1/8/10

Hey guys,

sorry I never finished this, but I got back to the states and started immediately into school and kind of forgot about posting these last entries in my blog. But they are a lot of fun because it talks about my adventures outside of Delhi in Agra and Jaipur!

love love love

1/8/10

Today was a rather quiet day and it was nice because I felt like we had been going and going for so long that it was hard to exert much energy anymore. In the morning for lecture we had the same guy that took us around the Sufi shrine the night before come and talk to us about what it meant to believe in the Sufi religion, and spoke about the music. I thought that it was really interesting because he was a musician and played Quwwali music for us in class. This music we heard the night before but did not understand what was really being said until he came and explained it. The most important part of the music was that the songs are all somehow connected to Allah in every song. Most of the songs were the Sufi forms of worship like the song that chanted “Allah is, Allah is” over and over again. It was a way that they were showing their devotion because even in their music they were thinking about Allah. Although he did play one song that he said was more of a love song. The instrument that he brought was like an accordion but it sounded a little bit different, but maybe it was just because it was played in a different manner. I enjoyed the cultural lecture because it showed what he really thought about his religion and his love for his Allah. I am not sure how I feel about what he said because I agree that it is incredibly important to live a devoted lifestyle for God and to have everything that you do be for Him, but there are so many parts of the Islam faith that are so far from the truth. I wish that they would experience Jesus Christ’s love because then they would be in a relationship with the God that they would show devotion to, and they would be truly satisfied if they did all of their forms of worship towards Him. I still do not know what to think about this god Allah, but I do know that it is not the Way and the Truth and the Life.

That afternoon we went to an Islamic University in Delhi that Professor Cohen’s sister-in-law works for as a professor. It was fascinating to meet people that were similar to our age and striving for the same things that we are, but are in a completely different environment. We got to spend time asking questions and answering questions. They were fascinated with the way that at UVA each professor can create their own syllabus. Apparently, Universities in India the Headmaster creates the syllabus for every class regardless of the professor and there cannot be much modification. We were able to go see their campus, and they have many of the same classes that we would have for art and computer technology, and English literature. It was really nice getting to talk to the students even if it was for a really short amount of time.

That evening we went to a cultural performance of traditional music and dance of India. It was beautiful, and I love how the women wore colorful dresses and all the dancers had hundreds of bells on their ankles that clang every time they moved. Each song represented a specific time period in India, and the musical style did change dramatically. Sometimes the dancers would dance rapidly spinning and clanging, but other times they moved slowly and gracefully. Afterwards, they had a reception and dinner where there was a wonderful desert that was made with a cinnamon bread with a creamy ginger sauce spread over it. If anyone knows me well, they know how much I adore anything with the ginger flavor! It had been a wonderful day, which was more of a cultural emersion than a tour or history lesson. I enjoyed the change because I really enjoyed spending some personal time talking to native Indians who have such a love and respect for their country.

1/9/10

It’s a Saturday and we have almost been on our trip for 2 weeks. It was probably one of my favorite days on this trip because the sun was out, it was warm in Delhi, and we got to see ruins of one of my favorite parts of Delhi. We started our day early and went to Tughlukabad Fort, but first went to the tomb of one of the kings that was right outside of the Fort. There was a tomb for his dog, which I thought was pretty cool. Tughlukabad had a large wall, but then there was grass and trees amongst worn down stone walls of buildings, mosks, shops, and towers in an old abandoned city. It was beautiful because you look out through this entire fort and all I saw was 2 women who were collecting herbs and holding them on their heads in a woven basket. They were gently walking through the fort with a beautiful grace. Because the fort was on a hill, when you looked beyond its walls you could see all of the hustle and bustle of Delhi, but you couldn’t hear it and you couldn’t tell that it was dirty, loud, and crowded. We climbed rocks and took lots of pictures and just enjoyed the ruins. We tried to convince Professor Cohen to let us have a picnic lunch there, but he said we already had other plans.

We met our tour guide for the rest of the trip, but I do not remember a specific time when he became part of our group. I feel like he just showed up. His name was Manvendra and he was very well spoken and knew the history of anything anywhere we were. Trust me, I tested him =) He was a lot of fun because he brought a change to our daily routine because he walked so fast, and did not let us dilly dally for long. He wanted to make sure that we got as much done as we had planned. We had lunch on Chandni Chowk, the large street that brings you through the old city of Shajahanabad. It was loud, crazy, and crowded. It was funny because when you looked up at the electric lines there were so many that you could not tell which went where, and I am sure that electrician had a lot of problems working on it. I was scared that people would get lost in the hustle and bustle. We went to the Friday Mosque, which is one of the largest Mosques in the world and is where the Muslim population all gathers on Fridays for the prayer. We were actually in the mosque when the call to prayer started, and the people there tried to get us to leave as fast as they could because we couldn’t be there for their prayer. Also, it was strange when we went through the door to the mosque because these men came and put robes on all of the girls (even the ones that were wearing Indian clothing) when we walked in, but the other Indian women in the mosque did not have to wear them. It was the first time that I experienced women’s segregation, and it felt like the rule of the mosque is that every foreign woman had to wear these robes because all foreign women dress inappropriately. Another thing that I noticed was that there was a sign that said unattended women were not allowed to go up to the turrets without men accompanying them. I wonder what would have happened if I were traveling with my girl friends and no guys came along. Would we not be allowed up?

We then entered the Red Fort, or Shajahanabad, which was built by the Mughal King Shahjahan with the help of his daughter, who designed Chandni Chowk back when it was a beautiful marketplace. It was the most well intact ancient ground that we had seen in India thus far, and we got to walk through the grounds, which took a very long time. The walls of the fort where enormous, and we saw where there was once a moat around the exterior. It looked well protected, and even though the British left it rather abandoned, it still held up well. It had been a delightful day filled with history and exploring old ruins. We also took the metro for the first time, and it was surprisingly clean and well attended, which was quite a parallel to the dirty city above it.

1/10/09

Today was a free day, but my roommate Mariam and I decided to take advantage of it and milked it to its fullest. Priti, the CBN India producer, offered to take Mariam and I out in the city and spend the day with us. She took us to a church for service in the morning, and it was the most amazing experience because it was modeled after many churches in America but the seats were filled with Indian men and women wrapped in beautiful saris. To hear them all worship and be so passionate about God with a holy fervor was exactly what my heart and Spirit needed to see to be content with my trip to India. I felt like I had been overwhelmed with hearing about and experiencing all of the many religions of India, and I needed to be refreshed with Christian fellowship. After the service, we went to have lunch with the orphans that the pastor took in and gave a home on the grounds of the church. Most of their parents had abused them or abused someone in front of them, and their nurse/nanny was telling me how having God in their lives has finally given them a meaning for their lives and is helping them overcome the hardship that they were once experiencing. Even though they had so little, even when they were in a CBN sponsored orphanage, their faces were full of smiles and I could see the joy of the Lord in their eyes. Before we ate, Mariam and I passed out Crocks (the little comfortable plastic shoes in bright colors) for the children from CBN, and then two of the children came to pray for us. When their nanny translated their prayer, it was such a mature prayer for such a young boy, who was probably around 12. He prayed that God would bless us in our travels, that He would hold us in His hands in our every move and decision, and that He would continue to reveal His plan to us. It was wonderful. I then passed out my Christmas gift that my Aunt Vickie gave me to the little girls and they loved it! It was a jewelry making kit with plastic jewelry, bangles, ribbons, sequins and other things that little girls loved. I spent some time helping them make little presents for themselves. Even though there was a language barrier, I could tell they were having fun.

Mariam then had a wonderful idea and asked if we could serve them lunch. There was a big pot of rice and a big pot of bean curry and we gave a plate to each child and got to talk to them individually and find out their names and fun little facts about them. They were so happy to see us that their smiles radiated throughout the room! I loved them so much and it was such a special experience. We then went into a separate room to have lunch (pizza, lol) with the pastor and his family, who are 2^nd generation Indian Christians. I was able to ask him so many questions about being the minority in such a pagan county, and how to evangelize to people that ignore whatever you say regarding Christianity because they refuse to accept that there is only one God. It is hard to evangelize to people who do not have a religion, but it is so much more difficult to talk to people who have a polytheistic religion and believe so much in tolerance of all religions because they will not accept anything you say as the ultimate truth. He told me that the best way to convey God to a Hindu is to ask them if they are sure of their future and their purpose, and if they know what is going to happen when they die. They cannot answer it, and there is no security in life for them. They gamble and chose the gods of their religion that they think will help them the most and hope that devotion to them will somehow bring them freedom. It was really wonderful to have the council of someone who is living exacrly what he is talking and has a calling very similar to mine. The fellowship and escape from the sinful world that I had been seeing so much of recently has really been like water to my Spirit that was feeling so thirsty.

