Here, throw me the baby!

Alright.  I have the afternoon completely off, absolutely no plans, for the first time in goodness knows how long, so I decided that now would be a good time to write about my Christmas.

I will begin with the volunteers' Christmas drama.  The whole thing was a bit haphazard and thrown together last minute, as we really didn't get around to starting on it until we only had about 2 weeks left to write, block, practice, and perform it.  But despite that, I think we did quite well with it.  The basic idea of the drama is that Mother Theresa, who has been looking for a home to begin her work but has  not yet found somewhere, has a dream the night of Christmas 1948.  In the dream, we are at Mother House where a group of MC Sisters is preparing for Christmas.  There is a knock at the door, and Mary and Joseph enter.  Slowly, the rest of the nativity also comes in, including the baby Jesus, and the various branches of the Missionaries of Charity join them.  It ends with a touching scene where Mother Theresa asks Mary to join her in bringing the baby Jesus to Sr. Nirmala, Mother's 2nd Sister.
We performed on Christmas Eve, just before Mass.  There were a few little mishaps and last minute changes, but people seemed to enjoy it and I think it went well.  Sophie, Jenn, and myself all played MC Sisters, John was a shepherd, and Jeremiah and Devin were Mary and Joseph, so all of the Seattle group still in Kolkata participated.
After the drama, we all went to Mass, which was lovely.  Afterwards, people gathered in the courtyard for hot chocolate and fruit cake (there's so much incredibly good fruitcake in India!) to mingle and wish each other Merry Christmas.  I must admit, up until this point, it didn't really feel much like Christmas, but having all of those people gathered together, smiling and chatting about Christmas plans really brought out the holiday spirit.  It was good to have that finally happen.

Christmas morning, after a breakfast of fruitcake buns, nutella, and chai at Mother House, I went to Shishu Bhavan.  All of the kids were adorable dressed up in their fancy Christmas outfits with bangles for the girls and shined shoes for the boys.  As we had had quite a few Christmas celebrations already, with the performances of the Shishu Bhavan Christmas drama, there wasn't much of a celebration that morning.  I think it was best that way, though.  It was just nice to get to spend a quiet morning with my kids.
Coming home that afternoon, I stopped a number of times to talk to some of the shop, food stand, and travel agency owners I've grown fond of over the past few months.  I couldn't help but think of how lonely Seattle is going to feel when I get home and, walking down the street, there won't be someone every few meters who I can stop to chat with.  In any case, I had a number of good conversations.
The Seattle group had planned to get together with a few other volunteers to carol while we all walked to Nrimal Hriday, Mother's first home at Kalighat temple, to volunteer together in the afternoon.  Unfortunately, a few of us were sick, so we ended up caroling to the Metro station and Sophie, Jenn, and I rode the Metro with 2 other volunteers to Kalighat, leaving Jer, Dev, and John to get some rest.  Caroling was a lot of fun; we got a number of weird looks and a few people joined in.  I'm also really glad that a few of us still chose to go to Kalighat together.  I haven't been in a long time because I'm now helping with volunteer orientations.  But that places has never failed, not once, to put me at peace with the world.  I have never left there without a smile on my face.  There has been a lot of changeover, and some of my favorite ladies are gone, but I got to see quite some of my old friends and I made some new ones.  I did dishes, which was always a relaxing activity, and hung out with fellow volunteers on the roof afterwards, drinking chai.  I really do love that roof.  Something about it is so peaceful.
The final plan for the evening was dinner with the Seattle group (we really have started doing everything together, we're a single entity now) and a few other volunteer friends of ours at a fancy Italian restaurant called Fire & Ice.  After a confusing taxi ride and walking about half of the way there, we arrived about a 1/2 hour late for our reservation, but luckily early enough that not all the tables were full.  The food, although truthfully only mediocre, was incredible because it did not taste like masala.  I do love Indian food, but it is so nice to break away every so often.  The company was also delightful, although Jer sadly had to stay home because he was quite ill.  It was definitely a good close to Christmas day.

