BIG project

For those of you who don't know, I'm going to India in 39 days.

Yes, I'm counting.

I like to think of myself as a project-addict. This trip, however, is slightly bigger than my average project and is most certainly consuming my thoughts, time and emotional energy these days. The major purpose of my trip is to go and volunteer in Calcutta with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity. Seattle University has been supporting students who wish to go volunteer with the MC's for over 23 years through their Calcutta Club. Many of my fellow Sullivan Scholars have made the trip. Volunteers work in one of the MC homes in Calcutta and have the option to choose a site preference. I haven't decided yet what type of work I want to do with the MC's. It'll likely be hospice type care in the elderly women's home, Perm Dan, or childcare center work in Shishu Bhavan, home to children with mental disabilities. I doubt I'll decide which volunteer site I want to be at until I'm actually there for orientation. It's not really a hard decision. I know any choice would be equally rewarding and overwhelming. Right now I'm leaning towards Shishu Bhavan primarily because I know how happy I am when I work with children. And in a place as exceedingly challenging as Calcutta I'm going to need laughing little kiddos to get me through the day. If my volunteer work a few months ago in Belize at the Dorthy Menzie Childcare Center is any indication, I'll be in love with the children within days of arriving and angry at myself when I leave them.

I will be leaving the states on September 21st to fly to Bangkok, Thailand. From there I will be meeting up with two other Calcutta Club members, Joe and Traci (frequent characters in my upcoming blog stories, for sure). We hope to spend a week or so exploring and acclimating in Bangkok. From there we will fly together to Calcutta. I hope to make time to make short trips to Darjeeling and Agra (at least). The last month of my trip will be spent (hopefully...this is all tentative) heading north to Nepal to do a two week trek in Nepal to Base Camp at Mt. Everest. Whoa. From there I will part ways with my traveling buddies to head over to Dehra Dun to visit the Ashram that my boyfriend, Ben spent time in with our good friend Chad who was volunteering there for a year. And then it's homeward bound... But, not before an awesomely long layover in South Korea. I'll be in Seoul for 12 hours. Just enough time to see a few markets or temples and eat some fish head soup, according to this dude's blog.

If my itinerary sounds ambitious, blame my damn worldly friends.

It's funny how many of my friends have traveled to India. Perhaps there's a bit of romanticism fueling this whole shebang... I've been hearing stories of backpacking in India since I was in 5th grade in Marcelle's class at Mooberry Elementary School. So, Mom and Dad, if you still feel some anxiety about me going abroad, blame Marcelle. She planted the travel seed. Living in Seattle and going to travel-happy-SU only further perpetuated my craving for India-ness. A whole slew of my friends have made the trek. Let me show you:

Sarah in Calcutta working at Perm Dan.

Zach in Calcutta, being a dork.

Brig with the Sisters in Calcutta.

John and Sophie at the Guest House I'll be living in. FYI: Sophie is a bad ass and shaved her head in Calcutta. Big inspiration for my chopping-off-of-hair incident.

Megan (middle) in Darjeeling. She's not normally purple. This photo was taken during Holi festival.

Maddy, Maddy, Maddy looking adorable with her henna on a train in India.

Last, and hairest, Ben and Chad singing with the kids in the Ashram.

Thank you, numerous friends who have traveled to India, thank you for making me excited to leave and thank you for not laughing at my stupid questions about travel underwear and thank you for giving me tips on where to eat and what to see and how to avoid the double dragon. Thank you.