All good things must come to an end..

Travelling by train is an Indian essential. It is also a really great way to meet people. Especially when you are on a train for 31 hours. I met a young Punjabi man who was full of questions about America, a guy from Kenya who had lived in upstate NY and shared his banannas with me, and a young boy named Shubu and his sister Priya who let me listen to his music (and then downloaded his entire ipod playlist onto my computer so I can still listen to Indian music while I'm at home!) It was a great way to experience a little more of the Indian countryside as well. And after a day and a half, I was in Agra. Agra, incidentally, is a town with a lot of professional scam artists. And a lot more people there speak English, because it is such a tourist town, so everyone tries to talk to you as you walk down the street, which gets old very quickly when the only questions they know are "From what country are you?" and "Come to my shop?" Early Tuesday morning I got up to see the sunrise at the Taj Mahal. The only problem with that was, it was quite foggy and a bit hard to distinguish between the white mist everywhere and the famous white building. I took a lot of pictures anyway, and some of them turned out pretty well. It was a nice, peaceful morning... until I went out the opposite gate and got lost trying to find my hotel. And when I was "rescued" by some little boys who offered their help, they tried to charge me 10 rupees to tell me which way to go! (Which is what I mean about Agra being a professional scam town- they start them young!)

Eventually I found my way back and then went to visit Agra Fort, which was a palace/fortress that dates back to the Mughal Empire. It was fun to do some touristy things while I was in India as well. Plus now I can say that I've been to the Taj Mahal. But while travelling was fun, the things that I will really miss about India are the people and places that I came into contact with daily while I was in Kolkata. It has truly been an adventure here in Incredible India- one of the things I love about it is that element of the unknown- you never know exactly what might happen next. (As the locals like to say, "Anything is possible..." Which is why you can round a corner and come face to face with a camel happily eating his lunch. Because you just never know... ) There are so many things that India has taught me and so many memories I have. It is definitely tough to leave this place that I have come to love, but yet there are things I am looking forward to about being home and the future adventures that I know await me. So I say farewell to India, not forever, but for now at least, and carry the sights and sounds and smells of this place with me to treasure and remember until I return...

Goodbye is the hardest part...

So today is my last day in Kolkata. It is so hard to believe that 3 months have gone by already. Tomorrow I will catch a 30 hour train to Agra, spend a night there, and see the Taj Mahal. Then I will take a bus to Delhi and go to the airport, where my flight leaves for Paris early Wednesday morning. I'll be in Paris for a week, and leave on Tuesday evening, with a short stop in Dublin, and then back to the States. I fly into DC, so I won't be back in PA until probably the 13th of December. I think I will be glad to not be living out of a suitcase anymore, but it is definitely sad to leave India. I have gotten used to the craziness of the traffic and the sounds of the city. I will miss so many things about living here- the call to prayer from the mosque that wakes me up every morning, the women in their beautiful saris, the barrage of color from the marketplaces, riding the bus every morning hearing the ticket collecters hollering their destinations out the side of the bus, stopping every few hours to have a cup of chai (and being unable to turn one down...), the incense burning in even the most humble shop, the candlelit stalls in the evening with men stopping for a snack on their way home... so many sights, sounds and smells that I have come to love. And so many people that I will miss as well. Not only my roommates, and other travellers that I have met while being here, but the kids at the shelter home (who, on my last day there on Thursday not only thanked me for playing with them and giving them coconut oil and powder, but actually sat me in the middle of a circle and laid their tiny hands on me and prayed for me (in Bengali, of course) for safe travels and that I would come back soon. It was also really tough to say goodbye to the girls at the center- I've been working with them for 3 months now and they will miss me as much as I will miss them. So many incredible people that I have met here, and some of them I know I will see again someday, but it is still difficult to leave. But I, like the rest of us, am trapped in the grip of time, bound by chains of seconds, minutes and hours that march by, deaf to my pleas to slow down. The passage of time is inescapable for all of us, and while sometimes that is a good thing (I doubt I will want to slow down any hours on my train ride) it can be difficult when we are in a place that we love and are forced to leave. Yet change is part of life, and while we may hate it at times, we must either embrace it or live a static, fearful existence, and eventually be dragged kicking and screaming into a different stage of life. So I guess it is better to enjoy the moments that we have while they are here, and not to hold on too tightly to them lest it hurt even more when we have to let go...

