I traveled over seas with no plans and all goals. Some I knew I would meet and others I knew/know I would have to tackle elsewhere. With no return ticket booked, my options were kept comepletely open.
There were a few organizations I picked out to volunteer my time to and when looking at my open ended travel plans, were going to be perfect for me. They took day, week, and month volunteers. So, I went to this one in Kalkuta, whose name I need not mention, to work with children/women. I show up my first day, they take down my name and give me a number and a group name to follow when it was time to leave their main station and head to our place of work. Its about 6am and everyone was chatting and grabbing breakfast as I scope out the area to see what exactly I was getting myself into. The people seemed pretty cool and I got to talkin to a gentalman from the UK who had commited to a month of work but was thinking of ditchin out a bit early. I was a little worried because he really didn't speak too highly of this particular place but did some work for their branch in his home town. But my thoughts of confusion and discomfort were interupted by the clapping and singing of the volunteers saying good bye to those whose last day it was and them thanking Jesus for sending them to work. A few more prays and a quick lecture from the priest and we were sent off to our respected volunteer spots. Now I knew it was a religious organization but Erica did some work with them in Africa and said it was nothing like this. They put you to work right away and cut the fluffy bullshit. Sorry to affend but im really not a religiious person.
We hopped a public bus and were dropped off in the pit of the slums when nausia set in. I really was not feeling very well, dehydration and the ameba thats been growing inside me for the last month (still can/t kill that thing) were flarin up. But i was comitted and wanted to stick it out. So, I followed the pack down the dirt road to a fenced in blue and white building. We were guided through a small iron door in the gate and split into two groups. At first i didnt even notice the split and just kept walkin straight until a nice asian man directed me the other group where all the women martched happily without me. Not sure where my mind was on that one... As i followed them back i notices the girls file in and out of a room throwing aprons on, changing into sandles, and walk up to a bunch of tubs and sinks. I was morified. I had been placed in the mens retirment home group ( which up to now has been all me volunteer work, with the elderly) where i would be washing shit filled sheets and serving food. Which fine, volunteer work is not suppose to be fun all the time and i shouldn't pretend like it was or it was going to be but this is not what i signed up for expected. I have a hard time with the Indian male culture in general and was not about to clean their sheets, at least not happily. If i felt something, if it really meant something to me and my heart was in it it would be different. But it was not. And if your going to take us to a place where the women cant do what the men do, only take the men there for christ sake. I looked around at these women washing shit stained sheets and pants. They were smiling and i wondered if they ever thought the thoughts that were running through my head. Did they feel dameaned at any point? Did they ever question the reasoning behind the split? Maybe its the faith thing. Maybe that work is going to get them somewhere after death. Maybe no matter what service work it was they were happy to do it in the name of god. But thats not me and thats not what i want.
So what did i learn from my volunteer work in Kolkuta? I learned I would rather be cleaning the shit filled sheets of animals than humans.
Amen
G
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Kolkuta
I left India yesterday and due to the new visa rule can not return until for another 2 months which im actually very sad about. I liked India. it was beautiful and the people were generally very helpful, making traveling a really easy thing. So, yea i guess ill miss it a lot more than i thought i would and definitely have plans to return eventually.
Kolkuta was my last stop there and it was probably the most chill out of the big cities of India. tons of kids my age, not too many foreigners, and I could find a place that would serve me a beer. By no means was it my favorite place in India but out the the big cities, i enjoyed it the most.
So, there are yoga studios all around the world for me to work and ive had my eye on Thailand for a while,. s.America and s. Africa are a couple of my other interests, but i wanted to sustain life out here and work with these women rescued from brothels. so what better way to get to know what i was getting myself into than to visit the very famous red light district of Kolkuta, Somogachi. We had our friend Akon (about 19 years old) show us through and he was more than happy to, seeing as how he planned to stay with a friend who he had been going to or known somehow for about three years now. My first trip there was fine. For what it was. We were led down a street lined with women who grabbed us and preyed on Erica, thinking she was a boy, looking at me wondering what i was doing here, sticking out like a sore thumb. The brothel itself was a dark, wet building. People everywhere, cooking meat on the floor, there were men in various groups, and a couple small children running though but i never felt threatened. maybe because Akon was there and he knew his way around and they knew him but it was much calmer, uh kinda, than i expected. So, we met his friend and a couple other girls and asked if we could return with a few questions the following day.
