cool mornings and wearing slippers in kolkata (not on oxymoron...truly it has happened)
watching movies with my roommates...
morning coffee rituals
kolkata sunsets
when i hear my name being yelled down the alley's of the gach..."PUUJAA"
my Sari Bari blanket
reading back issues of the Economist
discovering how to cook sausage patties out of chicken and random spices in the kitchen...and partaking in one of the best down home meals we've had in a long while...
when the ladies joke about my future husband
literagy at St. Paul's Cathedral
black fingernail polish
kyle's newest album (you need to take a listen if you haven't already...) http://www.freelyjesus.net/music/kylescott/
finding random treasures to make crafts out of on our roof (i'm sure they weren't going to fix that old door anyways right)
kenny g christmas album...i don't care what you people say...he moves me
saturday morning church with our SB ladies, and the sweetness of shared experiences

sometimes i just need to take a step back and see the little things...note the details...and enjoy.

"who is mother, father, sister, brother" jesus asked...
he who does the will of my father...they are who i call my family...

trying to translate this devotion into words my dear kolkata sisters can hear, take in, understand. takes more than just a mastery of the bengali language...simplified...
i realized, through choked up words and unashamed tears...that they have become my mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers...family.

in a place unknown and foreign. mother tongue unused, explanations understood. leaving my own mom and dad, beloved little brother. i explained that i had begun to understand what jesus was saying. that he wants us to love everyone like our own blood family. and for me that meant coming to love them...to many of these women, whose own mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers have left them, turning away in shame, received back only for the money they can offer, or in greed filled moments sold them to a red lit way of life...these words ring with a different tone...you are my mother, sister, daughter...and i, am yours.
what a 15 minute morning devo can do to change ones heart...

only appropriate that yesterday morning i also read some of the greatest news of my life...that my parents will be joining me for christmas in kolkata this year...full of sari bari teas and dinners in my flat...parties that will lodge in my heart and mind for the rest of my days...i never thought that i'd get to share this part of my life with mom and dad. never dreamed they'd set foot in the brothel alleys i spend most of my days, or shake hands with some of the people i've grown to love most in this world...its still unbelievable...and so exicting....
watch out kolkata mom and dad waterman are on their way...
goodnight.

seasons.
oh, these beautiful season changes...from the heat of summer to the easy sleeping breezes, whisking us towards the coming kolkata winter. the constant sweating has ceased. there's a sari bari blanket in use on my bed. and i have the desire to drink hot tea in the evenings again...as memories of may's heat fade away, my mind relaxes into the november sunlight and stretches out to see whats ahead. i love this season.
and yet, my mind's turned often to the color changes of my indiana home. cold november air. harvest remnants. layers of oranges, reds, yellows, temporary palettes. slippers and sweatpants. signs of the season's changes.
signs paralleling rich coloring palettes of my own.
i could blame my lack of communication on schedule's iron fist, or maybe my own lack of enthusiasm has left a blank slate rounding now towards 4 months of silence. but i'd like to remedy that, in the hopes of sharing again. i've often given myself the proverbial pep talk...writing witty antidotes, memorable quotes, candid city shots in my mind...but then i remain waiting for the right time, the right words, the right inspiration to hit. perhaps then i'd actually get it down to pen and paper (or key to macbook)...but the task of catching up on all that has happened in the last four months has been daunting, foreboding, and sensory overloaded. new introductions and 19 new sisters to add on our sari bari family tree, travels and goodbyes, sickness that has left us all a little more raw...so it will have to suffice to say, that it has been a difficult, powerful, life giving, and heart breaking last season. and from here i step forward. interested to have you rejoin the journey, ready to invite you back in.

i'll leave you with two things this evening...my amazing north american community...
i'd like to introduce you to: Kyle, Sarah, Anna, Asha, Brent and Melinda. dear sweet friends in a sometimes very lonely place... second...a little reflection from my time on the metro a few days back...ah the things we can learn about ourselves from crowded train cars...and yes, sometimes i do cut in front of old ladies...yes, still working towards transformation...

Shoulder brushes-shoved. Aligned. Removed. Unseen?
Move Aside. I'm out the door again.
Simple ride on the metro, turned fight for ones dignity.
Right to space does not exist.
Right to hold on. Stand tall. Falls under foot.
And the sliding doors give birth to a chance at humanty again.
And again...shoulder to shoulder. Shoved Removed. Unseen.
Ah but what a smile could do. Eye to eye, reminders of human life.
Easy to want to forget.
Caught in the act, aversion of the created.
Treat as Treated...adopted motto of survival.
Where's honor's space in that?
Because when its all said and done,
its really only 2 more seconds i've saved at the turn stile line...