Flashback: India 2006

In India: Part I

I am here, well, and in love with India. It has already been one week and I have done so much, with so much left to do still. I am working in the mornings at an orphanage for children with disabilities which is rather cheery and very fun, so far there are too many to pick one favorite! In the afternoons I spend my time at Kalighat, Mother Teresa's home for the dying destitute. This has been very hard work and a beautiful experience, something new every time. Wonderful. I also gave a lecture to the OB nurses at the local private hospital--with special permission from the head of nursing staff. The nurses were so darling, I love them, and they were very interested in what I did. I donated my birthing balls and other tools that I had lugged all the way here. It felt great to pass them on and to share a little doula spirit with them.



Pashminas, mirrored Indian woolen blankets, beaded slippers, bangles, scarves, saris... these are the things I've been eyeing, everything is so enticing and beautiful. The sheer contrasts of this city are mesmerizing. The smells around every corner consist of all of the following all at once: incense, garbage, fruit, petrol, lotus blossoms, sewage, sweat and curry. It's exquisitely intense.

Other than all of this, I have been drowning in my own sweat. It feels like I've been on a long hot run, and then put on my nice clothes and headed in for work without a shower. It's great. I am staying in a hostel with several other girls, quite a worldly room, for about $1 a night, fully equipped with a luxurious cold "shower" faucet. A necessity in this heat. Showers are equally necessary and futile, I love it. Not so much in the way of Monsoon season actually, a few days of rain--torrential and flooding--at first, then simply sweltering heat. I am eating more and more each day, I started out with just one lassi, I think I'm too hot and awe-struck to be hungry. But my energy is depleting. After this email I am going for a real dinner, and I'm really excited, daal, naan, curry, chai, sweet lime juice, even the fresh roadside peeled cucumber is amazing! (Thank you Sakina)

Tomorrow after the workday is finished I am heading to Darjeeling for a quiet misty mountain respite. Very much looking forward to this. I have, in my head, grand plans to visit Nepal and Bhutan while I'm up there. We shall see if it all actually works.

You must see this country to believe it. I wish you all that opportunity.

All my love,
namaste

J

In India: Part II

Happy Indian Independence Day today (the 15th), or Gandhi Day!

I am finally back in Calcutta, although it is again stiflingly hot, it feels good to be somewhere familiar, and in the company of other people!

I managed to make my escape to the hills but not without undergoing many adventures. So I last left you all with the prospect of my first real meal in India. It was grand, loads of food, spicy and filling and loads of it really! Well, that has still been my only real meal thus far. Immediately afterward I spiraled down the sickly slopes into Indian-illness delirium. The entire next day I writhed and wallowed. I was in a very sad state when one my dorm mates finally returned in the afternoon and got me situated. She gave me a handful of pills and made sure I took them, one of them was ciprofloxacin and I don't know the rest! Hahah. I remember having all my own, happier, natural medications laid out in front of me, but I couldn’t leave to get water without vomiting all over the courtyard of the hostel. She got me water and tucked me into bed and had me listen to her soothing music. When she left, thunder struck, literally. The rains and thunder were therapeutic and I remember coming slowly back to consciousness and testing blood sugar constantly praying that I wouldn't go low because I couldn't fathom ingesting anything. I actually dreamed that I had to give myself that emergency glucagon shot. I recovered enough to somehow checkout, get a taxi and get on my train going north that evening. I was in a sleeper class compartment which was packed with stinky sweaty bodies; I could see only men for about three whole cars. I believe it’s convenient to be vomiting constantly when you are maybe concerned for your things and safety. No one paid me any attention!

After my nearly 12 hour trip I went straight for the border town of Kakarvitta, Nepal. It was an amazing transformation from the bustle of India. Not a tourist in sight. A very quiet, slow, lush town. The children found me wandering the street and we soon had a huge parade. A real pied piper. They were all so lovely. Even the adults were thrilled with my unannounced arrival. I wanted to scoop them all up and take them home. One girl was called Jinita; everyone else’s name was nearly 5 syllables so I have no idea! I loved my small taste of Nepal.

