Well, here we are (with a few surprises)

KOLKATA!
You greeted us with cows, english taxis, dirt roads, car horns, piles of trash, millions of crows, kites, barbed wire, broken teeth and old friends. What do I have to offer you? Whatever it is, take it. Breathe it. Feel it. Hold it. Love it.

We landed yesterday at about 4 o'clock and hopped in an old yellow taxi, constant reminders of Englands colonization of India, and headed towards Sudder Street, our new home for the next three months (That is still quite strange to say). The first thing we saw in the taxi was a group of about 12-15 cows standing off to the side of the road, next were about 30 women and children pulling plastic bottles out of a massive pile of trash, next was an array of things so grand and so heartbreaking that words could never do them justice. Huge billboards advertising everything from giant t.v.'s to beauty supplies to luxurious homes with plastic tarps and bamboo poles coming attached to the sides making makeshift homes. We kept driving for about 45 minutes or so weaving to every side of the road with our drivers thumb constantly hovering over the horn and frequently pressing it, letting everyone know that he was coming and not planning on slowing down. Needless to say, Kolkata is much different than Bangkok.
We got to the Hotel Maria and got "settled in" without talking much at all, trying to take in this city in a single large gulp doesn't allow much space for words to come out. We went to the roof and the view was mostly just higher buildings in every pale shade of green, yellow, and pink with the most gorgeous orange sunset i have ever seen casting the buildings' shadows down on us and sillhouetting the apartments. After a quick stint on the roof we made our way down to the lobby and who should happen to walk up to us? None other than our dear friend Lizzy, a member of calcutta club who just graduated but helped us prepare for this trip like no one else could. A shouting match of disbelief followed and I don't think any of us said anything except,
"WHAT?!?"
"HOW?"
"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!"
"WHAT?!?!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Streams of tears just poured out of our tired eyes and we stood in the lobby of Hotel Maria crying and laughing and yelling for about 30 minutes until we were kindly asked to leave. I'm still a little bit in shock that she's here. During the school year when we were having regular meetings the girls and I would constantly bug her that she had nothing better to do than to come back to Kolkata with us and apparently enough persuasion turned into Christmas in September for all of us. She's only here for another week and a half or so (she's already been here about two weeks) and then she'll be travelling to some smaller villages doing some work with people she met last time she was in Kolkata. It's truly amazing that in a city of over 100 million people she was able to find us within two hours of getting off the plane. Can anyone else see God at work here?
Lizzy took us around Sutter St. and introduced us to some of her amazing friends that I'm proud to say have already become some of my amazing friends. We parted ways and tried going to bed early last night, about 9 or so, but to no avail. The air is so hot and so thick that as you lay in bed you can literally feel the sweat drip (or run for dear life) out of your body. Not to mention the noise level that never seems to get lower. So we all laid in bed listening to music out of my tiny ipod speakers for about 3 or 4 hours praying for sleep to come, and eventually it did, as it always does. This is gonna take some getting used to. We woke up at about 5:15 to meet Lizzy and walk to the Mother House for Mass at 6:00. Mass was beautiful and we got to talk to some of the sisters and some of the other volunteers over a communion breakfast of hot chai and white bread, such a wonderful (and EARLY) morning. We're going to Shishu Bavaan, one of the childrens homes run by the missionaries of charity and where Emily is going to spend her days volunteering, at 3 o'clock to get registered and attend a new volunteer orientation. That's in about an hour.
I haven't taken many pictures yet as I want to get to know the people around me and to get my bearings a little more (we haven't even been here a whole day yet!). Also the internet speeds are quite slow so i don't know if i'll even be able to upload many photos but we will see. I think that's all i can manage to type at this point so until I have more meaningful things to say, NAMASTE NAMASTE NAMASTE.