Home Bitter-Sweet Home...

So, I am back in the Seattle area, but not yet to the great 'Ham just yet. My flight landed on Thursday night at about 9:30pm, after 36 hours or so of flying, in daylight the whole way. The flights were somewhat of a nightmare - the first one, from Calcutta, was overbooked, and they were offering 700 Euro, a free nights stay in a 5 star hotel, and re-planning your trip back home. That flight was semi-pleasant, it was just at 1am in the morning.
The next flight was the worst. I got on the plane, and I was in the freaking back corner next to the bathroom. Not to mention that during the last hour or two of that flight, I wanted to vomit. I could see the ground getting bigger and bigger, and was like, "JUST LAND ALREADY!" I felt awful.
The last flight was most pleasant, one because it was shortest (the first two were each just over9 hours, the third was 6), and two, because I slept through most of it. I didn't sleep barely at all on the first two flights.
When we landed, it was a great feeling, knowing that when I got off the plane all of my surroundings would be familiar, and that the people picking me would be safely driving me to my car, where I could drive myself to Laura S's house and go to sleep.
I can't honestly say that I don't already miss it. What I miss most is Shishu Bhavan, and Deepa. I had a dream about playing with her, and when I woke up on Laura S's couch, I was more than a little dissapointed that I would not start my day by playing with a child I have become so attatched to over the past 3 weeks.

My jet lag is still pretty bad. I've been going to bed around 10, but waking up at 6ish, which is good for school, but it wont last. That, and I'm still way too tired to make it through the day fully attentive, and without caffine or a nap. Also, I'm sick.
Speaking of sick, I don't have any confirmed diseases; no lice or scabies or anything, but I might have stomach parasites. I know this is gross, but this is my blog: my diarreah is becoming regular poo, very very slowly, but I still get really bad abdominal pain when I have to go. So hopefully it all goes away and I don't have to give a poo sample to the doctor.

I was really looking forward to going home tomorrow because there was going to be a Newman Center Mass, but it has been cancelled...So now all I have to look forward to are my kitties, my nice, clean, warm apartment, my still old/new couch, and my warm, clean bed.

So...HECK YES I'm excited!

Karen and Derek's wedding this afternoon was gorgeous. Karen looked beautiful, and I had a good time.

I hope Laura S doesn't have to work tomorrow, because if she does, I'm just going to drive home while I still feel awake at 7am, and I don't know when I would get to see her next.

Well, loves, that is that! I will post here once more, to repost the original picture links, new picture links, and links to the videos I took, and one more time after that to tell you all when Tuan has his video sorted out. I will tell him how to put it on DVD, then I can also put that online for all of you.

Its been fantastic! I can't wait to go on another great adventure, whether it be to India (which will happen again!), or to some other amazing destination! Either way, if you hear wind of me taking a road trip or getting onto a plane, check here...there will be a new travel blog waiting.

Until Next Time
Briana

My Last Day...:(

So tonight, at approximately 10, I will be sitting at the CCU Airport, waiting to board my first flight back to America.

I feel so awkward about my last day...it has so far been a bust, and really depressing. Besides the amazing fact that Corina got here last night (!!!!!!!!), and I get to spend my last day with her, and she gets to spend her first day with me, everything else seems to have gone wrong.

So, parts of India are still Communist. Today, there is a huge protest/strike, that happens every year, where a lot of shops and things stay closed, and people can get violent. For this reason, the highly encourage the volunteers, especially the females, to take the day off. In the past, bombs have been planted on buses, and people have been stoned. Women, mainly the foreigners, get taken advantage of "in the name of the strike". We went to mass this morning, after very, very little sleep (last night being my last night, and then Corina got to the hostel around 3...we get up at 5 for Mass), then we went to breakfast, and we introduced Corina and Sister Corinna (more !!!!!), and she told us, "Well, you have today off!" I said "WHAT?!", and she said something about Communists and striking and violence, so there was no volunteering today. I was so upset, I said, "Today is my last day; I HAVE to go to Shishu Bhavan and say goodbye to the kids." She told me that the protesting would start at 8, so I should be quick. We prayed, and everyone sang the goodbye song, and me and Corina walked to Shishu, while Tuan actually went all the way to Daya Dan. We are still trying to figure out how he's going to get back. The metro and buses aren't running.
Anyway, we got to Shishu and I saw Sister, and told her it was my last day and that I would only be staying for a few minutes, to say goodbye and take pictures, and she said, Okay. So I introduced Corina to some of the kids, and went to see Deepa, who was out like a light in her little chair. She was super grumpy when I woke her up, but I gave her a few minutes, and she was the smiley-est and happiest I had ever seen her in the morning. I did the 'Bumble Bee' song that I've been singing to her, which is "our thing", and no one in the world knows that song except for my moms brothers and sisters. I have a video that I will put online when I get back home (I don't want to hassle with that now), of me doing that. Its so adorable...shes blind, so she can't see what I'm going to do, but I did it to make her laugh when she was grumpy one day, and now if she doesn't recognize me for some reason, like today I forgot my bracelet, or shes in a bad mood or its too noisy for her to distinguish my voice from everything else, I do that. She will stop whatever she's doing, get this HUGE smile on her face, put her hands up to her hears, and when I start buzzing (which means I'm going to tickle her), she waves her arms in the air and then I tickle her and she LAUGHS, it is the most amazing thing! Oh, man...I love that we have that. I realize that I may never see her again, but if I come back next year and she's still at Shishu, I will wear my rosary bracelet and my watch, and I will do the 'Bumble Bee' song, and hopefully she remembers me.

The only other thing I've done today is get a chicken egg roll from Taj Continetal. And talk to Corina a lot. I'm really excited that shes here! Im so happy I got to see her while we were in India!

I will see some of you very, very soon! Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to check over the next few weeks as I post more pictures, and video from my trip! I will also announce when Tuan has come back and finished the video that hes going to make. Thanks again for reading, and keep it up!

With All Christ's Love
Briana Marie Cecilia Glover

3 days and counting!

So, my days left in Kolkata are numbered...I come back to the states in a few short days!

So, yesterday was quite the interesting experience. I didn't volunteer, for the 3rd day in a row...I needed a break. I ran into Donna and Steve (her boyfriend), my Irish friends. They invited me to go to see the Simpson's Movie later that evening. I met then at Tirapati (right outside Hotel Maria), and we caught a cab and rode it to - get this - a MALL! it was SO COOL! We got to the movie theater in the mall, and the movie WASN'T PLAYING! It was very upsetting. So we went to this very overpriced restaurant next to the movie theater called Starstruck, and [kinda] ate with some of Donna's other Irish friends. Me and Donna shared this really good chicken burger thing and the BEST desert ever...it was like this chocolate cake with ice cream on top, but when you stuck your fork into the cake all of this fudgey GOODNESS came out...oh, it was good. Then we went to the arcade, and Donna and I played the most entertaining game of Air Hockey ever...at one point there were like 4 pucks on the table!
When we left the mall and FINALLY got a cab, we caught it with another guy headed to Park Street who wouldn't let us pay - he was on his way back home from the hospital because he had just had a baby girl :) So that was really awesome. Then we went to Moulin Rouge - THATS RIGHT! Moulin Rouge, which is just a restaurant, no worries, and we met up with some other Irish girls and had drinks. I had something called Blue Heaven. All of our drinks were really strong...
When we left Moulin Rouge, we all got roses (even Steve, who, by the way, ordered a drink called My Fair Lady...Imagine the waiter dropping those off...), and were then persued for a number of blocks by a transvestite in a sari...with a really strong grip, by the way. Steve finally fended the he/she off. This is also the night I started my search for Harry Potter 7 for under 650 Rupees, but thats a different story.
When we got back to Sudder, we went back to Donna and Steve's for drink (I know, I know...its the Irish!). I was there until about 1:30 in the morning. The guy who had to open the gate for me at Hotel Maria was NOT happy.

