Last day - Sept. 30

Well, so much for not crying. Our last day was full of tears. At the Mother House when everyone clapped and sang for those having their last day, I was doing great until I just made eye contact with one too many who had emotions in their facial expressions and once the eyes started watering, there was no stopping them. Oh, well - it continued the rest of the morning! Before I share my last day of volunteering, I had another question that I have asked myself (we all have asked ourselves) for several days - just how many dogs do we pass on our walk from our hotel to Mother House. Well, we counted this morning - seemed like an average dog day - and came up with 53! Yes, there are a lot of them and some have definitely had a rough life, some look "normal". So, back to my last day - gotta be brief as I still have to eat lunch, pack and shower and take off for the airport. The priest who said Mass this morning thanked Garrett for his faithfulness in being an altar server and offered the Mass for his special intentions - very special. I got to Prem Dan a bit later than usual just because of all the pictures we were trying to take with other volunteers and with some of the sisters - amazing how long that all takes. It was a usual morning with laundry, bedmaking, giving warm milk, visiting, putting lotion/oil on the ladies' legs, feet, arms (wherever they want), cleaning people up, etc. It was so sad to ask some of the ladies if I could take their picture (the only time you can take pictures is on your last day). When a few of them heard that, they knew it was my last day - well, I again lost it - the tears started! I'd just get back to normal when I'd share with another lady that I was leaving... The most difficult were with two ladies, Helen and Potama. Potama is the one I have fed each day for lunch. I didn't think she would understand but she did and she started crying (which got me crying!). After lunch, she rocked back and forth with her hands in a praying position, going from her forehead out to me numerous times. It was so touching, so humbling. These ladies have touched my life - they are very special. Hopefully, I have left with them the love of Jesus. Lots of hugs with the other volunteers - a wonderful group of people. Well I must go get some lunch - last meal at the Blue Sky and then begin the serious business of packing and coming home! Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel!

