Prem Dan: Day 1

First of all, after a little bit of an adventure we found Domino's pizza and it was lovely. We're likely back to paneer, rice, curry and naan again tonight and that is good too.

Second, I forgot this story on Varanasi day. Traffic in India is nuts and crazy and crazy nuts but so exhilarating. When I travel I am often amazed that i never see accidents. As we were leaving the city we turned right and as we did so all I saw was pink smeared up and slide across the passenger window. A girl on a bike was booking it and ran right into us (keep in mind that in Canada right turns are the 'easy' turns but here right turns are the tricky/cross lane turns).  We stopped. She stopped (she had no choice because she was on the ground). She got up, looked at and then brushed off her elbow and biked off as if she was just fine. I shouldn't find fun in this but I do. Biker coming. Pink on window. Nothing. Pause. Gets up and bikes away. Clearly accidents do happen. 

We were going to go to 6am mass today by weren't out he door by 5:50 as we needed to be and didn't want to be disruptive so we decided to try again tomorrow. 

At 7 we, and all the Mother Teresa home volunteers (because there's seven homes), ate breakfast together: bananas, plain white bread and Indian chai tea (chai tea with boatloads if milk). It is an informal start, people mosey in as they arrive. I quickly counted over seventy people but I wasnt too detailed and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than 100 folks eating bread and bananas together. 

The three if us sat semi-awkwardly in the corner and I watched the world before me. Many people had their groups. There were lovely greetings between people. I was surprised by how many men there were volunteering, including a 50 something year old man. I was intrigued by the amount of 'middle aged' women there were. I was also in love with all the languages present: Korean or Japanese (or another language I am currently unable to distinguish), Italian, French, English and lovely Spanish. But there was something interesting about this dynamic and ever-fluid community. Even though it is a community with a revolving door, there was something uniting.

A bell was wrung by a sister and we all came to attention. She stood in a chair (she was short. Considering all he nuns Ive met today in Kolkata and years ago in South Africa, I feel like this is a requirement) and spoke about when different language masses would be held, when discussion groups were and when adoration (a silent or semi-silent service I believe) is held. Then she asked all the folks for whom today was their last day to step forward. We all sang a happy/clappy song about how we love them and will miss them. The mood in the room was happy and light although some people in the middle of the circle clearly had a hard time with it being their last day. Then we read a prayer out loud together; it asked God to bless us in our work etc...ill pay better attention tomorrow and give a better recap. Then some folks had signs for each of the seven places; it was a mad scramble where you needed to assert yourself to get to your group, and we were off to the races. Michelle and Teresa's groups took buses there. Most of my group decided to walk in the rain. It was a 20ish minute walk (not sure, didn't pay attention). Then we got to a huge blue and white building and the adventure really began. 

First impression: it is immaculate. Not like an immaculate conception, but immaculately kept. Clean. Organized. Clean. It is the cleanest place I've been in India.

Second impression: it's huge. It apparently houses over 300 folks.

Third impression: I can totally do this. It's kind of old hat which may sound crass and cold, but I saw nothing today that I haven't seen before in Canada or the DR. I take that back. There was one new aspect to today which I'm working on writing a post on: women who've undergone acid attacks. There were four women at my home who were mutilated by acid. Ill explain another time. But overall I'm working at a long term care facility with over 100 women. Some are completely bedridden and, if say, close to death. Most are mobile. Most feed themselves. Some are young with mental issues. For me it was like Dominican orphanage (adult style) plus Christian horizons plus Bradford Place, the old folks home I visited as a child.

The day starts with cleaning: laundry. There's a lot. It's all done by hand. I found myself wringing it out and I learned something about myself: I am a princess. I came home with blisters. Maybe I was just trying really hard as an extra aggressive rinser-outer. I actually was. I am a go big or go home kind of person. Blisters. Super lame-o. I also found myself carrying laundry up three flights of stairs to the roof to hang it on a network of clotheslines. I also found myself wiping down the mattresses and putting clean sheets on over 80 beds. All this took from 8:10-10ish. We motored.

After this the ladies ate breakfast. What a sight! A semi-large rectangular room with many chairs all filled with nearly 100 ladies of various ages, physical abilities and mental capacities and most eating with their hands. Those that werent on chairs squatted on the ground. This and earing with their hands isn't because they're necessarily lower class, that's how it's often done in India. It was a beautifully cute sight.

By the way: no pictures allowed in the mother Teresa homes unless you've been there for a long time, then on your last day you may take pictures. Unfortunately my posts relating to this home will be picture less, just as our Dominican orphanage stories.

After the meal a lady grabbed my hand and we took a walk past the garden. I didn't know what I was in for. There were about 18 ladies, me and two nuns. The 'Maria nun' (because she was a complete fireball) started leading exercises. I was a very enthusiastic helper because keep in mind that many of these ladies shuffle at best. I'd pull some along as we ran laps aka shuffled in a 10 ft long rectangle ;) then we did clapping and arm movements. I was apparently such an enthusiastic participant that the nun got me to lead the rest. So for a good 20 minutes I lead an exercise class. I had the nun howling as well as some of the otherwise stone faced ladies. I was pretty much a party.

Then it turned into craft corner with Rachael. We went to the craft room and the nun gave me blank sheets of paper and told me to draw something so they could colour. Last I checked art wasn't my forte but last I checked I was volunteering to do whatever needed to be done. So my doodling experience came in handy and I created a bunch if colouring sheets. I was fascinated how well some of these ladies followed the lines considering their apparent lack of other motor skills.

The rest if the day was pretty routine I think so ill write about it another day.