Medical Day #3 Complete With Symbolism.

Everyone!  I am so anxious to share this day with you!  I have only a few days left in India, and this day was amazing.

After re-reading my blog from yesterday, I felt like the biggest whiner!  Here I am complaining about a silly common cold when I am surrounded by people who's lives have been transformed by a dehabilitating disease.  After today's experiences I particularly feel blessed by my health and am glad I only have to deal with a cold.

Because the program cycle is reversed for the last two days, my group was assigned to medical a day earlier than normal.  The previous two medical days were a little commonplace and I was eager for a chance to get some hands on work in the colonies.  My wish was granted.

We arrived at a local medical facility (aka small rundown house) and began to set up our stations.  There was a station to check the colony member's blood pressure, pulse, and blood glucose level which required the group member to prick their deformed thumbs.  Another station was used to cut off the bandages and take pictures and document the numerous sores and ulcers the individuals had.  Following the documentation, there was a foot washing and nail clipping station.  Accompanying that job was a place where the individual would get their feet massaged with some type of oil (neema?) that kept bacteria and, more importantly, rats away so that they wouldn't get their digits gnawed off in their sleep.

I volunteered with my cousin to head the foot washing station, knowing full well that while it is the most gruesome station, it also has a lot of symbolism behind it.  I remember growing up and hearing how, in the scriptures, Jesus washes the feet of his disciples.  As a small child, I didn't understand why that was so interesting.  Jesus is a nice guy, and he wants the people he cares about to have nice clean feet, so what is so remarkable about that?  Picturing the task before hand, and having seen some of the disease ravaged feet I was about to wash over the last couple of weeks, comprehension of the task Jesus preformed to his disciples began to dawn upon me.  The feet Jesus washed weren't the typical pedicured western style feet that stays protected in shoes all day.  The feet he washed belonged to people who walked around 2000 years ago without shoes and often with bare feet.  Before the Koreans and Vietnamese were able to establish day salons that perfect the figure of a foot down to the smallest cuticle.  I imagine the disciples feet were much more similar to the feet I washed today.  And, to top it all off, Jesus was the Master of the apostles.  No wonder the apostles were so flabbergasted when Jesus asked to be allowed to wash their feet.  All of this was running through my head as we set up the stations.

We were told to wear two layers of gloves as well as a surgical mask to prevent whatever sicknesses the patients had from spreading to us.

I'm not going to lie, I was tremendously apprehensive about washing the feet.  It was a simple enough task, but I had symbolic thoughts running rampant throughout my mind and to me I believed the gravity of my task was greater than it perhaps was.  As my first 'patient' sat down, I took a close look at his feet. There were massive and deep ulcers on his knees, shins, ankles, toes, and on the bottom of his feet.  And I'm not exaggerating when I say they were massive.  They put the ulcer my Grandpa Nelson had once to complete shame.  To make the grim picture worse, there were countless flies landing on the ulcer... and it appeared like they were dining on it.  There would be four or five flies on, or inside, each ulcer just bathing in it.  As I gazed at the flies feasting, or doing who knows what to his festering wounds, I felt a few land on me.  I understand now why people think flies cause such a hygiene problem.  I felt the beginning of a wave of anxiety threatening to wash over me but I quickly squelched it.  If I got sick, I got sick.  There are medications for that stuff.  What mattered was helping this man in front me.

As he approached I smilingly told him "Vannakum!"(the traditional Tamil greeting)  I asked him, as I directed his feet into the wash basin, "Unga perdna?" (What is your name?)  His reply was lost to an untrained ear.  I poured the soap and water onto his feet and wounds, scattering the flies for mere moments before they again hungrily dove back onto his wounds.  Looking up at his face, I could tell he was a little nervous.  Despite largely not having any feeling in his feet, getting your feet washed can make one a little anxious or self conscious... particularly if they aren't exactly in pristine condition.  I tried to reassure him with my smile and my body language that it was fine, and I believe, as I continued to rub away at his feet and ulcers, he began to become more comfortable around me.  It was dirty, but I believe he enjoyed it so it was worth it.

