Bandaids and Bengals

OK, so enough relying on Ann to do all of the blogging, I will now post on this site. Impressions from India so far...
Things in India are always changing. One second I love it and the next I feel like I could scream (usually after I step into some unidentifiable mess in the street). We arrived in Calcutta a few days ago and were immediately immersed in Indian life. We are truly living like locals in a slum near Calcutta called Khardah. Our street is a noisy maze of people, rickshaws and cows. Life here is like driving in rush hour. Fast and busy then slamming on the brakes. You never know what to expect.
The most interesting part of life so far is riding the train. Imagine hundreds of people lining the platform, pushing and shoving to squeeze into an already overfilled space. Any sense of 'personal space' immediately goes out the window with the smoke of the men's cigars. It is a struggle just to stay standing and not get sucked into the abyss of people. You cling to anything you can..a handle, chicken rack, small child....anything works? As a white woman on the train it is a whole different picture. Even though there are hundreds of people around, every eye is focused on you. They stare blatantly and intently, I wonder what they are thinking...are these girls lost? Did they get off the wrong plane on the way to Australia? Some touch you, poke you or just whisper to their neighbor about you. It is hard not to feel self-concious but I have now started to wink and small when people stare and eventually they give in a recipricate with a tiny grin.
We do wound care at the train station. It is the melting pot of Indian daily life. Some people rush to work, others beg for food and many sleep on newspapers on the sidewalk. I hear 20% of Indians live on the streets and I believe it. There are three of us doing medical work. We carry a suitcase of supplies and set up shop on the curb. People flock to us in herds. I have seen some of the most tragic images of my life. Women giving birth on the street, men offering us heroin while we dress their wounds, maggots and bugs in deep cuts and babies so obviously malnourished it makes you want to cry. The interesting thing about volunteering here is how quickly you must cope with seeing these things on a daily basis. If you stop and think too much about the situation you are in, it becomes too unbearable. I focus on the children's smiles and the true look of appreciation from people who are for the most part, forgotten by the world. There is so much to write but I can only process fragments at a time. I will write more later....Katie
--Oh yeah, forgot to mention - first day in India while taking a cab into town we saw a man get hit by a car and fly into the street. The car didn't stop, people helped him move out of the way and then everyone went on with their business...crazy.