Saturday afternoon, September 26

Well, it's afternoon here on my last Saturday. I just checked on weather.com to see what the temp is here today - it just feels hot. It is 93 and feels like 106 (I bet it's been that most of the day). So, what's been going on here? I should have written the stuff down that I wanted to mention but I didn't so let me think back a couple of days. Hmmm - well, we did absolutely nothing on our day off. I know that may seem strange, but we were all really tired. We ate, slept and read. Our restaurant of choice for dinner was McDonald's. I know - another strange sounding choice for our time here in India, especially considering that I am not even a fan of McDonald's. But I wanted to see what a McDonald's in India was like. Well, it was nice. You actually get a wand scan upon entering - don't know what they're concerned with - and there is a security/door guard upon leaving also. It is really nice inside (first off - air conditioned), fairly new construction. The menu is a bit different as this particular one does not serve beef or pork (so no bacon on any of the "burgers"). Our choices were of the chicken or fish variety. Garrett got the chicken version of a Big Mac; I got a McChicken; Laura didn't get a main course as she was feeling real well. We all got a drink, fries and a soft ice cream with hot fudge (I have to say, I really miss ice cream!!). As at home, the pictures looked much nicer than the actual product but it was fun just to have been there. Friday (yesterday) was another longer day with the time at the dispensary in the afternoon (those are the days we walk about 7 - 7 1/2 miles). The lady that we had sat with on Wednesday was still alive at Prem Dan - not doing well though. At one point in the morning, there was a ringing of bells so I looked across the room. There came a priest accompanied by one massi and three sisters. The bells continued to ring (altar bells) as they came across the room to the lady who was so sick (I was working with the lady in the next bed). The priest anointed her and gave her Communion - it was a beautiful scene and perfectly timed, as I found out this morning that she died at 3:00 that afternoon (3:00 on a Friday... ). I was greatly touched yesterday by one of the ladies I spend extra time with - I usually feed her lunch. I showed up to say hi and be ready to feed her and she mumbled something in Bengali and then started to cry. She cried pretty hard - I put my arms around her and she just rested her head against my shoulder and cried. I have no idea why she was crying but she seemed better after a couple of minutes. Our time at the dispensary went well with the one really interesting fact being that a man with leprosy came in!!! He was not my patient but I was fully aware of the commotion he was causing as the man who is in charge at the dispensary recognized his condition immediately and came over to speak with the lady who was with him. There evidently are very specific guidelines for how to deal with leprosy which do not include cleansing or doing anything other than basic dressing and informing them that they need to receive special care. The lady was planning to meet him at 8 this morning to take him, via train, to the Missionary of Charity leper colony where he can receive treatment, surgery, whatever. He had already lost one toe, had one gangrenous toe and his fingers were not looking good. Hopefully he showed up this morning (I'll ask the lady tomorrow morning). We only have one more day at the dispensary - Monday. It will be sad to say goodbye to those we have worked with and the patients we have seen so often. Another thing that I've been meaning to mention is that one of the volunteers, a guy we work with at the dispensary who is a nurse, has malaria. He wasn't feeling well for several days and finally had it diagnosed. He's feeling better now after taking a round of meds - not exactly sure what the future holds in the way of treatment - if he's all finished or not - but he did mention that he had the "better" of the two kinds of malaria you can get in India. Nothing like info like that to keep me motivated in the taking of my anti-malaria med!! Now, on to today. We had to say goodbye to a really nice lady from New Zealand today. She was someone I got to know better in my flu recovery days at the Mother House when I spent less demanding time working on some of their music and prayer books. It's been sad this past week as many volunteers we have gotten to know over these past three weeks have had their last day. Tomorrow some more will leave and again, on Monday. Our last day will be Wednesday morning at Prem Dan. The fun point of the morning today came just before lunch when a group of Indian young people (I'd say in their 20's) showed up with two guitars and lovely voices to sing for the ladies. They were all Christian songs (including one I knew - the one that says "yes, Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes, Lord...) with clapping and some of the ladies trying to dance. It was totally enjoyable. Well, we're getting back to the room to figure out the rest of the day so I'll sign off for today! Blessings!