That is all for today, I have to call the doctor in Des Moines so I can schedule an appointment to get my blood tested and get checked for other really gross things (like scabies and lice...meh).

LOVES!
Briana

Tuan and Caitlin for a Day!

So, I didn't volunteer today. Instead I hung out with Tuan and Caitlin, who were back for just today in between taking the train from Varanasi to Puori. I kinda did hang out with them, but they spent a lot of time calling and emailing, in which I spent doing what I normally do when I have nothing else to do...nothing. So I read a little of The Message, seeing as how I finished Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince about 3 or 4 days ago, and outright refuse to by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows no sooner than 48 hours before I leave. I know if I buy it sooner than that, I will have read it by the time Caitlin and Tuan get back, and I won't have anything to do on the way home.

So I chilled with them a little today, heard tales from beyond Kolkata, and ate lunch with Caitlin at Super Fried Chicken. That was pretty much the extent of today...not much else happened.

Yesterday, on the other hand, was rather eventful. Or yesterday evening, I guess. Thursdays are Volunteers Days, so we get the day off. I didn't do anything yesterday...I slept in, and did nothing, and slept some more, then I had lunch (it was excellent, by the way...cold juice and a fruit bowl with muesli from JoJo's, except that my fear of associating the dump smell with something I like has managed to wrap itself wonderfully around Papaya...it tastes the exact same way that the dump smells, it SUCKS). That evening, I was headed for Super-Fried Chicken for some Veggie Pakuras, and I saw Amina and some of her friends. I ended up going with them to Peter Cat on Park Street for dinner that cost over 3 times more than a nights stay at Hotel Maria, but oh, it was SOOOO GOOD! After that, we walked into Flurry's, which is this amazing desert place, but we looked around and decided that we are going to go there sometime this weekend. I'm also taking Amina to McDonald's sometime this weekend, which I am very, very excited about :)
Anyway, we walked back, and we were going to get ice cream, but it was too close to 10, so we did some stuff really quick, and then walked to Amina's hotel to watch Arrested Development. Its not something I would usually watch, but it was TV, gosh darnit. Amina's hotel is SO NICE! She lives on the 4th floor, and its all marble...she has a DOUBLE BED!!! A TV, a really nice bathroom...she is spending about 450 rupees a night (whereas I'm spending 110 a night), but its...man. She has a freaking couch. Its outstanding.

So, this has taken me almost 2 hours, because the power at Sari Palace went out came back on about 20 minutes ago. But...meh. I'm hot and tired and I want to watch friends on YouTube. So I love you guys and ONE WEEK! I'll be back in the states!'

Until Next Time
Briana

A Little Homesick

Hey, all! Sorry its been so long since I last posted. Since Caitlin and Tuan left, I have been keeping myself quite busy. I made new friends - the best of whom are Donna, from Ireland, and Amina, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I volunteer with Amina in the morning, and I know Donna through Tuan and Caitlin, and volunteer with her in the afternoon, sometimes.

I had Dinner with Donna and her boyfriend after Mazie and Zach's going away thing. It was quite entertaining - I had never spoken with just two people from Ireland before, and we talked about how things are different in Ireland and the USA, mostly having to do with alcohol, for some reason. Probably because everything in Ireland has to do with alcohol. They use it to relax, to...drink, to cure illness, to eat for breakfast...we had some pretty interesting stories.

Yesterday afternoon, after volunteering in the morning, I had lunch with Amina outside of JoJo's. It was really good, and we talked about all kinds of stuff, mostly family, and how both of ours are a little dysfunctional (as I'm assuming everyone's is). We had a very nice chat, and I hope there are more where that came from.

Nothing incredibly interesting has happened in the last few days besides the usual. Yesterday was the first day I volunteered in the morning and the afternoon. I planned on doing that today as well, but I overslept past the time where I was even supposed to be at Shishu, so I didn't go. Its 1:24 in the afternoon, and at 2 I am going to go eat lunch and drudge my way to Shishu Bhavan. I don't know if I've said this before, but if I didn't have to walk everywhere, I would love it here 10 times more. Its not the walking that bothers me, I love walking; its the fact that people don't leave you alone, that as a girl I can't make eye contact with anyone, and the smells and sounds are getting to be overwhelming. Today is the first official day that I am homesick. I don't want to leave Shishu behind, but I really want Bellingham back. I wish there were a way to have both. I want to come back next summer, and if it weren't for Shishu Bhavan and the Motherhouse, I would have never seen a purpose in coming.

I am very happy to be leaving in a weeks time, but I am going to miss those kids more than anything, especially Deepa. If I were old enough, had a steady job, was married...I would take her home with me. I truely and honestly would. If she is still here when I am married, I might still just do that. That child has lit a fire in my heart. She is so beautiful and so smart, and she has the most gorgeous laugh...I will miss her more than anything when I leave here. And I really hope that God sees it fit that we see eachother again someday, and sooner rather than later.

Another day...

So, not a lot happened today or yesterday. I went to Shishu in the afternoon, where there was a Mother Teresa celebration that lasted over 2 hours, and kids being kids, most of them lasted about an hour before losing complete attention. We didn't end up leaving Shishu until after 6, at which point Mazie and I went to the Motherhouse for Adoration. Sadly, we got there right when the finished the third decade of the Rosary, which is what I wanted to do with my time there.

Okay, so Zach, Mazie's friend? Boyfriend? Never really got that straight...

ANYWAY, this is important. Zach just walked into the room (I'm at Sari Palace, the internet place I always go to), and he just looked at me and asked me if I was sick. I told him no, I have the sniffles, which I have 70% of the year anyway, and I had some fairly signifigant abdominal pain earlier, but after some Naproxin and an afternoon of sleep, that has remedied itself. He told me that Mazie is in the ICU at the Hospital, which in itself is absolutely horrible, but its scarrier in the fact that this is a foreign, developing country, and I have been drinking enough water to make myself ill (which still isn't enough...maybe a litre and a half a day, two litres if I can manage, a gatorade and a sprite, plus tea at break times when I'm working), avoiding dairy, and taking it easy on what I eat when I feel like I might be getting sick. I don't want to get sick while I'm here at all, but I really don't want to get sick when Tuan and Caitlin are away, and I really really don't want to get really sick when I'm all by myself.
Anyway, Zach told me that Mazie went to the hospital at about 6 this morning, after throwing up since midnight last night. She has thrown up 9 times today alone, and he is supposed to be at the hospital at all times, but he had to leave to come and change their plane tickets and everything. They were supposed to leave early Tuesday morning, tomorrow being their last day of volunteering, but because Mazie is so sick, she can't fly. Its really awful, because the hospital here is not up to par because its a 3rd world country. She is in ICU and Zach said that while he was there the nurses did almost nothing, and she hasn't seen the doctor since 10 this morning. I would want nothing more than to get out of that hospital and get into one in the states. I feel soooo awful! I thought that I had missed her for mass this morning because I was running late, and then I didn't see her at mass and thought that I had missed her and that she was waiting. Then I heard someone mention Sunday School, and thought she might have gone there, and was expecting to see her at Shishu this afternoon, but decided not to go because I was exhausted, and to give her the last two days in the afternoon to fawn over Deepa and Lanhki, without me in the way (we have been fighting over who gets to adopt Deepa).
Oh, goodness, I really hope she is okay. Please, please pray for her! I'm really, really worried, and Zach is not okay right now. he is making phone calls as I type to people so they can get everything sorted out for her going home, but she can't leave the hospital until she's better. Oh, this is horrible...

