So we’ve been in Calcutta for 6 days maybe and I would say it’s been a bit of a treat. The roads are wide and smoothly paved, and a ride in a royal British motorcar taxi is hardly entertaining enough to keep your eyes on the road in front for lack of roaming cows, goats and dogs. We stuff ourselves regularly with dosas, chicken egg rolls (different from eggrolls), and Korean fried noodles topped with spicy kimchi. Our meals rarely cost more than a dollar here, thanks possibly to the local communist government that is democratically elected in West Bengal. So, when I say stuff ourselves, you can imagine. Best food so far, too, I have heard from quite a few of us. This is maybe why there have been so many dates among the students and also with some of the foreignors we’ve met volunteering. Most impressive is John’s man-date with a guy from Germany at the upscale McDonald’s. Others have been with a very interesting British man named Dave, with an accent that Coby decided he had to have picked up from living so much of his life on the streets of London. Like “My Fair Lady.” Also, our program director Mike has been living with us for a few days, entertaining us with his light-up frisbee, his ukulele, and stories from his colorful life–he’s worked in Antarctica! We’ve all been vying for chai dates with him. I’m here in this internet cafe while Stephanie gets in her time.
Now, our expectations of Calcutta were more expansive than any other place we had been so far, but the main conclusion that we drew from all the talk was that Calcutta would be intense. We heard about the screaming and the dying and the wounds of many colors and a few of us were terrified. Our volunteering experiences have been slightly duller than this, thankfully, and we have finally finished our last day of volunteering with our sanity. Jessica and Kira have been working with the handicapped children of Calcutta–washing their clothes, cleaning the house, feeding them, making art with them and dancing with them, and otherwise giving them natural attention. It’s obvious as they leave the safety of the Mother Theresa house that these children wouldn’t be treated as kindly on the streets. Jessica and Kira lead them to a fence-in playground where they can escape the stares of the more fortunate Calcuttans–more fortunate in the sense that they are not handicapped usually, but these ones do live in slums. The rest of us ended up at a seperate house for physically and mentally handicapped adults and elderly people. The girls at Prem Dan were probably in the most intense of our situations. Alexa, Hayley, Stephanie, and Theresa were busy rubbing lotion on the residents, taking them to the bathroom, cleaning them, washing their clothes, clipping their toenails, helping to dress wounds, feeding them, and holding their hands as they sat in agony or boredom. I applaud them for their hard work and absolute maturity in handling some discusting situations and some situations that have been thrust upon them without the training that would have been mandatory in the US. The boys have had a lighter load, though the wounds and disabilities that we see are still profound–we wring out clothes every morning, sweep the floor with hand-brooms while John does some shaving of the men, then we sit and talk with the residents until tea time, where we chat with the awesome volunteers from around the world. It has been impossible not to make friends. Afterwards we feed and wash dishes. We’ve been a little worried about Ellen, who has been feeling a fever and digestive problems recently. We’re sure she’ll be done with these in a few days though.
Thanks for reading! Talk to you tomorrow from Rajastan!!!
Shanti,
Nate