It proves not to be a good decision however as I sleep in a little too long which means that when I do finally get to the Mother Teresa House, my American guides are gone and so I am going to have to negotiate the journey to Howrah, which is on the opposite side of Kolkata, alone. I also miss my banana, bread and chai for breakfast which makes me doubly annoyed.

I manage to catch the correct bus by finding the stop I got on at yesterday and have the most entertaining ride. My rickety old bus is hurtling towards a round-about intersection and I'm thinking that we are going faster than normal (which is pretty fast considering what normal is), and out of the corner of my eye I notice another bus coming towards the intersection from the right, also travelling ridiculously fast. A game of "chicken" springs to mind at this point and I'm starting to get a little scared. Two buses flying towards each other and I'm thinking, are we going to stop? Oh we stop alright, inches before smashing into the other bus and this creates chaos and wrecks havoc with some of the passengers. The guy beside me has flown towards the windscreen as he is in the only seat on the bus that has no rail in front of it, right at the front. He stops himself by grabbing the nearest rail and grazing his arm. I turn to see what has happened behind me and two ladies are rubbing their foreheads after smashing them on the rail of the seat in front of them and there are people strewn everywhere. Insane!

After numerous wrongs turns on my winding walk through the chaotic morning back streets of Howrah, I make it to Shishu Bhavan on time and uninjured. I'm pretty stoked about life in general. My tasks today include hanging copious amounts of washing out and just having fun with the children. While hanging washing out, I see one of the girls who is 8 years old and obviously not at school today. She is writing in some kind of book and so I go over and see what she's doing. I find out through her limited English and my poor attempts at speaking Bengali, that she is doing her homework. I ask her to teach me a few words and so we practice a few common nouns in each others language and have some laughs. After I'm shooed away by one of the sisters for stopping the youngster from doing her homework, I reflect on how different our cultures and lives are and feel privileged to have been involved in hers even if for only a few minutes.

After finishing at the orphanage for the day I head back to the Mother Teresa House for the nativity play rehearsal, and then a fantastically tasting paneer curry from Zurich's Café. I think about the life I have and the lives of the children at Shishu Bhavan and how different we are.

My first impression of the city of Kolkata is a very positive one. Contrary to my expectations and other people's interpretations, there seems to be less rubbish, less pollution, and less congestion. Whether this is because of the fact that my senses are well used to the Indian way of life remains to be seen, but I feel like I have seen worse places on my trip so far than what I see in Kolkata.

After arriving at Hotel Crystal, which is slightly better than what I experienced in Delhi, I take a walk to the famous Mother House, visit and pay my respects to Mother Teresa's grave and prepare for the penultimate experience of my trip, volunteer work for the Missionaries of Charity which include; Kalighat Home For The Dying (it has been described as the grimmest place on earth), Shishu Bhavan Howrah (Orphanage), and Prem Dan (Handicapped and Disabled). This would prove to be an enlightening and life changing experience.

After talking with Sister M. Karina about my tasks and what to expect tomorrow, I take a moment of reflection over a coffee at Barista, think about what I'm going to experience, and bask in the blissful air-conditioned heaven.

I notice a big Christmas feel around Kolkata which I find ironic because of the fact that the religious majority are Hindu, with Muslim's, and Sikh's also prevalent. The Christian influence tends to be in the Goan south west and so the tinsel, fake Christmas trees, Santa's, and snow flakes seem to be purely for marketing purposes. However, everyone appears to be extra cheery at the moment, all offering me Christmas greetings and handshakes.

I eat dinner at a place called Zarich's Café which serve street food but is very accommodating , and settle in for an early night to prepare for the 5.30am start and a whole new world of thinking which will open after tomorrows experiences.

“The fruit of service is peace.”

Mother Teresa