Welcome to India: First impressions

After four flights and several days blurred into one we have finally arrived in Agartala, India! Everything about India is warm. Its weather, the food (though for now I would characterize it as hot!), and of course its people. Since landing in Kolkata two days ago, we have been treated very well by everyone we have met. Our first friend, Father Joe Paul, met us at the airport in Kolkata along with his friend Manish, who owns the company that supplies them much of their school supplies. Manish had graciously offered his flat in the city to us for the night and made sure that we arrived there safely.That being said, the drive from the airport to the apartment was one I will never forget. Nothing can prepare you for the level of poverty we encountered as we made our way down the streets of one of the world's most densely populated cities. The air is thick and heavy with humidity and pollution. The threat of a storm hung over the city. The streets themselves were not overly crowded in the midnight hour, but the gutters and sidewalks were filled with men, women, and children sleeping on the hard ground, dogs and garbage strewn around them. At one point I saw a mother with a small child wrapped in her arms, using the curb as her pillow. As our taxi driver veered left and darted right, the smells of the streets filled our nostrils. At times, the smell reminded me of strong spices, but would quickly switch to the strong odor of sewage and decay. Once at the apartment we carted our baggage up and set up camp for the night. Here is a view of Kolkata from the window of the flat.

Once in Agartala the next day we were brought directly to our cottages before heading to the priests' compound for lunch. Here are some photos of our house, our cat Jax, and the jungle/forest surrounding us.

We have already met several students at the school. Two of our neighbors Ginu and Bijoy have come over to the cottages a few times already to meet us and just spend some time. Ginu is about 7 or 8 years old and Bijoy is in the 11th grade. Today Bijoy taught us a new game called Carem. It is a mixture of pool, air hockey, and paper football! Here are a few shots of us learning and playing!
After this, Ginu spend some time with us playing spoons and go fish!
In the afternoon we traveled to meet the Bishop of the diocese and then toured the campus with Fr. Emmanuel. He then took us to the girls hostel were it was tutoring time. We walked up the stairs and straight into a classroom of almost 30 students! I have never seen so many beautiful smiles! All of the girls immediately said, "Good evening Ma'am, Good evening Sir," which will definitely take some getting used to. They sang us a beautiful welcome song and gave us paper flowers to symbolize friendship and then asked us some questions before we headed back to our cottage for the night. It has made me even more excited for our teaching experience to begin!
I think that is all for now, sorry for such a long posting, but so much is happening so quickly!
Best, Ben