Dadoo this is for You!

It took an Indian meal and having my lesson plans finished for the first week of school to finally sit down to write about my last week in India.

Arriving In Mumbai
 It began with having my driver take me to the airport due to the taxi strike. About half a book later and a 2 hour flight I finally arrived in Mumbai with Priya, David, Caris, and Iris waiting at the airport for me. We spent the night with Priya's aunt and uncle in Mumbai. When me arrived a huge special meal had been prepared for me...Homemade chicken biryani, chapatis, and ice cream. All things that I love, but I am a vegetarian in India, I do not eat many dairy product (ice cream at the top of my list!). I was surprised how the food was prepared sitting on the kitchen floor, many Indian homes do not have counter space...I learned over the next week that this is just how things are done in a typical Indian household.

Day 2
We left early and traveled to Badlapur, it is about 40 miles from Mumbai, but took about 4 hours to get there. This is where Priya's family lives. We arrived in the evening and quickly after headed to the market to buy things for dinner. Most families do not refrigerate many things, food is purchased almost daily for the meals. In Badlapur the monsoon rains had not arrived the the town was rationing the water supply. This means that the water comes on in the mornings for an hour or two and if you are lucky again in the evening. It never came on in the evening while I was there. When the water comes on buckets are filled with water for the day i.e. washing clothes, dishes, flushing toilets, bathing. Turning the faucet and water not coming out is a hard thing to grasp the concept of!

Day 3
A whirlwind of a day began when Priya told me we would be leaving to take the train to Pune to visit some family. We were going to spend the night with them and return the next day. I threw a change of clothes and a toothbrush in a bag and off we went. I love riding the train in India. It is a mix of horrible smells, busy pushing people, and lots of odd stares. Not only am I the only white girl around, but Priya is married to a Korean man and they have two children that are Indian/Korean. We look like a circus compared to others on the train. About six hours later we arrived in Pune. We rode in an auto rickshaw true Indian style with four adults in the back with 2 kiddos on laps. We some how managed to make it! Everyone was so very warm and inviting, soon I realized that all ten of us were going to be sleeping in the one bedroom apartment. Two family members work nights, Bhavana in a call center who does serve the Texas area and Reshma is a nurse.

Day 4
I woke up with people hanging out in the room, basically because there is no where else to be other than the kitchen in the house. Awkward, but I did get a bucket of hot water to take a bath with! After breakfast and a morning of playing carrom with Iris a Caris, I was told that we would be going over to a cousin's house for lunch and to see the deaf ministry that they run. Then catch the train back to Badlapur. I was very interested in seeing the school and trades training that has approximately 100 students enrolled. We managed to miss the train and would catch the next train in the morning. Luckily they had guest houses for volunteers and people who help financially support the ministry, but because of the lack of water the showers did not work....Oh well, we wold be taking the train in the morning...At least that's what I thought.

Day 5
We woke up early and managed to miss the train, the first train is what I thought. We went to church there on the campus and experienced my first sign language/Marathi church service. It was beautiful seeing the students signing all the songs during the service. Sometime in the afternoon I realized that on Sunday only one train runs and we had missed it and would be spending the night again. This is when I insisted that we go to the market to buy clothes...I had been wearing those clothes for more than one dance and had not had a proper shower in days. I knew that I would not be getting one that night either. We did spend the rest of the afternoon filled in busy market haggling on clothes prices and going to the Pune zoo with Caris and Iris. One of the girls from the school also covered my feet in henna tattoos.

Day 6
We made the train and headed back to Badlapur. The train was full of people, women cleaning vegetables sitting on the luggage rack, noisy vendors selling tea, candies, and snacks at every stop, the windows going up and down to keep the rain out of the train. It was nice to make it back, especially with dinner waiting when we arrived. It was nice to be in familiar surroundings. No shower tonight...crossing my fingers for tomorrow...my plane is tomorrow...I can't get on a plane like this...

Day7
The full day began...with a Shower! Yeah, after the water quit and I was terrified I would not come back on. I was able to get a steaming hot bucket of water for a shower, one of the best in my life! It was a morning of playing with Iris and Caris before I left. Then for the four hour drive into Mumbai. We were able to stop and see The Gateway of India before heading to the airport. I waited in the airport for about 3 hours and caught my plan to Delhi, then a 3.5 layover until my 10 hour flight to London. Next a 4 hour layover in London, then a 10 hour flight into DFW. I made it home with luggage, tired, smelly, and ready to get home. It was the longest 40 hour day I have ever experienced!

 

Alive and on American soil!

As many of you already know after 30 hours of nonstop traveling...I am home. As is got off the plane, I am thankful for so many things here in the United States. Here are a few...hot water showers, toilet paper in CLEAN bathrooms, air conditioning everywhere you go, washing machines, my bed, people driving on the "correct" side of the car and road, and the water is safe to drink. On a less selfish note...We have hospitals that I would feel safe to go to, our children receive a free public education with meals provided if they are needed, if you are disabled you do not have to beg on the streets to earn a living, there are child labor laws, employers must pay fair wages and respect employees. We are blessed to call America our home country!