Wednesday evening, Sept. 23

Wow - have been pretty busy and just haven't had the brain power at the end of the day so let's see if I can give a run-down of the last few days! Last Sunday was the volunteer dinner at Prem Dan. It was a very nice evening - just good to spend time together, have fun, laugh, pray, sing and eat. I would guess there were about 50 volunteers there (I thought there would be more but... ). It started off with us singing some praise songs (mostly in English), then we listened to a Missionary of Charity priest talk about , well, I guess you'd say "letting God be the pilot" - you know, not telling God your plans but letting Him show you what He has in mind. It was good - in fact the entire evening was focused on that (well, like I said, the theme was "Make of your life something beautiful for God" - what could be more beautiful than to let your life be what He would like it to be?) Some of the talk was re-translated into Spanish by the sister in charge of volunteers who is from El Paso and speaks fluent Spanish. Then we had a skit - it was done by the volunteers who all volunteered spur of the moment, not really knowing what they were doing (Garrett was one of the volunteers!!!) It was a lovely story about these three trees who all had lofty dreams for their "lives" - what they would be when they grew up - but the course their "lives" actually took - narrated and acted out while being read (with pauses in the reading). We had some good laughs! After the skit, we went over to the chapel (by the women's section of Prem Dan) for an hour of Adoration. The sister explained what adoration is (I would guess that the majority of volunteers are not Catholic, some are not Chrisitan, some have no religious beliefs). It was a lovely time of the evening - there was some quiet live guitar music at times, some quiet live singing, some scripture reading and some thoughts of Mother Teresa's read and some just quiet. After that, we went back over to the room we were originally in for dinner - buffet with noodles, chicken, sort of like jo-joes and a variety of small candies for dessert. It was late when we got back to our room (well, late for me here - about 8:30) so close to 10 before I got to bed. Moving on to Monday, it was an eventful day! It started off with the fact that it was the last day of Ramadan and there are a lot of Muslims here (as is evidenced by the broadcast prayer times I have mentioned). Several of the stores were closed (including the one we usually buy our water in the mornings on our way to Prem Dan) and some roads were closed as the Muslim men were kneeling/standing with their prayer rugs and no one was able to pass in that portion of the road (vehicles or pedestrians), so we had a few interesting detours we had to take. We did decide that we would take the bus instead of walking - a really good decision as the buses were so empty, we actually got seats and no one was standing (unheard of!!!). But, a funny while we were waiting for the bus - a bird decided to go potty with Laura being the target of the moment. The bird was fairly accurate and luckily we had some tissue with us to help with the clean-up (while I'm on the subject, I shouldn't have laughed so hard at Laura on Monday when that happened as I was on the receiving end today as we were walking to the dispensary!). Our time at Prem Dan was normal - because of blisters on my right hand, I wasn't helping with the actual wash/wringing of the clothes but could again carry the buckets of wet clothes up the four flights of stairs to the roof for the ladies to hand it up. It was so sweet - when I first got upstairs, this one lady saw me and started dancing around in a cirlce with her arm in the air; she cam over to me, took my face in her hands, said something in Bengali and then kissed both my cheeks! On one of my trips downstairs, one of the sisters was squeeling, running and one of the massis was running with a broom stick - they were chasing a rat!! Oh, yes - this is not the first time this has happened. It was quite comical but they did not get the rat! The morning went fairly normal until about 45 min. before time to leave when the skies opened up, the lightning was flashing and the thunder cracking! I actually found it rather frightening - the thunder came almost immediately with the lightning and boomed and cracked so loudly!!! It was a bit daunting to think about heading out (fortunately we each had our ponchos and the lightning and thunder was slowing down). We did well in getting an auto-rickshaw and didn't have to go through flooded streets until the last couple of blocks when it was about ankle deep. I won't share what some of the stuff in the water was :-) . Time at the dispensary was good (as it was today) - we are getting familiar with some of the people who come in time after time to have their wounds cared for. They are so very appreciative!! Today a man reached down and touched both Laura's and my feet (very humbling!). Tuesday just seemed like an easy day (as do all the days we don't go to the dispensary in the afternoon) but it was emotionally draining as one of the ladies I particularly like was not doing well and we thought she might be dying (it had been a sudden turn of events). Laura sat with her all morning with the lady's head in her lap. Several people paused when passing and prayed for her. Her breathing was labored and she was unresponsive. She is still alive but as of the time we left today, her condition had not really changed. I seem to gravitate towards the ladies who are more isolated, those who are too sick to go out onto the "porch area". I will be sad to leave these dear ladies. We have only one more week here - I am so looking forward to coming home but will also be sad to leave this experience. Tomorrow is our day off. Don't know what we will do - it is the beginnning of the largest Hindu festival of the year and I believe it officially goes from Thursday through Saturday (3 days). There have been preparations for the past week with it seems a slightly different focus each day. There are temporary structures being built - according to the paper, some 1100+ around the city - for various purposes. There are supposed to be new construction codes to be followed this year but also according to the paper, they estimate that 67% of them are not to code (but they're not doing anything about them - the codes seem to be because most of them are terrible fire traps!). Anyway, the name of the festival is Puja (I believe) and I'll let you know how it goes! Well, must go back to the room and rest my tired body!! Blessings!

