Last Weekend in Kolkata

We had some free time Saturday morning that I used to Skype with family, blog and finish my group report that is due in a few days. Our evening adventure began with our USIEF host escorting us to a new (built within the last 10 years) Hindu temple where we were able to go up and watch people prostrating themselves before the deity and chanting the Ramayana. We also went to a Catholic church where I counted some 40 ceiling fans turning at the same time as parishoners listened to the priest's message, and then our host walked us through his neighborhood to his home. We went into his family's apartment, leaving our shoes at the door. The walls were painted in bright colors and the ceiling fan kept a delightful breeze stirring over our heads. Neighbors in the building had also been invited (men, women and children), so soon, we had quite a group there to listen to a sitar performance. The music was beautiful, and it was so fun watching the musician's fingers move up and down the neck of the instrument, stopping to bend a string here and there to create that unique sound of the sitar. The personal nature of the performance, as we sat on the floor with the player made it all the more special (pic 1).

We moved downstairs to a large room for dinner and conversation. The guests were professionals or retired couples from varying walks of life - school teachers, a retired owner of a tea estate, etc. Many of these people had traveled to the U.S. and had numerous questions for us, as well as giving us valuable insight to a segment of the Indian population with whom we had not gotten to spend much time up to this point.

I chose to sit with 5 children, grades 3-7 and thoroughly enjoyed our dinner conversation. Luckily for me, these children were fluent in English and endured my multiple questions about their school life. I had brought the bookmarks my students made, so they were each able to select one to keep as a remembrance of our visit. The warmth with which they welcomed me was one of the highlights of my trip thus far (pic 2).

On Sunday, I walked to a Methodist church that was fairly close to our hotel and enjoyed singing "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" and "Amazing Grace." The organist even played "Thy Word" as a postlude! Afterwards, I took a cab to see the gardens of the beautiful Victoria Memorial (pic 3) before returning to the room to pack for our overnight train adventure as we headed to Varanasi.