As for today and yesterday, nothing much happened except Tuan and Caitlin missing their train to Darjeeling. They caught one at 6:20 this morning instead. Today at Shishu was pretty great; I spent the first part of the morning working with Johnny, and the rest with Deepa. She was really grumpy today, I think she might be getting sick, but I did get a few giggles out of her, which I would have never been able to do without the help of Mazie.

O, good Lord, I hope she gets better so her and Zach can go home. She is really, really sick.

So please, pray for Mazie, and pray for me, because I ate dinner with her last night. Tuan and Caitlin wont be back until NEXT Tuesday morning, so I really, really don't want to get sick. I don't want to get sick after they get back, either, mind you, because I leave that Wednesday night.

Okay, all, thats it for now. Please pray for Mazie and I will keep you updated if I can.

With all Christ's Love
Briana

All By Myself.....

So Tuan and Caitlin left less than an hour ago to go travel, and I have the whole room to myself, which I'm sure I will appreciate a lot more tomorrow, since after spending the afternoon at Shishu Bhavan, I don't think my afternoons will be as lax as they have been (minus all the big volunteer stuff that we had going on this week).

My friend Mazie has been working with one of my favorite kids, Deepa, in the afternoons. I absolutely adore this child. She has virtually no eyes; they are so deep-set into her head that her eyelids don't open, making her blind. Nevertheless, she is one of the most adorable children I have ever met. Lankhi is exactly the same as Deepa, the same appearences and disorder. They look so similar that I wonder if they are sisters. I realized today, at least, that they are not twins; Lankhi is a little youger than Deepa, I can tell by the size of her hands and feet, and the fact that she is a teensy bit shorter. To my utter pleasure, Mazie has been working with Deepa, Lankhi, and Johny. While I haven't worked with Lankhi before today, Johny and Deepa are by far my two favorite kids. They are difficult, but they are "my kind of difficult", as I put it in an email earlier this evening, when talking about a beautiful but very difficult little girl named Nibyah (I think I may have mentioned feeding her in an earlier blog).
Anyway, Sister asked me to come Friday afternoon this week to learn how to do 'school' with the kids in the afternoon. I wasn't very much looking forward to it, because the only other afternoon that I had worked left me wanting to go home. But, Shishu Bhavan is where I 'belong', and Daya Dan is not. I feel that God wanted me to come to Kolkata to meet these children, to inspire these children, and to work with these children. He wanted me to have this experience at this house. I was happy to visit Khaligat and Daya Dan, but I knew, spending time at both of those places, that Shishu is where I was meant to serve.
Anyway, back to Shishu. So, Mazie showed up late today, and I had never worked in the afternoon at Shishu before, so I didn't know what happened. I got there and got ready as usual, and then went and saw Deepa and walked around a bit. She seemed very happy to see me, which was a great feeling, because she had been sitting, very content and kind of dazed, and when I said her name she stopped rocking back and forth and turned her head to listen, and I said "Hi, Deepa!" again, and she smiled and clapped her hands. That means she recognizes my voice. She started waving her palms in the air, which means she wants you to hold out your hands so she can clap them with hers, which I did, and she did it a few times, then stopped and felt my bracelet, and smiled again. She knew it was me, and that makes me soooo happy. After a few minutes, a Massi told me to get her ready for school. I didn't know what that meant, so I walked her towards the door and the Massi came at me with little sandals. We put them on and the Massi lead me out of the building and across the grounds, which I was unaware exited, and through a playground. We went into a little building that was just one room, and I believe that this is the school that Sara started when she was here. We all took off our shoes and basically played with the kids and taught them how to use each of the items in their backpack, which was interesting, considering that they each have to identify these items by touching them. What we did for most of the time was help the students stand and walk. Deepa is so close to walking that my dream of it happening before I leave may very well come true. She couldn't stand confidently by herself when Mazie left a few days ago, but she can now! She has been able to for a while, but gets nervous when she doesn't have something to hold on to. Now, she is okay to stand, but when you urge her forward to take a step, she starts freaking out and crying. I'm talking baby who is in the crib but doesn't want to go to sleep crying. It was a very sad thing to hear, but it was so amazing to see her standing! She did take a few hesitant steps forward, but fell into the Massi's lap bawling.
I helped Lankhi stand as well; the Massi saw that I was standing her up and if she had just a little support on her back, she was just fine, but she is still too afraid to stand up on her own. So, we propped her up against the wall. She really liked that, and we would shake toys and stuff in her face, she had a great time. I played/worked with Johny as well, and I started shaking a toy in front of his face, which apparently was the funniest thing ever, because I had never heard him laugh so much, it was hilarious. All I would do is say "Hey, Johny!" and shake the toy, and he would crack up! It was great.
At about 5:20 we took the kids back up to their floor where they were going to have dinner. Mazie showed me an easier way to feed Deepa, because she is supe-grouchy in the morning; she loves the 'Baby Shark' song (baby shark! dododododododobabyshark!...). OH! Its amazing, I never knew this! When Deepa claps the table or your hands or her own hands, if you sing a song, she will clap in time with you! How awesome is that!?
Anyway, I fed Deepa and giggled and sang with her. Yes giggled! That was one of my wishes! I wanted to hear her laugh, and it is a beautiful thing! She has the most precious laugh I have ever heard! Mazie said she doesn't do it often, maybe a couple times a week, but I was delighted to hear that she smiles a lot in the afternoons. So I think I will come more in the afternoons, now. But I also don't want to give up my mornings. We will see what will happen.

So, as we speak I am moving all of my pictures onto my flash drive, which I started doing earlier but had to stop so I could have dinner with Caitlin and Tuan before they left, in which time we had torrential downpour, thunder and lightning, a 20 minute blackout just as we finished eating, and complete calm again, where the ankle deep water cleared itself before we walked back around the corner to Hotel Maria.

Because I have my pictures on the computer now (:D) I will post some on here, because I love you all that much :)

Here are the links to my pictures on Facebook:

Kolkata - Album 1

Kolkata - Album 2

Kokata - Album 3

enjoy!

Oh, that beautiful girl would be Deepa.

Pictures Pictures Pictures!

So, I am uploading pictures and videos as we speak, which is taking brutally long, but before long (and after many, many Rupees spent on internet time), you will all be able to SEE what it is I have been doing and what it looks like where I am.

Love you!
Briana

EDIT:

here is the first link: http://wwu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2077828&l=88c2c&id=25900723

McDonald's and Singers from Madrid

Okay, so to pick up where I left off...

There is a McDonald's on Park street, which is a pretty fancy place (Park Street, that is). I guarentee you, you have never, ever been in a McDonald's like this before.