Saturday evening, Sept. 19

Don't be surprised if you hear that my name is in the Guinness Book of World Records... I am considering submitting my name for two areas! Well, the first is the less likely to be accepted (I'm sure there is someone else with professionally cared for hands that may beat me out) - the most princess-like hands! Don't know why or how this is but my hands seem to think they belong on a princess over here. The first day we worked at Prem Dan, in helping with the laundry, I got a blister (large one) between my right thumb and my first finger from wringing out clothes. It broke before I realized it was even there and then I stopped with the laundry. In helping with laundry since then, I have stayed away from the wringing out of the clothes and have worn gloves as i have worked at one of the rinse stations (this is quite a process for all the laundry done for the ladies at Prem Dan - about 176 of them - with two wash stations follwed by three rinse stations and then the final wring-out and putting them into large metal buckets and carried up four flights of stairs to be hung up on the roof). Well, today, the rinse stations were all manned well when I arrived so I decided I would help in the wringing out. I figured my hands should do well with it by now. So away I went - wringing and wringing before realizing that my right hand had a bit of a sting to it. Took a look and sure enough - two rather large broken blisters right in the middle of the palm of my hand!! No!! And my left hand had a couple of threatening spots. I couldn't believe it - how is it that everyone else is wringing away and not getting blisters?? Ok - I guess my hands think they belong to a princess and shouldn't be doing hand washing (this is some kind of "detergent" that is used and a lot of it is really rough cotton but still, we're all doing the same thing). Anyway, I decided I could switch and start carrying the buckets up to the rooftop. Whoa! Got my exercise for the day - no need for a stair-master for me! - as I did 8 trips up and down with the bucket filled with wet clothes. Now, on to the other area I will be submitting my name in the Book of World Records - and this one I think I should be the hands-down winner - the most profusely sweating woman (I decided not to include men as I think Garrett might have a slight edge on me). I kid you not that I do not understand how I can continue, day after day, to produce so much sweat. By 8:30 this morning you would have thought I had dipped my entire bandana into a bucket of water - it was totally wet (no not damp - wet!) and the sweat was just rolling down my neck, my cheeks, into my eyes, down my back, my front, my legs (Laura said she didn't realize legs did that until she was here! :-D ). Day after day, I am amazed at how well my body produces sweat and therefore must really be trying to cool me off - probably doing a great job! So, I'm sure there must be some kind of award in this - just not sure how to submit my name - so funny!!! In reality, I'm getting rather used to it and it only bothers me when I'm feeding someone or changing a dressing and the sweat decides to drip from my nose! You know the saying "never leave home without it"? Well, to me it applies daily to my bandana!! Shoot - well, don't think I have time to go into our attempt to get back to the hotel from Prem Dan (always an adventure but today was particularly memory making!) or the recently painted street post that I leaned up against - hmmm - where was the sign mentioning "wet paint"?? But we did get back and I took a wonderful short nap! We'll go to dinner soon. Tomorrow should be a fun day. Starts off of course with Mass (how can you beat that??), followed by our usual time at Prem Dan. The afternoon, from 3-7:30, is a special time for the volunteers put on by the sisters - prayer, singing, skits, dinner. It actually is being held at Prem Dan (obviously in a differrent location than where we work daily). Should be lots of fun - a great break! I have been so amazed at our time here! Who but God could bring joy into being here? There is absolutely nothing about Calcutta that draws me except the joy each day in caring for these people and bringing God's love to them! Even the people I pass on the street, for the most part (important to note the "most part"), bring a smile to my face. I don't understand it - who can understand God's goodness - but it definitely is His goodness that brings me joy and the desire to get up each morning to see what awaits me. As the theme of the dinner tomorrow says "Make of your life something beautiful for God".