Yesterday, Boxing Day, was for the most part a normal day.  But in the evening, the Seattle group got together for our exclusively Seattle Christmas celebration.  The six of us got together over a picnic of tuna fish & veggie sandwiches, fruit salad, Pringles, M&Ms, Oreos, and fudge and just had a fun time talking and being together.  We had decided that instead of getting gifts for each other, we would work together on getting gifts for our Indian friends on Sudder St., so we worked a bit more on getting those together.  We've grow quite fond of our occasional Seattle picnics, and this was definitely, I think, the best way we could have celebrated Christmas together.  I love those kids.

There was one final Christmas celebration, that I'm aware of, today.  All of the MC homes with children were invited to a party at the governor's mansion, and as John, Jenn, and I all work at kids' homes, we were all invited to come along.  The party was a lot of fun.  The governor's mansion was enormous, and though we didn't get to see much of it, it was obvious that it was quite grand.  The party was on the back lawn, which was absolutely enormous.  There was a bouncy house for the kids, although the volunteers definitely all took a turn in it as well, a live band, and a group of Indian dancers.  It was really nice to see the kids outside of their one room at Shishu Bhavan, running around, dancing, bouncing, and being the energetic little fireballs that they are.  We probably all got fed a bit too much sugar and did a bit too much frolicking, as everyone was sleeping on the bus ride home, but it was entirely worth it.  I love my kids with all of my heart and it was so good to see their gigantic toothy grins.

So, all in all, my Christmas in Kolkata was absolutely amazing, even if it did take a while before it felt like Christmas.  I hope that everyone else had incredible Christmases, and like I said, I'd love to hear all about them.  
And now, I will relax.  Finally. 

Ta ta, namasted, goodbye, okay

So, Friday was definitely not one of my better days.  My morning at Shishu Bhavan went well, but the events that followed were frustrating and upsetting.  I was considering just hanging around my room for a while in order to be mopey, but I hadn't gotten a chance to go to Kalighat lately as I'm now also helping out with volunteer orientations Monday, Wednesday, Friday afternoons, so I chose to not be a bum and visit my lovely ladies instead.  It was definitely the best decision I made today, and perhaps even this week.
I had been hoping to be able to do some laundry in order to get out my aggression on the bedsheets and frocks, but when I entered the washroom, they seemed pretty well staffed so I headed to the women's section.  I visited a few women that I had talked to before, then sat down next to a woman I hadn't visited with yet.  I started asking her how she was, and she began to tell me a story I didn't understand.  I must admit, I wasn't giving her my full attention, so I was mighty surprised when she began to cry.  She had been touching the bandage on her head, so I knew that she was telling me about how she had received her wound, and it was clearly a hard story for her to tell.  As I comforted her and began to listen to her with my full attention, I realized that any pain and suffering I have felt in my life does not even begin to compare to what she had gone through, which she was telling me all about right now.  And then, she smiled.  She finished her story, dried her own tears, and smiled.  And that was the biggest comfort that anyone could have ever given me.  To know that my own suffering was not even a fraction of what she had felt in her life and she could still come out smiling was such an inspiration to me.  
Needless to say, the rest of my evening went quite well.  I had a cup of chai on the roof of Kalighat and watched the people below, I went home and had dinner with the incredible friends I've made here, and had a good nights' sleep.  And I smiled.

In other news, we have two darling new babies at Shishu Bhavan.  Their names are Sonali and Jyotsni.  They were sent to us from one floor down, the baby ward, because they were both diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.  Sonali is taking a while to adapt to the new environment and continues to look a little bit scared whenever she's away from Jyotsni.  Jyotsni, on the other hand, has taken to our floor quickly and is a little spitfire, rolling around in her crib to get from one place to the other!  I enjoy them both immensely.
Shishu Bhavan Christmas play practice continues, but because I have chosen to spend more time with the physically handicapped children, I haven't been helping out too much with that.  I do, however, have a new project!  I am making posters for the 6 new children we have taken in recently.  I felt honored to receive this project as it allows me a chance to share what I've learned about the kids in the last 2 months.  I feel it's a really good way for me to share my experience here with others.

I still love and miss you all!

Namaskar,
Melissa

Brief update, sort of

So, a few things.

It's amazing how in a city whose 2005 census reported 13.2 million people (and that was 2 years, and couldn't possibly have counted all the people living on the streets), the one person you least want to see is somehow able to find you.

I got sick for the first time yesterday, but luckily it has already past.  It wasn't terrible, just generally achiness, a bit of stomach upset, and what felt like it could have been fever but may have just been the heat.