The next day I went to Darjeeling, which involved a gorgeous mountain drive through green tea fields and lush forests, but I spent my energy not throwing up, which was a good thing. The mountains were stunning, but I unfortunately found only a sad dingy hotel that had vacancies. It was a horrible place to spend any amount of time. Especially alone. I was hit very hard with the reality of loneliness. I did some fun things; learned about teas, had a cooking lesson in Tibetan dumplings and shopped for beautiful jeweler. But the only people who talked to me were the sleezeballs who followed me around. I was very fed up. The cool temperatures were wonderful but after only two days I had to head back down the mountains and see what else I could see.

Back in the junction town of Siliguri, I shut myself up in a hotel room for almost a whole day. Overcome with being alone and frustrated and still ill I tried to recuperate a little more. Unfortunately there were three knocks on my door in the first 15 minutes (once for the bellboy to simply hand me the card of the hotel and actually recite the entire telephone number to me! I was too bewildered to interrupt him) then my phone rang off the hook. I hung up on it a few times, but the receptionist would just call back. I explained to her that I was sick and didn't want to be bothered. When she called again she said, "I'm sorry ma'am, but I have never met a foreigner, I want to ask you questions..." Oh dear, so charmingly sweet and innocent. Later I humored her and spoke with her in the lobby. The entire staff gathered around. It was great. "I wouldn't let my daughter do what you are doing even if she were twice your age!" sad one man. They sure thought I was interesting.

The next day I hopped on a four hour bus ride to the border of India and Bhutan. It costs tourists a $200/day foreigners tax, (plus a $50 visa obtained ahead of time only) to get across the border. But my guide book said that this border town allowed visitors for free until 10 o'clock. Then I heard that they aren't even doing that anymore. So I thought I would go anyway and see for myself. Sure enough a few months ago they stopped letting day visitors in for free, and it would be impossible for me to enter. Well, that sounded like a challenge. So I put on my best "just rode a four hour bus after coming all the way here from Calcutta where I am a volunteer, ALONE, just to visit the beautiful city of Phentsholing, and I had no idea!" face. Well lo and behold, not only did I get across the border, in the city and officially become a visitor in the lovely and tranquil mountains of Bhutan, but I had a personal government guide as well! Hahahha. That was good fun.

Rather pleased I headed back to catch my late train heading back to Kolkata. In an A/C compartment this time which was wonderful. Now I am here again, ready to return to my volunteering and do some more sightseeing around this city. I head back to the US on Sunday morning early. I am following the news a bit too, so hopefully shouldn't have any trouble at the airport.

And, I am eating. Light teas, broths, rice and energy bars. I can't wait to go out for Indian cuisine when I return!! This illness has broken my heart because I can't eat my beloved foods here. I am working up to it maybe. We'll see.

So, a very distinct change in experiences since my last email, but it's all part of India, and therefore I love it. I laugh now at all the mishaps and all the things that made my stomach churn. But I can't complain. India is everything that I had dreamed, and nothing that I could have ever prepared for. How wonderful and fun is that!?

Thank you for listening,

All my love
namaste,
Jane

In India: Part III

The final installment:

Hope all is well with everyone, thank you so much for all your emails, they have brightened everyday for me. You are all wonderful people.

I had a great last few days in Kolkata. After my last email I came down with a vicious head cold, probably the transition from a cold to hot climate. My first day back I went to work anyway, feeling crummy, and then a friend of mine who is actually a UW Law student (yay Julie!) asked me to go with him to a project he was working on with the children of the prostitutes in Calcutta's red light district. It was very Born into Brothels. I played with all the little kids while my friend worked with the older kids on a project of theirs. I had so much fun. But I had such a mixture of feelings for these kids. In one way they are so normal with the same opportunities and prospects as any other child, but the reality is harsh. It's so incredibly painful and sad to think of what might actually happen to their lives. The likelihood of these young girls following their mothers is too real to bear. It tears me apart. It was wonderful and surreal to meet them.