The rest of the day Priti took us shopping at a handicrafts bizarre called Dilli Haat. It was a lot of fun hearing about how God called her to leave her powerful position as a tv producer and come to work at CBN doing God’s work. She has such a sweet sensitive heart, and she seemed like she really enjoyed spending time with me, when I know she could have been doing everything else that she needed to do in her busy life. She really opened up her heart to me and told me about God’s work in her and God’s work in India. I have a friend in India that is going to last forever.

That night, we said goodbye and gave hugs and kisses to Priti and went to McDonalds for dinner because the residency told us that dinner wouldn’t be served until 9:30! So late. Also, the rest of the group was not back from their day of exploring the city so we spent some bonding time together reflecting on the day. We then decided to go see this chick flick Bollywood film called Pyaar Impossible, and it was really cute even though we could only understand half of it. It was a good night and I made a lot of memories. I was so glad that God worked this day out for Mariam and me, because the rest of the group didn’t come back until 12:30 and they were all drunk and crazy. God saved the two of us from having an incredibly awkward time with them because He is faithful and He knew what I needed for the day. What a wonderful God.

1/11/10

Road Trip!! Today started our venture out of Delhi to Agra by bus. We were up bright and early and left the residency at 8am. Needless to say, we were all a little bit grumpy and just wanted to sleep the entire time. I got a seat to myself, and I got 45 minutes off my computer to watch a Dawson’s Creek episode before I crashed and did not wake up until our first stop. It was a 5 hour ride, which felt like a 19 hour ride. We stopped for brunch and Mr. Rai’s wife’s hotel on the road to Agra. It was cute and had little vendors and rides on Elephants and Camels. However, it was freezing and we all seemed to care more about that then we did about our surroundings.

We then stopped at a tomb where the great emperor Akbar was buried, which was large and beautiful. I can’t wait to study more about him when we get back to college in my Indian history class because he seemed like such a unique ruler. We then got back on the bus and arrived in Agra in the afternoon and checked in to the hotel. It was really cute because it was set up as little cottages where there were 2 different rooms, with a garden and a little porch on the front. It was adorable, but it did not take us long to realize that there were frequent power failures, and hot water for a maximum of 5 minutes. I let Mariam take a shower not realizing that that meant I would be taking the coldest shower of my life.. haha. It was funny because about every 30 minutes all the power, including the lights, would turn off for about a minute and we were sitting in complete darkness at night, which was scary but cool.

After we settled in, we went to the tomb of Jahangir’s father in law from the Mughal period. It was different than the other red tombs that we have been seeing, and it was white marble. It overlooked what was left of the Yamuna river, which is almost dried up during the dry season, but it was non the less a breath taking view. I tried to imagine how wonderful it looked when it was built overlooking the river that wasn’t polluted and there wasn’t a big city in the background. The sun had finally come out as well, and we spent a lot of time just running around, jumping, and taking pictures outside around the tomb, probably because we had been smushed in a bus all day. It was fun.

That night we had dinner in the hot restaurant, which was not that great, but yet again the power went out and we could not see anything at all for a little while, but people enjoyed it and made the best out of it. We had a friend of Mr. Rai’s along with us for our journey to Agra and Jaipur named Hardeem. She is writing a book on discovering yourself and being at peace and she wanted to get to know us to see if she could learn more. She was a sweetheart and really enjoyed just laughing and talking with us. I’m sure there will be more stories with her later. After dinner we invited everyone to our room, ordered hot chocolate and ice cream, snuggled up in blankets, and watched Slumdog Millionaire on my computer. Needless to say I was out in minutes of the movie starting, but we thought it was important to see more examples of Indian life and culture. I think everyone enjoyed watching it while they were writing their journals, and it was a bonding experience. It got really cold at night, and the heater broke. It was not the best sleep, but we were enjoying the change none the less because we have gotten tired of staying at the Meadows Residency in Delhi for so long.

1/12/10

One of those life long dreams that I’ve always wanted to do finally came true today, but first let’s talk about the other fun we had before I talk about the Taj Mahal. That morning I woke up a little late and decided that it would be more enjoyable to have room service breakfast instead because, I mean, we were at a hotel for a change. I also took a freezing shower, but I have learned to technique at the special technique to keep yourself from dying from the cold.

Today I started to actually look around Agra and see the difference and contrast between it and Delhi. It was still a city, but definitely not as large as Delhi. It was still dirty but it did not feel like it was to the same extreme and Delhi, and there were definitely less people walking around the streets as Delhi. I also noticed that there were a lot less beggars in the roads and sidewalks than in Delhi, however there was definitely a difference in the way some of the people acted then in Delhi. I felt relatively safe in Delhi, but in Agra the men scared me because they were very aggressive and vey intimidating to me (which everyone knows is a big deal for something to intimidate me!). At the different monuments that we went the male salesman had no sense of personal space and were grabbing on me, getting in my face, touching me, and they would not listen to us when we said to stop and to leave us alone. It took one of the 6 guys that we have in the group to come over and help me fend them off. They did not care if they were really upsetting me, they just wanted what they wanted and did not care how they got it. The salesmen told me that they would give me change for my 500 rupee note that I gave to pay 200 rupees for some necklaces, but then he refused to give me change once he took it and ran off. I did not know how to react, because I was used to the sales people in Delhi. They were aggressive, but I knew that they were honest and were not trying to take from me. They were honestly just trying to do their job and they were successful at it. These people were rude and inappropriate.

Anyway, first we went to the Agra Fort, which was red like Shahjahanabad, but there was even more intricacy in the details. It was built during the Mughal period and house three of the major emperors; Akbar, Jahangir, and Shah Jahan. It was more than a fort, and it was a palace with beautiful gardens, rooms, and mosques where the royal family lived. There was actually a time when ShahJahan was kept in a portion of the palace and was not allowed to leave when he was old and expected to die by his grandson who wanted power. The mass amounts of marble were impressive, and it also had a beautiful view of the Yamuna river, or what is left of it. I pretended to imagine that I was living back in the days of Mughal Empire, and what it felt like to walk to halls of the cold marble palace during the scorching heat that they often experienced. How regal a palace it was, and it definitely is not what I expected from a fort. When you think of forts you tend to think about dark and heavily secured places meant for defense, but this was obviously where the royal family spent their lives.

We went back to the hotel to rest and wait for the sun to come out to experience the Taj Mahal to the greatest extent. Those of us who bought saris decided that it would be the perfect time to use them, unfortunately, I realized after we were on the bus leaving that I had mine draping in the wrong direction. We took a carriage ride on horses to get to the Taj Mahal, which was a fun surprise that Professor Cohen decided we needed to do=) It was lovely. Well, we were swarmed at the Taj Mahal for pictures by all of the Indians. I swear people asked me over 50 times if they could take a picture of me and my Sari, and my little group I was walking with decided that we were going to start charging for every picture taken 50 rupees =) haha. No one actually bought it though. Oh well. The Taj stood alone among everything that I have seen in India because of its magnitude. We spent an hour taking pictures as we made our way from the front entrance to the stairs of the Taj itself. Unfortunately, my camera died, but do not worry, there were plenty of pictures from all of cameras that we had within our group. Although the Taj was huge and beautiful, I was not impressed with the adornment that felt plain compared to the stones and painting and inlay that we have seen at all the other tombs. It was more simply and white. The Taj is the tomb of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal, whom he loved so very much. When we were in the Agra fort, the tour guide pointed out the exact spot where Shah Jahan first saw her when she was shopping in the marketplace and he thought she was the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen. Shah Jahan was the only emperor that created such a magnificent tomb for his wife and not for himself out of love and respect. That night we wore our saris and went to dinner at a very nice restaurant that was supposed to rotate on the top of the building, but the wheel was broken. It was still a nice view. Harbeem, the sweet writer that came with us, paid for our meal for us as a thank you for letting her come on our trip. It was a very generous thing, and it was just another example of her kind heart.

1/13/10

Road Trip Part 2!! We woke up and left early yet again. This time we were headed for Jaipur, which was like 6 hours from Agra. The majority of the day was spent on the bus because it was so far away. We did not do very much. We stopped 1/3 of the way at the ancient capital of the Mughal Empire during Akbar’s reign, Fatehpur Sikri, which was also large and magnificient. My favorite part of this walled city was a building that had a giant pillar in the center of the room where Akbar discussed religions. He actually made up his own religion based on pieces of the many many religions that he had learned about. The unique thing about this room was that everyone who came to talk to him where not allowed to see him because he sat up on the top of the pillar and it gave him more of an empirical air when people came to talk to him. I thought that was really interesting because they were discussing religion, which is normally a selfless idea, yet he was making sure that he was above all others none the less. The palace that he built for his favorite wife was also impeccable and when I walked through the rooms I felt like I had been transported in time and was walking through the palace like a royal myself. Haha.

