Tired But Still Speachless

Wow what a day I've had today! We got up at 4:30 a.m. so that we could be at the Taj Mahal by sunrise. Our hotel was only a couple of miles away. It was more and more exciting the closer we got. Finally we could see it from the distance. Spectacular! You have to park quite a way from the Taj because of pollution from automobiles. So you arrive in an electric bus. Hawkers (young boys and men trying to sell all kinds of things) were as thick as flies. They can and usually do become quite a nuisance. Anyway we arrived at the outer gate. We received a complimentary bottle of water and covers for our shoes. Then we had to pass through a metal detector before entering the grounds. I can not explain to you how beautiful and awesome this building is. It has to be the most beautiful architectural structure that I have ever seen. It was gorgeous in the morning sunlight. It was built by Emperior Shah Jahan as a grave site for his sixth with who died in childbirth of her fourteenth child. On her deathbed she asked her husband to do three things: 1) never marry again, 2) take care of their six living children, and 3) build her a monument that would show to the whole world their love for one another. He accomplished all three.

The Taj took 22 years to build. The foundation took 5 years itself. She had to be buried in the ground instead of above ground because of religious beliefs. She was kept in a small tomb on the grounds for this five year period. The technology for this day and age was incredible. It was even designed to survive an earthquake by having large tanks filled with water to act as shock absorbers in case of a quake. This was built in the 1600s remind you!

I was just speechless! I never had dreamed of ever having the chance to see this magnificent structure but here I was. I took lots and lots of pictures that I'll have to share with you later since there is no way I can download my photos from my digital camera card. But I'm going to try to add a picture of the Taj that I've found on the Internet.

From here we went back to the hotel for breakfast. Then to the train station. What a chaotic mess! Hundreds and hundreds of people and millions and millions of flies. Finally we got into our car which was air conditioned by the way, thank God. Our trip was about three hours. Then onto another bus where we traveled for an eternity to get to Khajuraho. It takes so long to get anywhere here in India because of the conditions of the roads and the traffic. One of the roads we were on was just one lane with two way traffic. Go figure. At one point we were passing another bus and we were so close to each other that we had to just sit there for a while to let the drivers decide how to get out of this mess. We made it.

We have just eaten supper and it was more Currie of course! At least breakfasts are delicious. Well I guess I'd better go. Oh my bed is as hard as a rock!!!!!!! I think it's a quilt on top of a board!!!!!!

Catch you all later. Tomorrow we going visiting more temples.

Still having a ball.

Larry

P.S. I tried adding a picture but it didn't work. Sorry

We're in Agra

Well today we left Jaipur around 7:30 after breakfast. I was excited about coming to Agra; however I was sorry to leave behind my new found friend. Soni is doorman at the hotel in Jaipur and he and I used to talk every morning before breakfast and whenever I came in with the group. He spoke with very broken English but had become a very good friend. I'm going to miss him. He asked me before leaving if I were coming back to India and I told him I was not sure. He told me to make sure I come to the hotel and see him and I was welcome at his home any time because I was his best friend. I'm not sure what his wife would say about his invitation to me though! He wanted me to promise him that I'd call him when I got back but how on earth will I ever understand him on the phone since we had to use hand signals sometimes when we talked.

The ride to Agra took about seven hours. We all were so tired when we got to the restaurant to eat a late lunch. I ordered chicken fried rice and right before taking my last few bites I saw something in my rice. It looked like a bug about half the size of a lightning bug. I almost got sick. I told our leader on the bus what had happened and she said not to worry. It was most likely some sort of spice. Then I asked if spice had legs. She assured me that one particular spice when cooked did look like an insect. OK if she says so.

We then visited the Agra Fort which was fantastic. It was the most beautiful and the largest of all the ones so far. And guess what? From the top floor of the fort you had a perfect view of the Taj Mahal! That was one of the main reasons for the trip. It was absolutely beautiful. It was almost shining in the late evening sun. Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 5:45 am. to go to the Taj for a tour. It is supposed to be most spectacular at sunrise. I'll let you know if it's true. We were told today that there are approximately 15,000 visitors there every day. I hope they're not all there tomorrow morning.

Well this is a wonderful hotel which is a five star. It is one of the nicest hotels I've ever had the pleasure to stay in. My roommate Greg and I were hoping for some really good supper tonight but alas, we were disappointed. I am so tired of Currie that I can hardly stand it. We passed a MacDonalds on the way to the fort. Man oh man would a hamburger taste good now.

Oh I asked our tour guide today about cows in the street. If one is accidentally killed by someone nothing will be said. But if a person intentionally kills one he can face a prison term of up to 12 years. He doesn't remember one ever being killed by a car though. Well my thirty minutes is almost up and I've got to get out of here. Take care everyone. Chat with you again soon.

Larry

Still Having a Ball!

We started Wednesday with a wonderful breakfast. I see they also like wienies and pork and beans for breakfast like they do in Ghana. We left at 8:30 to enter the city gates of Jaipur. The old part of the city is run down and poor but yet very attractive in its own way. New Delhi didn't look like what I had pictured in my mind as India while Jaipur is. Everything is painted the same color - pink. Well actually it is terracotta but Jaipur is still referred to as the pink city. We went to the city palace which was interesting. It contained several galleries of old artifacts. But the best thing was a craftsman market. I saw the most beautiful miniature paintings that I have ever seen. They were painted with a brush composed of one squirrel hair. Some of them were painted on new white paper, some on silk and some on old antique pieces of official paper with the original Jaipur stamp on them. I could not leave without one - well really three! I bought a very small one painted on silk that's about the size of a postage stamp. Then I bought one larger also painted on silk. And finally the last one is painted on a piece of paper that dates back to 1886. Wow! They are beautiful and I'm very proud to be their owner. From there we went to an observatory built years and years ago. It contained ancient calendars and sundials made out of stone. While there I know it was at least 100 degrees! One highlight of the day was actually seeing two snake charmers playing their flutes while live cobras came up out of the baskets. Amazing! We visited a middle school for about an hour. No students were there because they're still out for summer vacation and won't return until next week.

