India // Saturday // The Taj

....I witnessed a wonder of the world

*ring ring, buzz buzz, ring ri-* I hit my alarm and turn to my side in angst. Why am I up at 4 am? When my foggy eyes clear, and my tired mind settles, I remember that we are headed for the Taj Mahal today!

We pack our back packs, take a last minute shower, and we are ready to head out. As we embark on our first sight seeing excursion in India, we set forth to Agra in a small car filled with a program leader, Annie, Alex who is from spain, and myself. After many hours of attempted snoozing, and talks about scripture- we made it to Agra! As soon as we tuned into the small city, I noticed a huge difference from Delhi. 1. There were monkeys EVERYWHERE, as well as cows and goats. They just happily plop down where ever they please! Not a care in the world. As an animal lover, I think they are quite adorable. I joked with Annie "What happens if someone were to hit a cow and kill it? Would they get executed? Karma, ya know?" Since cows are sacred in the Hindu religion & observing the scary driving habits of the natives- I couldn't help but question.

We steered through the small town for about 15 minutes. Windy roads led us to the gate where we would be dropped off to enter the Taj. When I think of monkeys, I think of bananas. That belief has only been confirmed as I walked up to a group of little monkeys chomping on multiple bananas. I was a tad bit frightened as they starred into my soul with their beady eyes... I quickly took a picture and went on my way. Camels and beggar children filled the streets as well. We made it to the restraint where we were served breakfast, then we purchased our paper tickets and carried on.

Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of history (don't tell Mr. Joling I said that!) However, I am a huge fan of architecture complete the art and design that comes with it. Thus why I was taken back by the pure beauty and elegance of the Taj Mahal.

Men, take notes!

Even though I am not a large fan of history, I adored this little bit of history that our tour guide Ravi shared with us. It is said that this giant monument was built after Mumtaz Mahal died while giving birth to her 14th child (in 18 years, damn!) She told her husband, Shah Jahan, that she had 3 wishes: 1. to take care of her babies. 2. To not mary anyone else but her. 3. Build her a heaven on earth.

And the best part, he did it! Isn't that sweet? I hate to say it, but I am a little bit of a hopeless romantic. So now my expectations for my future husband are set quite high... Except I am confident I will not have 15 children, so no worries regarding that!

After our lovely tour and many photos, we set forth to the car to head back to Delhi, which is about a 4 hour drive. As we were leaving we were given water bottles by our our guide. Afer sweating for hours nothing quenches your thirst like ice cold water. Refreshed. I passed a young boy begging on the streets and I handed him my water. I told him "you better drink that!!!" I could tell he did not speak english for he almost turned the bottle over.. I then made the drinking gesture and smiled at him. Who knows if he ever drank it. But he definitely needed it more than I did. We continued to the car and another beggar approached me. Trying to sell me keychains. As the push over I am, I bought them. He then followed us the whole way to the car. Teaching me how to tell people to go away in hindi, telling me about his school, his family, and many other things. He even instructed me to get a photo with a camel and fearlessly yanked the camels head down by a rope so I could get a better photo. We all have our needs, but I could honestly tell his need at that moment was just being able to talk to someone, and I was more than thrilled to meet that need for him. He is a young boy, after all.

As we headed for Delhi, I wont forget some of the sights I saw. Too much poverty for one city. Images of children playing in trash piles haunt me.

Today was a long day. But, I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well, maybe for my very own Taj Mahal.

Continuously thankful for this excursion, and the ability to share little pieces of it with all of you.