true life planet

hey everyone,

I’ve been interviewed for the women’s travel site “Women-on-the-Road” about my travels and how volunteering has changed me and my life.

If you’d like to read it, please scroll down to “Travel Sites I Visit Often” on the right hand side of this page, and click on the “Women-on-the-Road” link. Then look at the right hand side of her feature page and click on “Interviews With Intrepid Travelers”.

I have to say, I am honored by the interview and very honored to have my interview on a site next to some of the world’s most interesting women travelers, too.

gigi

I have to apologize for not blogging…but, quite frankly, up until very recently I haven’t had time–and I haven’t felt that well, either.

I last blogged that I was working full time at Dany Dan–but despite their need and also my desire to help them, the hours were too much for me.

One thing I have heard over and over again from other volunteers and the Sisters themselves is that one must take care of oneself, or one is of no use to anyone.  So I finally told the Sister in charge at Dany Dan that I needed a few half days during the week, and the rest could be full time days.

Already with this new schedule I am much less tired and am feeling more positive about my work. I think it is easy to get “burned out” working with autistic children, let alone doing it in India where everything is overwhelming and assaulting one’s senses left and right.

It took a lot for me to acknowledge that I had some limits and am not superwoman. I got very sick and I was so fatigued I was kind of dragging myself around the city.

I also got a few strange health problems I had never had before.

 For example (and these are just a few)…

 I got a rash with huge boils up and down the front and back of my legs. It was painful to walk, especially as it has been veyr humid and hot. It turned out it was from my Western clothes. Synthetic travel pants are not good in Calcutta–for me, anyway. The solution was to go to a tailor and have loads of salwar kameez made up..sort of loose pants and long smocks, of light silk.

I also had strange rash like patches all over my body. I went to the doctor to find out what it was…his answer? An allergy to the pollution!

I have had some difficulty breathing and chest pain, and the inside of my ears and nose have been blackish from pollution, too.

So, just slowing down and realizing I can’t do it fulltime everyday has given me the tie for some much needed self care.

I should also have more time to blog about being here for now on.

So, until then,

gigi

From my journal entry October 7th, 2007 I am exhausted. Today was my first day at Dany Dan, a home for autistic and mentally retarded children in Calcutta. Actually, this home run by Mother Theresa's Sisters of Charity has kids with everything ... [Continue reading this entry]

It's been an incredibly full day today.

I started the day out looking around for a different hotel--which was more difficult than you might think.

Going into dive after dive, with cockroaches crawling about and rat poop in the hall way did ... [Continue reading this entry]

October 5th, 2008 I am reeling. I am a mix of moral ambiguity and a strange feeling of exhiliration. I've just returned to my hotel, and run across the street through pouring rain to the internet cafe to quickly write a post ... [Continue reading this entry]

October 5th, 2008

The heat and humidity have killed off any desire I have to eat anything. It is so humid that I find it hard to drag myself out of bed and get dressed.

Added to this is my frustration that ... [Continue reading this entry]

October 4th. 2008

I've been in this city for a few days now.

At first, it seemed so overwhelming, but eventually I had to just leave my hotel room and deal with it.

Calcutta is exactly as I pictured it to be---full of ... [Continue reading this entry]

October 2nd, 2008 /Journal Entry

I am writing this from what has to be the tiniest, cramped internet cafe in the entire world.

It's small, cramped space is just a tinier version of the city itself. Although Calcutta is huge, it ... [Continue reading this entry]

I am heading to Geneva in the morning, then taking  a train to Zurich. In Zurich, I've got  a few hours to sightsee so I'm going to take in some of the museums and then head to the airport. First flight: On Oct ... [Continue reading this entry]

In less than 24 hours, I'm on my way to hopefully be what will be an experience of a lifetime. As the time for departure has gotten closer, I've found myself searching the Internet for stories by people that have ... [Continue reading this entry]