namaste means both hello and goodbye, so this is a "goodbye" namasteemail. we're flying out tonight to start an over 24 hour journey home. thrill. today we're taking it easy and doing less site seeing and more doing: a private yoga class at an ashram and a cooking lesson. and we're going to brave the subway-- an activity in its own right.
but to catch yall up on the rest of our days here i'll add detail to our time at the taj mahal and the past two days in delhi.
the taj was nice to see, but like most things, i think my expectations were too high. i have seen it countless of times in architecture studies and it proliferates the internet and publications so i think the over saturation has made it less poignant to me. and i think the fact that the sky was overcast made it seem less dramatic and beautiful. make no mistake, it's still beautiful--- so much intricate detail and inlay and so much marble everywhere-- and it's still so large considering it's basically just a tombstone! but it just didn't have that awe factor that i was hoping for. my favorite view, though, was the evening that we arrived to agra and took a tuk tuk to see the baby taj and the agra fort and then our driver took us to view the taj mahal from across the river. this is not the monsoon season so the river was dried up and bordering the embankment was barbed wire fencing, a stark contrast to the majestic icon beyond. it reminded me of the proximity of the egyptian pyramids to the encroaching city, or the photo that cousin sarah has from the DC archives that shows the poor DC streets with the nations' capital building in the background. even in san francisco the roughest area is adjacent to the opera and capital buildings. it's ironic (though perhaps not?!) that the "have" and "have not" so often share these borders. anyway, enough pontificating. besides the solemn view from the back side (there were only a handful of people on the river bed and they were reverently standing there in homage) my favorite part of the taj was doing jumping pictures with bridget in front of it (on the touristy side within the walls of the complex). perhaps it's no wonder people don't believe we're 30...!
another highlight of our time in agra (the evening that we were zipping around in the tuk tuk to see the agra fort and the baby taj) was when a drunk man hopped in next to the driver in our little vehicle (tuk tuks are open on the sides). we were stopped on a bridge and he just sat down. of course we were yelling, "please get out" and eventually yelling, "leave!" but our driver, despite saying several times to the man to get out, didn't really do anything until bridget said, "we're not paying for his portion of the ride!" which incited him to stop the tuk tuk (money moves mountains here). but our driver told us "he's a police officer!" to which we asked for his ID and he handed over his WHOLE wallet and there was some piece of paper which i guess was some official statement. but while he was standing (slash swaying) to pull out his wallet we told our driver to GO and threw him back the wallet and sped off. seriously, if that is a representation of the police here they have little hope. but it was funny that we literally kicked out a cop (though also a bit unnerving since you really can't trust authorities in countries like this).
delhi has had me less than impressed as well, perhaps because it's not really a walking city and it's been so cold. but that said, one of our highlights here was actually a walking tour, though not of "sites" but of "delhi street children". it is organized by an NGO called Salaam Baalak, which translates to "salute the children" and started back in 1988 in an effort to eradicate the vast number of street kids (which numbers 200k in delhi and 11mill in india). the program takes children off the street (many who run away from families of domestic abuse or poverty or who are left by parents due to lack of money to support one more mouth) and provides them with shelter, food, and education. the children in the program are ages 6-18 and we went to two of their "houses" to dance with and meet them. our guide, Iqbar, was a child who grew up in the program and left his home when he was 5 because his parents got divorced and when he and his brother went to live with their dad he beat them. his father then left him at a market one day (purposefully) and this other couple picked him up. despite them offering shelter they beat him and even put chilies in his eyes. so at age 5-1/2 he ran away. by train (alone) he came to delhi and tried to survive on the street selling chai tea through a vendor. yadda yadda (tear tear) salaam baalak took him in and he now is studying to be a computer hardware company owner. his date of birth? unknown. his town of origin? also unknown. he was only 5 and just looked for a one-way ticket out.
ugh. that was heavy. ok more delhi updates. we went to see the red fort, the jama masjud mosque, and the hazrat nizamuddin shrine to hear the sufis sing (though we arrived too late to hear them but it was still quite an experience to go through the muslim markets to get to the shrine). we went to dinner last night at a restaurant, dum pukht, that was in "1,000 places to see before you die" which was at a five star hotel. the ambiance was beautiful, complete with silver chargers under our plates, cut glass goblets, and extremely attentive service, though our food wasn't that exciting and DEFINITELY the rice (plain basmati rice with veggies-- a SIDE dish!) was NOT worth $25 (we didn't know the price before we ordered that)! ridiculous. in general i'm not in love with delhi, though i do appreciate the fact that it has more trees than any of the other dusty cities we've visited. but like most things, i'm grateful for the opportunity to experience it through my own eyes (and not just architecture history books) and ears (the honking is only paralleled by that of saigon) and belly (yum indian food)!
lots to be grateful for as we embark on a new year.