Location, Location, Location!

On of the most curious things about India is that most people/taxi drivers do not know street names.  Unless it is a major street no one seems to know where it is located. After British rule ended most street names went back from the British name back to it's Indian name, so most streets can and will be referred to by both names depending who you ask. You often will even see different street names on buildings right next to each other. To get around this problem you must know the landmarks around your destination and you hope that the taxi driver or person has an idea where that may be. Since I am not living on Sudder Street (a common location), I have had to learn the landmarks around the hotel to basically give directions to the taxi driver. You have to hope that they know one of them as you go down the list. Start with the area's name: Palmar Bazaar. Next tell them the name of the boys school across the street: Bhutnath School. If that does not work try the closest bridge: Motijil Bridge. If you are still not not ringing any bells try the next taxi that you flag down. By the way it is very common for taxi drivers to ask others for directions as you ride in their taxi, go figure!

Driving Miss Daisy

Guess what...The taxi strike is still on for the 25th-26th. As you know I have been working on another plan to get to the airport, since it would be very difficult to get there by bus. I also looked into staying at a hotel near the airport and walking to the airport before my flight (not too fun, but an option.)

Instead I have been able to hire a Seva Kendra driver to take me to the airport on the 25th. I have never hired a driver before, kinda crazy. It does change the $4 taxi ride into a $14 driver + A/C car ride...The biggest plus is that I will make my flight and I will not be all sweaty before I get to the airport! I will then be staying in Mumbai for 6 days before returning home.

Last day at Shanti Dan tomorow...

I begin this blog with mixed feelings. Tomorrow is my last day at Shanti Dan. This means that I am closer to coming home, but I am not looking forward to telling the girls bye. I know that many will not notice my absence and there are many other volunteers there, but I know that I will miss them! I will miss them laughing, their sweet smiles, and how they show their love through their love of life. I wish that you were all here to meet them, it is so very hard to even capture a small portion of who they are with a last day picture pass.  When you bring you camera some recognize that they most likely will not be seeing you again.

Yesterday seeing the precious village children sitting on a carpet excited to share what they are learning at school got me excited about a new bunch of kinder babies back home. I realize I am moving from one place of need on the other side of the world to a place of need back home in the US. I am grateful to be able to have both!  I never knew that I would be impacted this much by these girls here in India!

Indian Hospitality

Today, I was invited along with two of my friends (Missionaries of Charity Volunteers, Heide and Elaina) to go with the priest who runs Seva Kendra to a church parish 3 hours from Calcutta. Father Franklin was giving a talk at the church and we were invited to go along to see the church and other projects that Seva Kendra funds in that area. I am always overwhelmed by the hospitality that is offered here in India. We came down stairs and had tea waiting for us before we left (cup of tea #1) from Seva Kendra. We drove for about an hour and a half and stopped for breakfast half way to the church (cup of coffee #2). We arrived at Sacred Heart and meet the parish priests and sisters and had snacks and tea. (cup of tea #3). We then went to be introduce to the church community before the speaking engagement in English/Hindi, more snacks and tea (cup of tea #4). After the talk we had lunch with the parish community. Then off to the second Seva Kendra site similar to where I am staying, we tried the guavas growing on the grounds. We then stopped by the neighboring convent and met the sisters and had tea and bananas (cup of tea #5). Father then wanted us to see the private hospital that Seva Kendra just opened in January of this year. The priest that was running the Calcutta facility is now there running the hospital. We were given the full tour including the operating room and all the way to the kitchen (cup of coffee #6). Lastly, we went by a school for Indian children that are from very poor families. These children are given basic schooling that allows then to enter mainstream schooling that Seva Kendra will fund for them. I enjoyed seeing their smiling faces, excited about being able to go to school! We then drove back the 3 hours back to Calcutta.

It was a full 14 hour day by the time we made it back to Calcutta. We are worn out, but pleased to see another organization that is making an impact for this community. We were grateful to share so many cups of coffee and tea!

New Hotel...Seva Kendra

The Flynn girls left for home yesterday afternoon. It was a busy day of last minute shopping, saying goodbye, and packing up at the Galaxy Hotel. I have now moved into a new hotel that two volunteers we have worked with for the past 4 weeks are living. The Galaxy Hotel was more room than I needed for myself. We were paying 950 rupees per night (approximately $17 US dollars per night or about $4.25 per person). At Seva Kendra I am in a single room that I am paying $500 rupees per night. (a little less than $10 per night) I am going to be staying here for the next five days and then will be flying to Mumabi to stay with a friend's family near Mumbai for 6 days before I fly home. I am excited about living with an Indian family for a week. Everyone that I have spoken that has done this while they have been in India has had a wonderful experience.

The taxi strike is still on and I am working on making arrangements for the airport on the 25th. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!