Tea Time at 10 O'clock

On of my favorite times in India is tea time. Every morning at 10 o'clock everything stops. It is a time that was brought here by the British years ago in the late 1700s/early 1800s. Even though it is hot outside, we stop what we are doing and have hot sweet milk tea and biscuits (cookies that are not too sweet). At our assignment we go to a covered area in the center of the complex that is a playground and sit to have tea with the volunteers. It is a great time to visit with the volunteers that we work with from all over the world. We have worked with volunteers from Spain, Malta, Italy, England, Japan, Korea, China, Chile, Mexico, and the U.S. at Shanti Dan. We spend the time discussing our day volunteering, out lives in Calcutta, and out lives back home. There is a volunteer community here that is hard to explain, but a since of community is felt by everyone.