Guess what I saw on Thursday.
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The Taj Mahal!
I know...that was suspenseful; the title definitely didn't give anything away.
The building itself is absolutely magnificent. It is funny that in our studies here in India we are learning so much about living simply and not extravagantly, yet we celebrate the Taj Mahal, the epitome of extravagance so much. Of course, the Taj was built 362 years ago. Emperor Shah Jahan lived in a different time than we do. Also, I'm not sure if you know this, but the Taj Mahal isn't a temple or anything; it is a memorial built by Shah Jahan for his third wife after she died. To me, it sounds like an excuse to build something huge and memorable. We are still talking about Shah Jahan today aren't we?
The Taj Mahal is big, but what made the day most memorable was that all.jpg)
of the female students on the SJPD program wore saris, as per the SJPD tradition. I got up at 4:30, a full hour before our scheduled time of departure from Delhi, to figure out how to put it on. With the help of Youtube, I think I was mildly successful. Walking around the Taj Mahal and a few other tourist attractions in Agra, we attracted even more attention than our group of 15 white and 2 not-quite-as-white people usually does. Even the other foreigners were stopping to take pictures of us. It was so embarassing. I hate an abundance of people staring at me anyway, but when you add to that the fact that I was wearing a sari for the first time in my life, I was more self-conscious than ever before. By the end of the day, though, I realized that, walking in a group of 15 very obviously Western people and one very obviously Japanese person probably makes it so there is minimal attention on me. I am the only one of the 17 of us who looks like she could possibly be Indian. Anyway, I have a lot of pictures and stories from the day - some of which were included in the 27 postcards I sent out; some of which I will have to tell when I get home.
On Friday, we had a city tour of Delhi. We were all still a bit worn out from the Taj Mahal the day before (we had returned to the Church of North India where we are staying past midnight), but it was still fun. We saw a few sights around the area, but the highlight for me was the Indira Gandhi museum. It was full of pictures, news articles, and items from her life. I was surprised by how captivated I was by the museum. I was absolutely fascinated by her life. I found myself heartbroken at the picture of her at her older son's funeral and then again at the picture of her younger son at her funeral...and his father's funeral.
Yesterday was an entirely free day for us. I had a good time walking around for a while with a few girls from our group. Dr. Kittelson had decided to make yesterday our day of Thanksgiving celebration, so we all went out to a super-expensive restaurant for dinner. We were there for over three and a half hours and did corny, cute Thanksgiving dinner things like go around the table and say things that we are thankful for. I said that I'm thankful for the health and happiness of myself and my family if you are wondering. I am also thankful for the opportunity to travel, for the priviledge of an education, for the security I have in life (I know that I will always have somewhere to sleep and something to eat), for the awesomeness of my family, for a few people on this trip who I really admire and much more.
Today's free again and tomorrow we start our religion unit with a few days on Islam!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The Taj Mahal!
I know...that was suspenseful; the title definitely didn't give anything away.
The building itself is absolutely magnificent. It is funny that in our studies here in India we are learning so much about living simply and not extravagantly, yet we celebrate the Taj Mahal, the epitome of extravagance so much. Of course, the Taj was built 362 years ago. Emperor Shah Jahan lived in a different time than we do. Also, I'm not sure if you know this, but the Taj Mahal isn't a temple or anything; it is a memorial built by Shah Jahan for his third wife after she died. To me, it sounds like an excuse to build something huge and memorable. We are still talking about Shah Jahan today aren't we?
The Taj Mahal is big, but what made the day most memorable was that all
.jpg)
of the female students on the SJPD program wore saris, as per the SJPD tradition. I got up at 4:30, a full hour before our scheduled time of departure from Delhi, to figure out how to put it on. With the help of Youtube, I think I was mildly successful. Walking around the Taj Mahal and a few other tourist attractions in Agra, we attracted even more attention than our group of 15 white and 2 not-quite-as-white people usually does. Even the other foreigners were stopping to take pictures of us. It was so embarassing. I hate an abundance of people staring at me anyway, but when you add to that the fact that I was wearing a sari for the first time in my life, I was more self-conscious than ever before. By the end of the day, though, I realized that, walking in a group of 15 very obviously Western people and one very obviously Japanese person probably makes it so there is minimal attention on me. I am the only one of the 17 of us who looks like she could possibly be Indian. Anyway, I have a lot of pictures and stories from the day - some of which were included in the 27 postcards I sent out; some of which I will have to tell when I get home.On Friday, we had a city tour of Delhi. We were all still a bit worn out from the Taj Mahal the day before (we had returned to the Church of North India where we are staying past midnight), but it was still fun. We saw a few sights around the area, but the highlight for me was the Indira Gandhi museum. It was full of pictures, news articles, and items from her life. I was surprised by how captivated I was by the museum. I was absolutely fascinated by her life. I found myself heartbroken at the picture of her at her older son's funeral and then again at the picture of her younger son at her funeral...and his father's funeral.
Yesterday was an entirely free day for us. I had a good time walking around for a while with a few girls from our group. Dr. Kittelson had decided to make yesterday our day of Thanksgiving celebration, so we all went out to a super-expensive restaurant for dinner. We were there for over three and a half hours and did corny, cute Thanksgiving dinner things like go around the table and say things that we are thankful for. I said that I'm thankful for the health and happiness of myself and my family if you are wondering. I am also thankful for the opportunity to travel, for the priviledge of an education, for the security I have in life (I know that I will always have somewhere to sleep and something to eat), for the awesomeness of my family, for a few people on this trip who I really admire and much more.
Today's free again and tomorrow we start our religion unit with a few days on Islam!
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What a gorgeous picture! I LOVE it. You all look so beautiful & the white Tag Mahal against the blue sky is perfect. Looks like the web lesson worked. Your Sari looks perfectly wrapped ;) And you have a great tan by the way. I am envious of all the sun you are getting. Here in Fargo it has been rainy & cloudy a lot in the last few months, although we did get a few days of sun in November.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you are a city girl. You seem to get energized by cities just like me ;)
Belhana WelShefa the Indian Thanksgiving meal. It sounds sooo delicious...curry & rice & spicy veggies...yum.
By the way, we are planning a Thanksgiving Turkey meal for you when you come back as well. We'll also have a Eid fetta meal again with you when you come back Insha Allah.
Love you. Keep blogging sweetie. And please tone down the suspense a little...anticipation almost killed me when I started reading your post ;)