The rest of the day we were on the bus driving for what felt like forever. We stopped at an inn on the side of the road for lunch, and it was one of the most expensive meals that I have had so far in India. I thought that was interesting considering we were in the middle of what looked like a desert with a few agricultural plantations. They must have many hungry travelers that are willing to stop and pay that much for food. In retrospect it was probably only about 15 dollars, which is not that much in America, but it felt like a lot of rupees at the time. As we started to driving in Jaipur I noticed the difference in architecture in comparison to Delhi. It still looked like an old Indian city and not a city that had been rebuilt and changed by Britain. I really enjoyed it because there were a lot of the Mughal inspired arches and designs. I also noticed that it was beginning to look more and more pink as well. It wasn’t really pink though, it was more like a salmon, but it was fun and made it feel like it was a tropical city. We got to our hotel (which was actually a hotel this time, lol) and I was blown away with it’s beauty and the uniqueness of its layout. To get to our room we had to walk up stairs, across a roof, down a hall, and into a courtyard with 3 rooms all facing each other with an opening to the sky. It was refreshing to sleep in a bed with a mattress almost as thick as the one on my bed. I spoiled myself and took a shower for 30 minutes with hot water the entire time, which up to this point had never been the case at the other places we had been staying. I felt so spoiled.

We played on the roof, which was set up like a patio with beautiful flowers and lawn chairs until the sun set. There were kites that we could attempt to fly on the roof too. It was so much fun just sitting in the sun above the rest of the city, and the way the roof was it reminded me of the movie we watched called Delhi 6, when the main character had a habit of rooftop running. For dinner, Kevin, Eugene and I decided that we really wanted to find some meat because we had gone for a few days with only vegetables and carbohydrates. We found an Italian restaurant, which was so weird because it was in the middle of a sketchy warehouse, but it was cute none the less. I had a Hawaiian pizza with ham! I missed ham, and take the meats that we eat in America for granted. Then we went back to the hotel where there was a delicious icecream selection. Mariam and I then chilled in the room and watched Legally Blonde on our flat screen tv. It was delightful.

1/14/10

This was a delightful day although we had to wake up incredibly early in order to fit in all of the day’s activities. I had a wonderful and inexpensive room service breakfast with a huge pot of Indian tea, which has quickly become my drink of choice. We drove for about 30 minutes into the mountains, and we passed through the pink part of the city, where all buildings are regulated to be pink by law. It was fun but not exactly as beautiful as I expected. It was rather plain. We saw the wind palace and I was incredibly disappointed when I found out that the palace is actually not real because it’s just a wall that built for decoration. I still do not really understand the point, but yes it was pretty. Well, while we were driving to the mountains there was a beautiful lake, and through the fog we made out a floating castle in the middle. It was so neat but we could not pay good attention to it because there was so much fog. I must come back and visit that at some point in my life. We were riding through the mountains when we noticed a big yellow wall that was cascading down the mountains, and in the center on the side of a mountain was what looked like a little city. These mountains, which I think are called the Hindu Kush, are some of the oldest mountains in the world and they were not very tall. As we arrived Manvendra told us that this was called the Amber Palace because it was yellow and it was well protected with the mountains and the giant wall that goes for many many miles. We got to ride elephants on the trail up to the palace, and it was so beautiful of a view as we ascended the mountain. The elephants were all much smaller than I thought they would be because I was used to Thai elephants which seemed to be much larger. It was a beautiful day and this palace was so amazing. Apparently the movie Akbar the Great was filmed here and it was very well intact. The country had worked to upkeep it with paint and cleaning. We saw a snake charmer her too, which was pretty neat because it was a cobra and we got to see its wide head with the cape as it sat up. Some of the people in our group paid to touch it. The man played an instrument that the snake responded to. It was just like what you see in the movies, like the Jungle Book (with real actors of course).

We then went to another palace that was further up the hill and much less attractive and was built much later after the British occupied India. There were beautiful sections of the house for each wife, but instead of engraved stone for walls there was painting that gave the appearance of being engraved. Compared to the remarkable handwork and architecture that we had been seeing recently I was not at all impressed. There were also French doors that surprised me. The culture was obviously affected by the west and their new fascination with things like wallpaper.

We then went and saw how a special Iranian pottery was made in Jaipur only and I got a few beautiful vases that were very inexpensive. It was interesting to see how it was made. We also went to see how block printing was done on Indian fabrics. It was a very detailed process, and I realized how inexpensively they are selling the fabrics but how much labor was behind each piece.

We then went to a UVA alum’s house because it was the kite festival in Jaipur. People took this very seriously, and everyone used string for their kites with glass that could cut their opponent’s string. The object of the game was to cut a neighbor’s kite who was standing on their porch flying their kite. It was fun, but I never got the hang of trying to keep the kite where you wanted it and getting it to circle another person’s kite. I was sad because we did not really get a good chance to get to know our hosts because everyone was so interested in the kites. It was still very fun and a good experience. I always thought kite flying was just a leisure activity. I was very wrong. Haha. After this we went to a really cool place for dinner that was set up like Busch Gardens or something, because it was like we traveled in time back to a Rajasthan village, we ate on the floor and had an incredibly spicy dinner that was served with many different courses. There were then camel rides, a lake with buildings that resembled old tribal like buildings, and everyone played the part of an old Rajasthanian. It was a lot of friend and very interesting to have the cultural experience. It was one of my favorite places that we had been for dinner. It had been a fun day, and I felt spoiled between the food, the hotel, and all the palaces we had seen recently. I really love Jaipur.

1/15/10

Well, it is time to go back to Delhi, and we have a long trip ahead of us. This is also the last day that we are keeping a journal because we leave tomorrow to go back home and are just spending the day getting last minute things together. We went back to the pink part of the city for the morning before we left though which was fun. Here we saw the original and HUGE Jantar Mantar, which was yellow instead of red like the one in Delhi. We had a tour guide this time that walked us through each mechanism and explained its use and importance. I felt kind of nerdy because I enjoyed the astronomy part of it so much! We then went to one more palace in the center of Jaipur, and I got a book about the last princess that lived there until India gained independence and became a democracy. It was an autobiography about growing up in India and being royalty, and apparently it is a very famous book too.

IndiAwesome =)

So I am fully caught up now... I hope it stays this way, I don't want to overwhelm yall. We are leaving for Agra and Jaipur on Monday though, and I have no idea what the situation is with the internet there. So this could possibly be one of my last posts until I get home. I love you all so much for staying dedicated and reading this. I try my hardest to describe it so you feel like you are here with me. It's wonderful and I am so thankful that I was able to come on this trip!

1/5/10

This morning for lecture we had an amazing guest speaker named Narayani Gupta who edited the book Delhi: It’s Monuments and History. She is an adorable old Indian woman that has studied oversees, speaks fluently in English, and was one of the most intelligent women that I have met. She could answer all questions off the tip of her tongue about India, the history, Britain’s history, culture, religion, etc. She spoke to us on the British conquest of India, and unlike most Indians, she claimed that the British did not control the Indians during the East Indian Trade Company, and it wasn’t until the sepoy rebellion in 1857 that led to a strict British regime.

She stayed for lunch and I sat at her table, which was the best decision I have made thus far. I talked to her about the Pakistan partition and its affect on the women near the border that are abducted between the religions. She told me a story about a friend that was in a similar situation but was offered freedom by a school that paid her tuition and she left her family before they took action against the Muslim community and is now a writer. She alluded to the fact that woman are often killed by their own families as a martyr so that they were not taken by the Muslims, and her friend fled just before this happened to her. I knew that this has happened, but I did not realize that it was a true prevalent problem. We continued to discuss religions in India, and how there is a huge paradox between the lifestyle and the spiritual religion itself. She was telling me that there are many Indians that live the Hindu lifestyle (which is centered around their gods and their rituals) yet denounce any form of a god. She was telling me how it confuses her that people pretend to be religious for the public eye, like during the time of a wedding or funeral, but in their personal lives they do not believe in the gods. I immediately wanted to jump in by saying “Well of course! They are never experiencing these gods and there is nothing directly working in their lives… why in the world would they spend time pursuing something that they do not have a relationship with?” but I didn’t.. lol. Instead I related to her and said that I am equally frustrated with American “Christians” and the fact that the rest of the world thinks we are all spiritually equal Christians that live out the Christian life daily. I explained how the majority of our population does not practice Christianity, and how it is just a label, which is unsettling for those who live our lives for the Lord. I think she enjoyed the fact that we found common ground through the religion and I wanted to be respectful and not offensive. Here in India there is such a turn from Christianity because they do not like that we declare that there is only one God and all other religions are idolatrous. They accept all religions and do not want Christians to tell them that there is only one way. I think that if we would have taken a different approach than the British there would not be such animosity against Christianity because the British used Christianity to criticize Indian culture as a whole to declare their supremacy. I am hoping that my lack of force with Mrs. Gupta left her curious why I did not just try to convert her but wanted to converse with her. I feel like in that situation it was more important to show love and sympathy because she already knows the basis of Christianity and already had a bias in her head against it. I really enjoyed the time that I spent with her.

