Here's why they're there
Fourteen students from Friday Harbor's Spring Street School are on a seven-week journey to Asia to learn, first-hand, about Asian life and culture. 
The students have been studying the religion, culture and history of the region for the past six months to a year. This has prepared them for an intense process of learning through experience. The Sounder is giving them this space to share their experiences with you.
While their travels will take them through Thailand, Malaysia, and India, visiting cities like Bangkok, Calcutta, Varanasi and Agra, the students will also have extended stays in remote villages in Thailand as well as in Dharamsala, India. As part of their experience in these villages, they get involved in community service through projects in the schools and public health programs that have immediate impact in the community.
Additionally the students are conducting assessments of the villagers' assets and goals. The assessments will be used to identify ways to help the villagers in their work to improve their quality of life. Areas of student investigation will include water quality, power and communications. A team of experts in some of these disciplines is accompanying the students to support their pioneering research. The assessment project is a collaborative effort of Spring Street School, the Institute for Village Studies, The 1420 Foundation and Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Letters from Calcutta
My first experience of Calcutta reminds me of a long, run-on sentence.
We arrived in Calcutta about 12:30 a.m. and piled into six taxis for a ride to our hotel, the most intense ride of my life, because after 9 p.m. all one-way roads, with no lanes, turn into two-way roads, with no lanes; where cab drivers practice and hone their "chicken" skills, with the drivers aiming ahead-on at one another until the last possible second, at which time they dive left, narrowly missing each other; and, when there is no oncoming traffic, it becomes a drag race, with each one trying to cut the others off; we couldn't stop smiling when we reached our "safe house,"˜the only calm place I encountered in Calcutta˜since outside all I experienced was bedlam with cabs honking and flashing their lights; the following morning we had a breakfast which consisted of stale toast, watered down grapefruit juice, greasy fried eggs, two dwarf French fries, and a fried ball of unknown substances, which I promptly ate, because I knew we had a long day ahead of us; so, with the lump of food still in my throat, we broke into teams of five and left our "safe place", with enough rupees for cab fare and lunch, heading out into the madness, using a not-very-detailed map of the city, trying to find the Kalighat Temple, which we foolishly believed was within walking distance (yeah, right!); it wasn't, so we hopped a cab and, for the next 20 minutes, ricocheted our way to the temple (deja vu from the night before, only worse), realizing we had, in fact, reached our destination because we saw another team aimlessly wandering around, until we were directed to the Kali Temple, which is the largest and oldest Kali temple in India, which gave birth to the city's name, Calcutta, that the Indians just decided to change to Kolkotta (Kali City), is place where they sacrifice about 120 goats a day, and is crawling with beggars and con artists, all searching out "green" dazed and confused tourists like us; after which we searched out and found Mother Teresa's Home for the Destitute and Dying, which unfortunately did not allow visitors during the time we arrived, so we found ourselves out on the street again, besieged by beggars, who finally convinced us we should give them all of our remaining money - except enough cabfare to make it back to our hotel - plus a few pens and pencils; we finally arrived around 3:30 p.m., in time to pack our bags and head out to a fantastic Indian dinner in a Chinese restaurant named BBQ, where we shared stories about our encounters, in what was an eye-opening day for us all; little did we know that it was far from over as we headed for the craziest train station in India, Hugli Station, in what turned into the most outrageous cab ride of all, through hordes of bicycles, motorized and bicycle-drawn rickshaws, cabs, trucks, buses and other unknown transportation missiles, not to mention more people than I have ever seen, in, on the sides of and above the streets, involved in every activity known to humankind; upon our arrival, we immediately formed a human worm (a kind of conga line without the conga) to be sure that none of us remained in Calcutta, and then proceeded to knife our way through not only the crowd but also the air until we successfully reached the center of the station, where we created a small mountain with our backpacks, many of us collapsing on the floor around it, while others searched for snacks for the 15 hour-, overnight train ride to Varanasi; which meant no sleep for many of us, gazing out the window at the Indian towns along the way and, surprisingly, lots of open farm land and fields in what is the second most populated country on earth..which left me wondering whether I was approaching my own "heart of darkness."
-- Jacob Dubail
After almost a year I am back in Calcutta, India and ready, once more, for an onslaught of culture, people, climate, food, smells, sights, sounds and experiences totally alien to me. Calcutta provides the traveler who is bold enough to brave her streets with priceless gifts.
Calcutta was the capital of the British Empire in India until 1947 when India was able to secure its independence. The first change was the exodus of the political and business power from Calcutta to Delhi, the new capital. With the city's infrastructure essentially destroyed, Calcutta was left to crumble and decay in the post-British era. Half-finished buildings, abandoned in the forties, Victorian architecture and a bizarre mix of British and Indian culture have been left behind as a reminder of the power once commanded by the British in India.
Calcutta is far from a classic tourist destination. While walking down the street a sea of ethnic Indians, sporting sarees, driving rickshaws and honking their horns overwhelms you. The first sensation you have when arriving in Calcutta is the overpowering pressure of humanity. People are everywhere, occupying the streets, shops, sidewalks, parks and temples. I felt like we were a caravan of white tourists as we walked through the streets, pushing our way through the people and creating a wake behind us.
With every stop we made it was like blocking a river. Slowly people would begin to build up behind us, swelling and spilling into the street, creating a reservoir of faces eagerly peering over one another to get a glimpse of the distraction we represent. Personal space is a luxury completely foreign to the Indian mind. People stand very close, sometimes only inches away, staring deeply into you. The good part about this is that we are as interested in them as they are in us and so we just stare right back, closely observing and learning from them as well.
Traffic is truly terrifying. Cars, cabs, buses, minibuses, rickshaws, dogs, pedestrians, carts, cattle, beggars, motorcycles and an entire host of unheard of jerry-rigged vehicles occupy the streets. With uncanny precision, the drivers navigate through the mayhem, narrowly avoiding fatal collisions. Horns are ablaze constantly, used for communication rather than an offensive gesture.
Calcutta is far too diverse and amazing to explain fully in depth. An entire book would only roughly harness the essence of the city. The only real way to understand such an intense and overpowering place is by experiencing it. It is guaranteed to provide a fresh perspective on life and give you a sense of how truly fortunate we really are.
Finally, after a short but very thorough dousing of Indian culture, we are on our way to Varanasi, eagerly looking forward to the many adventures we will encounter on our journey.
After experiencing Calcutta, you are left with a feeling of triumph and confidence that you can take on any challenge if you have survived the "City of Joy."
--Shawn O'Bryant