"I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiates 3: 10-11

A time for everything...

So yes, I realize that I have been horrible at keeping everyone updated this month. My excuse is that I finally found enough things to do- and when I say enough, I mean too many! I've literally been getting up at 7 every day and not getting home until 10:30/11 at night. My one roommate never sees me anymore because I am always out. It never rains, it pours- the first month I was going crazy trying to find something to do, and now I'm going crazy because I have too much to do! I am still volunteering at Destiny Center three days a week, but now on Tuesday and Thursday I am helping out at a shelter for street children. It has been a really great experience- very practical and the kids are great (as are the other volunteers there!) Plus it has been nice to have some variety and be doing different things. In addition to that, I have been visiting an HIV hospice with my friend (which is all the way at the southwestern tip of the city, so the travel time is ridiculous), as well as taking on two more video projects. I am still trying to get some footage and put everything together before I leave... which is only another week! I also am organizing travel plans to go to Agra and Paris, as well as trying to meet friends and keep up with other volunteers that I've met while being here. So I haven't had time to post, especially because there is so much to say! I am really sad about leaving India- I don't want to go. I've gotten used to so many things here-at the children's shelter they feed us lunch and I sit on the floor and eat rice and dahl with my hands like all the Indian kids- it is great. I've gotten better at extracting change from reluctant shopkeepers, perfected the head wobble, and figured out how to get pretty much anywhere in the city by bus. (although some things I will never adjust to... I still hate wearing a scarf that slips off my shoulder every 5 seconds even when I am sitting perfectly still. I hate this so much that I find myself gloating every time I see an Indian girl fix her scarf- theirs seem to be superglued in place, but every now and then you catch someone...)
At any rate, I am trying to pack every minute full before I leave- I still have quite a bit I would like to do, (like ride a tram and go to the Botanical Gardens and learn a song in Bengali) as well as some last minute shopping and trying to find time to say goodbye to all the friends I have made while I have been here. I am also trying to find the time to enjoy the sights and smells that make up Incredible India- I know that I am making memories here that will last a lifetime.

Diwali

Diwali lights

So it's been a while since I've posted about a puja... not for lack of them here, but I thought you all back home might be tired of hearing about it. But last week was Diwali, which is the festival of lights, and it was pretty cool. (There was also a Kali puja to start things off, including bagpipes (?!?!) but that was at midnight so I missed it.) Still not entirely clear on which festival Diwali is celebrating (I think it's the triumphant return of Rama to his kingdom, but no one else seemed to know anything about that) but it is sort of like Christmas and there are lots of fireworks everywhere. So it's loud and bright and very exciting. They have lamps that they put in the doorways and shops to light up the house, and they are everywhere!! I went out with some of my Indian friends and the first order of business, of course, was to buy fireworks. Which people just set off in the street, everywhere, and some of them are pretty noisy if you are not paying attention. So the boys took over and were in charge of lighting everything (I love this picture- it is so true that boys will be boys- India, American or wherever, if there's fire, that's where they want to be!)

They had noise makers and some roman candles and such (they gave me the tame ones- only sparklers.) There were also these really cool ones that made ashen snakes as they burned, which I had never seen before so I thought they were pretty cool. Then we met up with another friend and went to his house/courtyard to sit and talk and (you guessed it) light more fireworks.There were a bunch of Indian guys just hanging around, teasing each other and, well, being boys. Every time they would light a bigger firework they would all run over and jump in the sparks. There were some little kids as well- a brother and sister who were probably about 9 and 7.

The little girl didn't stop laughing the entire time we were there- she was having the time of her life. And her brother was taking custody of all the matches and supervising the fireworks. He was pretty impressive- he could even put the lit matches in his mouth and put them out just like a real fire-eater. And once he saw my suprise, you couldn't get him to stop showing off. He even warmed up enough to me to allow me to light one of the fireworks. There was also a baby girl (still not sure who she actually belonged to) that was passed around and was absolutely adorable. It was a lot of fun to just hang out and see how Indians celebrate. I love getting to see those glimpses of Indian life, not as a tourist, but with real people, sharing in their lives.

A more thoughtful post...

