Other blogs to follow...India trips 2012.

I added two blogs...

ThenFeedJustOne.blogspot.com - Two volunteers from Idaho that we are working with at Shanti Dan, they are here for 10 weeks.

MyIndAdvenutre.blogspot.com - Marie's blog about her experiences here in India.

Oh, Delhi Belly

Being in India, it is not IF you get Delhi Belly...It is only a matter if time UNTIL you do! I have promised to not disclose any other names of other Delhi Belly patrons :) in this posting. Sara, Marie, and Callie laughed as everyone we meet the first few days told us how they feel, it hey had been sick, how long it lasted even during dinner. My favorite was when a volunteer from Austria came up at dinner and asked us to relay a message to his group back at the Mother House (main building for Missionaries of Charity). "Please tell Mark from Canada that Daniel from Austria has not been feeling well. I have been running to the bathroom with diarrhea every five minutes for the past two day, but I am feeling better now." Marie almost fell out of her chair laughing as he walked away, because she did not get how much these conversations really do happen in India. Choosing a place to eat dinner is a BIG decision, especially if it puts you out of commission for 3 days! People even discuss how much water they are drinking, the number of times you have to actually go vs. sweating it all out, ask if you are drinking Gatorade or re-hydration packets, my new favorite term is "dreamsicle pee"...very bad thing to have in India. Get yourself hydrated!

Yes, I am actually posting this for the world to read! I survived my first 12 hour bout, no antibiotics, feeling great! Remember I am not disclosing any other names of Delhi belly patrons in this posting! If you are not willing to get sick in India, don't risk the trip... it WILL happen!

Galaxy Hotel is like a Super Camping Trip!

We have been laughing for days that our hotel is like camping out. Checking into a hotel in India is not what you would expect at home! If the hotel does not say that is has A/C, it will not have it. We are spending 950 rupees per night for all four of us ( roughly $17 dollar per night or $4.25 per person) for a midrange hotel room with A/C. You are not provided with sheets or towels, and the room is not cleaned regularly. We happened to get bottom sheets on the beds and three pillows in our room...Score!  Luckily we were prepared with what we needed!

We are hand washing our clothes in buckets in the bathroom and have a clothes line that hangs on three walls. Once the clothes stop dripping the the bathroom we have to move them inside under that fan to get them to dry. We keep talking about our "crispy misshapen clothes" You may forget how much you love washers, dryers, and fabric softener.

Indian plumbing is another matter. Water is brought by a truck and it fills a tank for you to use for showering, laundry, and flushing toilets. If there is any leaking it drains the tank, so the water is turned off every night and is not turned on until the next morning. Plus there is not enough pressure to flush the toilet, even without toilet paper (all disposed of in the trash). You have to fill an bucket and pour it in the toilet at the same time you flush.

One great plus is Harry the owner, he is quick to hail you a cab, offer his help, and answer questions. We were going to meet some other volunteers in an area that I was not familiar with. He got us a cab and had the cabbie to follow him on his moped so he could not take us the long way to charge us extra (a common occurrence here in India with foreigners)

It Feels like 123 Degrees Fahrenheit!

I just checked the weather... Marie and I came over to the internet cafe to check our email and blog. There is no air conditioning in this little upstairs cafe, we are sweating like we are running a marathon. It is just another reminder that we are not in Texas anymore! We just laughed when I checked the weather and it feels like 123 degrees fahranheit. No surprise that you can sweat  this bad from sitting still and only typing!

Thursdays is the volunteers day off, so we were very happy to sleep in for the first time since we made it to India. After going to breakfast we walked to the Victoria Memorial ( about a 30 minutes walk from out hotel) and visited the museum inside the memorial. It is filled the history of Calcutta and the influence of British rule in West Bengal.

Funny story from the trip....
It is not usually recommended in the travel books to tell everyone you are from the United States, I usually just feel the situation out if someone asks. It is easy to forget that all our movies and advertising makes it over to India and people are more connected with the internet than they were even 10 years ago. Callie was asked by someone where she was from and she told them Australia, then they proceeded to ask here about many of the landmarks that she was not familiar with. In her mind she thought she needed to come up with a more obscure place that people did not know as much about...Austria was it! Not long after the first incident, she was asked again where she was from and she replied Austria. The man who appeared to be a begger in the streets, began fluently talking to her in German! At this point, she just began telling the she was from the US.

1 Week in India

We have survived our first week in India. We were definitely blessed with the rain the first few days, so it eased us into the heat. We are drinking crazy amounts of water, but over all everyone is still feeling well. We have found our stride at Shanti Dan, We are now seem to know what is going on and what to do at work. Callie and I are working with one specific class and Marie and Sara are in two different classrooms, we enjoy talking about the funny and exciting things that happened in each of our classrooms. Sometimes it is as simple as a girl responding to her name or doing better feeding herself. We have a fun group of volunteer girls that we have found here, and go to lunch often after a long exhausting morning of work.

