Last Day of Freedom

Today was the last day of roaming around and exploring before class begins.  We started out with "American breakfast" this morning for those who have been having upset stomachs.  Many of us have been getting a bug or something and have been having trouble dealing with the food.

Almost all of use went to church this morning.  We had the bus so were able to plan out what we wanted to do for the day.  We organized everything last night and had a full day planned for today.  The majority of us wanted to go to a Catholic ceremony, so that is what we did. One of our professors called the night before to make sure it was ok to attend the church and we got the ok. Of course we got lost on the way - we were independent today so there were no professors to speak Hindi for us.  We had the bus and driver to ourselves which made for an adventure.  Even when the drivers say they know where they are going that is not always the case.  Even when they have no clue they will always say sure, they know where they are going. We were late to church but so were many others. 

When we got there mass had already started.  The church was very small and it was open so it was relatively cold.  All the seats were taken when we got there so we had to sit on plastic stools that were available for extra people.  The mass was in English and followed what a mass at home would look like for the most part. The singing, however, was definitely more upbeat.   There was also no kneeling. There were benches for pews and nowhere to kneel.  We later found out that this church, St. Luke's, is the one that the American Ambassador usually attends every week.  He was not there this week but hopefully he goes next week and we do too!  

After church we had some time to spare before lunch because restaurants don't open until 1pm so we decided to go to Purana Qila, an archaelogical site.  We walked for a bit (in the wrong direction) and decided we should take some rickshaws to the site because it was taking us so long together.  We all piled in (4-5 of us in the tiny things!) and away we went!  We pretty much got dropped off very close to where we were until we were led the wrong way.  Purana Qila was very impressive, as most things we have seen so far have been. We walked around for about an hour, taking pictures in all of the structures.  Everywhere we went there seemed to be a couple sitting there.  There were couples in the fields too.  I never knew an archaeological site would be the place to hang out with your girlfriend!

 

After the site visit we grabbed a few more rickshaws and headed to the park for lunch.  Lunch was very good today.  We went to "Have More" and I think we all would have more! It was delicious.  I had dal and garlic nan and it was soooooo good!  The restaurant was very nice too.  Outside of the restaurant were tons of people trying to sell us things (and of course, trying to charge insane amounts because we are tourists.  It was quite funny when Kishore looked at them like "your kidding...no.") AND someone with snakes that played the flute-like instrument to make them come out of the basket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was really afraid to hold the snake but they guy was out there and letting us do it so I did!  He put the littler snake around my neck and then had the cobra in the basket.  I could feel the tension and movement in the snake when he was playing his flute.  At one point the guy hit the snake because apparently it was coming towards me! Crazy.  I was less afraid of the little snake around my neck than I was of the cobra in front of me. There was this little blonde girl, maybe four years old, who was not afraid at all and went up and let they guy put the snake around her neck. She absolutely loved it!

Goswami joined us in the afternoon and came to the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir Temple with us.  It was nice going with him because he was able to tell us about things.  We learned about some of the gods from the Hindu religion and what they represent.  The main one of the temple was Vishu.  When we walked in we saw a statue of him and his wife, Luxury.  Vishu is one of the gods of the trinity. Goswami said that almost every home will have a room set aside for worship.  If the family does not have a home they will set aside a corner or place to worship.  He said when he was a child before he took an exam he would have to pray to the god of learning and if he didn't do well his grandmother told him he did it wrong.  If we prayed to one of the gods in the temple people were there with powder to put dots on our heads.  I asked Goswami if he had ever seen A Little Princess and told him about the story with the blue God and how the girl had drawn a circle around her to keep her safe.  He said that was a true story in the Hindu religion and there was a line that could not be crossed.  The evil transformed himself into something else and the girl crossed the line to save him and was kidnapped and that was how a war began. Once again we had to go into a room for foreiners before we entered to be told what to do and we had to take our shoes off and leave our cameras. Goswami said that after the Mumbai bombings they have been a lost stricter about letting people take things in the temples.

The last stop of our day was to the Lodi Gardens.  We actually got to play some cricket with a family that was there. I was not very good!  We were able to see more structures and as always they were beautiful.  We got to go on the roof of one building.   When we went to the other we could see the first building perfectly through the door of the one we were in.  Goswami said that was common for buildings to be built like that. The Taj Mahal is the same way.

No matter where we go it seems like we always get dirty.  It is very hard to stay clean in India. There is dirt and dust everywhere.  It was not a smart idea to go see everything in our church clothes!