That afternoon we went to see Gandhi’s memorial, which was rather rambunctious do to the hundreds of school boys running around throwing flowers on us during their field trip. It was a square with a torch in the middle with one of his quotes, and you walked around the square to pay your respects. Unlike all of the other memorials that we have been to where everyone was very quiet and respectful, this one was rather hectic and the boys were not reverential whatsoever. I have noticed that Gandhi is a much smaller figure in India compared to anywhere else in the world. We all know who Gandhi was and we all think he was an amazing activist that sparked American activists like Martin Luther King. Here in India I have barely heard anything about him, which I was not expecting. I thought he would be a modern hero here as well. I wonder if that has something to do with why the Gandhi memorial was not as revered as the other memorials. I really enjoyed seeing his memorial nonetheless.

We then went into Old Delhi where the British originally occupied before they built New Delhi. As we were driving up I noted the complete contrast from the rest of Delhi I had seen and Old Delhi. It had a different lay out with the buildings all squished together, and it was very dark and believe it or not even dirtier than we had seen. It had a pungent smell and everything was run down. According to our book, Old Delhi was once magnificent but over time it was not kept up and has become very run down. We went to see the first Christian Church in India, St. Johns, which we think was Episcopal. It was beautiful and yellow with large pillars and a center dome, which sat among the ugly exterior of Old Delhi. The inside was simple with an old large organ, wooden pews, and only one stained glass window in the front behind the pulpit. It is still in use today, and with the high ceilings I can imagine the acoustics are beautiful when music is played. We also saw where the first British residency was, and the building was probably once beautiful but it was a government building that needed a power white wash and reconstruction. It did not look much different from the other buildings around it.

We then went to Connaught Place for dinner, where we had more free time where I got to shop around a little on my own and navigate around the large circular road that is the center of CP. We then had dinner at a little American and Indian restaurant where our table was talked into buying a bottle of wine that was more expensive than the food we had. Haha… needless to say we all enjoyed our glass (and yes.. I am legally allowed to drink here.. lol). Overall, it was a wonderful day, but my favorite part was the lecture by Mrs. Gupta because I learned so much in such a short amount of time!

1/6/10

This morning we had a short lecture and went on a very long bus ride. We were trying to fit in some museums before we had lunch, but because of traffic this definitely did not happen. We stopped at the Indira Ghandi Memorial, which was her old family home. Indira Ghandi was the second prime minister of India after her father, Nehru, who was part of the Indian Congress during the British regime. Her house was transformed into a walking tour museum with pictures and newspaper articles everywhere. Apparently she was a very controversial leader, and gained a lot of power where people were worried that she was becoming a dictator. She was assassinated by her own Sikh guards because she had a Sikh temple destroyed. I was shocked that people kill because of their religion, but there might be more to the story than I know. The museum then continued on to her son Rija Ghandi, who was different than his mother when he became prime minister, however he was still assassinated when he was in his 30’s from a bombing. The ability for people to just assassinate their leaders so easily was shocking to me. In America there is a huge outcry the few times presidents were assassinated, but here I feel like death is much more normal and accepted. I really enjoyed this museum because it was more history than anything else, and I have not learned very much about modern India.

After this we were invited to the third largest car show in the world by the family that has a daughter at UVA, the Chaudrys. They have a car business that had a show car, which was a decorated Nano (the new Indian cars that are only 2,000 dollars). He provided us lunch and then let us go and explore the car show. I had no idea what to expect, and I thought we would be sitting in an arena watching cars get paraded around… yeah not so much =) It felt like a fair with tents and cars everywhere that you could go sit in and takes pictures with. There were also give aways and contests. Mariam, Zo, Joi, Kevin and I entered into a contest with JVC systems, and we had to use toilet paper and wrap up our partner like a mummy. I wrapped Kevin and the Indians in the crowd decided that we were the best, and we won! It was kinda exciting because we won bags with t-shirts and leather planners, but then they gave out bags to our whole group later so we all got them. The secret to mummification with toilet paper is that I made Kevin cross his arms and then hold the ends of the toilet paper as I wrapped it for each section that I covered. Everyone else was struggling to get the paper to stay around the person. Although our professor told me that we only won because I was given the benefit of the doubt because Kevin was the tallest one with the most to wrap. Haha. Oh well. I tried. So Mr. Chaudry took us to see the Indian car company TATA, that he said just bought Land Rover and Jaguar so we got to see all of their newest models. It was kinda cool even though I’m not a car person, but my favorite part was seeing the brand new BMW blue convertible…if only ;).

For dinner, Mr. Rai invited us to his house with the other group that was staying at the residency from MIT. I was expecting a bunch of guys, but there were actually 10 girls in a group of 11. They were fun to talk to as a change from the Indians that we have been meeting this whole trip. Mr. Rai’s house was amazing, large, and modern. His backyard was perfectly managed and decorated with fountains, ponds, bridges and flowers. It was very peaceful and you would never know that he lived in the center of Delhi. He was telling us that it’s the only place that you can find a large amount of acres because it is where the politicians live. It was very strange to see this because we have been driving through the most impoverished parts of Delhi these past couple of days, and suddenly we see this billionaire’s mansion that seems secluded from the city but it’s not. I respect Mr. Rai because he really does give his money away to help everyone around him, and his many schools through India that he takes in men and women for free and gives them education, food, and a place to live. I actually met a girl from Venezuela that was nominated for one of Mr. Rai’s program and she was brought to India for a year of education, a living space, and food by him. She was very thankful and she was telling me that Mr. and Mrs. Rai have become like her grandparents and they have her over once a week for dinner. Our Professor then told us that Mr. Rai is letting us stay and eat at the residency for free. Although he does have extreme amounts of money, he is trying to use it to help others, and I respect that. However, I am not sure that the others that lived in this neighborhood in their mansions were the same way. I do not know how you could live in Delhi and flaunt you wealth unless you were working to end the poverty itself.

He was a wonderful host, taking time to talk to each one of us and hear our stories, and he made me eat at least 3 plates of his wonderful food because every time my plate was bare he brought me more. It was really cute because he completely opened his house to a group of about 30 college students and he was very comfortable with all of us. I also got to talk to his wife who is in the hotel business. I told her about our family’s hotel experience and how we have worked for a Sikh Indian family who made a life for themselves through that business as well. She really enjoyed telling me about how fun it is to open a place for people to come and stay when they are in need. They loved being hospitable, and they say that it is what brings them joy when they can extend their wealth towards others. They have it right, but they do not realize that what they are saying is exactly what Jesus taught to a world that did not understand this concept of helping others who are lower than themselves. It is so interesting how Christian teaching has infiltrated all cultures whether they wanted it or not.

1/7/10

Today I began to realize that the trip is more than halfway over, and I have settled in to India so well that I realize that I could probably live here with more ease than I thought at first. It is completely different than my home, but I see the uniqueness of India and it’s beauty that is more internal than the beauty in America. I see it mostly in the people, as I have said many times before. I have been in so many situations, where in America I would have been more fearful and on edge than I am here. Here I feel very safe even in situations where I am walking around in the dark through alley ways, or when we are lost on the side of a large road with beggars all around us. I think it’s because everyone is in similar situations that there is no reason for anyone to attack or steal from another. Maybe I am just being naïve, but I do not even worry about my purse anymore and I carry it just like I would in any mall in America. The people might ask you for money or they may try to sell you something, but when you ask them politely to stop or you look them in the eye and say “I’m sorry, but I do not have anything” then they do stop and go away respectfully. They aren’t trying to scare you or hurt you, they are just trying to survive, but they know you are trying to survive as well (but maybe just in different ways). At dinner I sat with the professor and he was telling me the many opportunities that the government has opened for the poor and homeless families in Delhi. There are many part time jobs of construction that they can pick up in a day and earn money, and that more and more people are getting more money because of these government construction jobs. It turns out that many people we see on the side of the road are doing work on the sidewalks or the road and we just do not realize it because there are not using huge machines. He said that many of the beggars are choosing to beg because at certain places the higher class freely gives away money and food and they do not have to work as hard for it. It still breaks my heart and I know that it is still much worse than he was making it out to be, but I felt better that at least the government is taking steps to end it. I have begun getting a doggy bag of my leftover food from every restaurant we go to and give it to the first beggar that asks me for something that I see. Every time the people look so thankful and it makes me very happy that I can use something that I have enjoyed to help other people as well. Yesterday I collected the leftovers from everyone at the table and had a bunch of bags of food I was able to give to more than one person. Hopefully I can do this more and more while I’m here.

This was the religious experience day, where we went from a Hindu temple, to a Sikh temple, to a Guru’s tomb, to a Sufi shrine. Each was completely different and very beautiful in their own ways, but it was very eerie as you walked through the cold rooms with constant chanting in the background. There were so many devoted people and it really broke my heart. Their devotion is wasted on Satan’s lies to humanity.. and I truly believe that their hearts are seeking for purity while looking at the wrong place. You would only show so much devotion when you believe that you are during the correct thing as opposed to the others who go through life day by day with no purpose at all. At least these people were seeking for something beyond their material life. When I think of them compared to the Americans that live for their own carnal pleasures as “agnostic,” I actually respect these devoted Hindus and Sikh more. I wish that someone will show them the Way and the Truth where their devotion will have results, and where they can have a real relationship instead of a lifeless one with gods that they give human characteristics where they are not perfect and do mess up. How can you rely on a god that you know will not always be perfect and will let you down?