Day off - Thursday evening, Sept. 17

Well, it was our day off today so it started off with me sleeping two extra hours - I was really tired from Wednesday! Just sort of had a slow start to the day - went to get a small breakfast at 10 with Laura before we took off for a "car tour" of Calcutta. We specifically asked for an air conditioned car which we figured was going to be wonderful (are you anticipating something????). Our driver did not speak English which was too bad but there were bits of info at each place we stopped and even though we didn't get detailed info, it was all still interesting. We went to several places - some just driving by/over (as with the couple of bridges and this one particular train station - not sure the significance of any of those, maybe I'll have to remember their names and look them up), some walking through and some actually having to pay an admission fee. None of the places were indoors (well, we could have gone indoors but that was an additional fee and would have taken a whole lot more time. As it was, the entire outting was about 6 1/2 hours. We went to the Kali Temple, the Victoria Memorial, some other temple, and the Botanical Gardens. I think we all agreed that the Botanical Gardens was our favorite - because it was quiet!! It's nothing of particular note, besides having the world's largest Banyan tree (actually is supposed to be in the Guiness Book of World Records) - it's more like an overgrown park - but it was nice to be in a large green space, to actually have a few moments of sweet fragrances, and as I said, to experience quiet!! We are so very spoiled in Oregon - wow! So the kicker came about 2 1/2 hours into the tour when our driver pulled over to the side of the road, mumbled something, turned the car off for maybe a minute and then started up again, minus the air conditioning! Yes, we are a spoiled three-some when it comes to riding around Calcutta for almost four hours without air conditioning!! It was quite exhausting plus we realized how very polluted the air is! Wow - you could actually smell the exhaust! As much as I don't like to take the car through DEQ, we are fortunate to have guidelines for air quality. Well, our tour was very interesting - we were all over the place, even outside of Calcutta. I came to realize that Calcutta is in various stages of disrepair - from horrible to bad. Really I didn't see anything today that even came close to Portland - I mean not even close. It's a dirty, polluted city. I also came to realize that the people here, esp. the men, are not under the same guidelines for manners as we are. I have never been stared at so much in my entire life as I was today!! Here's one example: I was sitting outside waiting for Laura (she was using the "ladies room" if you can call it that). A lady stopped in walking by and without even trying to be discreet, just turned and stared at me - for many seconds! Then she made some comment (in Bengali), to which I said "I don't understand", so she just continued to stare at me and eventually moved on. Not more than a minute after , a man stopped about 6 ft. from me and just stared. By now I'm wondering if I have two heads or a sign above me saying "please stare". I looked up and he just continued to stare so I stared back. I looked away but he didn't move so I looked back and he was continuing to stare. I finally just said "What!!?" He had nothing to say but in a few seconds, he moved on. The day continued in a similar fashion with all three of us getting the head cranking stares - and the thing is that when you look and make eye contact, it doesn't seem to matter. We were discussing it throughout the day and decided that it's just that we are so fair - where around here do you see blondes/redheads with blue eyes?? But it is unnerving! Oh - I have to tell you that another volunteer just walked past and handed me a fan! A Spanish fan! Yes, we have sat by her at daily Mass several times and she has this amazing solid red fan (the kind that you hold and fan yourself with!) that I have commented on and obviously have enjoyed the air movement. She works at Prem Dan with us (she's a Dr.) and we've had the opportunity to visit at break time. Anyway, what a kind thing to think of me and give me a fan - plus it has blue flowers! I'll give it it's maiden voyage tomorrow morning. Well, I guess I should close this and head off to the room to shower and get to sleep. In the morning I'll probably walk out the door of our room, into the lobby and feel like Mr. Magoo again (I commented on that the other day as my glasses fogged up - as do Laura's - and I momentarily can't see). It gave me a good laugh at 5:30 a.m. Now if you don't know who Mr. Magoo is, you'll have to do a google search (Laura knew who I was referring to but Garrett didn't - don't quite understand that but... ). Anyway, God is still working at teaching me each day we are here - I'm trying very hard to be open, to pay attention and to "do whatever He tells me". As I've said, it's a noisy city but I'm trying to listen :-). Blessings!