I won't go into all the thoughts that I had while washing feet.  It was definitely my first big emotional/spiritual experience I had here.  Also, the symbolism behind everything didn't escape me.  My religious upbringing came into play and I couldn't help but thinking that as I physically scrubbed away at the deformities and wounds of his flesh, I also spiritually scrubbed away at the deformities and wounds of my soul.  The thought occurred to me that perhaps this act so perfectly echoed and followed in the footsteps of Jesus that perhaps it would be sufficient restitution of my own sins.

Despite having a lot of thoughts percolating in my psyche, I managed to correctly wash his feet and moved on to the next patient.

Here are some pictures.  I'd like to thank Amanda, the wounded volunteer for taking pictures as we worked.

With my first guy

Now that's what an ulcer looks like.

My man making another appearance.

Nelson the future doctor

As we continued working, I managed to keep my emotions under the surface.  Soon, an elderly lady needed her foot washed.  She was just bubbling over with excitement.  I looked at her and smiled and laughed with her as she put her feet into the basin.  What she did next completely caught me off guard and went straight to the heart and past the defenses.  She pointed to Me and then to Nelson, crossed us, and then said we were Jesus.  Nelson looked a little confused because it was so random.  But, having that symbolism running through my head, I knew exactly what she meant.  Suffice it to say for a little while my emotions weren't under the surface.

The lady with the glasses is the one responsible.

I had to get one with her.

 Here is a video of her I took as we were packing up.  I'm sure you'll be able to get a better picture of her personality.  So cute.

Right before we packed up, Nelson and I got transferred over to the blood pressure/blood glucose checking station.  Our job was to prick people's fingers and...uh... check their blood pressure and blood glucose.

Nelson and I manning the station

Some additional photos:

That's all I'm going to blog about today.  I would have come to India if today was the only day I could spend here.

p.s.  Doesn't her voice in the video sound like an ewok?

Three in One

With so many things to do here in India, it has been pretty difficult staying up to date in my blogging.  As such, today will be a special three days in one post blog.  Hopefully I'll still be able to touch on some key points I want to bring up.  With that said, I'm excited that after today I will be all caught up.  Especially because I feel a cold coming on and I will be wanting to spend my free time sleeping to recover.

I'll start of with:

Construction Day #2:

After arriving at around midnight from the trip to Delhi, I hit the sack fast.  I had a promise to keep with Joseph Stalin, one of the kids here, to train him in the art of everything.  At 5:30, my alarm went off, waking me up.  I sat and stared at the bottom of the top bunk for a few minutes, trying to muster up the courage to get up.  I said to myself "David, you are going to make this kids day by showing up and training him.  He probably couldn't even sleep tonight because he was so excited for the morning.  You will be a schmuck if you blow him off".  With those words silently playing in my head, I jumped out of bed and made my way outside to the track.

The shoes were tied, the water was brought, the track was open, and there was no Joseph Stalin.  Thanks Joseph!  Looks like I don't even need the children in my presence to humble me!  Later that day I found him and started to give him a hard time.  I asked him what happened and he said "I woke up at 5.  I was tired and went back to sleep".  Well hey, thanks for at least not trying to spice up your excuse to make me feel important!

After starting the day on such a uplifting note, my group departed to do construction in a nearby colony.  Our job for the day was the building of 6 different septic tanks.  This required us to lift some hefty concrete circular donuts and place them on top of each other in a pre dug hole.  We then needed to fill in the holes with dirt.  It's too bad Mike Rowe wasn't contacted about this job, I bet he would have taken it on.  What with the great crowd of leprosy afflicted individuals, local wildlife, snake charmers, and the miserable and relentless humid heat mixed with lots and lots of dirt.... It was a dirty job.

Here is a picture of some of the slabs and team member Kyle incredulously pointing about fifty yards away saying "wait... we have to move these there?!?"  Yes Kyle, we move them there.  One by one.  Four boys to a slab.  Watch your step.  Watch for snakes.

