Immersion

Leo

Apologies for my lack of blogs. I have just finished one of the most hectic weeks of my life in Kolkata. Currently we are having some down time in beautiful Darjeeling, so I thought I better update you all about my most memorable moments in Kolkata.

Firstly, I must address the sickness. As you may know it took me less than 24 hours from arriving in Kolkata to receive the honorable title of being first sick. This brought about many uncomfortable situations so I'll describe the main one. It occurred at the Mother Teresa house morning mass at 6 o'clock in the morning. During the first standing prayer I got that tingling feeling in the stomach, so I know I had to make a move. Unfortunately, due to my disorientation in the house, the best place I could find to vomit, was the flower pots outside. After this I was swiftly taxied home by Mr. Jordan, and nothing was ever said. I would like to give a shoutout to my caring roommate George skinner, who was always the light to my darkness, the shield to my foes, the net to my mosquitos and the hat on my head. (-George Skinner)

Sickness aside, I still went out with the group on numerous occasions and experienced many difficult things. The most difficult for me was when we visited the Brooklyn slum, which is a slum that has been built up around a derelict port. Whilst were shrouded with happiness from the joyous children, on the bus ride home we were all struck with the reality, that that happiness was probably very limited and that after we left the kids would go back to a sad life with out electricity or clean water. This was a very important eye opener for as it was at that moment that I truly realized the true purpose of the trip.

On a more positive note, one of the most motivating experiences I had was at the future hope charity, there we saw a bunch of young kids who had been rescued from the streets and can stay at the charity as long as they are drug free. These kids were some of the smartest kids I had ever seen. As soon as I arrived on the cute kids, grabbed me by the arm and proceeded to show me the school work he was doing, in learning all the capitols of the world. That night we spent the dinner quizzing each of three kids on basic facts and the results were amazing. That aside the kids were some of the nicest 5 year olds I have seen as the proceeded to serve us our dinner, then serve themselves. This was a truly motivating moment for me as I had a true sensation to help these kids, as long with many others.

Those would be the three most memorable moments for me at Kolkata. Now I sit in my freezing hotel room in Darjeeling, with many thoughts flowing through my head. Darjeeling has provided a beautiful place for us all to grasp some energy (And some lost weight) before we head to Varanasi for more adventures.

Once again apologies for the lack of blogging, ill seek to get back into it more as we progress through India.