Laundry!

Most of you can not figure out why I am writing this entire post in doing laundry, but just give me a minute...One of our main tasks in the morning after we reach Shanti Dan is helping with the laundry. This definitely does not consist of throwing a load into the machine and turning the dial to get it to start and walking away. We are doing the laundry for sixty five girls, at least 50 of them are severely handicapped and wear washable diapers and there are multiple clothing and bedding changes for each girl daily. This enormous task is completed by the able bodied girls, 2 to 3 Missionaries of Charity sisters, 5 or 6 employed staff, and all the volunteers (14 total at this time).

1. The laundry is placed in wash tubs with laundry soap and stepped on (like stomping grapes for wine) 
2. It is then scrubbed together on itself and brushed with a hard bristle brush in the highly soiled spots.
3. Added to the first rinse tank, rinsed out, and wrung out.
4. Next, it goes into the second rinse tank, rinsed out and wrung out. It is placed in a five gallon bucket.
5. The five gallon buckets are carried  up two flights of stairs to the roof.
6. The laundry is then hung out to dry on  laundry lines that a spaced approximately 8-10 inches apart.

I have no idea how many trips up the stairs it takes! It takes about a hour for this to be completed, and I have no idea how this task is complete during the year when there are not as many volunteers. I just know that this is a labor of love and I have an enormous respect for the women who do this daily to provide for the needs of these girls.

Santyi Dan (Our volunteer assignment)

We (Sara, Marie, Callie, and I) started our volunteer job yesterday with Missionaries of Charity. We are working in a home for mentally and physically challenged girls from 12 and up. We walked in not knowing exactly what to expect. Much to my surprise, I recognized a few of the girls from my last trip when they were much younger during my last assignment six years ago.

We are still figuring out how things work, but out second day was much smoother than the first! Our mornings begin with doing laundry from the previous day for 65 girls. (hand washing/ line hanging...more details to come, actually an entire post!) Activities for the girls who are divided up into groups by abilities. Lunch for the girls and nap time. Yes, it takes all 4 hours to make these four things happen!

It is all quite overwhelming to explain this and will have to be broken down in a few posts!

Special notes....
No one has been run over by a rickshaw!
No one has gotten sick yet!
The monsoon rains have not begun.
Marie and I half tricked Callie into eating street noodles made at Sunil's Chinese Noodle Palace, she liked them.

 We finally arrived yesterday after 30 hours of traveling! We talked about our jet setting and having lunch in Germany, that doesn't happen everyday. Yesterday afternoon we went to the orientation for our volunteering job and will start work tomorrow. We will be working at a Missionaries of Charity house working with mentally and/or physically challenged teenagers/young women. The thought of it all is a little overwhelming to be honest. 

Today we traveled to Titagarah, a leprosy clinic that is run by the Missionaries of Charity Brothers. It was very eye opening and interesting to see a self sufficient community that has been shunned by their own society. They work with a meaning and a purpose, if these jobs were not provided they would be begging on the street. They would not be hired for work because of the negative stigma that leprosy carries.  They work on looms, and make all the saris and bedding etc... used by Missionaries of Charity around the world. It is ancient machinery, it makes you think how every item of clothing you own is made! It is cool to see how these cured individuals help make it possible for Missionaries of Charity to function.
 
It has rained twice today so the humidity is through the roof. We are drinking 2-3 liters of water a day and are constantly feeling sticky from all the sweat. It doesn't even bother us that there is only old water in the hotel.

Miss you guys, I wish you were here to experience all the sights, smells, and sounds in this city! I had some amazing milk tea and veg-curry tonight for dinner.

The Next Adventure...

India 2006....Now the next adventure!

I will be leaving again for my next India adventure in just a few days...I am filled with excitement and awaiting what is to come.

It is hard to prepare for what is ahead, we will be arriving during the toughest seasons in India. Monsoon season has just begun, rain is expected for the first 10 days we will be there. The temperature will be in the 90s, but with approximately 80% humidity. Calcutta is a city of 4.5 million people (63,000 per square mile. Let the adventure begin...Hoping that the city is not knee deep in water when we arrive.

During my travels, I have seen real poverty, but not like the poverty I have experienced in India. I am excited about being able to volunteer with Missionaries of Charity again this year.
I reflect back on the last trip and my plans to volunteer and realize that I probably received more from that experience then I was able up give.

Thank you to all of you who have supported this trip and dream of mine. I would not be possible without all of you!