The Sufi shrine was interesting to me because Sufism is a sect of Islam where they pray “I believe in the one true god, and his prophet Muhammed.” I know that it is a controversial concept for Christians because they believe that we have the same God but that Muhammed brought the truth in the Quran to the people. Yes they are violent, and yes they have gone too far when they attack Christians for no reason, but here they say that these actions are not part of the religion but it has been incorporated for political reasons, but it’s not the real religion. I don’t know the truth here, but regardless I feel like they are very similar to the Jewish religion, where they have some parts right but they are missing the important truth, Jesus Christ, the Son of God who God sent to us because He loves us and wants to spend forever with us in a paradise called Heaven. Without this crucial concept, everything else that the Old Testament is impossible to achieve and will always leave you feeling inadequate and sinful. Do Christians try to reach the Muslim faith? Or are we just scared and have reservations because we know that they do not like us? Well, the Romans did not like the Christian faith and were told to kill Christians, yet Spirit filled Christians still pursued them and through God’s power they were able to still leave a lasting impact on the world through the persecution. Why are we not trying harder? It’s like we’ve given up and accepted that there will always be another religion that hates Christians and we will never be able to reach them. Well…. I’m beginning to think the anti-Islam talk that we hear all the time in America is stupid, and it’s time to shower in love and compassion because that is what Jesus calls us to regardless of the consequences.

I am beginning to learn and experience a lot that I needed to spend a lot of time with God in prayer to truly understand what was happening behind my eye’s view. Spiritual warfare is evident all around, however God is so faithful=). I love and miss you all!

Christy<3

Half way there!

Hy friends,

I am so sorry that I have not been able to upload my blogs that I have written because of the internet.. i'll start posting 2 at a time because I am still writing every day. Sorry I am a couple of days off. It is the halfway there point and I cannot wait for my adventure, but I am beginning to miss home!

1/3/10

We had another free day of fun and exploring, but we were better equipped with maps, and a general understanding of the way Delhi is structured. I was at first under the impression that we were going to rest and enjoy a day without scheduling, but we decided to go into the city anyway. We went to the Lodi Tombs in the gardens, which was a vision in and of itself. Although this was the third consecutive dreary day with chilly 50 degree weather and a haze that perpetually covered the air and ground. We were definitely bundled up in our layers of clothes.

The Lodi Tombs are both tombs and a mosque in the center of the city of Delhi. The tombs are from the time of the Lodi Kings beginning in the 1450’s. Sikandar Shah Lodi was the second king of the Lodi dynasty. This was the largest of the tombs in the garden, and it was interesting because it has a large wall around the tomb when the other large tomb in the gardens did not have a wall but the tomb itself was very similar, which was an octagonal dome with mini domes on the top called chhattris. I wonder if the wall has something to do with the tomb being of a king. Professor Cohen told us a neat fact that when you look at the box that symbolizes the person buried under and you see a straight line down the middle than it was a man, and if there is a little box instead than it was a woman. This intrigued me so I started noticing it on every tomb, which was when I found that one of the king’s stones did not have the line down the middle. He couldn’t explain it when I asked him. Needless to say, I am beginning to question his theory, haha. There is also a large mosque called Bara Gumbad that included a gateway, which was built by the Mughal noble Abu Amjad (I love this name because of Abu… the monkey from Aladdin!). Beyond the tombs and the mosque there were hills and fields of flowers and grass, which was such a paradox to the city that it is sitting in. It was beautiful and it felt like we had taken a break from Delhi. It was beautiful just walking around, and observing the people or the dogs that were resting everywhere through the park, some were strays and some where obviously pets because they had sweaters on =). I thought my little sister Megan would enjoy the dog sweaters so I took some pictures.

We started looking for a place to eat lunch, but stumbled upon the large tomb of Safdarjang, which was the last of the Mughal tombs before the British reign. It was beautiful and looked like a miniature version of the Taj Mahal with a fountain and water pool surrounding it, and a gate with boarding houses on three sides. It was so large and was created for one person, which was astounding to me. However, according to our book, the architecture is not as good as the earlier Mughal tombs because the Mughal Empire was in decline and had limited money, unlike the beginning of the Mughal Period. The stone was not are pure and over time has yellowed and deteriorated and the building is not as sturdy as it should have been. Despite these things, I was still incredibly impressed with how large a building and how beautiful the designs and colors were. The beautiful high ceilings of stone were my favorite part because they were sculpted with beautiful designs that you can’t capture on my little camera.

We decided that we were going to go to a market for lunch, but it was too far to walk and there were too many for one taxi, so we split up and decided to meet at the landmark The Taj Mahal Hotel, which is the 5 star hotel in Delhi. Well, the other group’s taxi driver did not know where the hotel was and ended up dropping them off directly at the market place. After waiting inside the hotel because we were swiftly directed inside because we were Americans and it was assumed that we were staying there (based on the color of our skin, we were obviously treated with much more respect than the other Indians that were walking outside the hotel…. Yes, I have a problem with this, but continuing on…), we never found the other group and were so taken with the beauty of the hotel that we decided to have lunch there instead. There were 5 restaurants in the hotel, and we chose the Japanese restaurant. The menu was overwhelming, and with assistance from the flabbergasted waiter, we were able to make a “family style” lunch of noodles and rice. The waiter thought it was so strange that we were trying to eat as inexpensively as possible and it was clear that he assumed we had unlimited amounts of money that we should have spent. What a stereotype us Americans have shown to the world.

After the amazing lunch, we just walked around trying to find something that we wanted, to do. We found the only Jewish Synagogue in all of Delhi, where there are only 10 Jewish families. It was really cool because the caretaker/rabbi/ all of the above let us in and gave us a tour and told us about the families and their activities. We met his family, his son who was having band practice, and got to see a people group that was a complete change from the culture we had been seeing everywhere else. One of the girls in our group is Jewish and I think it really left an impression on her to see how Jews live outside of the communities that we are familiar with. I really enjoyed that.

We continued exploring and found a “habitat center,” and we had no idea what that was so we decided to find out. We walked into the center of a group of buildings and behold to us was a diner! The All American Diner, which was crowded with many Indians attempting to experience the American stereotypical 50’s diner, which they advertised as if a diner was found in every city in every state! It was funny because when we walked in we were treated as movie stars, and the little girls at the table next to us started saying “look! I touched one! I touched one!” haha. It was precious. Needless to say, we were really excited to have some American desserts and malts, but what did it for me was when the jukebox started playing The Monkees song Daydream Believer. This of course is my sentimental childhood favorite tv show/ band. It really made me smile that even in India they were known. I really thought of my Dad and my brother Ray who both share in the love of this 60’s phenomena… I am starting to miss home a little bit.

Overall, I am starting to navigate my way around a city that I first thought to be rather un-navigable. It was a good idea on the teacher’s side of things to force us to get around the city on our own so we could really have the full Delhi experience that isn’t a guided tour. I am getting used to the differences between Delhi and America, and I am starting to overlook the dirt and trash and see it as a real city, just like any other. The more and more people I have experienced the more I am really starting to relate to them and enjoy listening to their stories in broken English. I wish that I could speak Hindi! Whoever said that everyone in Delhi speaks English was very wrong. Only the upper class has ever been taught English, and the store clerks have picked pieces of it up after many experiences with tourists. If I want to live here, I have to take language classes.

1/4/10

This morning we had an early lecture, which was really interesting because we discussed a poem in the religion of the Sultanate Period of India, Sufism. Chandaya, the poem, discussed two lovers whose names meant sun and moon that were both married but had an adulterous affair. The woman was supposed to represent Allah as an allegory of the love between humans and God. The poem described their love and their feelings towards each other. This surprised me because it was incredibly similar to the Song of Songs in the Bible, but they made it a sinful relationship instead with the adultery. This really baffled me because they overlook the sin and say that this is how a relationship with God should be as a complete devotion. What I love about God is that it is impossible for Him to be in the presence of sin. This poem makes Allah appear to have the same sinful nature as man, who cannot control his carnal desires. The poem was adapted to also cater to Hindu culture, and the characters are depicted as Indians. I wonder if the writer of this poem was responding the Song of Solomon. I am probably going to research this more when I get home because I am sure that someone has written something on this because it’s so similar. I love the way that Song of Solomon is completely pure in their love, which is what makes it beautiful. This poem was dirtied because of the sin that it was based on, which made it very ugly to me. I do not see its appeal, even though many use this poem as their form of worship.