I continue to be slightly overwhelmed by the constant noise, so today I did one of the activities that our guidebook had recommended when you need a break from the city.  I went to the Oberoi Grand Hotel, a 5-star hotel just a couple of blocks from where I'm staying, and read and journalled for a few hours.  It was wonderful.  I got a break from the honking, listened to some terrible elevator music, enjoyed the a/c, and reflected without having my thoughts constantly interrupted.  I do love this city, but it was quite nice to be able to take a break.  And I think I probably did some of my best journalling today.

Also, I stopped by an optometrist office in hopes of getting an eye test appointment.  As it turns out, things like that get done much quicker here in Kolkata than in the States.  They did the test on the spot and they have their own lab, so I'll be picking up my glasses any time after 4 pm today.  I stopped in about 11:15 am.  I'm pretty amazed.  And it only set me back 1285 Rs (about $33.00 at an exchange rate of 39.4 Rs to 1 US$).  

I'm really loving meeting fellow travellers.  Such fascinating stories! 

Almost forgot!  I love working at Kalighat.  The women there are absolutely beautiful and so very joyous.  I think my favorite experience of Kolkata so far has been having a conversation with one of the women where I did not understand a single word she said.  But she talked to me for about 30 min and I smiled and nodded and it was a wonderful experience. 

Much Prem, 
Melissa

Halloo! Auntie! You want rickshaw?

I began volunteering on Tuesday, 2 days after I arrived in Kolkata.  The home that I am working at is called Shishu Bavan.  There are 2 sections to the home; one is for a few classes of toddlers where volunteers teach the children basic things like ABCs and basic mathematics.  I work in the 2nd section with handicapped children.  
I arrive each day at 8 am, which is the time when the children get their morning juice and the volunteers assist the sisters and the women who work there, called mashis, with this. Then, it is time to help the children with their excercises.  The 2 children who I have excercised with have both been girls with cerebral palsy, so their excercises have mainly been massaging their legs and arms and helping them bend their joints so they don't become stiff.  Usually the excercises are done pretty quickly and you have some time to just visit and play with the children, which is super fun.  There is a break, and we end the shift by changing and then feeding the children and visiting with them some more.  All of the children there are wonderfully sweet and I am definitely enjoying my work.  I had a bit of a hard time with the feeding the first day.  I ended up with food spit pretty much all over my pants and apron.  But I was already better on the 2nd day, so hopefully I will continually to get progressively better.
I plan to begin working an afternoon shift about 3 days a week at a home called Kalighat.  Here, I will be working with women with severe injuries and terminal illnesses.  I do admit, I'm a little frightened of what I'll see there, but I'm really looking forward to it as well.  I'll let you know more about that when I start working there.
The city of Kolkata is absolutely amazing.  There's so much going on here all the time.  It is really hard to get used to the constant noise, though, particularly the honking.  It seems like everyone here just assumes that no one else on the road has eyes.  They honk every single time they pass another vehicle, or pedestrians in the street.  I think I may have to get out of the city on my next break day (Thursdays) so that I can get a break from that.
Shopping has been my favorite experience.  You definitely have to be looking for something in particular here if you are going to go shopping.  Browsing is almost impossible, as there are constantly men coming up to you asking, "You are going to New Market?  What are you looking for?  You come to my shop?  Just look, no buy, just look.  What do you want?  We have.  We have everything, come to my shop."  It definitely makes it easy to find what you're looking for, but, like I said, makes browsing nearly impossible.  
The hardest thing to get used to in the city is the patriarchal nature of India.  Being both a foreigner and a woman is a difficult thing, and the constant staring is a little disconcerting.  My first day, I was completely oblivious to it because I was so fascinated by everything.  However, it is certainly not easy to ignore.  For myself, it has mostly just been staring and a bit of yelling from the men on the street.  I also believe that there is MORE honking when you are a women than there would be if you're a man.  A couple of girl friends have had some harder experiences, but we're all learning to deal with it in our own ways.  It's just another part of Indian culture, you can't really let it get to you too much.
Oh, and being woken up at 5 am by Japanese heavy metal.  Yeah, that's fun, too.  We moved out of the hostel where that was a problem this morning, though, so hopefully I'll be able to sleep later now.
And, yeah, that's that.  I'm sure there will be more soon though.
Love!