First 24 hours in India!!!!!

Here is our story from the first 24 hours in India~

February 7, 2009:

We know our journey is just beginning, but we have experienced so much that we want to tell you! After 36 hours of travel, we were greeted at the airport by hospital staff and several Indian nursing students. We piled ourselves and our luggage into a bus and we experienced our first taste of Indian traffic. Not only were we driving on the opposite side of the road, we learned that lanes are non-existent. The roads were full of taxis, cars, buses, bikes, rickshaws, and people. Everyone honks constantly and weaves in and out just to make it through. While cars were merging in to the sides of the road, a bus next to us crashed into a car leaving a large dent into the driver’s door. The honking continued, but nobody stopped. After soaking up as much as we could through the bus windows, we arrived at our new home for the next month. It is on the third floor of a building (with a 24 hour security guard at the door—which is common in this area). It is located on a very busy street surrounded by extreme poverty outside of our front door. We have two rooms that each has a bathroom with toilets and showers!! We decided to all sleep in the same room and have our luggage in the other. It has been nice to be together as a team and we are very grateful for the room that we have!
Even though we were all exhausted, we woke up bright and early around 6am (or 4am if you are Chantel) to the sounds of chickens, crows, loud squeaking of the street well outside our door, and prayers chanted over a loud speaker. We had breakfast downstairs at 7:30am—Scrambled eggs, “baked beans” (not sweet, but spicy), chewy white toast, and green bananas that were yummy! Last night, when we were dropped off, we were invited to join the hospital staff for devotionals at 8am. Since we were awake and ready to go so early, we decided we would join them and show them that we appreciate them and wanted to be involved. However, we must have misunderstood the plans for the day and were surprised by a private devotional in our dining area with Pastor Phillip. We led hymns, which was a hilarious experience, as most of us didn’t know all the words or the tune. ☺ After the devotion, we were anxious to get out of our building and see our environment that we had been hearing and smelling all night long. Shishma (the head of the school of nursing here) was kind enough to take time out of her day and take us on a walk outside. The city was already bustling with activity and we saw many people on the streets as we walked to their old nursing school and around our close surroundings. After this, we asked the plan for today and were told that we were to “rest” in our rooms. We came back to our room and played card games and enjoyed talking. After Dr. C’s morning meetings, he met us for lunch and then led us on a 2-hour expedition trekking through the streets and parks of Calcutta.
As we sit down to write this, we wish we could accurately describe what we saw and how we felt as we walked down the streets. We felt like we were walking through a movie set, yet this is the reality of so many people. It truly stimulated all five of our senses! The roads were crowded with more people than you could imagine (you think Pike Street is busy!). Cars, rickshaws, over-crowded buses, bikes, dogs, cats, goats, and even chickens freely move in a fluid, unstructured and chaotic movement. We saw hundreds of vendors crowded amongst the streets selling - exotic food, fruit, clothing, watches, shaving and shoe shining services, car parts, and sooooo much more. Despite all the loud noises, there were many people sleeping on the streets. It was challenging every time we had to cross a street, as it is common for people to weave in and out of the cars to get across the streets. The sound of honking cars was a constant noise that was hard to adjust to. We smelled incense burning, smoke, various food spices, and waste. As we walked through the streets, kids would grab onto our arms and beg us for money and food. We found this especially hard to ignore, although that’s what we were told to do. We all wished we could do more to help… a.k.a. take them home with us ☺ This is just the beginning of our experience here and are eager to see more and help in any way we can!