Island Hopping

Okay, so I made it to the Maldives – after quite a bit of island hopping.  I flew from India (after a layover in Chennai and a flight that stopped in Bengaluru and some other town I’ve never heard of before arriving in Male.  From there, I transfered to  local airline. I…

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She Moves On…

Yesterday I got a final dose of Nizam’s before leaving Kolkata.  First, I met up with Neel.  He and his driver picked me up near my apartment, which was awesome because it worked out timing-wise and it was really hot and saved me from catching a bus and then the subway.  Unfortunately, we had…

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Return to Kalighat

I have worked the last two days now at Kalighat, or Nirmal Hriday.  This is the first home that Mother Teresa opened in Kolkata.  Having volunteered there in 1998 for a couple of months, I was glad when the sister told me to go back there this weekend.  I was…

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Down by the River

I’ve decided to leave India and spend a week in the Maldives before heading to Morocco.  The Maldives is a tiny cluster of islands located somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, to the south and west of India.  It’s remote, beautiful, idyllic, and ridiculously expensive – especially compared…

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Take me to the Mother House

This afternoon, I went to visit the Mother House of the Missionaries of Charity. This is where Mother Teresa is buried and where her order is headquartered. It is also filled with memories for me personally. The first time I came to the Mother House was in 1993. My extended…

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Runnin’ ‘Round Town

Over the last week, I’ve been going around to different areas of Kolkata for multiple reasons.  I’ve been hanging out with my sister and her friends in various locations – restaurants, clubs, malls, parks, – I’ve moved residences from one area of town to another, and I’ve gone back to…

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Off to See The “Vizzard”

Last night was the long-awaited night of the Dolna Day School’s production of the Wizard of Oz.  My sister had managed to procure a ticket for me and I planned to meet a few of her friends at the show.   When I first arrived and went into the auditorium, I saw my…

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The Moth Kolkata Takes Flight

Last night, I got to go to the first ever Moth Storytelling night to be held in Kolkata.  It was hosted by Rishi Desai and his girlfriend Melissa and was absolutely great!   I hadn’t heard about The Moth before my sister told me about it a couple of weeks…

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Again, with the Kolkata…(and the heat and the travel)…

The weather forecast for today in Kolkata says it’ll be 109 degrees Farenheit (43 Celsius).  That is so NOT cool, especially when you consider that there is humidity to boot.   I have to tell you, I do not love super-hot weather.  I feel that whenever you are cold, you can…

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Seeking the Unicorn

The next morning, Dean took us into town and helped us arrange a driver to take us to Kaziranga National park in Assam.  Our driver was cool, stopping for daab just outside of town (basically as soon as it was available) and good-naturedly letting us fill up every extra available…

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Green Villages, Red Teeth

Mawlynnong won an award a few years ago for being the cleanest village in Asia.  It is proud of that designation, and rightly so.  The village is almost utopian-like in its cleanliness.  When we were hiking, we went quite far out of the town before I saw even one potato-chip…

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The Sustainable Living Bridges of Meghalaya (or, Bridge from the Village Ruwai)

Today, I went to the living bridge in Ruwai, near Mawlynnong, in Meghalaya.  This is perhaps one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my entire life.  I do not exaggerate on this.  Due to one of the highest annual rainfalls in the world, the floods each…

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Aslan’s Table…WHAT?!?!?

When we got up to head to Meghalaya, Bonnie had prepared breakfast and sent us off with a wave for our journey with Dean.  We drove out of Shillong and headed into the hills on a road that is under a lot of construction.  In some places, it’s still dirt…

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Adventure awaits…Northeast, Here We Come!

After a couple of days in Kolkata, I got onto another overnight train, headed for Guwahati.  Jayanthi and Alec had been out of town when I returned to Kolkata and both returned from their travels ill.  They weren’t quite up to the difficulties of a full day on a train,…

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Travel Inn (or, Back in Kolkata Again)

Back in Kolkata, I had reserved rooms at a place called Travel Inn.  I decided to stay a little closer to the area of town where I had stayed when I lived here in 1998.  I’ll only be in Kolkata this week for a couple of days before my sister…

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Vizag, City by the (other) Sea

Vishakapatnam is located in Andhra Pradesh, on the shores of the Indian Ocean.  While beautiful, this shore in Andhra is not quite as beautiful as the Arabian Seashore in Goa.  It’s touristy, but more for Indian tourists, rather than foreigners.  It is therefore, filled with trash.  Also, (and I assume tides…

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Rajahmundry…continued

The day after visiting the orphanage and school, my cousin Pratap took me into the jungle to see one of the village churches.  This is a ministry he and Sunitha have been working on for years.  They now have 20 churches.  What I didn’t realize, nonetheless, is how extensive the…

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Rajahmundry..

I’m staying with my dad’s cousin Deborah Sunitha and her husband Pratap here in Rajahmundry.  Pratap is a bishop now and he and Sunitha have a very large mission program, school, and orphanage they run, based out of Rajahmundry.  Moses, their son, just finished his masters and is looking for…

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