Okay, since my last posting I have had a heat rash, swollen joints, and a fairly bad case of diarhhea.  Ya, I know, not pretty.  But, after a much needed 12+ hours of rest, and a bathroom, I was slowly back on track.  I did discover one thing though, that I was never going to eat Indian food again....which was kind of tricky, since I still had 9 days left in the country.  Fortunately, though, we were hours away from our much anticipated side trip to Darjeeling, the tea capital of India, near the Nepal border, where I assumed more western style food, as well as a more Asi

I have just completed three days in a row of "service" at a Women's Interlink Shelter outside of Calcutta, and it was such a beautiful experience.  I was never prepared to be greated at the gates each day by 60+ little girls yelling, "Auntie, Auntie", or the buffet style lunch fit for an Indian king each afternoon, or the infinite amount of hugs and hand holding that takes place, just because I am me.  Nobody too special, really, just a middle aged mom of two from Cape Cod that likes to read.  Nothing more or nothing less.

With technical difficulties solved, here is my first blog entry.

What has troubled me the most about Calcutta, is the dirt and pollution.  Though I have never witnessed poverty (and population) of this magnitude, reading books, watching documentaries and being reminded  (more than once) by Paul and Sarah, I felt somewhat prepared for the shanty style huts and tents, emaciated animals, and some very sad, solemn faces.