Hey, friends! I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've posted. Time seems to always be slipping through my fingers here. I can't tell you how many times I've wished I could hit the pause button and have some more time here.
Last week, I went on the most insanely incredible vacation in the world. I signed up to go with Session 2 to New Delhi and Agra. Rising Star is in southern India, and all of our weekend trips are within a few hours of our campus, so I was so excited to go experience Northern India. Let me tell you, it was absolutely incredible.
We set out at 3:00 a.m. to go to the Chennai airport and catch our 7:00 a.m. flight to Delhi. The bus ride to Chennai was pretty mundane as we all tried to sleep a little more. We soon rediscovered how impossible it is to sleep while driving in India. The constant horns blaring and car swerving make for quite a bit of restlessness. Finally we arrived at the airport and boarded our flight.
When we arrived in Delhi, it was lightly raining and I was hit by this feeling of how ridiculously incredible my life was. That feeling lasted me throughout the entire trip. We met up with our tour guides at the airport. Let me take a moment and attempt to explain to you how amazing they are. We went with a company called Abish Travels. It is run by a man named Benson and his friend, Ramesh. They are seriously now some of my favorite people. The entire trip was organzied to a T because of these two. It was so wonderful to have absolutely no worries about how to get places, how to negotiate fair prices, and where to go while in northern India. My gratitude for Benson and Ramesh is abundant. Seriously, if you are ever in south western Asia, try to book your trip with Abish Travels, they are amazing.
Anyways, so we all jumped onto our giant tour bus and started driving around the city as Ramesh began telling us the history of the city and of the different buildings we passed.
I was so stunned by how different Delhi was than any of the places I had been in Tamil Nadu. It was so much cleaner and more developed. In parts of the city, I got the feeling that I was in New York instead of India. However, soon we jumped over to Old Delhi and things got crazy.
A rickshaw ride through Old Delhi had been arranged for us, so we all hopped out of the bus and into rickshaws.
This was one of my favorite things. I have never seen anything like the streets of Old Delhi. They were these tiny, narrow streets packed with people. Overhead, there were vicious tangles of electrical wires and monkeys climbing on the buildings.
Teeny little shops were selling everything imaginable, including some of the most spectacular fabrics I've ever seen in my life. The streets were so packed, I was literally brushing shoulders with people or motorcyclists as they passed by.
We stopped briefly at an incredible little spice market and learned about some of the Indian spices and spice mixtures commonly used for cooking. I loved seeing this very raw, basic part of Indian life.
Afterwards, we hopped back in the rickshaws and were taken back to the bus to go eat dinner and begin the 8 hour bus ride to Agra.
There was a big festival taking place the next morning throughout India, so the streets were jam-packed and the drive took a few hours longer than normal. I sat with Benson for most of the bus ride and listened to stories about his life, his kids, and his goals. I was so humbled and inspired by him and his thoughts about the world, the church, and India. After several hours of driving, we stopped at McDonalds for dinner. Let me tell you, I have never had chicken nuggets that tasted so good in my entire life.
Finally, we arrived at our hotel. Our five star hotel. I thought I had just walked into a palace.
After I was able to overcome the initial shock of how beautiful the hotel was, I headed off for my room.
I made a beeline for the shower because I was so excited to have a real shower. I was excited to the point of fainting. After a long, luxurious shower, I settled down into my beautiful, deep, soft bed and slept like a dead person.
The next morning, we ate breakfast and headed out for the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal! I don't know how many of you have seen the SNL skit with Kristin Wiig where she is overly excited about the surprise party, but that's how I was. For real. I was so FREAKING excited!
When we got to the Taj, we stood outside the gigantic, beautiful gate and listened to Ramesh tell us a bit about the building. I was so fascinated with all the stories he told us throughout the day. He seriously knows everything, and I loved every second of it.
Finally, we walked through the intricately carved arch at the gate, and the majesty and beauty of the Taj Mahal swept me off my feet.
Ramesh said that when Bill Clinton first saw the Taj, he said that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who've seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not. I was awestruck as I stood and contemplated all the things in my life that led me to be in India, standing in front of the Taj Mahal. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude and love as I stared at the beautiful monument and symbol of a man's love for his wife.
We spent hours exploring the Taj and its grounds. I was obsessed with hearing Ramesh tell stories about the building of the Taj and all the details that went into its design and construction. The Taj was built by the emperor of India after his wife passed away during childbirth. He had several wives and concubines, but this particular one was the only one he had married for love. When she died, he ordered for the Taj Mahal to be built as a tribute to her and as a resting place for her body. The entire building is covered in the highest quality white marble. It is covered in intricate floral designs and carving. However, not one stitch of paint was used on the building. All the floral designs are precious stones that have been hand-cut and hand-embedded into the white marble. The idea that this all happened hundreds of years ago with no power tools is purely astonishing.
The entire time, as we took photos in front of the Taj, we were surrounded by groups of Indians watching and photographing us. We were a big spectacle the whole time, but it was so incredible that we couldn't care.
After hours of ridiculously excited, awestruck exploration of the Taj Mahal, we hopped back into a bus and headed off to a marble shop where we got to watch as workers inlaid precious stones into marble in the exact same way that the builders of the Taj did. It was fascinating and I may or may not have fallen madly in love with this incredible table.
