India Volunteer Journals

My booking agent booked my flight but did not give the airline my ticket number and the airline cancelled my ticket. After six hours of trying to get things worked out I’m still in India waiting for the booking agent to get back to me. I’m so disappointed. I will reach China sooner or later.  Stay tuned…

Life is but a dream….as the song goes. I never thought in all my life that my dream of traveling the world and helping people would come true but it has. In August last year I arrived in India. The world on the Eastern Hemisphere changed my life. I left the Western Hemisphere and moved to Kolkata, India. I’ve been here 60 some odd days and I am preparing for China.
I started taking an online course Teaching English as a Foreign Language and I have already started using what I have learned in India. I am tutoring a few people [...]

I cant believe im going on to the last week of volunteering, im so astonished on how quickly time goes bye… I havent had a chance to write much because I was sick all last week (which let me tell you, wasnt fun at all, I just wanted to be back home being taken care of) but now Im feeling much better and feeling “fit for fight” again!
We went to Digha last weekend, which is a little village 4 hours away from Kolkata, it was really nice to get out of the city and just relax att the beach. It [...]

December 11th I close on my home and fly out that evening arriving in Kolkata on December 13th. I am set up at a guest house with a private room until I find an apartment. I have met some lovely people online that have helped me more than I can ever thank. I’m working on the banking situation. India requires more background checks than the USA to open an account. I opened an account in the New York Branch but it appears I have to do all the paperwork again in India.
Once I arrive, I will meet Susan a volunteer [...]

My trip to India in August changed my life. I sold my condo and I”m moving back to Kolkata. A huge leap of faith. All I know is I want to continue to help the people of India improve their lives and bring smiles to their faces.
I am also going to China March – June 2010 to teach English. I am truly blessed by having found GVN. This is a great NPO and I recommend them to everyone I talk to.
More to come…

So I ended up choosing the first slum school we visited last week and so far im happy with my choice. The teachers are really sweet(some are a bit intimidating to start with but after a while you realise that they dont mean any harm)and the children are adorable, it is however a bit hard with the youngest ones just because they dont really speak or understand any english but I think it will get easier with time. Its funny how different everything is here and how some things that are obvious to the people here just make me stop [...]

The trip to Kolkata went very well, no problems with the luggage, the flight times and Vishal was there to pick me up in Kolkata. It still feels so unreal to be here but it feels so good! The guest house is totally ok and the people are very friendly although its hard to undertand what they really mean, it feels like you get both a yes and a no to the same question… The best way to describe Kolkata would probably be by saying that its an organised kaos, the traffic is crazy, there is people everywhere and there [...]

Leaving to Calcutta tomorrow, still can’t believe it, it feels so unreal… Feeling really exited though and not really that nervous but I guess the nerves will kick in sooner or later. It’s wierd how quickly time goes by, feels like it was only yesterday I applied for the programme and started arranging things for my departure.
Toonights plans are packing my bag (no, I still have’nt done that) and some quality time with family. I’ll add a new post telling you about how the trip went as soon as I get access to a computer.

I’m back. The trip home was horrible, the plane food made me sick but I am grateful that the only time I was sick is coming home. At least I’m in the comfort of familiar surroundings. I was fortunate that I stayed healthy in India.

The first week was so overwhelming. The plane ride there was longer than I would have liked and the 12 hour layover in New Delhi seems like it took a decade. I felt like Tom Hanks in Terminal. I didn’t think those 12 hours would ever end. I got off the plane in Kolkata and into [...]

I’m in India! This place is so different and exciting and overwhelming… It’s the morning of my second day and I’m sitting on my hard little bed in my bare little room… it’s actually not that bad at all. I had a difficult time sleeping last night because my body is used to being up and about at that time, not sleeping, but I feel rested anyway.

The journey over here was awful. I wasn’t getting nearly enough sleep or good food, so I felt very weak and nauseas, especially on the last leg from Frankfurt to Kolkata. The airline attendants [...]

Well, it’s the day before I leave for Kolkata, India! I’ve experienced quite a mix of emotions in the weeks leading up to this… luckily I feel nothing but an excited anticipation at the moment, but I’ve also been completely terrified and overwhelmed! I’ll be leaving behind my friends and family, and my boyfriend, for a total of two and a half months! Two of those will be spent experiencing India, and the last half will be in Israel, where I get to go on a tour with my family (so I will see them in two months… my boyfriend [...]

Little did I know how much work it takes to go to a third world country. The visa, police check, vaccinations for just about everything except Yellow Fever.  I need a first aid kit loaded with needles and syringes in case of an emergency (hospitals don’t necessarily use clean syringes – yuck).  I’m loaded up with Antibiotics for diarrhea and salt tablets for dehydration. I have my Malaria meds and my face mask (the swine flu is starting to rise in India right now). I had to get a water purifier. I will need to learn how to use a [...]

I am open to whatever may happen and I will go with the flow.  This will be one of the most memorable and possibly most profound experiences in my life!

It has been a fantastic month. Here in this hot and humid Kolkata climate, afternoon naps are common, and really necessary. But I’ve not had much time for them. Here is a very long-winded story that you may or may not have the time to read.
Over the last month or so, I have spent much more time with new Indian friends and I feel positively enriched by the experience. They have all been so warm and welcoming it is hard to explain how moved I feel by it. This is a transformation from the seemingly rude behaviour of the locals [...]

It’s horribly hot and sticky here – 37C (104F) & 93% humidity. We’re into 3 times a day showers now, although luckily it rained a couple of nights ago and it’s been a little more tolerable since then.
Whilst I often find myself wishing I could stay longer (I’m not sure I’ll be ready to leave Kolkata in just four weeks time), the unfortunate thing is that I am starting to feel seriously bored. I am particularly fond of the school – the teachers and Mosoumi and all that they are doing and achieving – and of course I adore the [...]

I guess I have settled into a “normality” after six weeks in Kolkata, even though I still walk down the street looking at everything with astonishment. The two things that I continue to find most difficult are the hygiene and the staring. The language barrier can be a bit tiring too, and I wish that I had pursued my intention of learning either Hindi or Bengali from the very beginning. However, I have adapted to using non-verbal communication quite well (I think I’ve got the silent gestures and Indian head nods down pat, now).
When I arrived here at the beginning [...]

The weather has suddenly turned hot and damp here in Kolkata – 34-38° C (77° F). And it’s only March! I have bought myself a dual layered umbrella to protect me from the sun. I’ve found it is also effective at protecting me from the staring eyes of the locals, which is a constant here, and meteoric bird poop, another regular feature of the Kolkata streets. The umbrella might even be useful fending off hawkers at New Market. Therefore, I’ve decided to carry it with me all the time.
International Women’s Day was on 8 March this year. It is a [...]

I have really wanted to experience the most of India, in every way. I have become more daring by eating street food, provided I see it being cooked and I eat it fresh. So far so good. I talk to the teachers at the school about their families and the restrictions placed on them in the Hindu tradition. For instance, these women must live with their parents-in-law after they are married. I also visited an exhibition yesterday of posters from women’s rights campaigns over the last few decades, at the Seaford Gallery in SP Mukherjee Rd, which was extremely beautiful [...]

Kolkata is a challenge, and sometimes I feel I have a love-hate relationship with it.
Each time I step out of my accommodation, I am confronted with the noise, filth and poverty. On the ground throughout the streets, people live, including families with cute but dirty children with oily knotted hair. At night, people sleep on the footpath covered head to toe with a blanket that looks like an old sack. A few luckier ones have erected a little lean-to made of anything they can find, covered in black plastic to keep the rain out.
The school where three of us are [...]