We walk in and get pelted with this icy, amazing blast from an air conditioner right over the entry door. It was soooooo cool in there, it was almost like jumping into a swimming pool on a record hot day, it felt so good. We looked around, and there were stairs going down to where you order, and stairs going up to more seating in a balcony kind of area. It has also got to be the SLOWEST McDonald's meal I have ever ordered in my life. In the states and Canada, even when they mess something up, it wouldn't take me his long to get my food.
We went and ordered, and they have no beef, which was interesting. So Caitlin and I both got McChicken meals, and Tuan got a McChicken Maharajah or something. I also got a soft-serve cone with chocolate topping. I had to eat that first because everything here melts or gets warm so fast, but I was not waiting in that line again.
So we go to sit down and we start wolfing down our food. After a few minutes we all slow down and savor the Americanized goodness, the Coke that was actually staying cold, and the fries that tasted just like home. Also, we wanted to have a reason to take as long as possible, because walking outside again was going to feel absolutely dreadful.
So we ate, sang "My Heart Will Go On", "Waiting for Tonight", and "It's My Life" with the speakers overhead, used the bathroom[!!!!!], and finally started to make our way back to the Hostel. We got there shortly after 8pm, and we didn't leave until around 10.

The next day I went to Shishu in the morning as usual, and had awesome times with the munchkins. When I went to wash my hands after feeding and taking Deepa to the potty, I ran into the Sister that is always on that floor. She asked me my name and we introduced ourselves (kinda...for some reason, when you ask someone there name, they never tell you yours unless you ask them back...a fact true of many of the different cultures). She asked my where I was from and how long I was staying, another common question - one as common as 'where are you from?' in college - and said that she saw me working with Deepa. I told her how much I loved working with Deepa, and she told me that a girl, Mazie, was leaving after Friday, and that she had been here for two months and was working with Deepa and two other children, and they were improving greatly. She told me that she would really like me to work with Deepa and the other two children after Mazie left and asked me to come to Shishu in the afternoon on Friday to go over things. I told her I would LOVE to, and she was very excited. We talked about what Deepa could do so far and what we would like her to do by the time I leave, and I am really excited to see how far she can come. She is a delightful little girl, who doesn't scream or yell, but in turn doesn't talk or laugh. I have gotten a few priceless smiles out of her, though, and today, something happened that had a similar effect on my heart as did the Grinch's when he saves Christmas.

Today, I went to Shishu and showed some newbies around, sadly enough who were only here for today, from Germany. Because I showed them around I didn't get a kid to feed (nor did they for morning snack), but I managed to get Deepa to clean up and take to the potty, and the German girls got Nibihya, who is one of the most adorable babies I have ever seen, though she is one of the most difficult. I think she has Cystic Fibrosis, but other than that she looks like a normal...9 month old? Fact is, she's about 3. I fed her this afternoon...Hardest thing ever. Just cried and cried and cried.
Anyway, Deepa. Took her to the potty, and helped the Massis clean up the other kids sitting in there while I waited for Deepa. I took her out and got her new panties, and we walked back and forth for a while. Usually (like today), Deepa really likes walking around and prefers it to being carried very much, and sometimes prefers to stand holding onto something than to sit and wait. So we walked and walked, then finally I brought her to the mats, where she knows when her feet step on them its time to sit. Unfortunately, since we walk around and rock back and forward first for PT, I usually have to pick her up and take her to the back, which she doesn't like. Anyway, I gave her a rattle to keep her busy and got an exercise ball, and we started the bouncing to tone her sit-to-stand muscles, as well as putting her on her belly on the ball to strengthen her knees and stomach muscles. After both of us where bored with that, I gave her different kinds of rattles, and emptied a small box of toys and flipped it over so she could hit it. Not being able to see, she loves things that stimulate her other senses, like musical instruments and smelly stuff. After she had made plenty a racket, I got out the smelly box, which has tiny tupperware things filled with different kinds of herbs and spices, mostly. Cinnamon, Chai tea (some of which I REALLY need to find before I leave), others. I let her keep a rattle in her hand, and I would say her name and open a corner of the box, and she would stop rocking forward and back and get a very interested look on her face, stopping to smell. I would say what it was and she would smell again and then get bored. It was interesting watching what the different scents made her do. She reacted to one by rocking back and forth faster, and to another (cinnamon), that made her sit completely still. One of her favorites, besides the cinnamon, was the chai, which was my favorite by far. After we were done with that, I put everything away and Deepa walked around with another girl for a few miniutes. A few minutes later, when Deepa was walking with me again, a group of singers had entered the eating/PT area that I didn't see enter. They were all from Madrid, and they started singing these awesome songs in Spanish. Deepa LOVES to listen to music, so I walked her back, and we danced for about 15 minutes while the singers were there. I was able to get pictures and video! Hopefully I will be able to post them soon. Also, the board (when I do post, you will see) behind all the singers with the kids pictures on it is the outer room of the school I'm pretty sure Sarah, Tuan's girlfriend, started when she was here.

While Deepa and I were dancing, she smiled the most I've ever seen her smile in one day. Then, after they had left, I bent down level with Deepa and said, "You liked the music and dancing, didn't you? That was fun!" and I swore to you with all my heart, she responded "Yes." It was the most fantastic sound EVER! The only thing that would top that for me is if she would laugh. I've seen her cry, but she can smile, and I know she can laugh.

After Shishu Bhavan and my Grinch-Heart thing with Deepa, I walked back with the Taiwanese girls that I usually walk back with, talking most of the way with...Youngen, I think is her name. I've formally met her and Lei (lay-ee), but not the other girl. When we got back to Hotel Maria, I showed all three of them how to do the Yankee Doodle step that Step2This teaches at Western all the time. They got it very quickly, and did it all by themselves to show me they could do it. I told them that as long as they could remember the song "Yankee Doodle", they could remember the step, and that I would email each of them the video I took.

When Tuan and Caitlin got back we chilled for a while, went to lunch, then got ice cream (packaged) from a shop. We dressed our fast melting ice cream treat in kit-kats and nutella (which is 160 rupees! Really expensive...for here...more than a night in Hotel Maria), and enjoyed.

That is where I leave you today. Later, I have the performance of the Taize prayer the choir has been practicing, at Mother's Tomb, and tomorrow (tonight, actually, at around 11pm), marks my first completed week. Tomorrow is the big Volunteer Day, and it's going to be busy, but great.

Thank you all for all of your comments and support! I love hearing everything all of you have to say, and its a real encouragement to me, about 10,000 miles away from home, to know that you all read my blog and care about what I'm doing. Most important of all to me is that you also believe what I'm doing is important, for me, for the children I'm helping, for the Sisters, and for the Missionaries of Charity. Thank You!

With All Christ's Love
Briana

Khaligat, Daya Dan, and McDonalds

Hey everyone! Sorry its been so long (as in two days...it feels like forever and just a second ago all at the same time to me) since my last post! Things have been very busy, but after friday, things will calm down quite a bit, as choir practices will be over, international volunteer mass will be over, and Tuan and Caitlin will be travelling.