Sometimes I feel that it is hard for us to grasp the size of our planet these days. It used to be when you traveled to a faraway place, it took a significant amount of time to make the journey because you had to get there by means of a boat (or camel or whatever). But with the advent of modern technology and trains and planes, you can be half a world away in less than one day, a fact which I have struggled with since I arrived here. And with internet and the extent of global communication, the world shrinks even smaller and the distance is more difficult to believe. But yesterday, it finally sunk in that I am in INDIA. I feel like I've been to the edge of the world. And back. I had the incredible opportunity to see how Indians truly live. Swapna, one of the girls at the center where I work, invited me to accompany them to her eldest brother's house in her village outside the city. So at 7:30, I met the girls at our bus stop and we set out on our journey. First we went to Sealdah Station, where we caught a train out of the city. After about an hour, we arrived in a small town. Then we caught an auto-rickshaw and traveled further out into the countryside, past rice paddys and lagoons and tiny huts. Then we proceeded to walk down a small brick/beaten mud track for at least 20 minutes more until, after many twists and turns and I was

completely lost and hadn't the faintest idea where we were, we arrived in Swapna's village. It was, literally, the middle of nowhere. And it was also the heartbeat of India. Finally I got a chance to see what daily life is like for millions of people who live in this country. And it was amazing. Everything was so green and beautiful and
peaceful, and so different from the city- and yet, you could see men by the side of the road at chai stands and certain aspects of village life that have been carefully reconstructed in Kolkata. As we walked, there was still the random incongruity of being in the midst of such a small village and then passing a pandel with huge speakers blaring some American hip hop song into the stillness of the rice paddys. (What?!?!?!) There was electricity (and even a tiny black and white television set and DVD player so we could watch Hindi films,) and yet it was obviously a poor village. Sitting on the single bed in a packed mud house looking around me, I saw a shelf overhead with pots and bags of odds and ends, and then I realized that I was looking at all of the possesions of the entire household. And while some would visit a place like this and feel sorry for them, appalled that people live like this and think that something must be done so that they don't have to anymore, I, admittedly being a bit shocked that people live
like this, was infinitely more impressed by the fact that people LIVE like this- and how they live! They were not miserable or living in squalor- they were clean and beautiful and happy. I didn't feel a bit sorry for them- I would say that perhaps I was even a tad bit jealous because life here is so simple. I saw the smiles and shared the laughter of the ordinary people in this place- and they cared for me and welcomed me (and wouldn't stop feeding me) and were so excited that I had come- even though no one spoke a word of English. It was such a different atmosphere than anywhere I have been so far- very relaxed and simple- and I finally felt that I was half a world away. And in saying that, I have also begun to realize that it is going to be more difficult than I thought for me to come back. Because I finally feel like I have been far away, home suddenly seems further away as well.

The vastness of the world and the realization that there are really millions of people in this country tucked away in villages like this one made me feel so tiny and insignificant- while at the same time making me aware of how big God really is, because He knows the intimate details of each life and loves each one of these precious people, some of whom have never been out of their

village, much less traveled to a different country. Today my horizons were expanded, and the world seems so much bigger to me now. It is one thing to say that Jesus died for the whole world; it is completely different to feel like you have been there. And it just makes me think- how dare I ever believe that I am the center of anything? How can I be selfish enough to imagine that my needs and my problems are of any importance whatsoever? There is so much more to life than what is in front of us, and sometimes we need to get a staggering glimpse of the immensity of things, so we understand what is truly important. My visit to this village was a very touching and humbling experience that I will not soon forget.

Magnificent Holy Father/ I stand in awe of all I see/ Of all the things You have created/ And still You choose to think of me...

Please feel free to leave comments...

Another week...

Kolkata is such an interesting city. And just when you think you've seen everything, you pull up to a stoplight and a tiny, wizened old man tries to sell you a bunch of cauliflower. At 9:30 at night. There is so much going on here all the time. And I am still meeting new people- met one of Dave's former co-workers from IJM for dinner at her flat last week. Also met some Brits and a boy from Holland at the guesthouse and spent a rainy Sunday afternoon playing cards with them. I also met a new volunteer, from Montana- we went to the Victoria Memorial one day and it is actually a museum inside, which gave me a much better idea of the history of the city. (for instance, Lower Circular Road was once the outer edge of the city- it began as a ditch dug to defend the city against raids, then was paved and later renamed Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Rd- or AJC Bose for short!)

Last week I did finally get to meet with another woman about some different volunteer opportunities. I may be visiting some HIV patients at a hospice, as well as a few other projects in the works. And I might get an opportunity to make another video while I am here!

