Hello all!!!
Sorry I haven't written in a while- I swear time flies here! Already I have only one week left at Daya Dan. I have no idea how I am going to bring myself to leave all those wonderful children. (If any of you have facebook you can see one of the children that I spend a lot of my time with- Pompa. A girl had her camera today so one precious photo has now been posted and is conveniently my new profile picture.)
Speaking of Daya Dan some AMAZING things have been going on! Just last week a new double railing has been set up so that the girls (Pompa and Puja and hopefully soon- Goon goon) can practice walking with two support on either side so they can practice walking properly and not just side to side. Pompa has been doing amazing!!! She has to work really hard to pick up her feet (especially with her awesome but huge special shoes) so she has this great swinging strut that she is oh-so proud of. Now we can walk her around a bit. I can't imagine it will be very long before she can transition to her crutches... yay!!!! Puja is also improving by leaps and bounds--- not as much physically but definitely behaviorally- which will make her improve faster. You may not remember but Puja is very new and was found alone in the train station. As a result she's pretty "scrappy." (She bit Allison last week.) So, she's been super hard to get to excersize aka stand. (At one point I was holding her hands to the railing, supporting her butt with my knee, and putting my toes on her feet to make sure she stays aligned, all while she's screaming in her mixed language so much that the new volunteers probably thought I was abusing her. It didn't really help when you have to tell them that she's just lazy. But it's true.) But this past week I can honestly say that I have seen a total transformation in her behavior. Rather than hitting, she smiles, and she's REALLY trying during her excersizes even though it's obvious how hard she has to work. Every time she goes down the railing the babe is just pouring sweat, but she's DOING IT!!! It's sooooo exciting. The other great success of result times has been Bhaskar! As of yesterday I saw him making a small shuffle-step while holding on to only ONE hand of a volunteer. OMG!!! This is amazing for a kid who has essentially no balance! I'm so excited for all of them!
Another quick thing just for clarification on my daily tasks. Recently a large portion of my volunteer day is taken up on excersizing the girls who are working on walking. It's a hard job because they really don't like it- it's amazingly hard for them because we are essentially forcing them to develop muscles that are very tense as well as frustrating because all three of these girls have learned how to move around VERY fast on their knees. Generally there is a lot of crying and yelling. You know you really love someone when you make them do what is best for them, not the easiest for either you or them. <3 But it's still really hard to not make what's making them sad go away when they cry, even being the cause of the crying in some cases.
Outside of Daya Dan things are still going well. The past few days have been a bit disheartening though, especially yesterday. We had to say goodbye to THREE of our amazing volunteer friends in the same day and that was ROUGH. Also when trying to buy cake for one of these friends we got caught in the worst monsoon yet- got totally drenched, could not proceed because the way forward was flooded, and had to return via the metro empty handed. It was frustrating. But then today we got a package from TWO AMAZING GIRLS (Omg Sophie and Lizzy we LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!) full of American candies and goodies that totally made our day! We also took a stroll through the Oberio Grand- the most amazing hotel I think I have ever seen. It's just around the corner from where we live but we haven't been in there yet. Walking in it you would have no idea you're in Kolkata- there are oil scents burning everywhere (it was delicious) and massive bouquets of flowers, and AC, and a pool..... and it was CLEAN and QUIET. Of course, one night there is about the same as our entire housing budget for six weeks. Going in it strangely lifted my spirits... it was a very surreal experience going in, and then coming out again. Located on one of the busiest streets for street vendors in the area I felt like I experienced the richest and (almost) the poorest of Kolkata within fifteen seconds of eachother. Very thought provoking...
Well, I suppose that's enough for now. More soon.
Love,
<3 Hannah
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Pictures!!!
