helps her with all the housework. Saresh doesn’t really speak English though which is good because it will force me and Katie to learn some Hindi words!

Grace came to pick us up for the day and it was wonderful to finally meet her. She is an amazing woman and she has done a lot of work with women in the trafficking and prostitution field. Grace and Joy’s son took us through Allahabad to make copies of our passports and forms and get some passport pictures taken. We are literally going to have our information all over this city before we leave here. The passport pictures we got taken were very very interesting. Lets just say that the hot and humid weather didn’t help the whole mug shot situation lol. Then we went to the bank and exchanged the money we had so that we could pay Kamal for the rent.

On the way home, we stopped at Joy’s home again and just got to talk and eat with the children. When we walked in, they were singing and dancing and it was just so nice to see them so happy. Ah I am so excited to just start working with them! I know that all of these logistical things are important to figure out but I can’t wait until we can just settle in and start working. Joy also let us use his computer and internet so that we could update the blog for all of you!! We figured it might be a good idea to let everyone know we had reached Allahabad safely. It was so nice to see everyone’s comments on our blog. Just knowing that people are reading it and following us makes us even more exited to share everything. It has been nice to be away from the internet and email and cell phones because it allows us to really live in the present and focus on what is going on here, but we really miss everyone from home. Katie and I were literally glued to the computer screen reading every comment like 5 times—so thank you for giving us a little taste of home! Please keep posting more!!

Joy’s family has just been so amazing and welcoming to us. Grace stood in line with us at the train station in the sweltering heat for an hour so that we could buy our train ticket back to Kolkata for the end of July. And then Joy’s daughter-in-law came and she and her husband took us out for the rest of the day to finish all of our shopping. We finally got our phone activated!!!! So now people can call us directly J Actually, you all really should! Here is our number: 91-969-536-8432! It’s actually really easy to call from a computer using Skype and it’s really cheap – we used $10 the whole semester just calling Joy and Maya and Kamar every now and then to check in from the United States. And it won’t cost us anything if you call us! Indian cellphones are great. After buying the phone, they took us to Big Bazaar to buy all of our food and clothes. Big Bazaar is this huge mall basically in the middle of the city that has everything you could ever want. There is even a McDonalds and a Pizza Hut there. It was weird seeing restaurants and stores that we have back home. We have just been so immersed in this culture that the thought of a Big Mac or a slice of pizza seems so weird…those restaurants may come in handy a few weeks from now though if we are severely homesick J Joy’s son and daughter-in-law were so amazing and patient throughout our whole shopping spree. Katie and I had to buy enough food to live off of for a few weeks and we had all kinds of questions for them about brands and amounts, etc. They are amazing and we must figure out a way to return the favor! We also bought all kinds of cleaning supplies and the essential toilet paper!! Then we went up to the next level and bought some more Indian clothes. We realize that it is just impossible to re-wear clothes because of the weather here and how dirty and sweaty we feel at the end of each day. So we invested in a few more clothes to get us through our time here. And Katie and I have fallen in love with Indian clothes! Like literally, I don’t think I will be able to squeeze myself into a tight pair of jeans ever again. All the clothes here are so comfortable and lightweight and baggy! It’s like heaven on earth for me and Katie!

After our Big Bazaar run, we went back to Kamal’s and Katie passed out! Shopping here is just so exhausting. Partly because it is just so hot, partly because it is the first time that we have to like really shop for ourselves and make sure we buy basic things like oil and sugar, and partly because there are just people everywhere. I think that we are adjusting to that feeling though. The massive amounts of people everywhere is not affecting us as much as it used to which is a good sign! And so begins the journey of Katie McCabe and Michelle Spada cleaning and cooking for themselves for 8 weeks. I know we have many doubters out there, and we will admit we are a little nervous ourselves, but it is exciting! And we still have like 50 protein bars and 100 fruit snacks stashed away in case of an emergency situation J