I dont regret going the second day. I think i needed to know what really goes on but it was definitely a more intense day than the first. We had our questions prepared and voice recorder in hand hoping someone who spoke Hindi could translate the correct answers because we knew our friend Akon was not going to be as accurate as we hoped. He decided to get a little drunk before going. We walked down that same street where those same women stood. I'm not sure what they wanted but they were grabbing my arm and making that 'come with me' type face. The same alley was lined with girls ranging from 14-30 and we were led back into the same room and sat down on the same bed. It took a few times to get Sudi, the girl we wanted to talk with to agree because, well she had clients and it was prime time money hours but we started talking with some of the other girls and she slowly warmed up. I had a really hard time this trip . There were more men there and i could see their eyes. And one even said how he always wanted to sleep with a foreigner. I felt disgusting and told Erica i wasn't sure if this was a good idea but we stayed. The room we sat in was where 6 girls worked. Maybe twelve feet long and 8 feet wide, wooden beds put together with sheets dividing where the girls slept with these men. It was the dirtiest i have felt in i dont even know how long. As we sat there asking the head women of the house questions while she fed her baby a client came in with Sudi and they went behind one of the sheets as we sat on the same wooden planked bed. I turned to look while the bed shook back and forth and her head popped out and she smiled at me. I was mortified. The more questions we asked the more it seemed like these girls liked their work. they all chose to be their for lack of money and or bad family situations, or even just to pay for their kids to go to school but it was by choice, and they all wanted to stay. Sudi said she did have dreams of becoming a porn star in the states though...i guess at least she has dreams...? But this wasn't what got to me the most. Akon, asked us to wait five minutes for him while he had sex with some girl in the same room as us. So as he undressed we booked it. there was no way i was going to do that. So me and Erica headed back alone. This was maybe a bad idea. We walked arm in arm hoping they would think we were just a straight couple due to the fact that everyone thought she was a boy and would maybe leave us alone but the girls still pulled at both of us. Finding a cab was the biggest bitch. All the men seemed to be gathered around the cabs. One driver wanted to charge us 500 rupees for a five minute cab ride and wouldn't budge on the price so we walked to the next where maybe 6 men followed us to. This guy was more friendly and agreed on the price but getting into the cab was the difficult part. The men grabbed at us and tried to get in asking disgusting questions and inappropriate comments. Erica whipped her knife out on the largest of the dudes and smashed his friends hand with the back of the knife as he tried to push down the window. i was using both hands trying to tare a guys hands from the inside door handle of the cab. It was the most threatened i felt in all of my stay in India. Over all the cannibals, botched holy men, druggies, homeless everything. But i saw what i wanted to see and i think i may go to the one of the ones here in Thailand where a lot of the women are forced into it and even stolen from their families. But Erica is writing an article about it and she wont let me go. So, maybe ill just go to where they are rescued and volunteer my time..
I'm trying to be safe though and Erica and i take good care of each other...
As for now? In a couple days ill be heading to my bungalow on the beach and gettin away from all the white people in Bangkok.
much love
G
Kolkuta was my last stop there and it was probably the most chill out of the big cities of India. tons of kids my age, not too many foreigners, and I could find a place that would serve me a beer. By no means was it my favorite place in India but out the the big cities, i enjoyed it the most.
So, there are yoga studios all around the world for me to work and ive had my eye on Thailand for a while,. s.America and s. Africa are a couple of my other interests, but i wanted to sustain life out here and work with these women rescued from brothels. so what better way to get to know what i was getting myself into than to visit the very famous red light district of Kolkuta, Somogachi. We had our friend Akon (about 19 years old) show us through and he was more than happy to, seeing as how he planned to stay with a friend who he had been going to or known somehow for about three years now. My first trip there was fine. For what it was. We were led down a street lined with women who grabbed us and preyed on Erica, thinking she was a boy, looking at me wondering what i was doing here, sticking out like a sore thumb. The brothel itself was a dark, wet building. People everywhere, cooking meat on the floor, there were men in various groups, and a couple small children running though but i never felt threatened. maybe because Akon was there and he knew his way around and they knew him but it was much calmer, uh kinda, than i expected. So, we met his friend and a couple other girls and asked if we could return with a few questions the following day.