Hello all! I finally managed to get some pictures of my life here online! If you're interested in seeing some of them follow this link to my facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=138862&id=541350335&l=b83bff0688
Peace,
Hannah
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=138862&id=541350335&l=b83bff0688
Peace,
Hannah
Saturday, July 18, 2009
But first- a Daya Dan update
I know that I have officially been at Daya Dan for a substantial period of time because Mona, the "head mashi" has given me a permanent job. Although I am actually very pleased to have been assigned something special- I take it as proof of having been noticed by the management, ha ha- I think that many who know me will be quite amused at what the job is:
Every morning, instead of making beds, I now get to go behind everyone else and check them to make sure they are, in Mona's words, "nice and tight."
Strangely enough I do feel extremely useful at this task. Some of the kids move a lot so it is important that they have nicely made beds so that the sheets can last as long as possible. However, I must admit the irony... at home I rarely make my own bed, and never very well. And now a major task of mine is to make sure that 60 beds are made VERY well.... I am reminded of my mother. She frequently reminds me that God has a sense of humor.
:)
Every morning, instead of making beds, I now get to go behind everyone else and check them to make sure they are, in Mona's words, "nice and tight."
Strangely enough I do feel extremely useful at this task. Some of the kids move a lot so it is important that they have nicely made beds so that the sheets can last as long as possible. However, I must admit the irony... at home I rarely make my own bed, and never very well. And now a major task of mine is to make sure that 60 beds are made VERY well.... I am reminded of my mother. She frequently reminds me that God has a sense of humor.
:)
Kolkata: A City of Contradictions
As I have been in Kolkata for over three weeks now I feel it is high time that I share some sort of description of the city in which I am living. I've wanted to do so for a while but two factors have held me back. One, I wanted to really "compose" this post. All of my previous ones have been spur-of-the-moment and I'm sure they reflect that in their rambling style. This one I wanted to be different: deliberate. (Honestly, I'm not sure I've succeeded.) Two, I felt it was my responsibility to wait. It being so drastically different here I knew that my early impressions could hardly be fair and certainly not comprehensive.
I take both of these considerations very seriously. For many of you I am commenting on a place that you may never visit, which makes what I say significant in your general understanding of this place and this culture and these people. Knowing this, I wished to pause before I described my reflections on this place. I hope that the added time has given me a slightly wider view of Kolkata, I know it has given me a clearer head.
And thus we have.... Kolkata through the eyes of Hannah Hostetter:
I really didn't know that much about the history of Kolkata before arriving here. In retrospect it is something that I wish I had looked into, just as a reference point, but with all the chaos of finals and preparations I must admit that researching this aspect was far from my mind. However, since coming here I have begun to scratch the surface of Kolkata's history, because I firmly believe that to understand the present one must understand the past. Through some sporatic reading and visiting various historical sites I have learned that Kolkata, or perhaps I should say "Calcutta" for that is it's historical name, began as three small villages. Tension between powers further down the Hoogly River led the East India Company to establish a trading center upstream at the present location of Kolkata's BBD Bag Sqaure in the 1700s. From that point Kolkata continually expanded in size, wealth, and importance as a major trading center for around two hundred years. People were literally attracted from all over the globe to participate in the city's prosperity which has given Kolkata a markedly diverse feeling even to this day. For example, Chinese food is a major cuisine, courtesy of the many early Chinese immigrants. When Britian established imperial rule in India, Calcutta was the capital until 1911 (if I recall correctly) when the capital was changed to Dehli in response to rising political tension in Calcutta. During the period before the change Calcutta was apparently a place of true grandeur- amazing buildings and wealth and education and commerce and arts. After this point I do not know as much--- in general I've found that most books, museums, etc. cut off their discussion after the loss of the capital status. What I have gleaned is basically that after the capital shifted Kolkata saw rough times. It was hit hard in both world wars (I think actually bombed in the second), was very violent during the period surrounding Independence (a Sister who was there said she remembers a time when anyone wearing western clothing on the street was killed), and has been the depository for thousands of poor peasant farmers looking for work when their crops go back. This shift from prosperity to hard times can be seen particularly in the city's architecture. There are absolutely amazing buildings here, even the normal, non-descript buildings have trim reminiscent of Paris, but almost all of them have fallen into disrepair- no paint, broken windows, loss of structual integrity, etc. Whether this is the result of a blatant political statement (not keeping the symbols of past imperialism) or just the result of it being extremely expensive in this tropical climate I can't say-- but what is clear is that Kolkata is both grand and squalid, simultaneously.