So, the last time I posted about my first day at Shishu Bhavan, if I'm not mistaken. Well, the next day was Sunday, and I went to Khaligat in the morning and Daya Dan that afternoon. I took the bus for the first time, which was rather interesting. I also got to see a new part of Kolkata and new streets, but best of all, I got to see the first house mother ever started in Kolkata for the Missionaries of Charity - Nirmal Hriday (better known as Khaligat). I didn't actually get to volunteer. The sister there was being very strict on visitors having volunteer cards even though it was Sunday. I did get to talk to a patient, though, and see where all the men and women sleep, and the laundry room. It was very interesting and humbling. I at least wanted to see Khaligat while I was here, because that was the place I was most aprehensive about working. I did get to see it, I did innitiate a conversation with a sickly woman, and I had to guts to walk around and smile and say hi. That was more than I was hoping for.

Because both Caitlin and I couldn't volunteer (and completely forgetting about mass at 10:30), we walked the streets a little and looked around, and caught the bus back to Bose Street by the Motherhouse. Neither of us having been to Khaligat before, this was a little...interesting, because we followed people there, so we had to keep our eyes peeled for where to get off. Getting on the bus, I fell and bruised my knee, tearing a hole in my pink skirt that I bought for Sundays here the first time wearing it :( It should be easy to fix, hopefully. We came back and ate lunch, and then we made our way to Daya Dan, where Tuan and Caitlin work regularly, just in the mornings, not in the afternoons. It was a pretty cool experience, seeing the different layout of the house, and the different abilities and ages of the children at Daya Dan versus the children I normally work with at Shishu Bhavan. Most, of these children were amblitory, and many of them could either understand us or the Masis enough to know what they were being told, where in comparison the children I work at at Shishu don't know what you're saying to them unless its their own name, most of the time. Most of the children at Daya dan could feed themselves, as well, and all of the children that I work with at Shishu have to be fed (as a reminder, at Shishu there are handicapped, non-handicapped (active), and aids children. Some of the active children have disabilites like Down Syndrome, but for the most part are normal kids). There was this one girl in particular at Daya Dan named Maga, who is definately a ham for attention. She doesn't seem to have any mental disability, is very sly, and speaks very good English and Bengali. She reminds me a little of my cousin Elyssa; she knows what she wants, and if you don't know her well, she knows how to get it ("Aunty, Aunty! Can you open this for me? Lean a little closer, just a little? Sit down right here! Right here, I want to talk to you, please, Aunty!) I have to admit, she was absolutely adorable, and it was very, very nice to have a conversation with a child here who isn't trying to pick your pockets or smile and puppydog-eye their way into getting chocholate (which they think all foreigners have, for some reason...why we would carry chocolate in our pockets in this heat...).

Oh, random side note: all the children on the streets call you "Aunty" or "Uncle", as do the Masis in the houses, at least the houses with children.

Anyway -

Oh. Masis are the other care-takers who are there every day to help the sisters. If it was an orphanage, they would be the workers who come in every day. The Masis at Shishu Bhavan do a lot more with the children than the Sisters or Trainees do. As a matter of fact, at Shishu, I haven't seen the sisters or trainees work with the children at all - the Masis (pronounced Moss-ease) do most of the work and tell the volunteers what to do.

Okay, so thats all about Daya Dan and Khaligat.

That afternoon, walking back from Daya Dan to the Metro (the SUBWAY - really awesome), I was feeling really tired and irritable. As soon as we walked out of the house, being pestered by beggars and dodging cars, the nearly overwhelming smell of exhaust and the CONSTANT, UNNECCISARY HONKING, I wanted to go home, and I wanted to go home NOW (home being Hotel Maria). I wanted to lie down - It had been a very long day, the alarm going off at 5am, going to breakfast at the Motherhouse, going all the way to Khaligat and then all the way in the opposite direction to Daya Dan, I started to feel really, really tired. The exhaust started to get to my, or my chest, rather, and my asthma started to act up. It had been a little testy that morning, but with all the exhaust around anyways, and all this humidity, plus the always overwhelming smell of India in general, it was just a twinge worse than normal for here. But walking back, feeling irritated on top of everything, I started to take deep, quick breaths, because my lungs just couldn't take everything at once. Then, of all things to happen, a man comes up to us holding out his arm and crying, and there is blood all over his arm. He had managed a cut about an inch below his elbow-pit, and stuck it right in our faces. It scared me and Caitlin so much that we both made noises and took a few steps back. Tuan, seemingly unphased, went straight to his bag. As a result of paying so much attention to a poor man, people started to gather in a circle around us. While Tuan was wrapping his bandana around the mans arm, Caitlin and I were being herded away by a man saying, "Keep moving, he wants your money, don't stay, don't watch, " and things of the like. We kept saying, "Thats our friend, the guy in the grey shirt, he's with us," but the man unceasingly said, "Keep walking, go away from here." Tuan finally finished and the crowd dispersed, and after that little incident, I was very proud of Tuan, but that man made me more irritated than ever, herding us away from our friend like that. We got to the metro station to wait for the train, and I decided that I wasn't feeling up to going to mass. I had a hole in the knee of my shirt, I had heat rash im my elbow-pits, under my watch, on my right elbow and allllllll over my back, I felt dirty and gross, and to tell you the honest truth, I had chafing and heat rash on my upper thighs from them rubbing together while I walked, and decided that if I was walking anywhere but Hotel Maria, we were to stop there first so I could at least change to pants, or put my shorts on under my shirt.

When I told Tuan and Caitlin this, they finally accepted it after Tuan had said, "On Sunday? Alright..." When I got back into the room I changed straight away and put baby powder on my thighs and elbow pits, and laid down. I felt a little guilty, but not horrible, and having got a gatorade on my way back, and a sprite to settle my stomach against the exhaust fumes I was trying to overcome, I felt a little better after the Albuterol kicked in. That is, until what Tuan had said rang in my ears again..."On Sunday? Okay..." I felt SO HORRIBLE. Before feeling homesick or ill or lost or worried for my saftey, I felt the most guilty I have since before the last time I went to confession (SEARCH Retreat). His words rang again and again in my ears, and I cried I felt so bad. It was interesting, though, because I was looking for comfort in something, and had grabbed my necklaces, my rosary, the blanket I stole from the plane, but nothing was working, so I put my forefinger and thumb on the charm I got for volunteering, my 3rd degree Mother Teresa Relic, and my heart was instantly calmed and I stopped crying. I let go and felt myself well up again, so I just held onto that until, when I let go, I felt calm enough to control myself. When Cailtin and Tuan arrived just after 7, I asked how mass was. Turns out, Mass started at 6, not 6:30, so they missed the readings and arrived at the tail end of the homily. Feeling much better, and knowing I would have very much regretted walking there, feeling sick and in pain, I put aside my guilt and accepted that I missed mass, and that missing mass on Sunday here was no different than missing mass at home, which I did frequently with little or no guilt.

The next day I resumed my regular schedule by working at Shishu Bhavan in the morning. I mainly worked with Deepa, who may be my favorite child at Shishu. She is also blind, or mostly so, and can almost walk on her own. I fed her breakfast, took her to the potty, and then did PT with her, which was a lot of fun! It was more like playing for both of, us, I think. We walked to the mats and I tried to get her to bounce on her legs with my support, but she really didn't want to, so I moved on to the next exersice, which requires a ball. I got the ball and she LOVED IT! She layed on her stomach to gain control and balance, and then I had an idea. I sat her on the ball so her feet were touching the ground, and using my hands solely for balance, not support, she bounced up and down using her leg muscles as she was supposed to. I switched back and forth between these exersices and we played with different rattles, then it was time for volunteer break, so I took her to the potty again and left her with the Masis. I fed Johny that afternoon, who was much more willing to eat, he ate all of his food. Then I stated my walk back to Hotel Maria. I very much like returning to the Hostel before Caitlin and Tuan to have that time to my self in the afternoons. When they got back, we went to lunch with Mazie and Zach, who Tuan and Caitlin aren't going to see again. Then, that night, we went to McDonalds....it was amazing.