Vishal took us out for dinner (because two of the volunteers are leaving) at this great restaurant- it is in a hotel, but it's on the 9th floor, so you have a terrific view of the city. It's sort of an oasis- you don't even realize where you are, it's so far removed from the dinginess of the streets below. Here are some pictures to give you an idea:

New Market (opened in 1874!!! so that the British could have a separate marketplace) is one of the huge shopping sections in the area.

Sherry (my roommate) left on Saturday for London. No one has yet mentioned anything to me about moving upstairs, so for now I have my own room. It was a bit strange Saturday night- I realized that I was alone for the first time since my arrival here 2 months ago!

I've gotten really involved at the church here (I found out it was originally started by none other than William Carey!) and have been helping out at the church office. I also went to the youth meeting on Saturday (and they made a big fuss because it was my birthday- it was very sweet! They sang and had cake and everything) so I am getting to know some people as well. Everyone is so welcoming, it is great. And Sunday was their bi-lingual service, which was amazing. I think one of my favorite parts about travelling is to visit churches around the world and have the priveledge of listening to other believers praising God in their own language. It really broadens my perspective of God- He is so much bigger than our limitations. I took some video of them singing:

And speaking of my birthday, it was pretty good. It rained, so my plans of going to the botanical gardens got washed out, but that also meant that the weather was cooler, so it felt a bit more like October instead of August! Went out to dinner with some girlfriends, and my sister even made sure that I got flowers- from halfway around the world!

Diwali, the festival of lights, is tomorrow, so I'm sure that there will be more pictures and posts very soon. I hear there are lots of firecrackers, too....