Directly connected to this thought, I have found that over the years Kolkata has been called many things: the City of Palaces, the City of the Dead, the cultural center of India, the City of Joy, the city of the dreadful night, and the Second City of the British Empire. After pondering these labels (ironic in their co-existence), I have come up with my own title for Kolkata: the City of Contradictions.
The contradictions I see in it's character range from simple ironic facts of life to the most essential factors of human interactions. As there are quite a few I would like to discuss in detail to give a more complete picture of my life here I will spend the next few blog posts discussing one or two of them at a time so as to make them more managable for both myself and you.
So, I suppose... stay tuned.
<3
I take both of these considerations very seriously. For many of you I am commenting on a place that you may never visit, which makes what I say significant in your general understanding of this place and this culture and these people. Knowing this, I wished to pause before I described my reflections on this place. I hope that the added time has given me a slightly wider view of Kolkata, I know it has given me a clearer head.
And thus we have.... Kolkata through the eyes of Hannah Hostetter:
I really didn't know that much about the history of Kolkata before arriving here. In retrospect it is something that I wish I had looked into, just as a reference point, but with all the chaos of finals and preparations I must admit that researching this aspect was far from my mind. However, since coming here I have begun to scratch the surface of Kolkata's history, because I firmly believe that to understand the present one must understand the past. Through some sporatic reading and visiting various historical sites I have learned that Kolkata, or perhaps I should say "Calcutta" for that is it's historical name, began as three small villages. Tension between powers further down the Hoogly River led the East India Company to establish a trading center upstream at the present location of Kolkata's BBD Bag Sqaure in the 1700s. From that point Kolkata continually expanded in size, wealth, and importance as a major trading center for around two hundred years. People were literally attracted from all over the globe to participate in the city's prosperity which has given Kolkata a markedly diverse feeling even to this day. For example, Chinese food is a major cuisine, courtesy of the many early Chinese immigrants. When Britian established imperial rule in India, Calcutta was the capital until 1911 (if I recall correctly) when the capital was changed to Dehli in response to rising political tension in Calcutta. During the period before the change Calcutta was apparently a place of true grandeur- amazing buildings and wealth and education and commerce and arts. After this point I do not know as much--- in general I've found that most books, museums, etc. cut off their discussion after the loss of the capital status. What I have gleaned is basically that after the capital shifted Kolkata saw rough times. It was hit hard in both world wars (I think actually bombed in the second), was very violent during the period surrounding Independence (a Sister who was there said she remembers a time when anyone wearing western clothing on the street was killed), and has been the depository for thousands of poor peasant farmers looking for work when their crops go back. This shift from prosperity to hard times can be seen particularly in the city's architecture. There are absolutely amazing buildings here, even the normal, non-descript buildings have trim reminiscent of Paris, but almost all of them have fallen into disrepair- no paint, broken windows, loss of structual integrity, etc. Whether this is the result of a blatant political statement (not keeping the symbols of past imperialism) or just the result of it being extremely expensive in this tropical climate I can't say-- but what is clear is that Kolkata is both grand and squalid, simultaneously.
Directly connected to this thought, I have found that over the years Kolkata has been called many things: the City of Palaces, the City of the Dead, the cultural center of India, the City of Joy, the city of the dreadful night, and the Second City of the British Empire. After pondering these labels (ironic in their co-existence), I have come up with my own title for Kolkata: the City of Contradictions.
