Today was our first day working in the homes that we all chose to go to. Ben, Abby, and Julia are working at Prem Dan ( a home for men and women with life-threatening illness and injury), Edmilse and Nicole are at Daya Dan ( a home for disabled girls, and some boys), and the rest of us are Shanti Dan. Alison and I are working with the women, while Marlyn, Andie, and Steph are with adolescents and younger woman. It was really exciting to start our service fully today, and meet some other volunteers! Most of us helped with laundry, interacted with the men and woman, helped feed them lunch, and other daily tasks while we were at the homes.
For me, the language barrier is something that I need to get used to, and some others are feeling the same way. The women I am working with love to chat, but they are speaking in Bengali which I am unfortunately not fluent in. Just being there with them, helping them eat and bathe, but also sitting with them is really great. I am trying to focus more on being a presence and helping the best that I can rather than getting fixated on the language difference.
We work at the homes in the morning until noon, and then we head back to BMS, where we are staying, for lunch. In the afternoon, we have each chosen a house that we can work at in addition to our morning choice. Today, we did not go back to the homes, but a few people went to Saint Thomas Church to see some of the novices at the missionaries of charity take their vows. Edmilse, Julia, Ben, and I stayed back at BMS to relax and have some down time after a busy few days. Yesterday when we were walking back from one of the markets, I saw the beginning ceremony for the novices taking their vows through the windows of the mother house. It was really beautiful, because all of their families were there to watch and I couldn't personally imagine taking on such a devotion and life changing event.
Tonight we are headed to Blue Sky, a restaurant that is very familiar to SMC travelers, for dinner. We went there for lunch the first day, and the men who work there are very friendly and there are lots of food options to choose from.
So far my experience in Kolkata has been a little surreal and overwhelming, but also very enjoyable. The streets are very crowded and busy, and there is a lot of sensory overload that is going on, but it has been amazing to experience something so different from home.
Everyone is doing well and staying healthy, and we are looking forward to the rest of our time here!!
That's all for now!!
Namaste,
Lauren
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