A day well spent

We adventured to the Taj Mahal today! We were up by 4:30 and made it to the Taj by 6:15. Our tour guide, Miten did an amazing job explaining the history, the perfection of the symmetry, as well as knowing places that will produce the best pictures. Miten has also had the privilege to give tours to many ambassadors, actors, Julia Roberts, and prime ministers/presidents.

 

The Emperor and his wife conceived 14 children in the 16 years that they were married. Only 6 of the children survived childbirth though and with her last delivery, she became severely ill. The Emperor asked what he could do for her or if she had any last requests. Her only 2 requests is that he would always be merciful to their children and that he would not marry again after her death. He then asked what he could personally do for his wife- and not i regards to any one else. She explained that she wanted him to build a monument that would let everyone know how truthful their love was. It took 22 years to build the Taj, and the Emperor died 13 years into the construction of the monument. Every single aspect of the Taj is perfectly symmetrical except for the grave site inside the main building. The wife is in the center, and the Emperor was placed to her left. It was decided that it would be better for them to be buried together than to be separated due to symmetry. Also- the legend of the black Taj Mahal that was intended to be built is actually a world famous rumor that never had any roots.

We enjoyed hearing the history- but our fun really started when we were done with the tour and able to take pictures! The photo session was SOO much fun with jumping pictures, hand stands, cart wheels, and clapping from passerbyers (or even crowds)! It was great being able to sit on the back of the Taj also and look at the river and to feel the breeze on our faces.

 

We went back to the hotel to enjoy an amazing breakfast!! Which also had ice cold coffee that tasted amazing! (First coffee in nearly 3 weeks!). I left my swim suit in the states also, not realizing that I was going to need it for our weekend trips. When I talked to the tour guide about buying one at the market, he said that "swim costumes" would be for sell at the hotel fora bout RS. 400 ( = $8 U.S.). Sarah and I adventure to the place that had the "swim costumes" and we were excitedly suprised by how original they were!

We then had an adventure of riding an elephant! It was soo awesome! The elephant even got up in the middle of us "loading" onto the ride and it was really cool being able to get that close to such a huge animal. The owner had even painted with some chalk material onto the elephants head creating a crown look. It happens to be that riding an elephant was something that Sarah has on her bucket list- so she was EXTREMELY excited through the whole thing!

It was deffinantly a fun and full day. We are also going to end it at the hotel by attending a Hindu wedding! Apparently, being white, makes us almost "good luck" to have at a Hindu Wedding so we get to party all night!

Hindu weddings are all about how many people you can have at the their weddings, and often consist of having 2,000 + people. They can often last up to 10 days also- but it depends on how long the Hindu's want to spend with their celebration. I have been told that they consist of a lot of food, pictures, and go late into the night. The actual Wedding ceremony will take place on the last day and starts before the sunrise. Tonight, at the hotel, there are 2 different weddings! :-)

Within the past week, we have managed to go to a late night Hindu Festival in the village near Rising Star, worked in 3 different medical clinics, tutored the children for 2 days, travelled to New Delhi, saw the Taj Mahal in Agra, and about to go to a Hindu Wedding!

What a beautiful and amazing week!

July 2nd- Welcome to New Delhi & Agra

The day started at 3:30 am on Friday- and within the past 12 hours, we have traveled by a plane, a terrifying bike rickshaw, 2 different travel buses, and we finally made it to Agra. The day was so quick and so many things happened that we either unexpected or established by our tour guide. One of our drivers, T.J. (the one who drove me to the hospital) started his college program this week- so he is no longer with Rising Star. Because we have only been using T.J. or Veil to drive us around Tamal Nadu, we are being exposed to new drivers- but none have the personality of T.J. or Veil. A new guy- who did not even say one word - drove us the 2 hour ride to Chennai where we boarded an Indian plane, called IndiGo. Because the height difference is so dramatic from Americans (and 2 of our girls are 6 feet tall) it was really tight and no one could mange to get comfortable. Between a little boy kicking the back of a seat, constant movement in the small aisles, people constantly moving their seats up and down, and exploring hands that would ALWAYS manage to touch my head, needless to say it was not a comfortable flight. We made it safely to New Delhi though and we instantly were found by our tour guide. We were given a quick tour of New Delhi, shown the presidential house, which is currently occupied by India’s 1st Women President! We also were taken to a large market to find spices, food, shoes, sari’s, temples, and all the while being driven by a thinly framed man on a bike operated rickshaw. It was like a theme park run away cart! Casey and I were partnered up and we were tossed from side to side and up/down for nearly 2 hours trying to cruise through the tight market roads.

 

It is Friday, and Friday’s for Muslims are equivalent to a Christian’s Sundays- so the masques were closed for tourists to view and the men had a call to prayer 5x throughout the day. We did climb 4 flights of a street building though and were able to look over the edge of the rooftop to see inside a masque and observe the cleansing techniques before prayer and different types of prayer poses. It was really cool to see!

I was taught how to make chai tea from Assam leaves, and also instructed how to make green tea ice cream by a spice shop owner, so I am excited to get back to the states, eventually, and try it out. Hopefully I can keep the instructions in my head for another month! I also took some type of digestive spice from the restaurant that we ate lunch at. It is a popular after meal spice that consists of a small amount of white licorice and some green leaf looking things that are good for digestion and settling upset stomachs.

The markets are notorious for being unsafe and a high amount of pick pocketing occurs. While looking at a bangles shop, one of the girls either misplaced her money belt or had it taken out of her pursue. It was not discovered thought until after had finished eating our lunch. Upon returning to the store- there was no sight of it. We had stopped by an ATM before going to the market, so a lot of cash was left in it- but even thought we searched throughout the shop and the shop owners personal areas- we could not find it anywhere! The tour guide felt horrible, and kept apologizing to her. We never did find it, but the tour guide let her borrow his phone to call home to cancel all of her cards. Thankfully, her passport was in a different zipper- so she still has that form of identification on her.

After the market, we spent the next 4 hours on a private bus ride to the great city of Agra, where the Tahj Mahal is located. The driving is very similar to Chennai (which is similar to the rough parts of Mexico), so there is a lot of sporadic honking, light flashing, and weaving that happens. I have yet to be annoyed with the horn honking until our ride to Agra. It felt as if every 5 or 10 minutes, a honking competition would break out, and these horns are high pitched and not taken well in large doses. But we made it to our awesome hotel and we managed to have our rooms upgraded to suites, so we are enjoying the use of western toilets, overhead showers, and the anticipation of elephant rides tomorrow and seeing the Tahj Mahal at 5:30 a.m.

I have to be honest though, I do already miss Rising Star. I miss knowing the drivers, the fashion of the people in Tamal Nadu, and the small sleepy villages that line our route to and from the colonies. In Northern India, it is much cleaner, but it is also much more westernized and men will wear jeans, t-shirts, and polo shirts. The women are even more so covered, being closer to the middle east, but the fashion is not something that I am attracted to like I am in south India. I also miss hanging out with the kids in the evenings- and the loving anticipation that they all hold for us to be part of their lives.