Step one complete, now time to lower in the slabs with rope.

With that done, time to fill it in.

One down, 5 more to go.

We eventually were given a break, took a group picture, then had around 15 minutes or so to mingle with the locals.

This woman was extremely ravaged by the leprosy bacteria.  However, her face lit up and a smile managed to break out upon her face when I asked to take a picture.  Afterwords I came and gave her a hug and she had a smile the rest of the day.  After the lesson Joseph Stalin gave me that morning, I knew her smile wasn't because she thought I was a dashing young man, but rather, because she has been so deprived of human touch throughout her life that receiving it was like an anti depressant.  Her need was met.

One of the kind elders of the village.  I still get a kick out of the laughing they have when they see their own photo.

We spent another couple hours hard at work and then prepared to head back to Rising Star.  Before we left, we visited the local snake charmer.  Here is a quick video:

That about wraps up the construction day.  A few side notes:  

While women are treated fairly well in India (husbands still are legally allowed to beat wives unfortunately), the Indian men do not like women doing heavy lifting.  They got mad at Kim our coordinator when she was trying to assist in the dropping of the concrete slabs by holding onto the rope.

Human touch and interaction is as much a necessity to happiness as any other necessity such as having enough food, water, shelter, etc...  I recommend watching this link to observe a very interesting experiment regarding the necessity of human touch and interaction.  Note that the experiment is done to a baby, specifically an individual whom has yet been socialized into society and hasn't yet been taught the needs our culture demands that you have.

Maybe this video will dissuade you (especially you younger ones whom may be reading this like my sister Carli!) from giving out the silent treatment to someone.

End of Day 1 of cycle

Medical Day #2:

Medical day seems to be the Rising Star Volunteers favorite day in the cycle.  Most medical days you go into the colony and re bandage wounds, administer medical supplies, and wash feet.  My first medical day was pretty boring however, being used as fast pass.  My second medical day continued the pattern of getting a tedious job.  The volunteers are split into three groups, each one assigned to one of the three program rotations.  On this medical day however, my individual group was split into three smaller ones.  The majority went into the colonies to do the above mentioned activities.  My small group... meaning me and Nelson... were assigned to go with three of the students to the dentist to get some teeth extracted.  While I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bummed out about being assigned to do something that is often done in America, I was glad to get a chance to again connect better with the two students on a personal and individual level.

Basha walking with me towards the dentist office.

The kids were so brave.  I could tell they were nervous by the way they would cling to me a little longer than normal and because their eyes were so wide.  However, besides these two barely noticeable things, they showed no signs of being scared.  I felt bad for the girl in our group.  She had a pre dentist student working on her and the woman just could not extract the tooth.  Too much digging around.  She was really tough though.

As we were waiting in the lobby for one of the kids to finish their extraction, the other two kids asked for me to play some music on my ipod.  Unsure what they would like, I picked the rendition of "Only Hope" by my cousin Paul Garns for some sentimental value.  I told them he was my cousin and they got so excited!  They said "He SO good!"  "Does he know David Archileda?" (David Archileda came down to Rising Star once and performed for them so he is now infamous down here).  Paul, even the Indian children thing you are an amazing artist!

Here is a picture of Basha's swollen cheeks after his extraction:

We waited in the lobby for a few hours for everything to get finished up.  It sucked.  We literally got swarmed by mosquitoes.  At first I tried to slap at them and try to deter them to suck the man next to me. They liked white man blood though, and after some strange looks the local Indians gave me, I gave in and resignedly let them feast.

Here is a video I took on the ride home.  They got ahold of my Ipod and scrolled through the album pictures and saw the artistic drawing of the 'Gorillaz' and wanted to listen to them.  THey loved it.  Notice their cheeks.

Once we got home, we had an hour of free time, then left to go play with the kids.  Randy Rigsby (the Jazz man) brought everyone basketballs and a couple hoops, so the kids were ecstatic.  Most of my playtime was spent trying to dribble all around the kids who were assaulting me trying to steal the basketball.  They thought I was the next Allen Iverson.  Hopefully when they get older they don't watch to much basketball and realize I was a bench warmer for my high school team.