The contradictions I see in it's character range from simple ironic facts of life to the most essential factors of human interactions. As there are quite a few I would like to discuss in detail to give a more complete picture of my life here I will spend the next few blog posts discussing one or two of them at a time so as to make them more managable for both myself and you.
So, I suppose... stay tuned.
<3
Monday, July 13, 2009
Random, yet funny, Kolkata story
They say bad things come in threes. Allison and I are hoping that this can apply to us as a unit...
1) Yesterday Hannah almost slips twice on the way to the Blue Sky (monsoon rain + old flip flops = bad idea) but manages to stay upright until, upon missing the step into the restaurant, falls over and slams the right side of her face into the open glass door.... in front of like five Indian men at the counter, the regular waiters who I have to see on a consistent basis, not to mention all the volunteers that were currently patronizing the joint. Um... yeah, need I say more?
2) Literally an hour later Allison trips over a brick that is supposed to be lining a tree but is doing more jutting into the sidewalk. Walking while talking in Kolkata => face first on the sidewalk. Gross.
3) Hannah and Allison are walking to the metro station after volunteering. It was a hard day but we're still going strong. Then out of nowhere dirt (hopefully) literally falls from the sky, hits the sidewalk right in front of us, and splatters ALL over us. We think someone was cleaning their roof?.... ha ha, not really sure.
Oh! Kolkata. <3
1) Yesterday Hannah almost slips twice on the way to the Blue Sky (monsoon rain + old flip flops = bad idea) but manages to stay upright until, upon missing the step into the restaurant, falls over and slams the right side of her face into the open glass door.... in front of like five Indian men at the counter, the regular waiters who I have to see on a consistent basis, not to mention all the volunteers that were currently patronizing the joint. Um... yeah, need I say more?
2) Literally an hour later Allison trips over a brick that is supposed to be lining a tree but is doing more jutting into the sidewalk. Walking while talking in Kolkata => face first on the sidewalk. Gross.
3) Hannah and Allison are walking to the metro station after volunteering. It was a hard day but we're still going strong. Then out of nowhere dirt (hopefully) literally falls from the sky, hits the sidewalk right in front of us, and splatters ALL over us. We think someone was cleaning their roof?.... ha ha, not really sure.
Oh! Kolkata. <3
Friday, July 10, 2009
All the Little Children...
Here is a little bit about the amazing children that get me up at 6:20 every morning. Those of you who know my sleeping preferences know that I have to have a very compelling reason to drag myself out of bed that early, and I have not overslept yet. :) Although there are probably 30 kids total at Daya Dan and at one point or another I have worked with them all, there are a few that I work with a bit more consistently. One of these is Shantu. Shantu is the first child I ever worked with at Daya Dan and he has claimed a special place in my heart ever since that Tuesday morning. Although he is really five, he looks like he could be two or three. He can sit up on his own and is now working on being able to stand on his own. Most of the time we just scoop him and then lean him against one of those play stands where he will happily balance himself for most of the morning. I think he may be the happiest resident of Daya Dan. He is never too busy to give you a smile- or maybe a yell. Even without the ability to verbally communicate, this kid has the charisma to charm an entire room.
Another one of "my boys" is Bhasker. Only three, Bhasker can also sit on his own, though he would much rather lie down if given the chance. Now, he is working on walking. He's actually getting really good at walking around when someone holds his hands and walks with him- one of my more favorite activities. The past couple of days we've been working on stairs- which he REALLY doesn't like. It takes a lot of ingenuity to keep him from grabbing onto you and if he does, well then you have to start all over again. He has an iron fist- which he likes to grab hair with- so once he grabs on you have to sit down, calm him, and reposition. I can't really blame him- stairs are terrifying if you really think about it. When he's not walking he's generally standing holding onto a railing or a window sill. This can actually get pretty funny because since he has limited neck control he has a tendency to lean way over backwards, drop his head, and grin at you upside down. This has lead me to, with an amazing amount of fondness- don't get me wrong, to nickname him "the exocist child." (Of course I don't tell the Sisters that- I don't think they'd get the joke.) When we walk and he tries to lean his head back onto my legs I will quietly tell him, "No, no, no. We don't want the exorcist child," and he smiles and lifts his head up.
