Jennifer practicing the universal underwater sign for "hey, there is a lionfish."

Hannah, our Norwegian dive master teaches Jennifer how to use the "dive wheel" to plan our afternoon dive. We didn't know the fridgid waters of Norway produced such great dive masters, but she was excellent!

The mighty Mariner I, the boat where Dave and I spent 3 days and 2 nights experiencing 9 dives in the Similan Islands. This was definitely one of the highlights of our time in Thailand!

Who wouldn't like to have tea every morning with this guy?? I am glad I do! We are now in Bangkok, Thailand in an amazing flower filled hostel. More to come from this beautiful country soon!

While we were in Kolkata, we spent time working with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity (MC). This organization started in 1949 with one nun: Mother Teresa. The woman to the left in the above picture helped start this now worldwide mission by allowing the homeless Mother Teresa to use part of her house as the first site for The MC. After 3 years of caring for Kolkata in this house, a Muslim man felt compelled to give the growing organization (there were 28 sisters by this point) the current large house now famously referred to as The Motherhouse. The nun to the right wearing the traditional white and blue saree worn by all MC nuns is Sister Rachilla.

Mother Teresa opened many different houses for the different needs around Kolkata. We chose to work with 2: Daya Dan, a house for mentally and physically disabled children (the above picture), and Kaligat, the house for the dying and destitute. Words can not describe the blessings that we received from this expereince. This organization is the heartbeat of this city and our hearts fell into rhythm with it.

We were often approached by many poor people begging for money, food, and clothes. While many of them need nourishment, such as this woman, they often never use the money they collect for food. We learned through The Motherhouse that many of them sell back any uncooked food or milk one buys for them or their baby in order to use the money for drugs or alcohol. Some women are even owned by men who take every last bit of money they collect. Although our hearts caused us to help individuals when we thought needed (such as buying this woman dinner), we learned the best way to help was to put our energy into organizations that help get these people off the streets for good. We chose to work for Mother Teresa's organization, The Missions of Charity.

The sanitary conditions of India were enough to bring one to tears, especially when images like this welcomed you around every corner. This man was outside our hotel door early one morning shifting through the endless pile of rubbish that lined the street. Although it seems strange that he posed for the picture, the street people often approached us and asked for us to take pictures of them. They especially enjoyed being able to see their faces on the digital camera after we took the picture.

On any given night, there are thousands of people sleeping on the streets of Kolkata. Although it is hard to see such poverty, we were amazed to see the love that these people have for one another. Often we saw people sharing the same blankets with others that were sharing the same burden of poverty. Somehow, this particular spot seemed quite interesting since the sign above the choice spot to sleep read "Dignity."

Easy to see why America outsources...

Without getting into the moral implications of globalization and outsourcing, we thought you might like to see why it is so attractive to U.S. companies. Here are some sample prices from Kolkata, India (in US dollars).

Hotel room with private shower and cable T.V. - $8.50 USD
1 hour of internet at a cafe - $0.33
Large plate of vegetable chow mein - $0.25
Cup of chai tea - $0.05
Plate of chicken masala - $0.70
Overnight train x-country (includes bed, linens & a.c.) - $14.00
Overnight bus x-country (18 hours) - $6.00
Human rickshaw rides (man pulling cart) - $0.50 - $1.50 depending on distance
Bottled water (1 liter) - $0.20
Public bus fare - $0.06

We aren't quite sure what an hour's worth of labor is but an hour cab ride would cost far less than minimum wage in the states and that includes the cost of petrol.

Our last night in Kolkata we treated ourselves to a nice dinner where the waiters dressed in tuxedos - the total bill for the evening was $4.00 USD.