I dont regret going the second day. I think i needed to know what really goes on but it was definitely a more intense day than the first. We had our questions prepared and voice recorder in hand hoping someone who spoke Hindi could translate the correct answers because we knew our friend Akon was not going to be as accurate as we hoped. He decided to get a little drunk before going. We walked down that same street where those same women stood. I'm not sure what they wanted but they were grabbing my arm and making that 'come with me' type face. The same alley was lined with girls ranging from 14-30 and we were led back into the same room and sat down on the same bed. It took a few times to get Sudi, the girl we wanted to talk with to agree because, well she had clients and it was prime time money hours but we started talking with some of the other girls and she slowly warmed up. I had a really hard time this trip . There were more men there and i could see their eyes. And one even said how he always wanted to sleep with a foreigner. I felt disgusting and told Erica i wasn't sure if this was a good idea but we stayed. The room we sat in was where 6 girls worked. Maybe twelve feet long and 8 feet wide, wooden beds put together with sheets dividing where the girls slept with these men. It was the dirtiest i have felt in i dont even know how long. As we sat there asking the head women of the house questions while she fed her baby a client came in with Sudi and they went behind one of the sheets as we sat on the same wooden planked bed. I turned to look while the bed shook back and forth and her head popped out and she smiled at me. I was mortified. The more questions we asked the more it seemed like these girls liked their work. they all chose to be their for lack of money and or bad family situations, or even just to pay for their kids to go to school but it was by choice, and they all wanted to stay. Sudi said she did have dreams of becoming a porn star in the states though...i guess at least she has dreams...? But this wasn't what got to me the most. Akon, asked us to wait five minutes for him while he had sex with some girl in the same room as us. So as he undressed we booked it. there was no way i was going to do that. So me and Erica headed back alone. This was maybe a bad idea. We walked arm in arm hoping they would think we were just a straight couple due to the fact that everyone thought she was a boy and would maybe leave us alone but the girls still pulled at both of us. Finding a cab was the biggest bitch. All the men seemed to be gathered around the cabs. One driver wanted to charge us 500 rupees for a five minute cab ride and wouldn't budge on the price so we walked to the next where maybe 6 men followed us to. This guy was more friendly and agreed on the price but getting into the cab was the difficult part. The men grabbed at us and tried to get in asking disgusting questions and inappropriate comments. Erica whipped her knife out on the largest of the dudes and smashed his friends hand with the back of the knife as he tried to push down the window. i was using both hands trying to tare a guys hands from the inside door handle of the cab. It was the most threatened i felt in all of my stay in India. Over all the cannibals, botched holy men, druggies, homeless everything. But i saw what i wanted to see and i think i may go to the one of the ones here in Thailand where a lot of the women are forced into it and even stolen from their families. But Erica is writing an article about it and she wont let me go. So, maybe ill just go to where they are rescued and volunteer my time..
I'm trying to be safe though and Erica and i take good care of each other...
As for now? In a couple days ill be heading to my bungalow on the beach and gettin away from all the white people in Bangkok.
much love
G
Varinasi
For those of you who have been keeping up with me...i apologize for my lack of grammar. its atrocious. just bare with me...
I wanted to write about my sad end to my sweet time in Varanasi. This place is beautiful and it can be a really magical place. You learn to stop trying to plan your day and just let your surrounding decide the future. Every time i said i had things to do. something more interesting or exciting came up that i just couldn't turn down. It is really a magical place.
Erica and I had about and hour after finishing packing before we had to head to catch our train (which ended up being 30 hours late anyway). So, we decided to go try to take a few pictures of the burning ghats. This is where they burn all the bodies of the dead before they send them off to sea. needless to say, this is a holy place and photography is highly discouraged, and well, not allowed. We knew this prior to our decision and were expected to get hassled. But this was an extreme we did not expect.
Walking up, we were far away to take some obvious photos without being harassed but quickly got too close and two men set out the warning and sent us on our way. With our cameras in hand, on and stretched down to our sides at arms length we stealthily snapped some shots as we passed on through. that's when our first big problem came into play. two men snatched us saying they were going to through our cameras in the fire or take us to the office where we would be arrested and have to pay a fine. Both options were anything but appealing so we tore ourselves free, both of us screaming in their faces and ran off up this steep stair where we were greeted by a seemingly nice gentleman. This dude said we could get some shots if we went up this stairwell to get a top some temple. Most people in India are really so helpful that for someone to present something like that to us was really not a foreign thing. So we found the staircase and helped ourselves on up. the second floor was so full of smoke from burning bodies and wood that my eyes instantly began to leak. we wound around another case of stairs where the veiw was flawless. perfect view of the river... and the burning bodies... eh. But yea so we instantly started snapping pictures when the man from the stairs comes up to us asking why we do this? what we think we are doing? etc. Um ... obviously we were taking picture from the place he told us we could take pictures from. He continued, saying we had to talk to the holy man first about rates and donations before snaggin any shots. So this man dressed in the holy color orange comes up with his walkin stick looking all high and mighty. 500 rupees for one picture. haha absolutely not so we of course declined which these men were not ok with and they all of a sudden multiplied. These Indian men were grabbing our arms, pulling us around, the holy man watching and swearing at us while we were trying to get away. they were screaming saying we were really getting in some trouble now and such. When someone grabs me, man or women my switch flips, really fast and apparently i get super powers because i ripped through these men like nothin. Erica following close behind and we hopped the staircase and sprinted off.