I will finish this later, so If you come back to read before I finish, read this one again! or start where you just left off. I have to go to choir practice.

EDIT: CONTINUE READING ABOVE (McDonald's, Mother's Tomb and Singers from Madrid)

Shishu Bhavan

Oh, my goodness. How do I put today into words? Tuan, Caitlin and I all got up at 5ish this morning, got ready, and walked to the Motherhouse for Mass at 6am. Mass was so comforting, it was like being at home again. The hymns and the words all remind me of the things I love most in this world, and if there was any twinge of homesick in me, it went away with "The Lord be with you - And also with you."

It was an amazing site. We walked into the Motherhouse and took of our shoes (one thing I had to get used to very fast was the fact that no one wears shoes inside, and for obvious reason - outside is very dirty, and leaving your shoes at the door prevents the dirt from coming inside. I have come to think of my feet and the floor much more clean when everyone is barefoot.) and walked up the stairs to the room where mass is held. The priest celebrating mass today was also celebrating the anniversary of his ordination. He told stories of being with Mother, of how his being ordained by Pope John Paul II was only by the blessing of typhoid, maleria and parasties he got from his first visit to India, and how he learned two important things from mother - that jesus would rather die for all of us than live without us (in other words, he would rather die for the poor, starving beggar on the street than to live without him), and that he is waiting for us. At these words, tears came to my eyes. This is the short version of what he said...

Mother told him that Jesus would rather die for the poor than live without them. That means everyone. [I'm reading The Message right now, and as a reminder, we were made in the image and likeness of God, EVERY ONE OF US, not just the ones we judge as good or bad, or clean] He said that after serving at Khaligat, he could not walk past a homeless or poor person half-heartedly, because he in turn he was ignoring and walking half-heartedly past Jesus. Whilew he has not always lived up to this, he knows that sometimes his love becomes luke-warm, as all of ours does, but the fact that he KNOWS THIS, is enough.
The second thing he learned while with Mother and while volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity, was this.
He was working at Khaligat, and they brought in a man very close to death, he was so ill and sick, he was skin and bones, and what he had for clothes, the rags that he wore, were literally attatched to his body. One of the sisters asked Father to sit with the man, and he looked at him and knew that he was minutes from death. He stayed with him and held his hand, and at a certain time every day, all of the volunteers must leave for lunch, no exceptions. So, reluctantly, he left. He was sure that when he came back from lunch the man would be dead, but a sister was sitting with him, and he was still alive, but just barely. Father went and held the mans hands and the man said something in Bengali to Father, which, not speaking any Bengali, he didn't understand. Those words were that mans last breath. Father asked the sister what the man had said, and she looked at him and said, "He said, 'I have been waiting for you.'"

If that is not the most beautiful homily I have ever heard, I don't know what is.

He then proceeded to tell us that each person here has been waiting for us; that each of the poor in Kolkata is Jesus in disguise, as are the poor everywhere. It was a very moving mass for me.

Mass was very amazing in another way. It is so simple, for one. Everyone sits on the floor. The second, is that it is amazingly beautiful, and for the soul reason that all of the sisters and trainees to become sisters are all there, the sisters in the saris of white with blue, and the trainees in all white.
After mass, the trainee sisters all sang a song for Father, as it was his anniversary, and he is attempting to start another MC house in Ethiopia. It was a gorgeous site, and an amazing thing to hear.

After that was over, we went to have breakfast with all of the volunteers. The sisters provide us all with bananas (these bananas are amazing, by the way. They are about 3 inches long and super-sweet. The bread was okay, but....the coffee. I'm pretty sure its Chai Tea (it may be Chai Coffee), but it is the most amazing thing I have ever had, EVER. Its first on my list of international favorites. Second is fresh chanagne mangos from Tijuana, but I haven't had a mango here yet, we shall see. Its creamy and just sweet enough and....OH, SO GOOD! Its so good I would trade my white chocolate mocha any day for having that instead.
After everyone was done eating, we sang goodbye to a volunteer; this was his last day, and he had been here for over one year! Then we said our daily prayer, and we all left. Except for Tuan and Caitlin. Cailtin isn't feeling as bad, but she didn't feel well enough to work today, and after mass, Tuan looked terrible. They both went back to Hotel Maria.

Okay, a lot of you know I am terrible with names, but I walked to Shishu Bhanvan with a girl (Adama, I think), from Toronto, Canada, and we a great talk on the way there. We both are working on the Handicapped floor, so she gave me the lowdown on what goes on, I picked up an apron, took a swig of water and put my bag away, and then went to work. Our first task was feeding. I fed a little girl named...Lanka or Lanki, I can't remember. It is really difficult to feed a child who is handicapped and has MR. She was soooo adorable, though! One of the women that works there just gave me a her food and said what I'm assuming was "It's okay, you feed her" in Bengali (99% of women I have seen in India wear saris, for those of you who were wondering). I sat down in front of her little highchair with oatmeal or rice or something of the sort, and a spoon, and set off. She was very stubborn, and feeding was slow. I figured out something to keep her happy, though; saying her name a lot, and pointing to my cheeks and smiling really big and saying "Smile! Smile!" usually made her smile really big and laugh, which means I was allowed to give her some food.

I did physical therapy with a little boy named Johny, whos birthday is 10 July 2003! Each of the children have little books that tell the volunteers how to do physical therapy with them, and then you sign the book when you're done. Working with Johny was amazing! Hes soooo little, and he has gorgeous black/brown eyes, and for the most part is a very happy boy, but he is blind. I carried him from his crib to the mats and helped him stand up and flexed his arms. We had break after physical therapy, and when we came back it was lunch. For the first part of lunch I walked around and discovered an escapee from the "normal" toddlers floor, who was no older than 2. She had been dancing around in the hallway and ran into the Handicapped section where I caught her just before she bit it. She gave me a very grateful look and went on dancing. She was SO beautiful, and SOOOO CUTE! Shaking her little booty...anyway, for the second part of lunch I help changed a boys diaper, and then I went to feed Johny the rest of his meal. I got a few mintues of very happy and heartwarming giggles out of him, and had him clap to the music with me while we ate, but when he got bored, he wanted to listen to what was going on. I don't know if you knew this, but when blind people want to hear, they turn there head from side to side, like Stevie Wonder, because they can hear better. So here in this highchair I have this 4 year old boy who is blind and not increadibly hungry anymore, turning his head from side to side as im trying to stick a spoonfull of rice and gravy into his mouth. I got him to eat about half of it before it was time to leave, after figuring out how to get him to stop moving his head.

Shishu Bhavan is so amazing. This was exactly the experience I wanted from this trip. This will help me so much as a reference back in America, and working with these children is SO EASY! I thought I would be really hesitant to work with kids like this, some of who just have down syndrome, some of who are physically and mentally handicapped. Some of these children are very very skinny and can't move at all, but are in something of a fetal position. It barely phased me. They were all just beautiful children to me. It was fantastic.

