The trip to India: Part 2

The flight from Delhi to Kolkata was fairly unremarkable, except for the fact that I was the only westerner on the plane. I had a window seat, and for the first time I got to really see India, instead of just an Indian airport. Most of the two hour flight I could see mountains lining the horizons and the rest of India patch worked below me. I am not sure which mountains I was seeing, but I enjoyed assuming that I was seeing the Himalayas.

We landed in the Kolkata airport, and as I walked off the plane, I got my first sampling of what Kolkata is like. Unfortunately, my first impression was not very positive. Whereas the Delhi airport felt very clean and new and not any different from an American airport, the Kolkata airport felt older, dirtier, and smelled like a stale air conditioner. As I went to find the baggage claim, I realized that I hadn't seen any Westerners anywhere in the airport. Everyone seemed to be speaking Bengali, and for the first time I felt very much on my own. I was very nervous about someone coming up and stealing my bags right out of my hands, but I was having trouble carrying them. I awkwardly made my way over to the counter to get a prepaid taxi and queued up in the long line. I got my first Indian head bob at the taxi counter! The head bob is very confusing, because I'm never sure if it means yes or no, because it looks like a mixture of the two. I handed the clerk the address of my hotel and asked if the taxi would know where it was. He gave me the head bob and the bill, so I assumed that meant that the driver would know.  

Walking out of the Kolkata airport felt like walking down the red carpet at a movie premier. There were railings on either side of the exit doors and a huge crowd of men holding name signs were standing behind the railings. I was walking out of the airport alone, and it was clear that I was not Indian. It felt like there was a large sign on my head that said "Stare At Me!" At the end of the walkway there was a crowd of boys and men waiting to carry bags over to the taxis. A small older man rushed up and offered to take my bag. I showed him the slip for the taxi and he motioned to me to follow him. My bag was almost as big as he was, but we crossed the street and he found the taxi I had reserved. He threw my bag into the cab and said 'Namaste' and I hopped in and gave the driver my ticket.

The taxi ride to the hotel was my second moment of panic. I knew that India was a third world country, but I had no idea what that meant. As we pulled out of the airport, a woman put her head into the cab, asking me for money. As the taxi left the parking lot, it passed a cluster of huts with small kids running around out front and a woman cooking on the pavement. We drove down a short stretch of road and stopped at the light. I had been leaning forward in my seat to see out the window, but I sat back when I realized that the people on either side of the taxi thought I was as interesting as I thought India was. We sat at the light for a good 30 seconds, and the man in the taxi next to us stared straight at me for the whole time without looking away. The blatant staring is something I'm still not used to.

I guess what surprised me most was how crowded India is. There are building, stores, advertisements, people, animals, cars everywhere. It seemed like there was no open space. I kept thinking we were in a crowded part of Kolkata, and expecting that soon we'd pass an open street, a park, or even just a stretch of open pavement. We drove for about 20 minutes through streets that looked indistinguishable and crowded to me, when the cab driver turned around and said "A.J.C. Bose Road!" proudly.

I looked out, expecting to see the Hotel Circular, the address I had given at the counter. But I couldn't see the hotel anywhere. I looked down at the ticket, and all that it said was A.J.C. Bose Road. We had made it to the right road, but I couldn't see the hotel anywhere. We drove around for the next 20 minutes and stopped for directions several times. I started wondering if the hotel actually didn't exist (even though I'd made reservations 2 days before) and if I'd have to just show up on the MC's doorstep and ask for a place to stay. Then I imagined them turning me away (ridiculous, but I was tired) and me sleeping on the street with my luggage. Looking back, I realize now that this is why you don't travel alone. Sometimes you need another person to tell you that you're being irrational.

At last, we found it! I can't describe how thankful I felt when I saw the sign! I gave the cab driver a ridiculously large tip because I didn't have any change and walked inside.When I walked into the lobby, about 6 staff members were staring straight at me, throughout the entire check in process. At this point, I was sick of being American and just wanted to put my bags down and go to sleep. I got up to my room, threw my stuff down, and fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was 6 pm. I was hungry and thirsty, but I didn't want to go down to the restaurant to eat by myself. I thought maybe I'd just eat some granola bars, but then I realized I didn't have any clean water and I couldn't drink from the tap, like I would in America. I really didn't want to leave my room, but thirst  and something else prompted me to go down anyway.

It must have been the Lord prompting me, because as soon as I sat down in the restaurant, a group of Americans walked in and sat down at the table next to me. I imagine I looked as forlorn as I felt, because one of them turned to me and invited me to join them. Jon, the leader of the group introduced me to Dale, Cynthia, Robin, and Bryan. They were part of a group from Kingsland Baptist Church, a church located in Texas. They'd been in Kolkata for several days, volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity. I was so happy to meet people who were volunteering with the MC's!

I told the Kingsland group that I was on my own, and immediately they invited me come with them the next day to volunteer. This was only the beginning of their hospitality to me. For the next week, I volunteered with them, shared many meals with them, and hung out with them. The next day I met the rest of their group (Ashley, Adrianne, Casey, and Sadie). Essentially, the Kingsland group looked out for me my first week while I was finding my feet. They helped me to get a room at BMS, to find an ATM that would take my card, and introduced me to other long term volunteers. Jon insisted on paying for my meals when I ate with them, and when they left, they donated their extra supplies to me (I'm still using all their extra antimicrobial hand wipes  and gloves!).

The Kingsland group exemplified the generosity and fellowship of the body of Christ to me. I was on my own, and they graciously invited me to join them. I was blessed by all the practical things they helped me do, but also by their friendship! I believe that God was really taking care of me when I sat down that first night, because they made my first week much, much better than it would have been if I'd been alone. I've talked to other volunteers who came on their own, and all of them genuinely hated Kolkata their first week. It seems like almost everyone wants to go home the whole first week, but going through my first week with the Kingsland group made things much less overwhelming. I got to experience many firsts with them as well; I took my first auto rickshaw and bus rides, visited South City Mall (which was like going back to America), and visited International Justice Missions with them.

Thank you so, so much Jon, Robin, Adrianne, Ashley, Sadie, Cynthia, Dale, Bryan, and Casey! I was really blessed to meet each of you and I want to thank you for your generosity and friendship!