Saturday, May 24, 2014

Arrival to India

The study abroad trip to India has been an exciting experience for us thus far! The extensive travel is a new experience for me in particular because I had never been abroad before. The farthest I had been from home, Louisburg NC, was to the West Coast of the United States and now I am 10.5 time zones away.

In about a week's time, we have visited countless locations and historical sites. A few days ago, we spent our days trekking through city streets and markets in both New Delhi and Old Delhi. To those reading, I recommend you google the Akshardham temple because it is one of the most wondrous works of architecture I have ever seen (I am unable to post pictures to this blog until our return and we were not allowed to take pictures of the temple). A great day of the journey involved visiting Isa Khan's tomb, Humayun's tomb, the Baha'i temple, and the Birla House. At these places we enjoyed learning about the vast Mughal empire, the openness of the Baha'i faith, and Gandhi's lifework and message. Although we have been visiting many important sites of historical and religious importance, we have all found much value in our day-to-day interactions with everyone living in Delhi and Pushkar. We are learning about a way of life that is very different from our own and we are just beginning to explore a subject Dr. Maher brought to our attention, if it wasn't already present: religion and its role in solving social problems.

After leaving Delhi, we took a long train ride to Pushkar, where we are staying now. As I write this post, I am looking out at a beautiful stretch of a small mountain chain from the open top floor of our hotel. Tomorrow we will be departing for Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal. I am signing off for now and plan on joining everyone else for a much-needed, post-camel ride siesta.

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