Potentially the most gentle child I've ever met, Aloke is frequently likened to a cat because he sleeps ALL the time. I've always said that if I were to be an animal I'd want to be a housecat, so I actually really like this about him. You can be in the middle of an excersize and suddenly he'll just be unconscious. If that happens, good luck waking him up. He has cerebral palsy with some mental retardation, so he has trouble moving his legs and can't sit himself up- though I personally have hopes that he will get there someday. He doesn't verbally communicate- but he absolutely loves to be tickled. Tickle his stomach and he just starts rolling side to side and giggling- sometimes even snorting. It's absolutely adorable. Sometimes he'll even wake up from one of his sleeps when tickled- just long enough to giggle/snort, but then he'll go right back to sleep. <3
Although I didn't meet Pompa right away, once I met her I could never forget. Only four years old, she is bright as a whip. She has trouble walking, but she has a very sophisticated crawl and just a few days ago was equipped with crutches that hopefully soon she will be able to walk with in combination with her special shoes. I told her my name right before we left one day, and the next day when I came back and walked by her she cried "Hannah!" Ever since then I like to teach her English when I have the time and she has the will- usually we learn while coloring. (I myself have learned that the Bengali word for "repeat" is "bolo." So that comprises all I know of Bengali- not really that helpful except when working with kids but I'm still proud of it, lol.) She speaks Bengali- has absolutely no communication problems. Today we practiced the colors and counting to ten. She is actually developing really good pronunciation. I'm really proud of her- I think everyone that works at Daya Dan is. She is very loving... when we do "meditation" she likes to sit with Shantu and put his head on her lap or give him little kisses. She also refuses to wear a bib at meal times and feeds herself. She is always the last one eating, but she also eats every last bite. Sometimes she combines Allison's and I's names into one: "Alliehannah!"
Puja is like Pompa in a lot of ways but she's a little rougher. Apparently she lived on the streets for a while (unlike Pompa) so I like to think that she has "street smarts." She also can't walk, but crawls really well. She goes from very happy to extremely sad really quickly, which can be a little alarming, but I think it may be because while she has the ability to speak, everyone has trouble understangding her. She speaks something, and she speaks a lot, but because she lived on the streets the Sisters say that what she is speaking is not Bengali or Hindi or English- it a combination of all of them and some other language that no one has been able to identify. I find this quite fascinating. I can understand how frustrating it would be to be able to tell people what you want but having them be consistenlyunable to understand you. She's learning both Bengali and English now though- and very quickly too. Today she wanted me to put special shoes on her. Although she doesn't like it, she's been standing every day and so hopefully she'll be able to walk eventually. Her special standing shoes haven't come yet, but they've been ordered and should be coming soon. I am very encouraged that she actually wanted the shoes today- I can only hope that her opinion on standing is changing into a positive one. As soon as she and Pompa can walk they can go to school- which they both definitely have the mental capacity to do, so obviously I'm excited for them to be able to walk. :)
Goon goon is the newest edition to Daya Dan- she only came this week. Like both Puja and Pompa she also cannot walk, but crawls, and so has developed these amazing calluses on her knees from moving around on them so much. She is absolutely adorable- she "talks" all the time but it's only, literally, "la la la la la la la la." All while grinning, all the time.
Finally, I spend a lot of time with the girls Pinku and Aradhana. Although I couldn't tell you precisely what their diagnosis is, suffice it to say that both have severly physically deformities and development delays. They have no verbal communication and essentially no motor control. There muscles are very tight and so volunteers need to massage them and help them stretch. You must be very patient and gentle, but I personally find it very rewarding. As there is absolutely no way they could do it for themselves, being able to give them some semblence of physical comfort makes me feel very useful. Also it's very nice just to sit with them. They are very sweet, but sometimes I worry that they don't get as much attention as the children who are more responsive (understandably). I myself can be intimidated by them- I find myself terrified that I'm going to hurt them, fragile as they are, and the last thing I want to do is put a child who is already in pain in more pain. But I am overcoming this, so they've probably done me more good then I could ever have done them. Isn't that just the way of things? Bless them for it.
