Calcutta

Calcutta.... wonderful! I absolutely loved Calcutta! 3 great days. Where do I start...? I stayed at a hotel in a dorm with really cool people, so that helped. But the city is great- so interesting, as busy as the rest of India I've seen so far, but people are friendlier, it doesn't seem as hectic, and it's got a feeling about it. There's so much poverty- I know, I know, there's so much poverty everywhere in India, but in Calcutta I felt it more. Maybe because of all the people I've met who come here to volunteer.
Day 1 I walked. A LOT. Saw most of the sights I wanted to see. Walked past (and into) the houses built out of piles of rubbish. Went to Mother House- the main building of Mother Theresa. This is where she lived and died, and where her body is. There's 5 homes around Calcutta of Mother Theresa, and the second day I went into one of them with some of the guys from the hostel, cause one of the guys is volunteering there. We went into the one "for the old and dying" people. Rows of beds. Walked around, held hands, smiled at them, and left feeling like shit. I hated the feeling of helplessness, I got the desire to "fix" them, but know I can't. What they do there is help them die with a bit more dignity, give them a bed and food until they die. But not much in terms of medical care or treatment... it's just a matter of time. We walked outside and one of the guys said exasperated: "But how do they decide who they take and who they don't?" And we all looked up and saw exactly what he meant. We looked around, and right there in the streets, everywhere, it was full of more "old and dying", in the same or worse state than the people we had just seen inside.
I did more things in Calcutta. I saw monuments. We went to the movies one night. We all spent a lot of time on the rooftop talking for hours at night. But I think the thing that sticks with me about Calcutta is all the people that go there to help, to volunteer. And I think that's the "feeling" about the city and why I loved it so much.


Calcutta... alucinante! Me encanto totalmente Calcutta. 3 dias geniales. Por donde empiezo...? Me quede en un hotel en un cuarto compartido con gente muy buena onda, asi que eso ayudo. Pero la ciudad en si es increible, tan interesante. Tan bulliciosa como el resto de India que vi hasta ahora, pero la gente es mas amigable, no es tan frenetica, y tiene una energia especial. Hay tanta pobreza- ya se, ya se, hay tanta pobreza en todas partes en India, pero en Calcutta me toco mas. Tal vez por toda la gente que conoci que viene a Calcutta a voluntarear.
El primer dia camine. MUCHO. Vi la mayoria de las cosas que queria ver. Pase por y entre en las casas construidas con pilas de basura. Fui a la Mother House (la Casa Madre)- el edificio principal de la Madre Teresa. Ahi es donde vivio y murio, y donde esta su cuerpo. Hay 5 hogares alrededor de Calcutta de la Madre Teresa, y el segundo dia fui a uno, con algunos de loc chicos del hotel, porque uno de lso chicos esta voluntareando ahi. Fuimos al que es para la gente "vieja y moribunda". Filas de camas. Caminamos, les dimos la mano, sonreimos, y nos fuimos sintiendonos para la mierda. Odie el sentimiento de impotencia, tenia ganas de "arreglarlos", pero sabiendo que no es posible. Lo que hacen ahi es darles un lugar para morir con un poco de dignidad, les dan una cama y comida hasta que se mueren. Pero no hacen mucho en cuanto a cuidado o tratamiento medico.. es solo una cuestion de tiempo. Salimos del edificio y uno de los chicos dijo en tono desesperado: "Pero como deciden a quienes toman y a quienes no?" Y el resto levantamos los ojos y enseguida vimos a lo que se referia. Miramos alrededor, y ahi mismo en la calle, en todos lados, estaba lleno de "viejos y moribundos", en el mismo estado o peor que la gente que acababamos de ver adentro.
Hice mas cosas en Calcutta. Vi monumentos. Fuimos al cine una noche. Pasamos largas horas en la terraza hablamos todas las noches. Pero lo que me quedo de Calcutta es toda la gente que va ahi a ayudar, a voluntarear. Y creo que esa es la "energia" que se siente en la ciudad y la razon por la que me gusto tanto.