Morgan in Kolkata

last one!

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:40:47 -0400

last one!

last night in our guest house!

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:39:43 -0400

last night in our guest house!

casual monsoon

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:39:11 -0400

casual monsoon

meditations at the Ramakrishna institute in Kolkata

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:37:08 -0400

meditations at the Ramakrishna institute in Kolkata

this is part of a show about the history of kolkata

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:35:29 -0400

this is part of a show about the history of kolkata

Video

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:32:01 -0400

Video

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:31:42 -0400

:)

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:28:11 -0400

been a long time, but they are finally here!

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 17:24:10 -0400

been a long time, but they are finally here!

Video

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 16:26:58 -0400

Video

Wed, 06 Jun 2012 15:59:17 -0400

Qatar is drastically different than Kolkata. Doha is clean, new, modern and so much hotter! The sun...

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:35:52 -0500

Qatar is drastically different than Kolkata. Doha is clean, new, modern and so much hotter! The sun was so bright, I haven’t seen the sun like that since I left the US! we walked around the souq, a bazaar with lots of shops. I think the whole time we only spotted two women. They were in burkas. People were smoking hookah EVERYWHERE. so weird to see people at a restaurant eating and smoking hookah all around you. We ate haagendaz ice cream. It was SO good. Also, I had fishsticks for lunch which is much closer to American food than I dared hope for . My mouth is watering for a salad. It’s a good thing I brought vitamins, because other than a few bananas I haven’t had any fruit since I’ve been here. No vegetables either. Unless you count potatoes, which no one ever does. I’m so excited to be coming home but no where close to excited to sit on a plane for over 14 hours tomorrow. I hope my feet don’t swell like a pregnant woman like they did last time.
We went to the Islamic art museum. It was awesome.
I think my favorite part was the view of the city across the water. It’s simply gorgeous here.

This is the last post before I am stateside. I have to say I am sad to leave. It has been a crazy...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 02:02:38 -0500

This is the last post before I am stateside. I have to say I am sad to leave. It has been a crazy ride (and still will be, I have two days to travel to get home) but I have loved every minute. It may be dirty and crowded but the people of this city have welcomed us in and shown us the beauty that the city has to offer . I have seen kindness and love in ways that are sometimes rare from strangers in the united states. I can’t wait to come home and share everything with you all!
Until then,
Morgan

Yesterday we went to a Sikh gurdwara (worship space / temple) among other things. While there, I had...

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:07:10 -0500

Yesterday we went to a Sikh gurdwara (worship space / temple) among other things. While there, I had a revelation that I thought I’d share.
Sikhs wear turbans as part of their religion. It originates with the tenth guru’s creation of the khalsa. Long story short there are five things Sikhs wear after being initiated into the Khalsa, one of which is the turban.
After 9/11 there was a mass terror through the American people of Muslims. People associated turbans with Muslims. So people were conditioned to fear people who wore turbans. (I’m not trying to make any big statement here so don’t argue politics with me. I’m just saying this is pretty much true of average America in my opinion). Anyway, I was sitting in the gurdwara watching these people pray and listening to their stories read from their holy book. They did not look like people to be feared but people who were vulnerable, opening their hearts to god . Sikhism comes from bhakti Hinduism, which says that all you need is a pure heart to reach god. It’s based on pure devotion.
Somehow in our fear, these people got a bad name. It’s not Sikhs or Muslims who were to blame.

Anyway, just my thought .

Things I want to eat right now: Chocolate Chicken nuggets French fries Hamburger Tacos Coca...

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 01:30:47 -0500

Things I want to eat right now:
Chocolate
Chicken nuggets
French fries
Hamburger
Tacos
Coca cola
Cupcake
Sub
Pizza
Garlic bread
Spaghetti

What I am eating:
Chicken
Rice
Chipati (bread)
….. At least it’s chicken curry

I want American food so badly. What I wouldn’t give to order a pizza, hamburger, French...