Now what was really bother some to me was the holy man. I use the word holy lightly. It seems to me that all these sadhus are just beggers, druggies, and or scam artists. Tryin to get what they can from whoever they can get it from. claiming to know something that the 'commoners' don't. Its really depressing and quite confusing to be honest. I just don't know what to think about the whole religious deal in India. It's so showy and it seems as though anyone who wanted to be homeless and give up all their things, lay their hands on some heads, know enough about the gods, and has a certain aura or intuition about them could get anyone to follow them or give them money. its all a scam to me. but I'm reading more and really trying to learn more. there is just so much.
I have much to share about Kolkuta but I am now in Bangkok. I'll get cought up soon.
<3
I wanted to write about my sad end to my sweet time in Varanasi. This place is beautiful and it can be a really magical place. You learn to stop trying to plan your day and just let your surrounding decide the future. Every time i said i had things to do. something more interesting or exciting came up that i just couldn't turn down. It is really a magical place.
Erica and I had about and hour after finishing packing before we had to head to catch our train (which ended up being 30 hours late anyway). So, we decided to go try to take a few pictures of the burning ghats. This is where they burn all the bodies of the dead before they send them off to sea. needless to say, this is a holy place and photography is highly discouraged, and well, not allowed. We knew this prior to our decision and were expected to get hassled. But this was an extreme we did not expect.
Walking up, we were far away to take some obvious photos without being harassed but quickly got too close and two men set out the warning and sent us on our way. With our cameras in hand, on and stretched down to our sides at arms length we stealthily snapped some shots as we passed on through. that's when our first big problem came into play. two men snatched us saying they were going to through our cameras in the fire or take us to the office where we would be arrested and have to pay a fine. Both options were anything but appealing so we tore ourselves free, both of us screaming in their faces and ran off up this steep stair where we were greeted by a seemingly nice gentleman. This dude said we could get some shots if we went up this stairwell to get a top some temple. Most people in India are really so helpful that for someone to present something like that to us was really not a foreign thing. So we found the staircase and helped ourselves on up. the second floor was so full of smoke from burning bodies and wood that my eyes instantly began to leak. we wound around another case of stairs where the veiw was flawless. perfect view of the river... and the burning bodies... eh. But yea so we instantly started snapping pictures when the man from the stairs comes up to us asking why we do this? what we think we are doing? etc. Um ... obviously we were taking picture from the place he told us we could take pictures from. He continued, saying we had to talk to the holy man first about rates and donations before snaggin any shots. So this man dressed in the holy color orange comes up with his walkin stick looking all high and mighty. 500 rupees for one picture. haha absolutely not so we of course declined which these men were not ok with and they all of a sudden multiplied. These Indian men were grabbing our arms, pulling us around, the holy man watching and swearing at us while we were trying to get away. they were screaming saying we were really getting in some trouble now and such. When someone grabs me, man or women my switch flips, really fast and apparently i get super powers because i ripped through these men like nothin. Erica following close behind and we hopped the staircase and sprinted off.
Now what was really bother some to me was the holy man. I use the word holy lightly. It seems to me that all these sadhus are just beggers, druggies, and or scam artists. Tryin to get what they can from whoever they can get it from. claiming to know something that the 'commoners' don't. Its really depressing and quite confusing to be honest. I just don't know what to think about the whole religious deal in India. It's so showy and it seems as though anyone who wanted to be homeless and give up all their things, lay their hands on some heads, know enough about the gods, and has a certain aura or intuition about them could get anyone to follow them or give them money. its all a scam to me. but I'm reading more and really trying to learn more. there is just so much.
I have much to share about Kolkuta but I am now in Bangkok. I'll get cought up soon.
<3
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