After the marble shop, we headed out to the Agra Fort, which I will talk about in my next post.
Last week, I went on the most insanely incredible vacation in the world. I signed up to go with Session 2 to New Delhi and Agra. Rising Star is in southern India, and all of our weekend trips are within a few hours of our campus, so I was so excited to go experience Northern India. Let me tell you, it was absolutely incredible.
We set out at 3:00 a.m. to go to the Chennai airport and catch our 7:00 a.m. flight to Delhi. The bus ride to Chennai was pretty mundane as we all tried to sleep a little more. We soon rediscovered how impossible it is to sleep while driving in India. The constant horns blaring and car swerving make for quite a bit of restlessness. Finally we arrived at the airport and boarded our flight.
When we arrived in Delhi, it was lightly raining and I was hit by this feeling of how ridiculously incredible my life was. That feeling lasted me throughout the entire trip. We met up with our tour guides at the airport. Let me take a moment and attempt to explain to you how amazing they are. We went with a company called Abish Travels. It is run by a man named Benson and his friend, Ramesh. They are seriously now some of my favorite people. The entire trip was organzied to a T because of these two. It was so wonderful to have absolutely no worries about how to get places, how to negotiate fair prices, and where to go while in northern India. My gratitude for Benson and Ramesh is abundant. Seriously, if you are ever in south western Asia, try to book your trip with Abish Travels, they are amazing.
Anyways, so we all jumped onto our giant tour bus and started driving around the city as Ramesh began telling us the history of the city and of the different buildings we passed.
I was so stunned by how different Delhi was than any of the places I had been in Tamil Nadu. It was so much cleaner and more developed. In parts of the city, I got the feeling that I was in New York instead of India. However, soon we jumped over to Old Delhi and things got crazy.
This was one of my favorite things. I have never seen anything like the streets of Old Delhi. They were these tiny, narrow streets packed with people. Overhead, there were vicious tangles of electrical wires and monkeys climbing on the buildings.
Teeny little shops were selling everything imaginable, including some of the most spectacular fabrics I've ever seen in my life. The streets were so packed, I was literally brushing shoulders with people or motorcyclists as they passed by.
We stopped briefly at an incredible little spice market and learned about some of the Indian spices and spice mixtures commonly used for cooking. I loved seeing this very raw, basic part of Indian life.
Afterwards, we hopped back in the rickshaws and were taken back to the bus to go eat dinner and begin the 8 hour bus ride to Agra.
There was a big festival taking place the next morning throughout India, so the streets were jam-packed and the drive took a few hours longer than normal. I sat with Benson for most of the bus ride and listened to stories about his life, his kids, and his goals. I was so humbled and inspired by him and his thoughts about the world, the church, and India. After several hours of driving, we stopped at McDonalds for dinner. Let me tell you, I have never had chicken nuggets that tasted so good in my entire life.
Finally, we arrived at our hotel. Our five star hotel. I thought I had just walked into a palace.
After I was able to overcome the initial shock of how beautiful the hotel was, I headed off for my room.
I made a beeline for the shower because I was so excited to have a real shower. I was excited to the point of fainting. After a long, luxurious shower, I settled down into my beautiful, deep, soft bed and slept like a dead person.
The next morning, we ate breakfast and headed out for the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal! I don't know how many of you have seen the SNL skit with Kristin Wiig where she is overly excited about the surprise party, but that's how I was. For real. I was so FREAKING excited!
When we got to the Taj, we stood outside the gigantic, beautiful gate and listened to Ramesh tell us a bit about the building. I was so fascinated with all the stories he told us throughout the day. He seriously knows everything, and I loved every second of it.
Finally, we walked through the intricately carved arch at the gate, and the majesty and beauty of the Taj Mahal swept me off my feet.
Ramesh said that when Bill Clinton first saw the Taj, he said that there are two kinds of people in the world, those who've seen the Taj Mahal and those who have not. I was awestruck as I stood and contemplated all the things in my life that led me to be in India, standing in front of the Taj Mahal. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of gratitude and love as I stared at the beautiful monument and symbol of a man's love for his wife.
We spent hours exploring the Taj and its grounds. I was obsessed with hearing Ramesh tell stories about the building of the Taj and all the details that went into its design and construction. The Taj was built by the emperor of India after his wife passed away during childbirth. He had several wives and concubines, but this particular one was the only one he had married for love. When she died, he ordered for the Taj Mahal to be built as a tribute to her and as a resting place for her body. The entire building is covered in the highest quality white marble. It is covered in intricate floral designs and carving. However, not one stitch of paint was used on the building. All the floral designs are precious stones that have been hand-cut and hand-embedded into the white marble. The idea that this all happened hundreds of years ago with no power tools is purely astonishing.
The entire time, as we took photos in front of the Taj, we were surrounded by groups of Indians watching and photographing us. We were a big spectacle the whole time, but it was so incredible that we couldn't care.
After hours of ridiculously excited, awestruck exploration of the Taj Mahal, we hopped back into a bus and headed off to a marble shop where we got to watch as workers inlaid precious stones into marble in the exact same way that the builders of the Taj did. It was fascinating and I may or may not have fallen madly in love with this incredible table.
After the marble shop, we headed out to the Agra Fort, which I will talk about in my next post.
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