I went to Lunch at Blue Sky with Caitlin when I got back, and we brought Tuan some toast. Now I'm here, and I don't know if I'm going to go to choir practice today. I'm really tired and I really REALLY want a shower.

That is all for today, my friends! Keep reading, and pictures will come soon!

Until next time
Briana

Day 2 Part 2...the good stuff begins!

So, today after my first blog Caitlin was still on the phone with her mom, so I went back to the hostel to check on Tuan, who was sleeping when I got there. I realized that it was better for everyone to sleep now so we fend off illness later. So Caitlin came back a while later and I read some more, and when Tuan was up we hung out for a while, talked about traveling a bit more (I've decided to go to Darjeeling, but to come back to Kolkata on my own for the next couple of days and spend my time volunteering), and then we went to lunch at a stand around the corner from our hostel. There are three guys that run the stand, and two of the brothers are deaf/mute. They are adorable, and really entertaining. Neither of them is much older than the three of us, so talking to them is easy, in a sense, but you have to motion everything because they can't hear you. Those two and the other one have a sign language that they use and understand, which I think is amazing, having an ASL background.

Anyway, so we got lunch to go and then I began my first walk to the Motherhouse for my volunteer orientation. On the walk there following Caitlin and Tuan, I was feeling kind of empty, like this city, with its outrageous sites and smells and effects it should be having on me, was having no such effect at all. I mean, walking down the street dodging bicycles and motorbikes and cars, ignoring beggars and shop owners, seeing people sleeping on the sidewalks, and just the general air of it all, the vast difference that the buildings and cars and streets have from the US...I didn't feel like any of it was having an effect on me. The thought that crossed my mind was, "I flew about 10,000 miles around the earth, by myself, through 3 places I have never been, have seen skinned cow-halves hanging from carts, ferrel cats and stray dogs eating from garbage piles on the sides of the streets, and lightning, rain, and thunder like no other, and still nothing? Still I feel no effect? I feel as if I am walking on a movie set; none of this is real."

A few minutes after I had this rather dissapointing realization, and thinking that none of this was going to sink in, we turned onto Bose street, and the Motherhouse was just a block or two ahead. Its a brown builduing with green windows, if I recall correctly. Tuan said "It's right up here", and we walked around the corner, and I saw the sign that says, "Mother Teresa, M C. - IN", and a huge smile spread across my face. We rang the bell and an MC sister came and opened the door, and suddenly I felt as if I belonged. With my first steps into the Motherhouse I felt my heart and spirit rise with joy and admiriation and awe. I had a great swell of emotion, as if everything mattered again, as if I had had an epiphony, and the meaning of it all came rushing back to me. With a few more steps, I saw the room that holds Mothers tomb, and stopped, and smiled, and thought, "This is it, the reason I am here. She is lying there, smiling and happy that so many are coming to do her work."

The orientation was nice. I met a girl from New York, a girl from Ireland, and a guy from Israel. It was interesting hearing about each of their journeys to the Motherhouse and India itself. We got the low-down on all the rules, and each of the houses, and before this afternoon I had wanted to work at Daya Dan, but when she went over each of the houses with us, Shishu Bhavan just called out to me. I felt a very strong desire to work there. Shishu Bhavan is for female volunteers only. Tuan and Caitlin are both working at Daya Dan, but another thing in working at Shishu Bhavan is this will be the thing that I do on my own while in India. I wont rely on Tuan or Cailtin when I feel lost. And I like that. Also, it is about 4 blocks from the Motherhouse, so I don't have to go far after Mass in the morning, and I don't have to take any scary Metros or Auto-Rickshaws to get anywhere ;) unlike some of my friends.

After orientation we hung out in the Motherhouse until 4:30, when Tuan leads choir practice. The two head sisters are awesome, and they both sang with us. Seeing them made me feel so happy and so at home, and it was odd, in a way, because it was kind of along the same lines as "these are people you only see in movies", but these women are real, and they made everything that I've seen so far so much more real.

For dinner tonight I had real Indian food - Dal and some kind of bread I can't remember the name to, and Mango juice. it was REALLY GOOD! It was that kind of soupy brown stuff that doesn't look very appetizing, but, oh, it was good.

After dinner we walked back across the street to Hotel Maria and I bought some water and then me and Tuan came here.

Thats my day! It was soooooo amazing. The first moment I've been waiting for and anticipating has finally happened! Getting to set foot into the Motherhouse, to see Blessed Mothers tomb, to meet the sisters...its all so fantastic. And now its all so real.

With All Christ's Love
Briana



Oh, man...I got up at 5ish this morning...I need sleep! Mass at 6am, bright and early!

Day 2...slow goings...

So, I woke up shortly before 5am this morning, but Tuan and Caitlin were both very sick by the end of last night. Caitlin's fever got to 105, and Tuan hit 102.4 last night before we all fell asleep. I figure that if I keep sleeping when they're sick, and drinking as much water as I did yesterday (and never EVER have a wrap from JoJo's), then I will fare al right. I just pray that I don't get sick. I probably will, but I hope its not bad.

Not a lot has happened today. I woke up around 5, ate a granola bar, read for a really long time, ate another granola bar...I never thought I would be frustrated at people not being awake at 7am, considering that you have to taiser me to get me out of bed before 9. I prayed for a while and stayed patient, and Caitlin woke up around 9. We got dressed and got ready (her fever is gone!), and we went to eat breakfast at JoJo's and left a still sick Tuan behind. We brought him back some toast and a banana, and some ice for his head.

I'm sitting in this little internet shop and I'm thinking about buying something. I keep having this thought im my head "I shouldn't, we are going to travel in a week, I should save my money", but I also have this thought....."everything here is less than 200 rupees", which is about 5 dollars. There is some beautiful stuff in here, and I would really like to get something for my friends back home. We will see.

Well, seeing as how this day has been rather uneventful, except for the torrential downpour this morning that was so loud that I thought we were being overcome my a tidal wave, that's all I have to say!

Until next time
Briana

I'm Here!

Hello, everyone! I am happy to report that I survived my 3 flights here, and my first night! I got into Kolkata (Calcutta) at about 11:50 last night. It was interesting; when you land, you walk down stairs out of the plane onto the cement below, and then you take a little bus to the airport building. I had to go through customs and get all my stuff checked, and I was soooo thrilled to walk through the exit gate and see Caitlin and Tuan waiting for me right outside! I hadn't seen a familiar face since Jane dropped me off at the airport at 7:30 on Monday night Washington time. Oh, man...

Right now its Thursday at 10:56 in the morning here in Kolkata. OH! We left the airport and I took my first taxi. That was an interesting experience. They don't ever stop. At intersections, they just honk and keep driving, its crazy! It was raining when I got here last night, and it hasn't stopped yet. The humidity is ridiculous! I feel sticky with sweat all the time. We got to Hotel Maria (our Hostel) and I checked in, and Tuan went in to go to the bathroom, and he said "Yick! Briana, want to see your first cockroach?" It was HUGE! At least the size of a 50 cent peice. Tuan killed it (and was officially dubbed by me the cockroach killer), and we all got ready and went to bed. I actually fell asleep pretty quickly. I slept for a long portion of the flight to Kolkata, which was about 9 hours long.

I woke up at 7 or so this morning, when someone went to the bathroom, and had problems going to sleep after that. You would think that the heat would make me tired all the time, but its not so. It did help me to sleep last night though.

