Day 1

9th February 2020

Hello to all of our readers, welcome to our blog for the HCK Indian Immersion Project 2020.

Woohoo! We have arrived in Kolkata safely yet very sleep deprived!

We began our journey in Dublin Airport at 10:35am on Saturday 8th February where we boarded our first flight, which was to Dubai. The flight was 7hrs 30mins, and thankfully all of the flight attendants were really friendly and we even managed to get our photos taken (nearly 1,000 times!). We can also say that we are corona-virus free thanks to our face masks which we all wore for the whole duration of the flight.

When we landed, we had no time to relax in Dubai Airport as we all had to sprint through the entire airport in order to catch our connecting flight. This next flight was much shorter than the first, and we unfortunately struggled to sleep on the plane :( .  We arrived in Kolkata at 7am and took a bus to St. Mary's School, which is where we will be staying for the next 10 days. We received our rooms, attempted to rest and refresh ourselves, and were greeted with a delicious rice and curry dish prepared by the brothers. We then walked to the local shopping centre accompanied by the teachers and one of the brothers, and describing it as an 'eye opener' and 'an attack to our senses' is very much an understatement. We were all taken aback by the busy hustle and bustle of the streets, the vivid colours of the buildings, the strange and new noises and smells, and the unimaginable extent of the division of classes present in Kolkata that was visible on the streets. Dodging several cows, dogs, and tuk-tuks zooming down the main street on the way to the shopping centre proved to be a great challenge for us all! As we arrived home we all participated in a thrilling, high-intensity game of basketball and finished with a quick dip in the pool. Allie, Zoe and Chiedza were assigned to help out in the soup kitchens for the disadvantaged in the city and this gave us a real insight into those who are poverty stricken, although it was also an enjoyable experience. So far, Day 1 has exceed all of our expectations and we are apprehensive but extremely excited for the coming days. Tomorrow, one group of girls is going to the Mary Rice's Centre to work with intellectually challenged children, and two groups will be travelling to St.George's School by metro to meet and to teach classes of children.

Stay tuned for more, Signing out, xoxo, Killiney Girls.