Me with the Protege Sonjey

End of Day 2

Education Day #2

After a terrible night sleep, accompanied by a runny nose and a sore throat, I have deduced by sheer logic and reasoning that I have a cold.  I mean, I don't wanna brag, but people call me Sherlock.

At around 6 am, Nelson and I with some other volunteers played some 3 on 3 volleyball in the sand pit.  Being surrounded by a train of army ants, a cloud of mosquitoes, and hearing mysterious jungle noises set the ambience perfectly.

I've decided the quality of the education day is dependent upon the quality of student I receive.  Yes, I know that I should be super excited to assist the struggling individuals with their illiterate problems.  Unfortunately, the language barrier and the sincere inattention possessed by some of the students is enough to dissuade me from attempting to obtain a job in the foreign kindergarten teaching occupation.  It takes a better man or woman than I.  The way I see it, I need some type of foundation or baseline to jump off from and teach.  Maybe a language similarity.  Is that too much to ask?  Obviously, my health/lack of sleep/weather made me in a lesson patient frame of mind today.

Alright, I'm done venting!  I had some amazingly bright students today who must have had IQ's in the genius range.  They picked things up fast and quickly assimilated new knowledge to their world view.  I also had some kids who, putting it bluntly, should have been in a special education program in India.  And I say India because they didn't know almost any English.  Very happy kids though!

The intelligence gap found in India is similar to the one found in America and just goes to show that one country's kids aren't necessarily born smarter than another country's kids.  Each have their genius's and their dummies.  What's important is the quality of education received to help develop each child to their maximum intelligence level so they might reach their potential.

A couple of pictures of my happy illiterate friend.

Nelson smiling with the next Ramanujan, Sonjey

I also had the same girl for math as last time.  This time, it was long division I was supposed to teach her. HOLY COW it was hard.  How do you teach someone long division who believes 5 divided by 2 is 48?  Either she has a crazy way of dividing in her mind or she is just throwing out numbers.

During intermission (recess) I took a video of some of the kids.  You'll notice Goku, the neighborhood crazy, in a starring role.  They are all Cana Puna's. (first lesson in Tamil in the video).

After education, I went back to the Hostel and chilled for a bit.  Being sick blows.  We had another play time and then dinner.  After dinner, we went back over to the children's house for family time.

Family time consists on helping the kids finish their homework, playing odd games like marbles and rock paper scissors, and then some pillow fights.  I wish everyone could have seen the massive pillow fight that five of the ten year olds had with the bear killer.  Ever heard of the facebook quiz 'how many 10 year olds could you take in a fight'?  The answers you may choose from are typically 20, 50, 100, and 1000.  Let me tell you, maybe they breed these Indians to be fighters, but I see no way I could take on fifty of these kids with pillows.  Goku just drops the pillow and goes straight for the crotch so you have to watch yourself.  I felt like a boss though.  I was dealing out some serious damage to these guys and they would just keep bouncing up and taking more.  It was the older brother to younger brother beat down I never was able to have growing up.  They loved it though.

Some pictures of family time.

This is the bed that the kids sleep on.  Not one complaint.  Sleeping on a rough rug on some hard concrete... And here I am waking up in the morning and complaining to my roommates about how my back hurts because our beds are so hard.

The kids cubbies where they store all their possessions.  One cubby per kid.  Most of the cubbies aren't even stuffed.  I don't think many people back home can really put themselves in the other kids shoes... or rather should I say one pair of sandals... on this one.

Alright guys, no musings really in this one.  This blog is long enough as it is.  I am now officially caught up again though!  I hope I feel better soon because I feel I might have short changed some of these kids today in education.  Tomorrow, the rotations for the programs have reversed so I will have medical.  FINALLY, my group will be going into the colonies and I am excited for that.

Thanks to those who have been texting me while over here- I don't text back because it costs lots of money but I read them!  And mom, the meds I brought, alas, only cover leprosy, typhoid fever, malaria, and bacteria infections.  The common cold has defeated us again!

