India cont'd!

Hello friends and family! I realize it has been quite awhile since I have updated the blog and I know I owe some stories!

The night of my last blog, afterwards, Ryan and I took a walking rickshaw (a man pulls a cart as he walks barefoot on the street!) to a club that was supposed to be cool. We went in and there were literally 5 people there-haha, we just hung out for a couple of hours and laughed at another of our lonely planet failures, but we had fun anyways. On my last day in Kolkata with Ryan we bought some chupati (Indian flat bread) and oranges and walked around passing out food to some of the people on the streets. It was harder than it looked as in many places you will get mobbed if you aren’t careful. We also went around the city some and discovered that it was a lot bigger and a lot busier than we thought since the day before the whole city was on strike. It took hours to get anywhere and by late afternoon we had distributed the food but not done much else. We rested some and then went to the market and did some shopping and looked for a place for dinner. We ate at the top of a nicer hotel with a view of the city that was quite pretty and the weather was great. That night I got sick (from the food at the hotel, ironically)


After Kolkata with Ryan the next morning I flew solo to Delhi to meet up with Maureen (the following day). That was quite an interesting day! From the moment I was alone in India I became 10 times more noticeable than before with Ryan. I was hit on in the airport, the streets, dinner and about 4 guys from the tourist agency asked me if I wanted to get a drink with them. I had been sick and just wanted some normal food and a sprite and I picked the first restaurant I saw, which turned out to be a dark and smoky bar, ha. But I sat at the bar drinking my sprite just fine, and then this guy from the tourist agency recognized me and proceeded to try and talk to me. I could really have cared less as I was still sick and tired and he was in his 30’s. but he ended up sitting down with me and asking me what I was drinking, I told him sprite, haha, that should have told him to go away, but he proceeded to ask me all about my Indian travels etc, and I told him a student (which finally turned a light bulb on I think!) but after a few minutes I left to meet my driver to take me to the hotel. It was very cold Delhi and the hotels have no heat so I slept with all my clothes on, ha.

The next morning I arranged a car to take me to take me to the airport to pick up Maureen and then go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. After an hour long drive, I asked the driver if we would be getting to the Airport soon and he said, Airport? We are going to Agra. We had gone an hour in the wrong direction without getting Maureen so we had to turn back, I was almost crying in the car, that was such a stressful day and a half, Maureen was just getting into the airport and we were 1 ½ away. But we got there and picked her up and Maureen and I talked the 5 hour drive to Agra and she had had many similar experiences in India. We got to the Taj Mahal late that afternoon and it was beautiful. Definitely worth it! We got to walk around for awhile and just soak it all in. it was a redeeming experience for sure. We had dinner at Pizza Hut in India, since I hadn’t eaten at this point in 2 days. I have never been so grateful for a pizza. Then we drove back to the hotel and crashed.

On Sunday morning we got a taxi to take us to church, which involved stopping literally 12 times to ask directions but we finally arrived. We missed most of the first hour since we had been lost, but the congregation met in a “chapel” that appeared to once be someone’s home. It was beautiful and comforting to be there. There were lots of missionaries but just as many investigators. Maureen and I went to the gospel essentials class and listened to the new members/investigators and we discussed the fall. I probably learned more in that hour than in years of Sunday School before. Then we had relief society and made friends with a sweet Indian woman who was investigating the church. She became attached to us very quickly and after the meeting (There were only about 7 women in the RS) she asked if we would be back next week but we had to explain that we were leaving India the next day and she didn’t really seem to understand. We exchanged information with her and I am planning on writing her. There was a baptism after church and we stayed for that too. It was so nice to go to church in another country again. Then we went to the Bahai Lotus Temple that was quite beautiful and very interesting to learn about. We searched for food again for lunch, and unbelievably ended up at Pizza Hut again (I was still sick) since we couldn’t find any place else. (Shameful I know). Then that afternoon we went to the largest mosque in the world (so claimed Lonely Planet, but wouldn’t the one in Mecca be bigger?). this was one of the favorite experiences. We entered and they handed me a bag, which I thought was for shoes but It was a huge bag to tie around my legs since my skirt was only knee length (so I looked ridiculous). As we entered we were admiring the most (this was outside in the courtyard area) and as we stood there, suddenly a crowd gathered around us of about 50 people, all just staring at the 2 white girls. Several people had pointed at my fluorescent pink toenails and lots of people were taking pictures of us from afar. a few men asked to take pictures with us and one guy was video taping us on his phone. It was crazy! Then children would follow us around asking our names and wanting to take pictures with us (surprisingly enough not for money). Then it was sundown and prayer was about to begin so we had to leave.

We took a bicycle rickshaw (very uncomfortable) back to the center of town, Connaught Place, and then we did some market shopping before returning home. We left for Chennai in the morning and that afternoon we were able to do some necessity shopping, internet, and I bought a beautiful sari! We rushed back to the ship and just barely made the ETL at 4. Coming back to the ship, was like going home, I had never been so happy to see it after a long hard week in India. Most of the ship’s students felt the same way and everyone was grateful to be back but had definitely learned a lot from India. I think everyone had humbling experiences wherever they were. Some students went to Bombay (Mumbai) where the largest slum in the world is, Varanasi (the holiest Indian city on the Ganges river where they burn thousands of bodies) and Kerala, an area with many orphanages in the south. India was eye opening for all and gave us a better perspective into the developing world and poverty, despite the challenges it was amazing to go there.

I can’t remember much of what happened in between India and the Seychelles so I will recap what I remember. We (Social Events) sold candygrams to the TSS community and that was fun. We delivered them on Valentines Day morning and everyone loved them! That night we hosted a semi-formal dance and it was great as well. The cookies (which I procured through student government and hours of bureaucratic crap) were delicious and only cost we danced for hours and everyone had a lot of fun. Mainly everyone was resting from India and looking forward to the beach in the Seychelles (and catching up on school).