Oh but of course these are not them all, and all these children are so special. There's Raju and Angeli (she's been very sick and would appreciate prayers) and Pryia and Dipti and Sonia and Sneha and so many more. All are an absolute blessing in my life every single day I get to see them. But hopefully this will give you a bit more of an idea of the types of wonderful children I've been working with.
Love and more love.
Hannah
Another one of "my boys" is Bhasker. Only three, Bhasker can also sit on his own, though he would much rather lie down if given the chance. Now, he is working on walking. He's actually getting really good at walking around when someone holds his hands and walks with him- one of my more favorite activities. The past couple of days we've been working on stairs- which he REALLY doesn't like. It takes a lot of ingenuity to keep him from grabbing onto you and if he does, well then you have to start all over again. He has an iron fist- which he likes to grab hair with- so once he grabs on you have to sit down, calm him, and reposition. I can't really blame him- stairs are terrifying if you really think about it. When he's not walking he's generally standing holding onto a railing or a window sill. This can actually get pretty funny because since he has limited neck control he has a tendency to lean way over backwards, drop his head, and grin at you upside down. This has lead me to, with an amazing amount of fondness- don't get me wrong, to nickname him "the exocist child." (Of course I don't tell the Sisters that- I don't think they'd get the joke.) When we walk and he tries to lean his head back onto my legs I will quietly tell him, "No, no, no. We don't want the exorcist child," and he smiles and lifts his head up.
Potentially the most gentle child I've ever met, Aloke is frequently likened to a cat because he sleeps ALL the time. I've always said that if I were to be an animal I'd want to be a housecat, so I actually really like this about him. You can be in the middle of an excersize and suddenly he'll just be unconscious. If that happens, good luck waking him up. He has cerebral palsy with some mental retardation, so he has trouble moving his legs and can't sit himself up- though I personally have hopes that he will get there someday. He doesn't verbally communicate- but he absolutely loves to be tickled. Tickle his stomach and he just starts rolling side to side and giggling- sometimes even snorting. It's absolutely adorable. Sometimes he'll even wake up from one of his sleeps when tickled- just long enough to giggle/snort, but then he'll go right back to sleep. <3
Although I didn't meet Pompa right away, once I met her I could never forget. Only four years old, she is bright as a whip. She has trouble walking, but she has a very sophisticated crawl and just a few days ago was equipped with crutches that hopefully soon she will be able to walk with in combination with her special shoes. I told her my name right before we left one day, and the next day when I came back and walked by her she cried "Hannah!" Ever since then I like to teach her English when I have the time and she has the will- usually we learn while coloring. (I myself have learned that the Bengali word for "repeat" is "bolo." So that comprises all I know of Bengali- not really that helpful except when working with kids but I'm still proud of it, lol.) She speaks Bengali- has absolutely no communication problems. Today we practiced the colors and counting to ten. She is actually developing really good pronunciation. I'm really proud of her- I think everyone that works at Daya Dan is. She is very loving... when we do "meditation" she likes to sit with Shantu and put his head on her lap or give him little kisses. She also refuses to wear a bib at meal times and feeds herself. She is always the last one eating, but she also eats every last bite. Sometimes she combines Allison's and I's names into one: "Alliehannah!"