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:40:29 -0500

I want American food so badly. What I wouldn’t give to order a pizza, hamburger, French fries…. I haven’t even had pasta. I am gonna cry if I have to eat chicken and rice for another meal… Were getting fish for lunch which should be a nice change I hope. I’d give anything for a normal bag of potato chips or normal chocolate or something . Indian food is fantastic and delicious, but there is little variety besides the spices. And when you’re with a group who doesn’t like spicy.. There’s even less

Update: fish sticks for lunch was on point. I forgot how much I even like seafood too. Maybe I’ll need steak and lobster, mom… Start researching deals :)

Yesterday we went to a Hindu temple. We had to leave our shoes outside (I wore socks… That...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:24:03 -0500

Yesterday we went to a Hindu temple. We had to leave our shoes outside (I wore socks… That place was DIRTY) and go through crazy crowds to get into what is called the womb room, since the goddess being worshipped is Kali, the creator. Our driver (we rent a van to get through the city) is a devotee of Kali and came with us. It was a blessing that he did because he followed behind us and protected us. The temple is full of people shouting at you for money to say prayers to the god for you and a bunch of white girls are quite the prime targets.
It was interesting to see that this place is so holy to Hindus because I didnt feel any divine presence at all. In the other temples we’ve visited you can just feel the sense of holiness and wonder and awe, even if you don’t believe in the gods and goddesses. In this temple I am positive that you have to be Hindu to feel that holiness. I felt overwhelmed and stressed out because I had no clue what was going on. I think part of that is the catholic in me. I go to church an it’s the same everytime. No surprises, no one begging me for money so they can say prayers for me. Just me, a parish and god. And I think I like it that way.
We only got about two seconds to look at the shrine before we got pushed through . Where’s the connection in that? I need a personal god to Connect with. I can’t have someone else communicating with him for me. And I need to be able to take my time. Two seconds is just not enough.

Yesterday was our last day of volunteering at shantidan, a home for disabled girls through mother...

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:43:44 -0500

Yesterday was our last day of volunteering at shantidan, a home for disabled girls through mother theresas missionaries of charity. I was actually sad to leave. The first day I was so uncomfortable because I didn’t know what the girls wanted and we were just thrown in with no formal instruction so it was completely overwhelming. So overwhelming that I didn’t want to go back for day two. Day two was good though because it was much more familiar. I washed clothes for the majority of the two days. And when I saw wash clothes this is what I mean: we hand wash them in a tub, rinse them out, wring the water out, then carry buckets of wet clothes to the roof and hang them on clothes lines. I cannot tell you how grateful I am for washing machines. My muscles literally hurt from that stuff… It’s no joke.
I think my change in attitude came from a visit to motherhouse before we went to volunteer. We got to see an exhibition of mother theresas life and see her room in the convent. It was really powerful. After reading about everything she did, shantidan didn’t seem like much of a hassle or seem that difficult. It was definitely something I could do.
Yesterday afternoon we ate KFC which was an experience. Two people ordered while two of us walked across the street to get bottled soda, which it turns out you can’t bring inside. So we ended up eating on the street … Quite a glimpse into the life of poverty. But the French fries tasted so good after eating nothing but bread chicken and rice for days. Mom and dad, I want steak when I get home !!!
My hair straightened broke this morning after four years of faithful service… How inconvenient. Now I have neither a blow dryer or a straightener…. Great.
This trip is passing by in slow motion which I love. It gives me time to process everything a day at a time and not feel like I’m missing anything.
Love you all, miss you all, see you in a week !

I am absolutely loving it here! Yesterday we drove through the city and really got to see what...

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 09:28:14 -0500

I am absolutely loving it here! Yesterday we drove through the city and really got to see what Kolkata is like. We drove through slums and saw people bathing in the holy waters of the Ganges. We saw little kids playing happily on the streets as if their condition didn’t even faze them. Today we went to the motherhouse for the missionaries of charity set up by mother Teresa. We start volunteering with disabled adolescent girls tomorrow. We met a girl who was also there to volunteer who was awesome. She worked with youth with a mission and spent a few months in west Africa and is now in Kolkata to get experience that she can write about. Shes twenty years old and living here by herself for six months. CRAZY! it was inspiring though.

I can’t seem to upload any of the videos I’ve been taking but will upload them on here when I get home / figure out how to make it work here !

Video

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:35:28 -0500