Adoration

The Muslim call to prayer cries out from the speakers.
The Sisters bow their heads, singing to their Savior at Adoration.
The Hindus receive a blessing from the many sidewalk shrines.

I fall deeper and deeper in love with this city.

View from the very top of my guest house.

Today was absolutely beautiful.

Let me give you a little peek into my daily routine: 

6am: Alarm goes off, but I snooze it until 6:45...

7am: breakfast in the cafeteria

7:30: Mother House for announcements and helping the sisters clean up after the volunteers have left

8-12: Do whatever Sister Mercy Maria asks me to do at Mother House, usually something artsy like making posters.  I haven't been going to Prem Dan, the house for the elderly, because my cough is still lingering.  Sister has been allowing me to stay with her at Mother House until I am completely healthy again.  And I just love being there, so I think she lets me stay there for that reason too. 

12-3: Lunch, maybe a nap, maybe some bible study

3-6 M, W, F: Sister has asked me to help with registration for the English speakers, so that is my new job Monday, Wednesday, and Friday

6-?: Maybe give an English lesson on Sudder Street, maybe have a Hindi lesson in Salt Lake (a really nice part of Kolkata), maybe go to dinner with friends

9-12: Wash my clothes (in a bucket in the shower). I do this daily because I don't like piling up a bunch of clothes to wash since it takes a while to hand wash everything. Then it's time for a shower, some Facebook, then bed. 

Today was a little different. 

I went to Mother House as usual to work on some Volunteer Day crafts until noon.  Then I headed across the street to a little restaurant to grab an egg roll (soooo delicious), but apparently they were not serving certain menu items until 5pm.  So, I wandered to a restaurant nearby and ordered some chicken momos (dumplings). I sat down and began copying my Hindi lessons into a new notebook I had bought on the way to lunch.  A lady sat down across from me since there was no other places to sit, and we began talking.  After we got acquainted and decided to be friends, she told me she had seen me the other night at a restaurant with a guy friend, and then told me all the cultural boundaries I  had bent with that meal. She is seriously an answer to prayer and I told her so. I asked her to tell me more about the culture, male-female relationships in the culture, and how to avoid social fauxpas.  We exchanged phone numbers and headed off to our homes, which happen to be very close to one another. Thank you Lord for some local girlfriends!

My evening plans also fell through, so I went to the hour of prayer (Adoration) at Mother House and listened to the Sisters sing over the Muslim call to prayer, journaling my thoughts and prayers as they sang. I also had a delicious dinner (or snack, really) of lassi (yogurt-type drink), curd (yogurt), and sweet bread.  I was really craving some dairy!

Now it's almost 11pm and I am settling into bed, ready to sleep in a little before church tomorrow at 10:30am. 

Goodnight.