Day 4 - Exploring Calcutta

Well, last night was an eventful night! Full of "wonderful" sounds and mosquitos! Jane and I got a nice video clip that we think you'll enjoy, but I can't seem to fit my USB thingy into the computer that I'm at right now - we're at an internet cafe. So in our first full day in Calcutta, we took a taxi out to Freeset, an amazing organization that is helping women in or at the fringes of entering the prostitution and sex trade by providing jobs and training. It is an amazing organization - we spent much of the day with the founder, touring their factory, meeting the women, seeing their work, and learning the story of the organization. Anyhow, please visit www.freesetglobal.com to learn more (they will be launching a new website shortly so check back again!).

The couple who founded this organization 8-9 years ago are from New Zealand. They moved their family of 5, and at the time pretty young children, to Calcutta. The founder came out to meet us by the subway stop that the taxi dropped us off at. It was so neat to see how the family has really become part of this community. The people know them, and they know the people. Really, really neat scene.

Afterwards, we went down into the underground and got a taste of the subway/metro system. We wanted to register and attend an orientation so that we could volunteer at Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity organization on Tuesday. So, we arrive, and a sister is standing outside with some other foreigners and a father from somewhere in France. We find out we can't register today because of some other events going on, and the other foreigners invite us to join them to attend a "vows" ceremony. Not being Catholic, I really had no clue what they were talking about, but it sounded fun. So, becaues Jane and I are completely random, we squeeze into a cab with complete strangers - 2 folks from NYC, a Franciscan father from France and head off to... we had no idea where! We arrived at the church where the mass was being held and the nuns were "sworn" in... said their vows, etc. Yes, Jane and I are completely random.


Here we are following the priest through the streets to... well, we didn't know where to be honest... we ended up at the church and made our way into the ceremony.

Then, we made our way back to the orphanage...which was quite the adventure as well... but we made it by ourselves. Not too bad considering the many challenges. Traffic is HORRIBLE here. Never will I complain about traffic in the US, or sheesh... not even in Taiwan or China. It's nothing compared t6 here. I mean, no lanes, cars, trucks, mopeds, motorcycles, rickshaws, these mini super punch buggies with the rear open, bikes, foot traffic, dogs, cows, goats... just about anything you can (or rather, cannot, imagine). The pollution is so bad. Auto exhaust is really bad. I believe everyone should conserve, recycle, and do their part, be mindful of polluting, and help slow global warming. But as I sat there inhaling the wonderful fumes, i have to admit, i did start questioning whether my small act to recycle a bottle would really help this global crisis. i love challenges, and it made me sad that that give-up attitude even crossed my mind, but the pollution here is just so bad. after having a night to sleep on it, i slapped myself in the face and decided regardless of how bad the problem is, i still have to do my part to help address it (after all, i am part of the problem so might as well try to minimize my impact). You should too.

After arriving back to the orphanage, jane and i had some instant korean noodles for dinner - yum. as i was walking back to our room, i had to walk through the kids main "classroom"/"lecture hall" where they were having their evening lesson. i was just going to quietly tiptoe in and join jane in eating our pineapple cookie dessert, but as i was walking through, i noticed that the head guy was talking about abraham lincoln. why is it that wherever i go, lincoln is always there? anyhow, so i sit down and join the kids. let me give you the play by play:
1) teacher: "do you know who abraham lincoln is?" kids stare blankly at him... silent. tw wondering where he is going with this. jane listening through the door from the room.
2) teacher: "you didn't learn anything in school? do you know who the first American President was?" kids still stare blankly... a couple say George... tw gets excited that they know the answer... but then realizes the kids were saying George Bush...
3) teacher: "abraham lincoln was the first american president. the first american president. you got it? he was a small boy (like you children), no money for school books, but he worked hard, was honest, and..." tw sitting there totally confused - wanting to correct him but not wanting to do it in front of everyone... jane covering her mouth with her sleeping bag to stay quiet.
4) teacher: "you know slavery? slavery is when you make someone work too hard". yes, imagine what jane and i are thinking now. i'm trying to keep a straight face but i have no poker face...
5) teacher: "do you want to be like abraham lincoln? do you?" some kids start raising their hands, others look around confused... see others raised so raise theirs too... one kid doesn't raise his hand and the teacher says: "you don't want to be like lincoln?" poor little guy... he probably was sleeping through the whole story...
...anyways, it was an entertaining evening.