Just a Few Quick Thoughts

I have a few minutes before I have to leave to travel to the HSBC site in Salt Lake to begin today's work. Yesterday was my first full day in the site and despite being 8,000 miles from the Duluth site its amazing how similar everything is. The first thing I noticed was the difference between the 'day' shift and the 'night' shift. Since all shifts in Kolkata take place in the early evening to overnight hours you would think there would be no difference. Not so! The shifts that work from 5Pm to Midnight are more sedate quiet, much like the day shift teams were in my home site. After Midnight when the night shift teams appear the floor becomes more animated with conversation, etc...... Good thing because it helped me stay awake.

This morning Cole and I took a quick walk through New Market, the main market area of Kolkata. It is the Kolkata equivalent of the Mall of America, four floors packed with shops which sell everything from fruits and vegetables to housewares to furniture to beautiful cloth and saris to amazing jewelry. Truly anything you would need could be found there. New Market is housed in a building built in the 1800's and is truly an amazing conglomeration of vendors, goods and shoppers. In later posts I will try to post some pictures of both the outside and the inside. You truly will be amazed. That's all for now.......to everyone take care!

View from Memorial Steps

 

Victoria Monument

 

A City Stroll

 

Early Morning Flock in City Green

 

Morning Soccer

 

Morning Breakfast

 

A Truly Excellent Day

Kolkata is everything everyone said it would be......crowded, dirty, polluted, noisy and yet we have just spent a wonderful day getting to know a little better the city we will call home for two years. Morning started early for both Cole and I. Our 'body clocks' are still a bit off. We fall asleep just fine but keep on waking up very early in the morning (5 AM) and not able to get back to sleep. This morning we took advantage of the early morning hours and walked the streets around our hotel. The morning was pleasantly warm and the streets uncrowded. Many of those who sleep on the streets were just waking and the soccer fields were full of children playing 'football' in the mud of monsoon rains and in the cool of the day. Cole really got their attention by telling them they were all 'young Beckham' as in David Beckham the famous soccer player. The boys we encountered LOVED that! Cole and I couldn't help but smile and comment to ourselves kids are the same everywhere.

After our morning walk it was time for church. We attended Grace Church of Kolkata which is located across the street from Mother Theresa's burial place. The service was absolutely wonderful. The pastor is an American from upper New York state and his wife from Holland. The worship brought tears to both of us. They even had a copy of John Piper's Desiring God as a part of their lending library. After the service there was a time of fellowship with Chai. Kolkata or Duluth, fellowship is shared over a cup of something warm!

Cole and I are determined not to take any naps today in the hopes we can get our body clocks on track. This afternoon we found a great coffee house where we can regularly go for a great cup of cappucino. They made a smooth, silky foam........almost as good as the foam Momo makes at Amazing Grace! They all got a giggle out of Cole's long legs poking out of his walking shorts. After coffee we took a long walk to the Victoria Memorial. Going through the parks you could see Sunday is the day Kolkatans take their 'promenades'. We saw many families out for an afternoon of strolling. We also saw many young couples relaxing in the parks, behind their umbrellas......oh young love!!

All in all today proved that no matter the obstacles or differences in place there is friendship and beauty in all places. Enjoy the pictures from today!

First 48 Hours

We have just completed our first 48 hours in Kolkata and we are just beginning to get over the jet lag. Trying to turn around your body clock by 10.5 hours is not the easiest thing to do. We landed in the middle of monsoon so everything is very, very, very wet and humid. Temps are in the low 80's and still very, very steamy. The shear mass of humanity here is staggering. Noise, people everywhere. Cole has decided he will not drive eventhough he has his international license. Not only do the cars have the stearing wheel on the right side, they are all stick shift and you shift with your left hand. When I get to taking some pictures you will see why it is not a good idea for Cole to drive. All in all the first 48 hours have been good. People are wonderfully friendly and we are getting our bearings of the city. Tomorrow we hope to explore some neighborhoods where we may be renting an apartment. Hopefully this will bring some pictures for all to see. Thanks for checking our blog and take care.

Guess Where We Are Today !?!

Does this look like Kolkata to you !?! If this room looks familiar and the ship below familiar they should be......both pictures were taken in Duluth. Our flight via Heathrow was cancelled only a few hours before we were to leave Duluth. Consequently we were delayed by one day and are now traveling via Amsterdam and Mumbai (Bombay) to Kolkata. Arrival should be some time on Thursday. Next post......Kolkata!

Sea and Air Shipment

What do you bring when you move 8,000 miles from home for two years? Well, we have been asking ourselves the very same question and the pictures below show what we came up with. We've spoken to many people who are currently living in India and all of them mention.......bring food you like to eat. But how do you bring two years food supply? Ultimately we just made our best guess and what ever we guessed wrong about we will just have to do without. Of course there is always care packages.....hint, hint, hint :-)