Till then!

"The Mass of Men Lead Lives of Quiet Desperation" Delhi Part 2 and 3

This blog may prove to be quiet the long narrative.  Slightly ashamed of just reporting what happened in Delhi in the last post, and fearing I may fall too far behind, I will put both some personal musings and Day 2 and Day 3 of Delhi in one post.  Hopefully it doesn't get too long, and more importantly, I hope I don't bore you.

First, some thoughts.  What does the quote by Thoreau, "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" mean to you?  Personally, I believe this quote describes that look of resignation printed upon the baggers face in the grocery store, or the unfocused eyes of the person on the city bus as he heads to work.  This empty gaze that is etched upon the faces of people I've seen back in the States silently testifies of the lack of meaning and purpose found in our western culture.  Having conquered our hunger and our basic needs, we Americans and other highly developed countries face a serious alienation from ourselves.  It makes evolutionary sense- our purpose is to survive and multiply.  Once we have satisfied our requirements to survive and multiply, many of us just don't know what to do with ourselves.  It seems like a good problem to have... but I think too many people, including me at times, are suffering from some form of existential crisis and trying to find meaning and purpose in life.

In India, it has been refreshing to see the vivacity of the people here.  People have a quickness to their step that is often lost to our home country and affirms the meaning that the mass of Indians have here.  What is my purpose of waking up today?  To get food so I can feed for my family.  Why do I labor in such unhygienic and dangerous conditions?  So that I can get the medicine my wife needs to defeat her dehabilitating disease.

I think I need to try and keep it simpler back home.  I often have so many layers of reasoning for doing this and that we can lose sight of the purpose behind doing it.  I do this so I can survive.  I help her because I love her.  I wake up so I can thrive.  I get an education because I love learning.  I'll have to work on not letting that gear get stuck up in my head and letting my thoughts run rampant.  I regretfully concede to the validity of the generic saying "Live, Laugh, Love".   I need to keep it simple.  It makes for a happy life.

Glad I got that off my chest... now onto the good stuff!

Saturday morning our group woke up at 5 a.m. to go to the Taj Mahal.  As we entered the grounds and made our way to the famous north entrance, a blanket of fog settled down in our path.  With monkeys making their rounds on the outer wall is if they were the Indian guards of ancient history, we pushed forward towards the Taj.  It really made for an epic entry.

Northern Entrance

This the place where the stereotypical Taj Mahal picture is taken.  This day however, the fog teasingly does not allow it.

Some quick facts on the Taj Mahal:  It is one of the seven man made wonders of the world.  It took 22,000 people, with the help of elephants, over 22 years to finish the entire complex.  The King built the Taj to bury his wife and to show his love for her.  The marble is the best marble in the world.  It is not permeable and is known as 'mystic marble' because of the way the marble changes colors according to the lighting.

We had to take off our shoes or put on shoe covers when we ascended the steps onto the Taj.  I thought it added to the effect, even if it was a little 'eh' on the safety side.  A few more pictures:

Nelson looking so suave

Picture of the eastern mosque taken from inside the Taj Mahal

With our new friend Junvay

Inside the Mosque trying soooo hard to break that door down.....

Gotta get in the cousinly love photo

Parting shot of Taj

Nels and I with some new friends from Wales.  I think Tiffany (girl immediately to right of me) wanted Nelson bad... :) .

Truly, words can't describe what it was like being at the Taj Mahal, one of the Wonders of the World.  My eyes were not capable of handling it.  The size of the thing defied and denied any attempts from my eyes to grasp the depths of it and made my eyes play tricks on me.  Mystical Marble.

After the Taj we checked out this HUGE fort called... The Brick Fort.  In my last post I had a video that showed how big this sucker was.  All I could think about is how many men could optimally be used to defend fort and the best way to break into it....