I laid low the next morning recuperating some more with some discovered honey lemon ginger tea. It seems I am always in recuperation mode. In the afternoon I met up with a fellow traveler I met coming back from the north and we visited the Kali Temple near to where I work. This is a temple of worship for the goddess of destruction, Kali. It is a gruesome figure with a huge round black face and three orange eyes. There are burning incense sticks and red flowers everywhere in the temple, but all you see is a blur of red and smoke, making the scene very eerie. We missed the goat sacrifice from earlier in the day-phew! I love the spirit and the intensity of these people. Afterward I took my friend to visit my work at the dying home, he is a doctor of internal medicine in Switzerland and turned out to be a great help to the sister's and to a handful of the patients. It was great of him to jump right in and do some assessments and look over some charts and answer the sister's questions. Apparently they see one volunteer doctor a week for a short time one afternoon only. And of all the nuns, only one sister is actually a nurse, although many of the volunteers are nurses.

The following day was a day off for all the volunteers so I spent it doing some shopping and sightseeing. The shopping has been fantastic, fabric and jewelry galore. Everything is colorful and shiny. It's amazing to look down a busy street and see lots of dreary colors from the dust and dirt, but to be able to focus on one woman's vibrant and crisp sari: bright orange or yellow or pink or turquoise. It shows the rich culture and beauty amidst some of the world's poorest places. This is India. I ended up sitting in a sari shop with dozens of other women, wealthy Indian couples, as the wives sifted through piles of fabrics. I was shown a stunning piece right off the bat, and then after seeing countless others I decided upon that very first penetrating fuschia silk with silver embroidery. It was 6 meters of incredible material, and soon it was my very own. I was so excited. I went straight to the tailor's down the street from where I was staying and was measured for the blouse; the remaining 5 1/2 meters are to be draped to perfection for traditional Indian fashion. That evening I had arranged to see a show put on by the children I'd visited earlier in the red light district, the children of the "untouchables" as the director of the program sadly told me. It was a delightful performance. All kinds of classic mishaps when you get a bunch of children together and put them on stage. But it was a big audience and the kids had so much fun. It was beautiful to witness. I wanted to burst into tears I was so moved by their happiness.

I worked very hard on my last couple of days, it felt great. I was feeling my absolute best since my arrival almost three weeks ago. Rather sad that I had been ill pretty much the whole time, I was relieved that I could at least feel strong for my final days. I managed to eat three meals on my last day, which was quite a feat. The best being the street food called the Kati Roll. It was prepared like the New York City Hot Dog stand I thought. You order the ingredients and they pack it all into greasy, recently fried bread, squirt some hot hot sauce inside and roll it up. It was cheap, fast, spicy, and fantastic. I loved it. I also ate cool peeled cucumbers and fresh soothing coconut milk right out of the coconut. It was really good to be able to eat a little, I felt like I could stay another three weeks now.

I made the most of this adventure I think. I had some lofty goals that I didn't manage, but I kept myself very busy at the dying home and the orphanage and supporting the children of the red light district at the end. And I can't forget all my efforts early on to talk with the OB nurses at the hospital and make my doula donation. I didn't see one birth or one death, but I learned a lot about both. I see plenty of both at home, and that's where I am needed now. My experience in India has been very powerful and wonderful, and someday I will go back, and do more. This was just a taste, but I did it; by myself and I feel very accomplished. I will never forget my India and what it has done for me. For that I am beyond grateful.

Now I am home, I will recover fully and be healthy again, and get back into my busy life here. I am happy to be back, but look forward to the next time I can escape and pretend to be a part of someone else's culture; it's good for my soul.

Thank you again for listening and sharing this with me, it's been a pleasure to share it with you and think of all the wonderful people I am lucky enough to have in my life.

Love to you all,
see you soon!!
J