Sunday 1st October
Day 4

On Sunday I managed to doze and snooze in my funny little bed until 8am. The last day of festivities were already well underway and it didn’t seem quite right to laze any longer when all around me (literally just outside my window) people were chanting, banging drums and shrieking to one another. I seem to be finding the drum beats alone are enough to get me up and jigging to the washroom for my daily bucket shower. Laura and Rose, the previous volunteers, left for the airport in the early hours and I awoke briefly to wish them well then Jonny, Christie and I spent a lazy morning reading whilst we awaited the arrival of the new volunteer. Sheena arrived at the Smile House around lunchtime after almost 48 hours of traveling from San Francisco looking slightly bewildered and shocked. Her parents are originally from India but from the north-west and the last time she visited India was seven years ago so her arrival in the humid, sticky and massively overcrowded Kolkata still proved somewhat of a slap around the face. A short nap, a bucket shower and a plate of rice and curry just about acclimatized the poor girl and she felt ready to join us for a walk around the town where we sampled a glass of Indian tea: very sweet and milky. It reminded me of African tea.

That evening Deba called a meeting to welcome Sheena and to go over the next few weeks with her. He expressed his concerns about Christie leaving the following day and the three of us (new arrivals) being left to handle the job alone. We managed to reassure him of our capabilities and commitment to the project before heading down to dinner…..curry and rice??????