Bus Vignettes

Amusing things not only happen at restaurants, but on the bus as well. I take the bus every morning to get to work, and it's about a 45 minute ride through the city. I really enjoy riding the bus, not only because you get to see such a cross-section of life in the city, but because people don't expect a white person in India to ride the bus, so it is fun. I like that there are specific seats reserved for ladies, and if there are men sitting in them they have to get up and move. Some background: The buses are all bright blue, and they each have two doors (well, openings is more like it..) There is a ticket collector in the front and one in the back, and they hang out the door and holler the bus's destinations as they pass the bus stops. They are quite harmonious about it- sometimes it sounds almost like a song. And I'm finally getting to the point where I can now understand what they're saying when they yell the names of different districts. So once you get on the bus and are settled, the ticket man closest to you comes and ruffles his stack of tickets at you and once you pay him your fare, you get a tiny ticket stub. They are also in charge of telling the driver when to stop. (They only come to a complete stop if a woman is getting on or off the bus.) This involves the ticket man in the back watching the road to see if anyone is trying to flag down the bus, and then pounding on the side of the bus- once for a full stop, and twice to get going. The front ticket man then pulls a rope attached to a bell in the driver's box so he knows when to stop. And that is how it works. It also provides a wealth of stories...
One Wednesday morning:
Ticket man: (ruffles tickets at passenger)
Passenger pulls out a 100 rupee note, ticket man shakes head
Much yelling in Bengali ensues
Karin's translation:
Ticket man: Don't you have 4 rupees?
Passenger: Don't you think if I did I would have given it to you? No, you have to give me change.
Ticket man: I don't have 96 rupees in change! It's only 9 am!
Passenger: Well this is all I have.
Ticket man: I can't believe you don't have 4 rupees! Who doesn't have 4 rupees?Passenger: Are you going to let me ride for free?
Ticket man: NO!
Passenger: Then you have to give me change.
Ticket man: I don't want to! What do you mean you don't have any smaller bills? Passenger: What do you mean, you don't have any change??
(After much heated debate, the ticket man gives the passenger his change.)
The same Wednesday, a few minutes later:
The other ticket man collects fare from another passenger and gives him change. Passenger realizes he has been given a ratty 10 rupee note. Much yelling in Bengali ensues. Karin's translation:
Passenger: Hey, wait a minute! You just gave me a crappy bill! Ticket Man: Too bad. It's your problem now. Passenger: No! I want a different bill.
Ticket Man: Well, I am not giving you one.
Passenger: You have a whole load of them in your hand. This one's no good. Just give me one of those instead!
Ticket Man: No, the one you have is fine.
Passenger: Well if it's fine, then why won't you take it back?
Ticket Man: I'm not taking it back!
Passenger: Then give me all my money back, I don't want to ride your stupid bus!
Ticket Man: Sit down!
Passenger: Give me a new bill!
(not really sure how this got resolved... eventually after a good 5 minutes of yelling, the passenger gave up and stayed on the bus without getting a newer bill)
And then there was the day that the bus pulled up and we tried to get on even though there wasn't a single square inch of space. You just sort of press in- can't even hold onto the bar because you can't raise your arm, (not that it matters because you are not able to move anyway, no matter how hard the driver slams on the brakes). And more people keep getting on the bus, and there are about 7 men standing in the doorway, and the girl sitting down next to where I am crushed between two passengers needs to get off. The only way that she can get up is if, simultaneously, I move to sit in her seat. She needs my standing space to get off, and I need her seat if I intend to move out of her way. Talk about tricky manuvering!
One sunny Monday:
Ticket Man: ruffles tickets at me
Karin: hands him money
Ticket Man: Ko tai?
Karin: (blank look, then realizes this is Bengali for where) Ruby
Ticket Man: (shakes head)
Karin: You don't go to Ruby?
Ticket Man: Na, Ruby na.
Karin: Near the Siemens building?
blank look from Ticket man
Karin: Is this the 45A?
Ticket Man: shakes head (which means yes)
Karin: Six rupees (holds up fingers)
Ticket man then gives me the ticket, returns to the door of the bus and begins yelling, Gariahut, Ruby, Ruby....
One Day Later..
Karin: (hands money to ticket man)
Ticket Man: Ko tai?
Karin: (having learned her lesson) Narkel Bagan
blank look from ticket man
Karin: Narkel Bagan (I just asked Becky this yesterday-I know that's where I'm going!) Ticket man gives up and goes back to the front of the bus. For 20 minutes. I wonder if he is going to make me pay the fare. I wait. He comes back.
Karin: 6 rupees
I get my ticket, and then as I prepare to get off the bus, I hear an Indian girl tell the ticket man she is getting off at Narkel Bagan- and he nods and lets us off at our stop.
Why it is good to have exact change:
Ticket Man: (ruffles tickets)
Karin: (hands him 10 rupee bill) 6 rupees
Ticket man hands me my ticket... and 6 rupees.
Karin: (giving it back) No, 6 rupees is the fare. You give me back 4 (holding up fingers) rupees.
And then there was the day that the bus never came... so I decided to take a bus to Gariahat and get a rickshaw from there, feeling more confident in my navigational skills. So I wait until I distinctly hear both ticket men yelling "Gariahat" out the door, and board the bus.
Ticket Man: (ruffles tickets)
Karin: Gariahat?
Ticket Man: Gariahat, Gariahat
Karin:(inwardly breathing a sigh of relief that he understood) How much?
Ticket Man: 4 rupees.
I pay the fare, get my ticket, and relax... the bus is going the right direction, and everything is fine... for about ten minutes. Because that's when the ticket man rings the bell once, stops the bus, and proudly announces: Gariahat! and gestures for me to get off. Meanwhile Gariahat is a huge market about 5 minutes from work, bustling with activity and shops, and this is a rather deserted stretch of road. So I get off the bus, and think, "Great. Now what?" So I continue in the direction that the bus was heading, and before long I have found the corner where the auto-rickshaws are. Now I just have to find one that's going towards Ruby...
Karin: Ruby?
Rickshaw Driver: Na
Karin: Ruby?
Rickshaw Driver: Na
Karin: Ruby?
(Rickshaw drives away)
Karin: (finally spotting a rickshaw labeled "Ruby", approaches with confidence) Ruby- Rickshaw Driver: Na, Ruby na.
After asking about 20 drivers, I finally decide it is quicker to just board another bus, since they keep coming around the corner and the ticket men are yelling Ruby out the door. I did finally make it to work, albeit about 2 hours late. (the first hour spent waiting for the bus that never came...) But amazingly enough, it works- I've always managed to get to work in one piece, and sometimes it seems easier than trying to tell a taxi driver where you need to be- at least if you get on the right bus you know where it's going! And my favorite is taking the bus home at dusk, just when the streets come alive, and there are candles being lit at all the roadside stands and the men coming home from work all pause to have chai. When you can listen to the ticket men sing their destinations into the twilight, and you know that the last thing you hear when you get off the bus will be: "Aste, Ladies, aste*.."
*careful