After lecture we went to Purana Qila, which was a walled in city that was built before the Mughals, but Humayun renovated it. It had a beautiful mosque, the remains of a roman looking bath, and a large library in the center that was octagonal in shape. The architecture was so intricate and they used colors like blue, white, red, and yellow to make designs on the walls and ceilings. The rest was made with red sandstone. You could walk along the wall, and climb on the ruins to see the top. I made a few friends with the little children that were begging inside the walls. They followed me around for a while, a little girl probably about 7 and a little boy that could not have been any older than 4, and unlike many other people that I saw tell them to go away I tried to talk to them. Although I did not have any food, I wanted to cheer them up somehow because it was so heartbreaking to me. So I got out my camera and took pictures of them and showed them. Their faces lit up and they started talking in Hindi and I am pretty sure they were saying “Is that me???????” while they were jumping up and down pointing at themselves. They absolutely loved it and I realized that they had probably never looked through a camera before. I let them take pictures, and I knew that it might not be the best idea to hand them my camera, but I could feel the Spirit leading me on because I was probably the only light that they were going to have in their lives any time soon. This fact really made me wish that I could speak to them and explain how Jesus loves them and just wants to wrap his protective arms around them. Well, I sat down, gave them gum, and we just kinda played together until our group came by telling me that it was time to go. How do you deal with beggars and those around you? It is so hard to just walk away and ignore it, and I wish that there was something more that I could do then just trying to make them smile. However, one thing that did impress me was that they were still willing and able to smile, even though they were malnourished and living without life’s necessities. I am beginning to understand the hearts of people like Ghandi and Mother Theresa. I was reminded of the old Amy Grant song, All the Children of the World, where she says “I’ll carry on for the Children of the World, every single little boy and girl, Heaven plants a special seed and we must have faith for these. Red and yellow black and white, they are precious in the Father’s eyes. Like a father may receive, that they have a destiny, and give them the light of love to lead.”

After we left Purana Qila, we went to Humayun’s Tomb, which was more magnificent than the tomb we went to the day before even though it was the same size. It was what the Taj Mahal was modeled after. Humayun was the second king of the Mughal Dynasty back when it was a very wealthy and strong empire. They were able to hire the most experiences architects and had a lot of manpower to build it. It is a special place where the last Mughal Emperor fled to when the British entered Delhi. It was a place of safety for the people. It was beautiful.

That night we decided to go to a Bollywood movie at the movie theatre near our residency. We had been seeing music videos and advertisements for The Three Idiots. I went expecting the kind of stupid American films with strange titles like Dodgeball or American Pie, but this movie grabbed a piece of all of my emotions. We were laughing, crying, dancing, shocked, and excited. It was a very fun and well made movie. It was a very long movie, and movies here have intermission. We paid 20 cents extra for premium seats, which had pillows and fully reclined, versus the economy seats. It was a fun experience, and we now have all of the bollywood songs stuck in our heads because some people bought the soundtrack=). It was a fun night.

Alright my loves, I miss you very much, and I really appreciate it that you are keeping up with me and reading all of this=) It really means alot to me. I will try to post more soon internet willing!

Love,

Christy<3

Gotta Love Giant Historical Playgrounds!

Hey all.. this is actually yesterdays post! I am sorry I am a day off, but I am working on it.

1/2/10

Today was another adventure! Unfortunately we missed one of the intended stops on the agenda, but it was mostly because of the traffic. It takes us at least an hour to go anywhere in the city because we drive a large bus and it’s hard to weave through the cars. I enjoyed it this morning though because I spent some time with my ipod and my worship songs. It is hard to get any quiet time in while I am here so this bus ride was special because I was in the very back and got to just reflect in God’s presence over India and my purpose for being here. The song “How He Loves Us” by David Crowder came on and it really made me think about the truth of that statement. He really wanted me to understand how he does love us, which means all of us including the people I was watching as I looked out the bus window to the street. The man working to sell his fruit as he walks from car to car, or the woman carrying bricks on her head towards the construction sites. He made it clear that I need to start showing them His love instead of just watching and making comments about them. Love and Action were my key quiet time words for the day. I thought that was interesting.

After a lecture about the Rajput and pre-Mughal kings in India in the morning we set off on our journey. We have to give presentations on a subject that we read, interestingly enough one of the guys named Timour was assigned the subject of the overthrow of Delhi by Timur the Turk in the 13^th century. I thought that was cute =). In tune with the subject of the pre-Mughal period (or the Sultanate Period), we went to see an adorable city on the outskirts of Delhi called Hauz Khas. It was a water tank (a large man-made lake) made by Alauddin, and restored by Firoz Shah Tughlaq. He added a Madarsa, an Islamic school, next to the water with dorms for the students also. It was interesting seeing the size of the rooms that they had. I will never complain about the size of my first year dorm room that’s for sure. When Timur invaded Delhi he set up camp at the Hauz Khas, and it was neglected ever since. The water would drain during the dry season until the last 20 years when the Indian government supplements the water year round. Even though it was foggy and dirty, the scenery of the lake and the ruins was beautiful. Before we explored the ruins, we went to have lunch in the town first.

We went to an “American café” where I got a brochette (bread with cheese and tomato sauce) thinking that I would enjoy one non spicy meal for a while. Man I was so wrong! There were spicy tomatoes, and it was the hottest thing that I have eaten since I have been here. We then ordered garlic bread thinking it could take away the spice…. Well the garlic bread was just as equally spicy! It taught me a lesson that you can take the food out of the spice, but you can’t take the spice out of the food here in India. It was very delicious, as if it makes up for the hotness. Oh well.

Later, we spent time climbing all through the Madarsa and exploring. I was amazed by the architecture! It was built so long ago with heavy stones and intricate art and detail that has survived hundreds of years! What an accomplishment! We climbed in and out, up and down windows, up dark corridors with camera light, down dramatic staircases, and through the peaceful pathway along the water. We were feeling so adventurous, that Taylor, Jr and I climbed out on the unique tree standing above the nasty murky water. The trees around the lake were so different than I have seen. They all lean and grow far out over the water as if they were reaching towards something. The Indian people watched us and acted as if we were crazy for all of the actions we partook in.

We then got to watch little boys playing cricket, which I have never seen someone play before. They were thrilled to have an audience. I loved to watch how differently children play in India as far as I have observed. They seem more organized and mature than children I am around in America. 6 year olds were playing cricket, which is a very patient game that can take up to days to finish. There were no adults anywhere to be seen, yet they were very well behaved. It was a very fun time when we rooted for the batters as they stepped up for the ball and flashed a smile for our cameras. Haha.

That night we just rested, and we tried to watch The Illusionist on the DVD player in the “living room,” but it wouldn’t play American movies. So Mariam and I just watched the Jungle Book on my computer. I definitely did not complain =) This was probably my favorite day so far. It was a giant historical playground with beauty beyond comparison to anything we see in the States. I was very impressed.

I love and miss you guys <3

Busy Busy Busy, but Oh so fun!

Hey guys,

Our internet has been pretty sketchy recently, and it wouldn't let me upload my posts. I am really sorry! But here they are in order of date from the past two days because I wrote and saved them in a word file. I am going to write one separately for today (10/2).

December 31, 2009

Today was a very long but fun day! In the morning we attended our first lecture, where we attempted to learn the basics of the Hindi language. It is not easy, and the “vowels” and “consonants” are based on sounds and have strange rules. Needless to say, I can recognize a few numbers, the name Rachel (the name of one of the girls on the trip), and the word Delhi. =)

In the afternoon we went to the Qutb Minar, which was a large monument that extends far into the air, and is one of the monuments grouped with the Leaning Tower of Pisa because it leans to its side. It is interesting because the base is very wide, but it gets narrower and narrower as it goes up. According to our book, if you were to jump from the top you would hit the side of the building “even if you were an experienced jumper.” We got a laugh out of that. No one knows the real reason for this monument which was built during the Rajustan Period (the Rajputs) in 1200 A.D.. It is too high to be the building for the call to prayer because they would not hear a person from the top. There are many speculations that is was possibly built as a victory tower, but none are known for sure. There was a second one that was started by Alauddin (love the name!) that was going to be 3 times the size, but he died and it was never finished. The ruins around the monument are what I really enjoyed, which consisted of Qutbuddin’s mosque, and Iltitmish’s monsque, and a Muslim school. We saw the iron pillar that I learned about in my class Materials that Shape Civilization. If any of you go to UVA, you know what I’m talking about =) To say it was an easy science class it is an understatement. It is a large pillar that is 99.9 percent iron and was put together piece by piece, but you cannot tell when looking at it. It was exciting because only two of us who took the class even knew what it was! We took lots of fun pictures all around the ruins, and it was so neat how families came to just picnic and take their children as if it was a playground. There were other ruins of mosques, ancient libraries and schools, but we could climb them and run around. You don’t see stuff like this in America and it’s just so exciting. It was the first time that we have been in Delhi and have seen beautiful grass and birds and generally clean surroundings. It was weird that right outside of the gates we walked back into the dusty and dirty streets of Delhi where reality hits again.