Tuesday, Sept. 15

Let's talk about something different - well, still Calcutta but how about how Garrett has become a regular in the world of altar servers! Having never been one in his life, he was asked last Tuesday to help. Laura and I thought he was going to be a reader for that day's Mass but as the entrance procession started, we realized we were wrong - he would help serve. In reality, that day he was only a physical presence - didn't really have a "job". Then I missed several days and the day I returned to Mass, Garrett knew he was going to be the bell ringer - a fact he was a bit nervous about. We had to try not to make eye contact with him so as to not get a response from him. At the Mother House, they ring the bells very much like we do at SJA except they add an additional bell after the elevation - a longer held bell as the priest genuflects and everyone else bows to the floor (yes, we are already kneeling). This is possible because, as I mentioned before, there are no pews, kneelers, etc. It's quite a lovely gesture!! Anyway, he did well - he was so relieved! Well, today he was the only server so he got to do everything! Didn't seem to phase him much. I think I spent my last morning helping at the Mother House - should be heading off to Prem Dan in the morning, then to the dispensary and then if it works out time-wise, to Adoration after that. Then Thursday will be a day off and since I will be well this week, maybe we'll do something fun - we'll see.

Monday evening, Sept. 14

Hooray!! Hooray! I made the big leap in sleep and snoozed right on through the 4:03 a.m. call to prayer (goes on for a couple of minutes). I was so excited when our music came on at 4:50 and I realized I had missed that little annoyance :-) !!! I actually had the best night's sleep I've had since we got here - nice! I also have been without a fever for over 24 hrs. now which is wonderful. Still have a slightly juicy sounding cough but even that is diminishing and without a fever, is looking good. I've come to realize that I wasn't getting quite enough water each day even though I was getting close to 3L. I now go for closer to 4L. I guess my Scandinavian/northern European genes don't quite know what to do with this kind of heat and humidity and something goes haywire telling my body to just produce massive amounts of sweat!! I've found it to almost be funny (notice I said "almost"). Well, I mentioned that I would share with you about the dispensary that we go to M-W-F from 3-5. It is down by one of the train station stops, not too terribly far from the slumbs I think. Anyway, Laura had worked there one day last time she was in Calcutta and really enjoyed it. As she had shared with me about it, I got a mental picture of the place - I pictured a very plain room with several older looking (maybe 1940/50 era) little medical stations - you know, maybe a little laminate table with some basic medical supplies , a regular looking stool on one side for the volunteer and maybe a slightly smaller looking stool on the other for the patient. I thought this was a reasonable image. Oh, my -- I could not believe how far off I was! Well, the row of 1940/50's looking tables ended up being two old, painted benches, located at either end of a fairly small room with these midget sized stools (also old and painted - all brown), one on each side of the bench. Yes, our work station is the surface of the bench!! Later that day I just laughed and laughed as I shared my expectations with Garrett and Laura and how very off I had been. So, when we get there (there are about 5 of us), we get our supplies together (2x2s, 4x4s, a tray with tweezers, scissors, clamps, a little metal dish with some betadine, gauze wrap, some white pasty stuff in a jar - silver something-or-other which is really good for burns, etc.) There are other supplies on a shelf that we can use also but it is quite pathetic, very meager! Then in come the patients and you just get whoever shows up at your station. Almost totally we are looking at wounds and I'm not talking anything like what you would typically see in a dr. office. These are major wounds - very large on the feet and lower leg. Some very deep, some infected, some with dead tissue surrounding it - oh, I won't go into too much detail for those with sensitive stomachs. It's good to be able to help but they need so much more but... Definitely is good to clean them up and re-dress them. Today, my two hours were spent with three different patients. One of the volunteers didn't stay to work in the dispensary today as he had noticed a gentleman who was laying outside of the building and the volunteer didn't think he looked like he was going to live long so he and another took him to Prem Dan. Tomorrow is a "short day" with just volunteering in the morning - still haven't gone back to Prem Dan because it's just so much more physical work and I don't think my body is quite ready for that. The sister is charge of volunteers is happy to have my help still so I'll stay there again in the morning. Well, I've reached my limit of heat for today so I'm going to go enjoy the airconditioning of our room!!! Hope your week goes well.