Puja is like Pompa in a lot of ways but she's a little rougher. Apparently she lived on the streets for a while (unlike Pompa) so I like to think that she has "street smarts." She also can't walk, but crawls really well. She goes from very happy to extremely sad really quickly, which can be a little alarming, but I think it may be because while she has the ability to speak, everyone has trouble understangding her. She speaks something, and she speaks a lot, but because she lived on the streets the Sisters say that what she is speaking is not Bengali or Hindi or English- it a combination of all of them and some other language that no one has been able to identify. I find this quite fascinating. I can understand how frustrating it would be to be able to tell people what you want but having them be consistenlyunable to understand you. She's learning both Bengali and English now though- and very quickly too. Today she wanted me to put special shoes on her. Although she doesn't like it, she's been standing every day and so hopefully she'll be able to walk eventually. Her special standing shoes haven't come yet, but they've been ordered and should be coming soon. I am very encouraged that she actually wanted the shoes today- I can only hope that her opinion on standing is changing into a positive one. As soon as she and Pompa can walk they can go to school- which they both definitely have the mental capacity to do, so obviously I'm excited for them to be able to walk. :)
Goon goon is the newest edition to Daya Dan- she only came this week. Like both Puja and Pompa she also cannot walk, but crawls, and so has developed these amazing calluses on her knees from moving around on them so much. She is absolutely adorable- she "talks" all the time but it's only, literally, "la la la la la la la la." All while grinning, all the time.
Finally, I spend a lot of time with the girls Pinku and Aradhana. Although I couldn't tell you precisely what their diagnosis is, suffice it to say that both have severly physically deformities and development delays. They have no verbal communication and essentially no motor control. There muscles are very tight and so volunteers need to massage them and help them stretch. You must be very patient and gentle, but I personally find it very rewarding. As there is absolutely no way they could do it for themselves, being able to give them some semblence of physical comfort makes me feel very useful. Also it's very nice just to sit with them. They are very sweet, but sometimes I worry that they don't get as much attention as the children who are more responsive (understandably). I myself can be intimidated by them- I find myself terrified that I'm going to hurt them, fragile as they are, and the last thing I want to do is put a child who is already in pain in more pain. But I am overcoming this, so they've probably done me more good then I could ever have done them. Isn't that just the way of things? Bless them for it.
Oh but of course these are not them all, and all these children are so special. There's Raju and Angeli (she's been very sick and would appreciate prayers) and Pryia and Dipti and Sonia and Sneha and so many more. All are an absolute blessing in my life every single day I get to see them. But hopefully this will give you a bit more of an idea of the types of wonderful children I've been working with.
Love and more love.
Hannah
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Fourth of July... fiasco.
Ha ha ha- so maybe "fiasco" is a little too strong of a word. More like... not quite as we planned.
To compensate for the fact that Allison and I are out of the country (yet again) for what we both consider to be one of the most entertaining of all American holidays, we decided quite a while ago that we would have an "American Adventure" after volunteering on the fourth (yesterday). We had a plan: American movie in the afternoon and Domino's pizza and breadsticks for dinner. We looked up movie times and locations- which was complicated by the fact that a new, highly anticipated Bollywood film just opened on the 3rd (Which we do plan to attend- probably tomorrow. :) ) and is showing just about everywhere. But we figured it out... or at least we thought we did.
That's one of the things about Kolkata- nothing seems to go quite as you plan it.
First off, the movie theater that we planned to go to apparently doesn't exist- or at least doesn't exist where Google map claims. We got pretty epically lost and so decided to retreat to the Blue Sky for veggie burgers- in lieu of the typical BBQ.
But still we did not give up hope- there was another theater that was showing the movie we wanted- the Hangover- in the evening. So we re-planned for pizza and then movie.
We went to Domino's- suffice it to say that I will NOT be doing that again any time soon. I was actually quite shocked by how we reacted after only eating relatively small amounts of (comparatively healthy) Indian food to the just-a-little-too-big pizza and breadsticks. I did not feel that great afternwards... but we still went along with the movie plan.