On a side note, every bus stop we would be surrounded and assaulted by a large crowd of street sellers.  It was nuts.  They would try SO hard to get you buy there little trinkets.  They would start off saying "1000 rubies!" and depending on how well you negotiated, you could whittle that price down to almost nothing.  Through the weekend I bought a whip, a miniature chess set, a miniature rickshaw, and some jewelry.  A combined 3000 (80$)rubies value brought to me for a combined total payment of 450 (11$) rubies.  The secret was just to show initial interest, then scorn at their initial price.  You then ignore them as they keep  chasing you and lowering their prices until you are getting close to bus.  You hesitate on next price, say no, and then walk onto bus.  They will grab you and almost in tears, give you the trinket for pennies basically.

The wall of street vendors awaiting our arrival, as well as an extremely deformed individual which is very sad. 

David negotiating with the venders at the bus doors.  David was the champ at negotiating.  He loved it.

We also stopped at a marble making shop and a rug making shop.  We were able to observe how both were made.  I don't know how the rug makers kept their fingers... they were so fast.

Finally we made our way back to the hotel and spent the night.  A few others and I hit up the pool/gym/steam room on the roof of our hotel.  I'm not ashamed in admitting how pampered we were.

Quick side note:

When I first arrived in India, the weather was nearly insufferable.  The heat was sweltering.  The humidity was suffocating.  Surprisingly, after a few days, I began to adjust and really didn't notice my discomfort at all.  However, after spending a couple nights in a nice hotel, the next day the weather was again unbearable.  Goes to show you how quickly one can get spoiled.

The last day we began our journey back to Delhi.  We had two stops.  The first stop was at a random park area... that had an elephant, monkeys, camels, and stray dogs.  I was so excited to ride the elephant and play with the monkeys.  I had been anticipating this all trip.  It's a good thing too, because I honestly felt sick to my stomach with the way the animals were basically enslaved.  The monkeys had chains around their necks, and the elephant basically had to keep performing the same taxing tasks that would have driven me insane.  He couldn't have been happy.  But... I had to ride an elephant.  And I had to chill with the monkeys.  So I did.  Let the record show that I found fault with it and hurt alongside those animals though.

Some pictures:

I want a monkey.

 Checking me for lice- thanks bro.

The monkey REALLY liked Nelson's hair.

This animal was an intelligent behometh.  I'm of the opinion that one can tell the intelligence of a life form (whether human or another species) by looking through it's eyes.  As they say, the eyes are the mirror of the soul.  I'm being a bit melodramatic here... but I kept looking into that poor giants eyes and I could tell he wasn't happy.  Or maybe that's me putting my own morality and my own opinions into play here :)

Regardless, the ride was sweet, but petting it and playing with it was better.

Gotta have appreciation of the balance the elephant had between it's power and gentle nature.

Mounting the elephant... definitely a little sketchy

Cous shotttt

Elephant breath is nasty

After we finished riding elephants and cuddling with monkeys, we made one last stop off before the airport at the lotus temple.  We went into the visitors center and I was honestly intrigued by the message the Bahai'i had to share with us.  I think everyone should culture themselves and learn a little bit more about it.

Nelson giving us the upper half of a lotus meditation position in front of the lotus temple.

After the temple, we headed to airport and flew home to continue our charity work in Chennai.  I definitely feel like I've experienced a lot more variety of what India has to offer.

Sorry for the long blog... but I had to catch up.  Now I'm just 1 day behind.  Toon in next time for Construction Day 2!

Oh and for the record, monkeys like orange soda.

Indian Inception: A Journey Inside a Journey. Delhi Part 1

I'm back from Delhi!  It was insane.  I crossed so many things off my bucket list that I almost feel like I cut myself short on some experiences.  It's as if life is a bag of the best candy in the world.  When one puts a single piece in it is the 'most delicious thing in the world'.  However, if one puts in a handful of them, it still only tastes like the 'most delicious thing in the world'.  So, grateful as I am that I got to do so many awesome things, it still only feels like one 'holy cow such an amazing experience' instead of the five or six that it was.  Poor me.

