tales of wander
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Bidding India namaste
Today is my last day in India. After three weeks, I feel I’ve seen and done enough to fill twice that amount of time, yet I find myself no closer to answering the perplexing and inevitable question, “What is India like?”. I cannot presume to know how to answer this question adequately in three weeks’ … Continue reading
My last day at the center
After several days of volunteering in a cramped room in 100+ degree heat, we finally had a morning with a breeze, making the temperatures tolerable enough to take the boys to the park. As we walked through the busy Nizamuddin Railway Station, it pained me to see that most of the boys walked through the … Continue reading
Hangin’ with street kids
Life in Delhi has been going smoothly. I’ve already fallen into a routine: I go to the center in the morning and work with the boys on their English, then we do physical education in the afternoon. After I leave the center, I take a tuk tuk to some Delhi sight to make sure I … Continue reading
On Agra and volunteering
After Jaipur, we headed to Agra. Agra, of course, is home to the spectacular Taj Mahal, which took an astounding 22,000 workers 12 years to build. It was built in 1631 by Shah Jahan (a Muslim ruler) as a memorial to his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth. Pictures of the monument cannot … Continue reading
On Bundi, Jaipur, and common threads
We’ve left behind the city of Bundi and are preparing to leave Jaipur. Each city that I’ve been to has its own vibe. Bundi is a smaller city with a slightly sleepier feel and a picturesque palace (Bundi Palace) that looks as though it just emerged from the side of the hill. Jaipur is a … Continue reading
Food, wonderful food
Indian cuisine proves that there are hundreds of different uses for lentils, and most of them don’t involve soup. I haven’t tried all the options yet, but I am slowly making my way through them. I particularly like a well-made dal (a lentil puree), scooped up with roti or naan, both of which are flatbreads. … Continue reading
Four locations in a nutshell
I’ve been so caught up in anecdotal topics that I’ve completely ignored my journal entries on the places and things I’ve seen. You can stop reading now if you’re not into the logistics of cities and sights (I do this part as much to aid my own memory more than anything else). Without further ado, … Continue reading
Finding the divinity in everything
Hindus truly find god in all things. Even their standard greeting, “Namaste,” is a recognition of the inner divinity of both the greeter and the greeted. Today, I got to see how that recognition of divinity sometimes extends to the seemingly mundane. While enduring a very bumpy bus ride from Jodhpur to Ranakpur, we stopped … Continue reading
On cows, bazaars, and being hit by tuk tuks
At the Sardar Bazaar in Jodhpur, the street is a crazy, pulsating mass of auto rickshaws, scooters, bicycles, and cars, all beeping or ringing to make their way through the sea of people. In stark contrast to this frenzy of activity are the slow-moving cows that leisurely wander around without a care. Some plop themselves … Continue reading
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