After picking up an acquaintance Australian and then getting lost, we actually found this movie theater (improvement!)... only to find that our movie was sold out. After we grudgingly changed plans and decided to go to the new Bollywood film instead, we figured out that prices more than double on saturday nights- which would have meant that EACH of us would have paid only 10 rupees less than the cost of our hostel every night- for BOTH of us. Needless to say- we gave up.
But we did end up talking American politics with the Australian on the roof... so not a totally un-patriotic day after all. <3
Still, the true irony of the situation came this morning when I woke up not feeling that great. Although I'm almost positive that other factors were involved--- the fact that the first time I got ill in India was after eating American food..... is ironic, to say the least.
My lesson: When in India, do as the Indians do. Lol. (As Allison says, "eat nan." )
I've actually been wondering about how to balance the fact that I have a culture, and the fact that I'm being immersed IN a culture. Obviously I can't just shun a major part of who I am. But how much should I put on hold for the next few months- or perhaps eternally. (Allison and I just had a conversation today about how truly ridiculous it is that neither of us have to do laundry for approximately a month when at home, well if we really don't want to.) Obviously, as we are experiencing first hand, we can survive on MUCH less.... Maybe I'll have to have a garage sale when I get home, lol.
Well, as Sophie so wisely said... "aste aste." Or, "slowly slowly."
Let's see where it takes us. :D
Love and miss you all,
Hannah
To compensate for the fact that Allison and I are out of the country (yet again) for what we both consider to be one of the most entertaining of all American holidays, we decided quite a while ago that we would have an "American Adventure" after volunteering on the fourth (yesterday). We had a plan: American movie in the afternoon and Domino's pizza and breadsticks for dinner. We looked up movie times and locations- which was complicated by the fact that a new, highly anticipated Bollywood film just opened on the 3rd (Which we do plan to attend- probably tomorrow. :) ) and is showing just about everywhere. But we figured it out... or at least we thought we did.
That's one of the things about Kolkata- nothing seems to go quite as you plan it.
First off, the movie theater that we planned to go to apparently doesn't exist- or at least doesn't exist where Google map claims. We got pretty epically lost and so decided to retreat to the Blue Sky for veggie burgers- in lieu of the typical BBQ.
But still we did not give up hope- there was another theater that was showing the movie we wanted- the Hangover- in the evening. So we re-planned for pizza and then movie.
We went to Domino's- suffice it to say that I will NOT be doing that again any time soon. I was actually quite shocked by how we reacted after only eating relatively small amounts of (comparatively healthy) Indian food to the just-a-little-too-big pizza and breadsticks. I did not feel that great afternwards... but we still went along with the movie plan.
After picking up an acquaintance Australian and then getting lost, we actually found this movie theater (improvement!)... only to find that our movie was sold out. After we grudgingly changed plans and decided to go to the new Bollywood film instead, we figured out that prices more than double on saturday nights- which would have meant that EACH of us would have paid only 10 rupees less than the cost of our hostel every night- for BOTH of us. Needless to say- we gave up.
But we did end up talking American politics with the Australian on the roof... so not a totally un-patriotic day after all. <3
Still, the true irony of the situation came this morning when I woke up not feeling that great. Although I'm almost positive that other factors were involved--- the fact that the first time I got ill in India was after eating American food..... is ironic, to say the least.
My lesson: When in India, do as the Indians do. Lol. (As Allison says, "eat nan." )
I've actually been wondering about how to balance the fact that I have a culture, and the fact that I'm being immersed IN a culture. Obviously I can't just shun a major part of who I am. But how much should I put on hold for the next few months- or perhaps eternally. (Allison and I just had a conversation today about how truly ridiculous it is that neither of us have to do laundry for approximately a month when at home, well if we really don't want to.) Obviously, as we are experiencing first hand, we can survive on MUCH less.... Maybe I'll have to have a garage sale when I get home, lol.
Well, as Sophie so wisely said... "aste aste." Or, "slowly slowly."
Let's see where it takes us. :D
Love and miss you all,
Hannah
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