Thursday, October 2, 2008

Taj Mahal in a TRUNK.

Alright…so I gave you guys the WRONG information this past post (or you can just take it as evidence of how life works here in the India) Sooooo I THOUGHT I was going on a camel safari last weekend, but I ended up going to the Taj Mahal!!!

FIRST I must tell you about our field trip that we took last week. This trip was to a unique area in Rajasthan called Shekawati…it is unique in that it is just the name of an area that is a part of three different territories. We were accompanied by a man, Shri Rambir Singh, who grew up in the area during the British rule and his family is very visible throughout the area. This is because his family was an estate family that owned the surrounding lands, so they had lots of land and close ties with the British. We received many connections throughout our trip from him…his family owns the PALACE in town so we were able to stay in the palace one night and our second night we stayed in refined MUD huts (modeled after the ones used in the village). Here on this field trip we learned about the British rule sooo much. One day we just sat in what would be equivalent to the living room of the fort and talked to Shri Rambir Singh about his life growing up here and his relationship with the British. (his family still lives in this fort)

In addition to this we visited two organic farms to learn about the organic farming that takes place and their new techniques. It was cool to see and learn about, but honestly that is not my topic of interest so I found my mind wandering as we stood in the HOT sun looking at a pile of compost being digested by WORMS!!

There is just SOO much that I learn and experience each and every day that I almost find it frustrating or intimidating to write about it, because I don’t know how to narrow it down for all of you guys…so please realize that I am only hitting the top of the icebergs with these posts…if I told you guys about everything then I would not have time to go and explore, I would just sit in my room and TYPE…and that’s NOT an option….haha.

So once we arrived back in Jaipur we had class and THEN… Saturday afternoon I left with 7 other people to visit the Taj Mahal. We stopped in a hotel on the way to spend the night. This town is known for its bird sanctuary so we woke up early and rode bikes through the bird sanctuary at 6 in the morning. It was a delightful morning ride…and we saw LOTS of birds, monkeys and a horse/cow looking animal. I am SO glad that we did this in the morning because it has been SOOO hot here recently and it would have been straight up miserable to do that during the day. Let alone the birds and monkeys probably would not have been out for us to see. After our BIRD excursion we headed to the TAJ!!!...

When we arrived at the Taj parking lot, we were hassled by SO many people to buy whatever cheap little thing that they were selling…yesssssss…I finally gave into a young boy…I just couldn’t resist him…he was riding his bike up next to us on the way up, trying to show off and then talked to us when we came out…SO I JUST BOUGHT a keychain. (We are hassled ALL the time NO matter where we go…so don’t think that this is anything different than normal…I guess the only difference is that this little boy…(he likes to go by bobby) actually had a conversation with us and it was sweet of him, but also his plan ALL along so that we got SUCKED into buying something.) In order to get into the Taj, of course, you have to buy a ticket…the CRAZY thing is …if you are an INDIAN then you only have to pay 20 rupees…if you DON’T LOOK Indian then you have to pay 750 rupees…like 20 dollars versus 50 cents!!!!! Getting into the Taj was kinda SKETCHY!...but we survived…I think people here are SOMETIMES scared of white people so they let us do whatever we want to do…other times they just try to take complete advantage of us. Then we headed back to school/home on Sunday afternoon. We had the option of going to a fort on the way back, but we were all WORN out from the sun and the early morning bike ride, so we just went home. It was a lovely trip and I am REALLY glad that I went.

PS…our mode of transportation was a tazi, which was an Indian SUV with NINE people in it…2 in the front, 3 in the middle and 4 in the back…basically they stick FOUR people in the trunk of a small SUV…and then they drive as crazy as they can! And hit every bump so that our bones BREAK…and we no longer have tailbones.

It is OFICIALLY festival season here in India. We have had SO many holidays…its kinda unreal. This week coming up we have four days off…and this past week we had two days off. For this upcoming week I am traveling up to northern India to the base of the Himalayas which I am REALLY looking forward to. Supposedly its supposed to be cooler up there…but who’s to say that, because it rained for a MONTH longer than it was supposed to and its BLAZING hot right now…so the weather is not on track here.

On top of all these holidays, Molly and I were thrown a curve ball!!...we were told yesterday that we are going to have to move homestays. It was NOT the best of news…and I was overwhelmed at first and SAAADDDD, but I learned today that I get to EAT eggs at this new HOUSE!!...woo hoo!!! I guess what happened was that our mom signed up to host some other students from another program also, and when she said that she would host them she did not realize that she was not allowed to host us at the same time…basically it’s the OTHER program’s fault. Our mataji has LOTS of integrity and she did NOT want to go back on her word, so she set us up to live down the street at her best friend’s house. Our new host mom and our mataji go on walks every morning together…and our mataji has told her what we like to eat so I think it will be a smooth transition. I am still REALLY sad that we have to leave, as is our mataji. Our mataji said that we can still come by WHENEVER we want and come eat at her house, we just have to warn her!!...so I will definitely do that. I am getting all choked up writing this because Molly and I have LOVED living here, and they have taken such good care of us…and they have become like family to us (including the servants)…BAAAHHH!!! But its all in the Lord’s hands (thankfully)!

I LOVE ALL OF YOU GUYS!!!! I cant believe that it is already OCTOBER!! I have been here for TWO months and I would not change it for the world! The first month time went by somewhat slow, but this past month things DEFINITELY flew by. I hope that this blog finds you healthy and jubilant!...haha. I know that it is getting pretty crazy over there with the stock market and all, BUT know that the Lord is in control in EVERY aspect of our lives, BIG or small. It also has been pretty crazy over here in India. Bombings are continually being found or going off in cities. In the last week and half, I think that there has been at least three bombings. In addition, there was a HUMAN stampede at one of the temples in Jodhpur in which 180 people died from being trampled on. The cause of the stampede is unknown…but I cant even begin to imagine being trampled to death. With all that said, please keep my safety in your prayers! Like I said, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

1 comment:

Pate said...

OMG I AM SO JEALOUS OF UR BIRD/BIKE RIDE!!! I WANT TO GO!
i am soo behind on your blogs that I am reading them all like a speed demon right now blahhhhh