hey hey!

Hey all! so this is actually me, katie saying hi to everyone back home! tuan was nice enough to lend me his blog for a bit- what a giving soul he has. in fact, if tuan hadn't been so willing to share his stories and so much of his trip with me, it would have made the Lords job a lot harder in getting me where he wants me; so if you are reading this tuan thank you from the bottom of my heart- i don't know how i could have done any of this with out you.

anyway, so about India...well honestly i can't believe we made it! I can't believe it has been a week and 1/2! it really is a whole new world. there are so many new thing to see and smell and hear and taste. its all so fascinating and i'm still trying to take it all in. I'm not even sure where to start.
lets start with the Mother house- o man its so beautiful. when we first went one of the sisters pointed us up Mother Teresa 's old room. it was as setup behind the screen, as if she was just going to walk right in and sit down at her desk. then we down and looked at the beautiful display they have set up with bulletin boards and articles from Mother. they even have her old sari, hand patched and everything. On our first day of volunteering, before we had breakfast we got to have mass with the sisters; hearing them sing is one of the most beautiful sounds i've ever heard. The whole place is filled with God's presence of peace.

the 1st day of volunteering at Prem Dan was very eye opening but a little rough because i wasn't really told what to do, you just kind of jump in. The second day was fabulous though! Prem Dan is a home for ( at least o the women's side) mostly mentally ill women. The majority of them where fairly old and some of them needed a lot of assistance physically. the morning shift is between 8ish and 12ish. once we get there the laundry is done first, then beds are made, we help to feed them, there a short brake for us, and then we spend alot of time just sitting with the women. Most of them don't know english at all, but that really doesn't matter once you get the hang of it. it dose make me want to learn Bengali though! How beautiful these shundaries (beautiful elder women) are! I had never seen such pure smiles. One of the very old women almost broke my heart. She was one from the handful who had to be spoon feed and in order to get her to bed after lunch, you had to drag the chair she was in into the next room. But more then that was how much she loved holding your wrist. she couldn't really speak very well-even to the sisters, and her eyes often wondered, but the minute you would go to leave or start pulling your had from where she left in on her knee or from her own hand, she would reach from it. what a simple, simple request, just to not be left sitting alone.

So now i am done volunteering for a while. the three of us Alicia, Brendan, and I meet up with Meghan, Jamie and Fr.Puthumai and took a 12 hr train ride north on the 10th (Thursday night for us; there is a 11.5 hr difference btw). we are leaving this Sunday night. thats bitter sweet for me because Raiganj is so beautiful, it is so nice seeing Meghan and Jamie, the people are way less used to tourist so they stare more but they hardly try to cheat u out of you money, and Fr.P totally is taking such good care of us. On the other hand, my heart longs to return to the Mother house and the people. and the hustle and bustle and pollution and creeper stares that is kolkata has an excitement, a romanticism to it. it is a fun place once you get you foot in the door. you see new thing every day that you would never see in Washington. then again i could say the same thing for Raiganj! here is a brief list of some things i have done while up here:
-explored an Mosque built in 1364
-fallen in love with, many young singing Indian boys!
-saw a live gazel tied up in a small market ( i frekn lov those!)
-had an Indian beer
-been on tv (or at least jamie was, i'm not really sure how many of us made it on)
-thrown up for the first time in like 3 yrs
-signed my autograph for, shook hands with and dances around wiht several enthusiastic villagers
-ect!


any way, i lov you and miss you all and will write more soon! ur all in my prayers!
i lov u and God bless!

-Katie