The Indian Experience: Life Changing...

The past 4 days have changed my life forever…India was truly an experience and know I understand why everyone says that when they go there. The past 3 ports we visited were very Americanized and yes it felt like we were in a different country…but the past week seemed like I was in a completely different world…I feel like I have no idea why I deserve the things I have…and coming back to this resort of a boat started an inner struggle of relief and sadness…yes it was nice to be back on the ship because I could shower and drink water…but sadness because these things are such luxuries that I don’t feel like I deserve….and having seen what I saw in India, I will always keep that in mind…

My first morning in Chennai was an immediate awakening to what we were getting ourselves into. The stench that crept onto the boat slowly reached all of our rooms at 7 that morning and we realized this was going to be a much different port than the previous ones. We had our diplomatic briefing with the ambassadors to the U.S. who were both great! I then had an FDP on the ship for my marketing class about some business guy in India...who was old and boring haha…then I have to pack for my Taj Mahal and Varanasi trip. We spent a few glorious hours in Indian traffic (you have to see pics to believe it) and finally got to the airport. The spectacle that occurred when 140 American students entered the airport was definitely a sight to see. After being stared at for hours we got on the plane (which was much nicer than we were expecting! Everyone had their own video screens and everything) So I watched a Bollywood movie based on The Notebook… haha…We finally got to Delhi and our hotel…They had a lovely dinner prepared for us along with really cheesy 80’s American music, which was a little disappointing considering was dying for some Indian music….the food was great and we all devoured the naan (Indian fried bread) till we had to go to bed.

The next morning we woke up at a splendid 4 in the morning to board our train for Agra…it was about a 2 hour trains ride and along with the dirty sunset (which I vote are actually some of the prettiest) we enjoyed some tea…we got to Agra and immediately got on a bus (I swear this was a tour of how many forms of transportation can one use in India haha) We stopped at Fatehpur Sikri (one of the fort monument deals the king made for his different wives haha) and then on to various other monuments and forts throughout Agra….We actually ran into a woman who was an SAS alum…that was pretty cool…but we were all awaiting to infamous Taj Mahal…Well…I had to get into the Taj first, which was an ordeal in of itself…this is a long story but in trying to keep it short if you don’t know the three boys I babysit while I am at school gave me pictures of themselves a year ago to take with me all over the world (they have been to around 15 countries with me and I try to take pictures with them at all the main monuments) well the security guard lady said they were “toys” and told me they weren’t allowed…well this was not going to fly with me because no one was going to take me boys away from me…so I proceeded to the back of the line and hid them…well the other security guard saw me do this and told the other one once I got to the front of the line…after a large amount of pat downs in many areas I did not want to be patted down she gave up and let me through, with the other security guard outraged…So…after that whole ordeal I got to see the Taj Mahal and take the famous picture with my boys…at the same time worrying that Indian police were going to put me in jail lol….the Taj Mahal was just gorgeous and we were there during sunset which made it even more breathtaking…we got in line and met the most adorable old Sikhs….who smiled every time we talked…we walked through the Taj which was pitch black and pretty much just the tombs of the guy and his wife (who he built the Taj for)…we then had a long rest of the evening because we had to drive back to the train station (which was also an interesting experience with poor and sick children begging for food and rats crawling everywhere) and then drove back to our hotel in New Delhi.

The next morning we got to finally sleep in! Till 6 haha….we drove around New Delhi and saw the nicer parts where all the government buildings and embassies are…then we had to go to the airport and fly to Varanasi. Once we got there we saw some Buddhists temples and forts and then we had a really nice traditional lunch at our hotel. We then took a bus to meet our rickshaw drivers….this was definitely a sight to see as 70 students had to pile in two by two into these tiny rickshaws…of course, I had the tiniest driver in all of India, it was pretty funny…The rickshaw rise was crazy! You aren’t protected by anything and you are just going to have to see pictures to believe the insanity that is driving in a rickshaw in the middle of Varanasi. That was about an hour and then we came to the river Ganges where we had seats awaiting our arrival to watch the Hindu ceremony. This was absolutely beautiful…it was during sunset and they had candles and music all around the river…The moon came out and was a deep orange due to the pollution…after experiencing the exquisiteness of the ceremony we went back to the hotel for dinner and dancing which they had set up for us…

The next day was probably the most life changing of all…we woke up at sunrise and got in boats to go down the Ganges river…we got these little candles in beds of flowers and had to make a wish and float them down the river…there was music playing and hundreds of people come to the banks every morning to bathe in this river…but then you learn that this is one of the dirtiest and most polluted rivers in the world…a dead body floated by and that is when we realized the truth in that statement…the smells were poignant and sickening but the twisted beauty of it all was prevalent. We continued floating down the river and found where they burn the dead bodies…this was also an remarkable sight to see… we got out of the boats and continued to walk through disgusting alley ways filled with poverty like you couldn’t even imagine…it was absolutely filthy and describing all the details would just ruin your day…so I won’t…haha…we then went back to the hotel for breakfast and then got the chance to go to a silk factory and a bead shop…after that, we had hours of traveling back to Chennai…involving two buses, two planes, and a 4 hour layover in New Delhi…but we finally made it back to the ship in one peace…
My last day in Chennai we didn’t get to do much because there was some famous Bollywood actor coming to lead a protest downtown so EVERYTHING was blocked…we drove around with our taxi driver and accomplished nothing…coming back we argued with the price and that was definitely interesting…yelling definitely occurred on both ends haha…finally we got to the port and they wouldn’t let us in because of the rally…so our taxi driver pointed to this underground tunnel that we were supposed to take that would supposedly lead us to the port…yeah sketchy I know but we had no choice…we uneasily headed down the dirty tunnel and came up to the entrance to the port which was such an amazing occurrence haha…I had one last FDP on the ship about the environment in India and then we sailed away…

I had a presentation today which went really well…and now I must begin my marketing project about introducing Absolut Vodka into Malaysia (my teacher picked it mind you haha) so that will be fun…The water is calm which is nice and its warm and humid so everyone is out here on the pool deck laying out…I hope all is well back home with everyone and hope to hear from people soon! We will be in Penang, Malaysia on Wednesday for my next adventure! Wish everyone a great week from the Strait of Malacca... :)