Calcutta Day 1 - July 28, 2010

Grace and I arrived safely in Calcutta today. Got through immigration, waited foreve to get our bags, and headed outside of the airport to find old friends from EMC waiting for us. It was so great to see Shajan and Proshanto again, and really nice to see familiar faces after a long flight.

They took us to our YWCA hostel-like place where we began to unpack and took a short nap before heading back out to EMC for a working lunch with Aunty Premila, Shajan, Proshanto, and Ilora who runs their non formal education program (which is what we will be focusing much of our time on). We are happy to have a bed to sleep on, AC, and a bathroom (despite its current dysfunction... read below).

We had a great conversation and discussion over lunch, and then we managed to successfully wander back to the Y, and then began our long adventure to find a grocery store to buy some twine, water, and tp. Thank goodness for the handy pocket Hindi/Bengali dictionary we had... although it didn't really help all that much because we never eneded up finding an actual store. So, we moved onto the next adventure, which was to find wifi so we could connect with y'all. I thkn we wandered for a good hour before we finally ended up at a coffee shop which we were told would have wifi, but at the end did not, so we just sat there, cooled down under teh ac, had a drink and a bite to eat, and then maneuvered our way home. Hopefully we'll do better tomorrow with internet access.

All we wanted to do upon our return was to shower and sleep... but, the water wasn't working... and well, we're pretty filthy. We wait, hoping it will turn on periodically, but never did. I was talking to another girl in the hallways from the UK who was complaining about the lack of this basic necessity, and it really made me think. I mean, being the comfortable American I did somewhat agree, but then, it also made me think. Yes it was absolutely annoying that there was no water. Luckily we have plenty of baby wipes from target in the US that we coul use to mop ourselves up if we really had to... but let's face it. Our world is facing a major global water crisis. Many people in our world do not have access to water and baby wipes would definitely not be an alternative. Can I not survive one night without water? I truly am privileged, so fortunate that I do not even understand what fortune means and therefore cannot appreciate the many blessing that I have been given. So, who am I to say that it's messed up thtat I can't have water for one night when so many in our world hardly ever have it.

Despite that, I went to find another bathroom and to our surprise there was water. 2 bucket fulls in hand and I returned to our room for a good 'ole bucket splashing bath. 2 bucket fulls and a short walk down a hallway. I could not imagine what people, usually women and girls, who have that responsibility of walking for miles to fetch a lot more water than I was carrying, and walk it back to their comunity. Oh man, it's these simple creature comforts that have truly made me not understand what true suffering is. This was an inconvenience, but I would be just fine wihtout it. Can I not even endure an inconvenience for a day?? Not even a day... a night?

Anyhow sorry for my rambling. My blog is for those random rambling thoughts that go on inside my little brain, and so, if you want to read it, so sorry.

Alright so we are both clean. We've set up our mosquito nets to ward off any potential blood sucking friends (honestly have not seen 1 mosquito in our room yet though but just in case). In one hour last week, I got 22 bites so I am not risking it, espeically with some mosquitos carrying diseases that would not be good to have. So we're all set up. Grace is resting happily in her net (I think she's dreaming of this moment all day).

Looking forward to more fun tomorrow. It feels good to be back in Calcutta. It is not an easy city to be in because the poverty literally smacks you in the face...everywhere you go...the sight... the smell... But that is why we need to be here. Grace describes the sounds as a "symphony of horns" as cars, motorbikes try to zoom around foot traffic and other vehicles constantly honking. It's literally constant. Anyhow, tomorrow we meet with the head of the NFE programs to begin undrestanding how things are operating today and where there may be areas to improve and build upon. Until tomorrow... goodnight from Calcutta.

Here's a short clip to give you a small feel for the "symphony of horns".  This clip was taken on a Saturday evening, so it will only give you a small glimpse into our daily commute.  The streets are typically MUCH busier with human, vehicular, animal traffic on weekdays.