We continued to the Baha’i Faith Lotus Temple, which was their house of worship. It is unique because it is shaped like a lotus flower. This faith has strong ties to Israel, and apparently is a religion that originates from pieces of Christianity and Islam. There are three primary prophets that have given the followers instruction, but the basic tenants are peace and unity of religion. When we tried to find more about their actual beliefs, their answers were rather vague and I could never get a clear answer. I am going to look it up more when I get home, but I feel like it’s similar to unification religions that are seen around the world.

Well, that night we were invited to celebrate New Years Eve at a country club with a family from UVA! We went to a suburb of Delhi to a beautiful club that was obviously for the upper class. There was amazing food and a dance floor, which we were promptly encouraged to dance on. We danced the night away to welcome in the new year 2010. It was one of those experiences that I will never forget! Celebrating for the new year is a universal concept that you will experience no matter what country you are in, and it’s very exciting.

I am starting to see the beauty everywhere hidden in this city that is looked over as a dirty mess by the developed world. There are so many people that are just like me but happened to be born in different circumstances. It is nothing that they did wrong, and I hate the fact that they are treated that way. It is like because they are poor they are automatically considered ignorant and lower than the rest of society. It is simply ridiculous! I have been able to talk with so many people, from a 12 year old girl that taught herself English and was drawing henna tattoos on the side of the road to a waiter in a nice restraint. They are all able to carry a conversation, they are all sweet and willing to talk, they are all working in some way to provide for themselves, and they are all beautiful images of God that He created out of love and enjoyment. Why in the world do we look down on them because they have less money and live in different conditions? Why do we look at their dirty clothes and unwashed hands and scour? Why do we assume that they aren’t doing what they are supposed to be doing? Why do we assume that they are not safe and should be less respected? I am beginning to see the disgusting hypocrisy that plagues our world. That 12 year old had so much more maturity than I could have dreamed of having when I was twelve, and she was already working to provide for herself and for a possible family. I have so much respect for her, and people like her, because they are making the best out of what they have. I just wish that their culture was not drowning in Satan’s lies that devotion for these many deities is the way to achieve happiness, when really there is no Krishna or Rama watching over them. There is no monkey god interfering in their destiny. I can’t understand why their gods are attractive to them, when the One True God that does interact with you, does talk to you, and does love you is right at their finger tips waiting to envelope them in his arms.

1/01/10

It was New Years Day, and considering we did not get back to our rooms until 3am, we were able to sleep in and had a free day! It was our first day on our own without the professor or any tour guide where we had to explore the city. Unfortunately, even though we were allowed to sleep in, the rest of the city is awake by 8 am regardless. Once the car horns started blazing, the men started debating right outside on the street with each other, and the birds and monkeys decided to dance with each other I realized it is impossible to sleep once the city is awake. Noise is something that you cannot escape in India. It is the constant among the variables that I experience each day. It’s actually kinda fun partaking in this completely different culture.

After breakfast we went into the city to a circle called Connaught Place, which has many different streets coming off of it. On a map it looks like a sun, and the streets are the sun’s rays. The bus basically dropped us off with a map and told us to meet them back at 6pm at the same place. 18 students with one map trying to navigate the unknown streets of Delhi obviously brought amusement for the natives, especially when we stopped them and pointed at the map for help. But we were able to figure out some fun places to explore with the help of random Indians we met on the street. There was a Tibetan market, which is for the refugees that were displaced when the Dali Lama was removed by the Chinese and the Indian government gave them stalls for them to sell items to make a living. Imagine China town in New York on caffeine. Here we could bargain all we wanted to the point where the store clerks applauded me for my tough bargaining skills =). There was also a street with state stores, which are products from all the states in India. Yes, this was a shopping trip!

However, before we started shopping we went to my favorite place that I have seen since we have been in Delhi, called the Jantar Mantar. I remember hearing about the Jantar Mantar in the 4 weeks I took my Archeo-Astronomy class my first semester, so I thought it was interesting I already knew a little bit about it. It was built by Maharajah Jai Singh in 1710 A.D. during the Mughal Empire when he realized that the court’s measurements were not accurate with the measurements of astronomy in the rest of the world. In order to correct it he built 4 giant structures used to measure and predict the movement of the stars and eclipses, and a sundial in the center which is a huge triangle in the middle of the park. These instruments were much larger than the instruments the court was using, which made the measurements more accurate. I had never seen these kinds of things before, even though I have heard all about them, and they were huge buildings that we could run around and play on. We had so much fun exploring them and going into every crevice and taking pictures. There were two circular buildings that looked like miniature coliseums and was made of red clay except there was a giant pole in the middle with many lines attaching it to the walls. There were windows too like the coliseum and some of us decided to be adventurous and climb up and sit in them, which resulted in some pretty awesome pictures and some very dirty bottoms. I felt like a 7 year old running around on a playground. It was so neat how families brought picnics and spent the entire day sitting around this park while the children ran all through the instruments. This was my favorite thing that I have done this far.

Continuing on our journey, we stopped at a restaurant our teacher recommended called Kwality Restaurant (get it? Quality haha). It was a very fancy restaurant and they were very happy to have American visitors because they put us in our own private room. I originally ordered something that sounded tasty in garlic and onions, but then the waiter asked if I was sure I wanted it because it was lamb brain. Haha. I did not order it for myself, but my friend did instead and I tried it… It was gushy but very flavorful from the curry that it was in. The waiter brought me a lamb dish that he thought I would like that was soaked in a creamy yellow sauce (non spicy of course) with this yummy pita bread to soak it up with called non (sp?). It was delicious and the most fulfilling meal that I have had yet. After lunch, we continued our adventure by trying to cross the street with a group of 18. It was like playing frogger, except it was in real life with people instead of frogs. They don’t really have cross walks at most places and you just have to take a chance and step out into the road and pray that cars will stop because the traffic is so bad you will be able to cross without cars. I swear I saw at least 5 people almost get hit and it made my heart skip a beat each time. But apparently that’s the Indian lifestyle and it’s normal for them. Scary.

Throughout the shopping experience we accidentally ended up in a carpet store, where they told us to sit for a presentation. They showed us how they made the rugs, and then proceeded to pull out rug after rug after rug, and we realized that they thought we were there to purchase the 50,00$ minimum rugs! They were not happy when we promptly stood up, apologized, and walked out. Oops! We also picked up a friend named Sammy along the way, who was determined to sell each girl these colorful beaded necklaces: “2 for 10 rupees miss, please miss, 2 for 10 rupees!” He walked with us from the Tibetan market to the rug store to the state stores, was with us for about 2 hours, safely guided us all across the street, and showed us a few local shortcuts to avoid the worst crowds. I felt like his hard work and determination deserved some kind of reward regardless of if I actually wanted them or not. They way I saw it was this: 10 rupees is equivalent to about 5 cents and this boy had helped this group of naïve Americans that couldn’t navigate worth a penny anyway. I gave in and bought them, along with 10 other girls who felt sympathy for him. He was a sweet kid.

It was a wonderful day where we got to really experience the local atmosphere and tangibly experience Dehli. However, it wore me out, and as soon as we got back I was out by 9pm without one bit of disturbance until 7am when I woke up to get ready for the next day. It has been a busy couple of days, but I have really enjoyed it. I have begun to look past the dirtiness and extreme difference between Delhi and America and am beginning to feel like I can fit in. Today we laughed because 500 rupees is starting to sound like a lot of money to us, when really it is only 10$. Our professor said: “the restaurant might be more expensive than the lunches you have hear. Be prepared to pay atleast 500 rupees!” and the whole room sighed and gasped from that number =). Haha. India is really an amazing place!

Well, I love you and miss you all so much! I will try to continue to write nightly posts but the internet connection has to cooperate! Love Love Love<3

Christy

Learning and Understanding

Hey guys,

Today was rather low key and interesting! I would like to report that breakfast did not contain one hint of spicyness, which was so refreshing for my poor mouth that has endured 2 days of spicy food =). I also found out that I like banana and green peppers when they are cooked a certain way with a sweet and sour sauce in a wrap for breakfast. It's amazing the different foods I have experienced today. Also, for lunch there was a fruit dish, which looked liked barbeque pork, that was called tommy fruit (or johnny fruit, I can't remember but I know it was a boy's name.. lol) and it tasted like chicken or pork in a spicy brown sauce... Simply fascinating.

