The streets and the markets

I woke up and went to mass at Mother House this morning at 6am. It sounds early, but we go to bed early here. Walking to Mother House early in the morning I have to step over babies sleeping on the streets. It's easier to deal with when they are bothering me and grabbing my legs. It's much harder to see them sleeping and realizing that's really where they live.

After mass I had breakfast with the other volunteers at Mother House, and Timyra and I met another girl who was starting today. Her name is Katarina and she's from Slovakia. It's funny that I just met her this morning. It's easy to get to know people quickly here. It's kind of like Kamp in that way. Katarine, Timyra, and I all have the evening shift, so we spent the morning together. We walked from Baptist Mission to Sudder street. To get there, we walked through the Muslim slums. People were washing themselves on the sidewalk and getting ready for the day. We saw the huge megaphone that we hear a man "singing" from five times a day to call faithful Muslims to prayer. I guess I'm getting better at tuning it out because it didn't wake me up today at 5am.

None of us brought much clothing, so we tried to do a little shopping. I've never realized how important harassment laws are until I came here. We would turn around and realize there was a small crowd of five to seven men following us, waiting for a chance to bother us to go into their respective shops. It was an overwhelming experience. I hate having to say "Go away," but "no, thank you" or "I'm not interested" doesn't seem to get the point across.

I can't wait to play with the sweet toddlers at Shishu Bhavan. The orientation was at Shishu Bhavan, and while I was waiting outside I started talking to a couple from Switzerland who had a little Indian boy with them. I asked if they were their for orientation, and they said that they were actually there to take a tour because they had adopted their son from the orphanage three years earlier and this was his first time back.