So this morning we got up and Caitlin was gone. She had gone to make a phone call. Tuan told me she wasn't feeling well and she has a temperature of 105 right now. I really hope she gets better. Tuan has also gotten sick already. He thinks it has something to do with always being wet and the pollution and stuff. I think hes got a point.

So I got dressed and we went and ordered breakfast and then went so I could get some money. We came back and our breakfast was brought right to us. breakfast was only about 50 ruppees! (just over a dollar). We went and brought Caitlin ice for her head, and now we're here.

So, I know a lot of you want to know what happened in Frankfurt. So, here goes.

I got off the plane and he wasn't there, waiting with everyone else. So I walked to one end of the airport (to "The Meeting Spot") and back, and when I went back to my gate, he was standing there. I don't think I had ever felt more awkward in my whole life. He looked exactly like his pictures. We hugged and I wasn't hungry because I had eaten on the plane, so he bought be some coffee, and we talked for about an hour and a half. It got way easier to talk to him. It turns out we have a lot in common, but we are two very, VERY different people. I don't think hes a great person, but it is great to know that he is there and that I can have contact with him whenever I want to. I found out that he hasn't lived anywhere but Germany since 1978, and also that I have three half siblings. Lewis III lives on the West coast somewhere, Cheveron lives in Oklahoma, and my little sister...I can't remember what her name is, it starts with Sh or Ch, but she lives in Florida and she just turned 18 on June 22. Her mom is the head of the Psychology Department at FSU. All of his kids have gone to or are going to college, both of his sons went to Oklahoma State and his other daughter wants to go to OS as well. His other two children are rather successful as well. Lewis, Lewis III and I all were born on July 11, which is really bizzare to me.

So, he left me at the gate where I had to go through security and get onto my next and final flight to Kolkata. He actually cried when I left, which made me happy. It means that he actually does care about me and where I am and what I'm doing. We took a picture, but I didn't bring my USB cord with me, so you all will have to wait until I can load it up.

Alright, so tomorrow will be my first day volunteering, and I really hope that Tuan or Caitlin can go with me. I shouldn't be too worried...Tuan did this all by himself for about 3 weeks, and I have both of them on my downtime, at least. Just all do me a favor, and:

~Pray that Caitlin gets better
~Pray that Tuan doesn't get sick again (he doesn't feel to hot today)
~Pray that I don''t get sick and that if I do, that its not bad and that I recover quickly
~Pray for our safety from illness, people, and cockroaches
~Pray that I have the time of my life and that I can put all my resevations aside.

Its really hard, being in a foreign city, knowing almost no one, not knowing how things work, having to trust everyone and no one. This is so new and weird and different. I will try to take a picture of the street later, but Tuan said it was in my best interest to act like I don't care about anyone and that nothing phases me (which so far has worked fantastically), otherwise, I will have a hundred people asking me for things.

Until next time~

Briana

I'm Leaving!

Hey everyone! Oh, man...I can't believe its finally here. I leave for Calcutta in a few short hours...my hours in the great 'Ham are numbered (at least until I come back, that is).

I can't wait for my adventure to start! I'm so nervous, though...I'm not taking very much, because I don't want to take too much, but I'm afraid I'm going to leave something important behind (like my Malaria medicine), but I'm sure everything will be okay. Oh, goodness...

So, This is where I tell all of you the big news that I've been putting off telling all of you. O, wow, this is making me more anxious than I have been in the last 24 hours. I'll give you the short version.

Back in April, I was randomly Googling people's names. I do it all the time when I'm bored and have nothing better to do. One of the names I google often, as you might imagine, is Lewis Glover. Well...the last time I googled "Lewis Glover" +"blues harp", I got more hits than I ever had before. I found a website for the Hank Davison Band. I went through and looked at the pictures, and there were pictures of a black guy playing blues harp. It happened to be the same black guy that I found in some pictures a little over a year before. When I clicked on Contact Us, each member of the band had an individual contact email, and I figured, what's the worst that could happen? So I wrote up an email, and added things that only my biological father would know (e.g. his middle name, where I was born, the fact that he had been in the army, as had my mother, when they separated, etc). The next morning, I had a response email. He said several things in that email that only he would have known (like where he was from originally, that our birthdays are the same). So...Lewis Glover and I have been emailing back and forth since the beginning of 2007.

Bigger news than that, is that he still lives in Germany, and he is meeting me for breakfast between my flights on Wednesday morning. Several people know this, and I have people expecting me in Calcutta about half a day later. We will be in a very public place, I know what he looks like, where he lives, both of his phone numbers and all that jazz. I will be fine. I've been putting off telling all of you this information because I didn't know how to tell you. But I also didn't tell you because I didn't want you all to tell me what to do. This is my life, these are my choices, and I have been waiting for this particular thing to happen for as long as I can remember. I have made it very clear to him that I have a Dad, I have a family, and I don't need any complications in my life. I told him that he is my father, but he is not my dad. David Kinney is my dad. He is Lewis to me and always will be. Now, I know some of you know this, but this is my mantra - "I take it on faith; I believe that everything happens for a reason." Do you think its coincidence that I decided to go to Calcutta, that I bought my plane ticket in March, that I then found my father in April, that I just happen to be going via the Atlantic, that my flight happens to pass through the Frankfurt International Airport during the few weeks that he is not on tour with his band...I believe that this happened for a reason. This may be the only time I get to meet him in person. So please, don't be mad, don't be jealous, don't be upset. Be happy for me.

Well, I have to go finish packing and cleaning, and I need to go to the grocery store to buy some last minute things. I love you all, and I will blog away when I arrive in Calcutta!

Peace and Love,
Briana

Two Weeks and Counting...

Hello, all! This is my first post on my travel blog! How exciting...

So, I leave two weeks from Monday. It's so crazy, I can't believe I'm actually going to Kolkata, INDIA! I've never done anything this big in my whole life. It all starts with getting onto the plane by myself and not completely freaking out (for those of you who don't know, I am really, really scared of flying).

I have pretty much everything I need...my tickets, passports, travel account (basically a second checking account)...I bought some lightweight pants the other day, and some t-shirts, because I can't show my shoulders or knees. I still need to read the regulations for all of my airlines so I'm okay with all the stuff that I have to bring. I think I'm probably not going to buy a new duffel bag and just take my sports one with my day backpack. The only thing I really need before I leave is a money belt, so I can wear my money and passport under my clothes. Also, I really want to get my birthday present to myself before I leave (a brand new digital camera :]). You may be thinking, "Why in the world are you going to take a new digital camera to where you're going?" Because...don't you want to see what I'm doing? And wouldn't you want to take pictures of such a fantastic experience? Anyway, my old camera, that I got for my 18th birthday, doesn't zoom anymore. It's also crappy by todays standards. My old camera is only 3.5 megapixel and 2x zoom. Sad, sad, sad.

So, fret not, my weary non-travellers. I am as well prepared as I can be...I've gotten all my shots, I have all my paperwork, I know where I'm going...its all okay. I won't be able to call any of you on a daily basis, but I will get a phone card on my last stop in the states. I have nationwide long distance, but I refuse to use my phone overseas (2.50 a minute...I think not). I have raised almost 500 dollars for my trip, and I hope to raise a little more before I leave. I have someone to watch the kitties and gerbils while I am gone, check the mail, change the litter, all that jazz. I will keep all of you updated.

Also, I have a really big announcement to make before I leave! So, keep checking back!

With All Christ's Love,
Briana