We went to visit Mr. Rai, the founder of the foundation we are staying with and a multi-billionaire that has created a business school in the center of Delhi and a school for women in need outside of Jaipur that we are going to stop by later. He spoke to us about what it means to have the Hindu philosophy that everyone is made of energy, which is called god, and that energy cannot be created of destroyed; therefore all people do not die but are simply reincarnated. This philosophy then believes that all religions as true because god is everywhere and is Jesus Christ, but was also Muhammad, and the Dalhi Lama, and Buddha, and every person. The only time religion is not accepted by the Hindus is when the religion believes that only their god is God or their prophet is the only way to Heaven. So, in a sense, he was pushing on the Christian ideals that he assumed, as Americans, that we all believed. He was very persuasive for many as he explained his view, which I saw from the look on their faces as they listened. He also explained that the goal in life is to find your inner happiness and to be content with it. Well, to a certain extent I believe that it is important to be content with what God has provided, but my happiness comes from Him and Him alone, and not from my life and what I have. It was almost sad to me that he believed that "looking within yourself at your mind because it is the greatest thing" was the way to be satisfied and fulfilled. I know that many times my mind is actually the origin of my problems and unhappiness and it isn't until God shows me where I need to be that I find contentment and satisfaction. I do not understand how this man was able to talk so sincerely about being satisfied, when I know that living a life based on your own desires and mindset only brings you grief because you will always want more and will always strive to get more power. It is part of our human nature. It is not possible for us to feel satisfied when we are giving in to our carnal (and sinful) desires in life. It got to the point where he was telling us what to believe, not explaining his belief, yet he was telling us that Hinduism doesn't care about our religion and long as we live the way we desire to live. I almost felt like he was trying to convince us that because we are naive American tourists that do not know anything about Indian philosophy we need to have guidance on what to believe once we come to India. I respect his passion for what he was talking about, but it made me so sad that although he taught about being satisfied he is probably not satisfied at all. After listening to him, I really appreciated God's love for us, which caused Him to come and interact with us and fills us until we are satisfied. He is an awesome God.

Well, Mr. Rai continued to tell us about the economics of India and how it is rising more than we think, but that it will take time before it shows throughout the country. I feel like everyone says that here and are concentrating so much on the future economics that they are failing to work on the many problems that they are faced with in India (and even Delhi) right now. It's like they believe that once they have a strong economy the problems will all blow away. Is money really the answer for the poorest country in the world? I honestly think it's going to take much more than economics to reform this country that has been living in the dark for such a long time.

One thing that really got my attention though was when he began to tell us about the school for girls that he founded outside of Jaipur. It is a free school that girls and women can come live at if they are nominated because they are underprivileged. They will learn basic skills like sowing but they will also be educated in English, business techniques, and science. Of course I fell in love with this idea because it is exactly what I have wanted to be involved with in India when I first started learning about the plight of women all through South Asia. He gave us more information and brochures, and we are going to stop and see the school on our way to Jaipur. I am wondering if this is something God wants me to pursue.

Well, after meeting with Mr. Rai, we went to the India gate, where there were so many Indian families and colorful saris and children running around. It was crowded but so much fun! Some of us girls got Henna on our hands by a sweet 12 year old, which has already started to wash off not 8 hours later.. haha. But it was still fun and only about a dollar. We then went to the Indian National Museum, which was almost entirely devoted to sculptures and painting of the Hindu gods, which got tiring after a while. However, there was a really cool room with ancient weapons used in South India, which included Elephant dressings and a saber of Hanuman just like in The Jungle Book (which many of you know I am obsessed with... its the none animated version of course)! It was very intriguing seeing how over thousands of years they have portrayed hundreds of gods in delightful ways, seductive ways, evil ways, and pensive ways and how every god had human characteristics and human downfalls.

My favorite picture was a painting from the Mughal period called "The Nativity" and it was a painting of Jesus' birth, but it contained grand Indian architecture and the people were depicted as Indian royals that were bowing down to Him. This shocked me because the Mughals were Muslim, yet they obviously had a respect for Jesus' birth. It was really neat to see that. I will try to add a picture of it on here, but last time it would not save.

Well, I am extremely tired, but I cannot wait for another excursion tomorrow. It is pretty cool around here where we are staying too. This morning we went outside to find monkeys everywhere in the trees, climbing the buildings, and swinging from place to place. It is almost like they are as normal as squirrels are in America, and the locals laughed at us as we took 30 pictures of the monkeys.

I miss everyone so much, and I really appreciate that yall are taking the time to stay updated on my travels.

Love,

Christy

And the Adventure Begins

Namaste to you=)

Well, let's begin with the exciting news we received when we reached the airport. British Airways informs our group that if we take their plane we will miss our connecting flight in London to India. So they rescheduled us to fly to Doha with Qatar Airways, which none of us were familiar with, and when we asked what country Doha was in they did not know. FYI, Doba is the capital of Qatar in the Middle East next to Saudi Arabia. After a slight uproar between the parents because of recent terrorist attempts Mom was satisfied when a friend told her that Qatar is filled with American service men and is one of the safest airports. Needless to say, I was excited and was looking forward to this adventure.

Little did we know, this airplane was a Boeing 777 with wonderful service and better amenities than any US or European line that I have ever flown. There was much more leg room, a large screen tv on the back of the seat with over 1,000 movies (bigger than US plane tv screens), ben and jerry's unlimited ice cream, stewardess' that actually cared about what you needed, clean bathrooms, an adorable souvenir purse that says Qatar on it for each seat, and a full set of toiletries. It was fascinating! Not to mention the fact that I had a window seat with no one in the middle for this 13 hour flight. I slept well.

In Qatar we had a 4 hour layover, and so we all went on a mission to buy souvenirs proving that we have been in the Middle East. haha. I found a cute rug patterned pouch with Qatar written on one side, and a map showing where Qatar actually sits in the Middle East. It was a very clean airport, but it was awesome looking from my airplane window at the piles of sand everywhere and the walled-in communities with red and yellow lights shining in every direction. We got on the next plane for Delhi, which was just as nice, and got in around 3am (two days after the day we left). We then stood in line for customs for about an hour and half. This is when we started to feel the lack of sleep and were a tad grumpy, but over all we were just excited to finally be in India.

When we walked outside we could barely see anything or breathe well through the thick hazy fog. We got on a bus to take us to the Rai Foundation, and had an hour drive on the bumpiest road that I have ever seen. Delhi is very dirty and dusty, and there is unfinished construction projects everywhere. There are the occasional architecturally beautiful buildings, but it is not what you think of when you imagine a capital city. There are not sky scrapers, but there are old run down buildings all attached to each other with open roofs, where the children play. It feels like we have been pushed back to the past and it doesn't feel like we are living in the 21st century here at all. It is very sad, but eye opening. What I saw in Thailand does not even come close in comparison with what I am seeing here. I will try to attach pictures on here soon.

This morning after we got back I could not sleep like everyone else who slept until 1 in the afternoon, so I went on a walk around grounds and found animals that were a cross between a squirrel and a chipmunk everywhere outside playing in the dirt. They were cute, but of course I only got a few pictures and then went back into the building (just saying Mom, so that you don't get upset that I was outside alone... lol).

After lunch (which was INCREDIBLY spicy chicken), we went on a bus tour of Delhi and we saw the Parliament building, which was one of the only beautiful things that I have seen here yet aesthetically speaking. However, the people and the culture here is beautiful to me from what I have seen so far. The women dressed in bright Sari's and Punjabi suits caring their babies and children through the streets to find food in the market, the men working hard to sell their products on the streets to support their family, and the children that are carefree and running around smiling. Even though there is incredible poverty, the people continue on their daily lives and make due with what they have. It is a beautiful thing. We then went to a fabric store, where I bought a blanket for my bed (because it only has one blanket and no sheets and it gets to 40 degrees outside and is cold), I bought a towel (because the ones here are not very sanitary looking, and a new Indian shirt as the first addition to my Indian garb I will be sporting here shortly.

I am trying to see everything in a positive light (which most of you know is hard for me to do sometimes.. lol), but I am running on very little sleep and there have been many little things that just have not been going right. At first I realized I had the wrong kind of adapter that would not charge my computer, then we thought that there was no internet because it was not working and they could not fix it, the beds are basically a bit on cloth on top of a wood panel, the rooms are very dirty with bugs everywhere, corroding walls, and layers of dust on the furniture, and the walls are so thin you can here every word spoken by any person within a mile, every car that passes by, and for some reason there are alarms nearby that constantly go off. This morning, instead of sleeping, we were cleaning and trying to straiten the room the best we could. I was close to crying, and as I heard my roommate say "I wish I stayed home," I finally turned toward God to give me the strength to continue. I opened My Utmost for His Highest, and of course as always, it confronted me with my selfish behavior. This morning I was wanting to have everything go my way because that was what I was expecting. God really challenged me just by the title of the devotion for today (Dec 29) "Deserter or Disciple" with reference to John 6:66. It reminded me that God told me His will for me, which was the original reason for me coming to India, and every time I complain I am taking a step away from doing God's will for me, which takes away even more joy from my life. I realized that I am choosing to not accept God's plan and His timing when I complain for a different way. So I am embracing what I thought was just an educational tour as a step on God's Mission field, where I know there will be rough conditions that will alter my view of what is best for myself.

So, After this time with God, I then read it to my roommate, Mariam, who is a first year in my Chi Alpha sister core group. We then talked about it and decided to claim this trip for the Lord and not for ourselves. It seems to be working =)

ok, well I am exhausted. I love and miss you all and I hope that you have a wonderful New Years Eve if I can't write you before then.

Love,

Christy