So this is such an epic trip, I feel like any report I send back of it won't do it justice.  Some power words to peak your interest:  Rickshaw Rides, Taj Mahal, Massive Fort, Elephant Rides, Cuddling Monkeys.

I apologize in advance for the report like format of this blog... hopefully I'll get to work in a semi original thought here and there.

We began our two hour ride to the Chennai airport on Friday at 3 a.m.  Our flight left at 7 I believe and I was able to add another stamp to my passport.  The flight was 2.5 hours long and we touched down around  9:30 or 10 in Delhi, the capital of India.  Delhi was much more western than Chennai.  In Chennai, everything is extremely run down and crowded with beggars and homeless people on every street corner.  Delhi, on the other hand, actually had a strip of road that reminded me of the road leading up to Legoland in Carlsbad.  I believe it was in front of the presidential palace which was surrounded by the embassies from other countries.  The U.S embassy looked like it was the second busiest... next to Pakistan's.  As they say, gotta keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.

Speaking of friends, here is an oreo photo of the cousins with the brothers.  I'm not sure if I mentioned there story or not, but Dani (on far left) and David (far right) were born in Chennai.  Dani actually was damaged a bit by the leprosy bacteria but it was so small that he managed to escape the culture taboo.  There mom was and is a housemother here at Rising Star.  They were in the first wave of students here at Rising Star.  Around ten or twelve they, through Rising Star, were adopted by a family in Gilbert, Arizona and lived and were educated in the U.S. until a month ago when they came home.  Nelson was good friends with them and I was able to meet them a couple times and knew they were great guys.  They are sooo funny!  Great guys.  Our friendships really have blossomed over here.  I'll be sad to say good bye to them when we leave.  A week after I head back to the states they will begin their two year Mormon mission.  Dani in Delhi area, and David in Bangalore.

Delhi's own Arc De Triumph.  The name slips my mind but it was massive.

The Indian White House.  The Pink House.

We all boarded a big bright orange bus and began our eight hour bus ride to Agra, where our hotel and the Taj Mahal was located.  Our driver was the man!  Great beard, great muslim, great smile, and best of all, great driver.

An hour or so into our journey, in Old Delhi, we decided to culture ourselves a bit and go on a Rickshaw Ride.  I feel almost embarassed saying this... but despite seeing the Taj Mahal and riding an elephant, this ride was my favorite part.  I can try to describe it to you... but I'll just try to show you instead.  I'll just say it was the most near death experiences I've had in an hour.  We rode around through the Old Delhi markets and then on the way back passed by the Red Brick Fort (ITS HUGE).  Some picture and video footage... hopefully I upload video correct way:

Our fleet of rickshaws

Me and Nelson preparing for take off

Move out!

The brothers were loving it.  They were cracking up the entire time.

Someone needs to fire whoever is in charge of the wiring in Old Delhi

Cruising through the very narrow street markets

Stopped in the world famous Spice Market and a little bit of this and that.  Word of advice- don't ever chew on a cinnamon stick from India.  If you value your tongue, just don't.

We became instant friends with our rickshaw driver.  I'm convinced he is a world class driver and would do well in Nascar.

A video of the safer portion of the Rickshaw Ride.  Sorry for the bumpy quality and the sappy commentary!

At the end when the camera dies we got a little bump from our friends behind us.  Our driver got a bit ambitious with that pass.

After the Rickshaw ride we made one more stop in Old Delhi to eat.  Outside of the restaurant, we happened upon a snake charmer with a yellow python and a deadly viper.
Why not?

Nels getting choked out

Check out the cobra flaring its neck.  The snake charmer has a nice beard.

After our meal, we drove for another seven hours or so up to our very nice 5 star hotel in Agra (note, this was an Indian five star hotel, not an American five star).


It was the first time in a week that I had slept in a comfy bed and had a nice, western shower.  And most importantly, a nice western toilet.

This wraps up part one!  Part two will focus on the Taj Mahal.  I only get a little free time each day so I'll try to catch up fast.  Ignore all the errors that come with speed and no proofreading!