Here in Jaipur it is nothing to see camels and elephants pulling carts or wagons or carrying various things on their backs. I got photos! We had a nice lunch in a local restaurant. Then we came back to the hotel for a couple of hours. My roommate and I decided to take a nap. Then back to the bus to visit a papermaking shop. This was one of our best stops in my opinion. We toured the whole place seeing them shred scrap pieces of cotton material into pulp and them make it into individual pieces of paper. There was a rainbow of colors and some even had plant fiber such as leaves and flowers in it. Young men and boys sat on the floor creating band books and intricate boxes as well as other paper items. Lastly, we visited the showroom where we had the chance to buy any of the items they made. Needless to say I bought several things. I just couldn't resist. Then on to a ceramic shop that makes blue pottery and also has a business of stamping cloth. He demonstrated that for us and took us to his showroom. A funny thing happened as we were walking down the narrow street to this man's shop. There were lots of children checking us out and some of them had never seen white people before. One little boy asked out tour guide who is Indian, "Which village did these light complected Indians come from?" Then to supper at a five star restaurant which had a village built around it in which craftsmen, musicians and dancers performed. We then returned back to the hotel to shower and go to bed.

Today we started once again with a fine breakfast. This is out favorite meal of the day. Then came the elephant ride! You took elephants up to a fort or old palace and walked down. It was one of the most fun things I've ever done. I was wondering how we would get on top of the elephants. Well it was very easy. We climbed up some stairs to a landing of sorts. The brought the elephant so that he would be right against the landing and we just sat on top of him. There was a large cushion for us to sit on. It was crazy and it had to have been one of the bumpiest rides I've ever had. Maybe it was because we had to sit side saddle instead of straddling the elephant. I got lots of photos and even video as well. As we went along the route there were Indian men and boys taking our photos and within about twenty minutes of our arrival at the top, here they come with the finished photos for us to purchase. Of course they wanted 100 ruppies per photograph; however, they gladly took 50 if you told them you weren't interested in paying that kind of price.

The front door of the palace is surrounded with intricate floral frescoes still in beautiful condition even though this was built back in the 11th century. From there we went to another carpet shop where we were treated with drinks, juices, or rum and even sandwiches. The sandwiches were made of a wonderful kind of cheese. We were all wondering what kind it was because we wanted to see if we could find some back in the states. Finally I asked and guess what? It was Kraft singles grilled in a George Forman grill! Go figure!!! LOL! Here we saw employees actually block stamping cloth as well. The designs were gorgeous with as many as 6-8 colors that were all hand stamped instead of by machine. We were then taken to the store where they sold all kinds of cloth, clothes, bedspreads, ties, etc. My roommate had a 100% silk suit made for him. They took his measurements at 11:00 a.m. and delivered the suit to him at 10:00 p.m. and is it beautiful!!! And the cost? Only $350!!!! No I didn't buy a suit. Sorry.

Then we went to a fine jewelry store. MOST of us just looked while a few bought some pieces. We returned to the hotel where we ate lunch. I took another nap and then at 5:00 we went to our Bollywood experience. We went downtown to see a movie that we thought was going to have English subtitles. Wrong! It was all in Hindi. We were as lost as could be with the very first line. We all decided to leave at intermission. Indian movies are so long that they give the audience an intermission break. However, the music was great. Naresh, out tour guide said that he would try to find us a CD with the soundtrack on it. Well it's almost midnight and time for me to go. This is costing me 150 ruppies for 30 minutes or 250 for one hour. Looks like it's going to be an hour tonight. Take care everything. I'm still having the time of my life. I'll write another entry as soon as I can.

Larry

I'm Now In India!

We arrived safely in India Mondaay night at 9:00 p.m. Indian time. The flight took 14 long hours flying at 600 miles per hour at 36,000 feet. It was dark when we left Newark and was immediately fed supper on the plane. Then three or four hours later we were served a snack. At 2:00 a.m. N.C. time the sun came up. At five 0'clock we were fed breakfast. The daylight only lasted for about 6 hours and it was night again. We were greeted with thunderstorms and rain at the airport in New Delhi. And was it ever hot and humid. I thought we had turned around and went back to North Carolina!

We were met by our tour guide and bus driver. They are really nice people. They placed a lei of orange marrigolds around our necks. The hotel was nice in Indian standards. The air conditioner was barely working but it finely cooled off during the night. Supper was good but HOT! Whoever said that Indians eat a lot of currie and spice are correct. I developed a stomach crossing the Atlantic. I'm getting tired of this. The same thing happened on the way home froom Ghana last summer. Anyway with Immodium I finally pulled through and am back to par.

Yesterday morning we visited lots of places in New Delhi. We went to a Seekh (forgive the spelling). This was extremely interesting. We had to remove our shoes and socks in order to go into the place of worship. Surprisingly they allowed us to take photos inside. It's nothing like a Baptist service at all! LOL! There were worshipers praying and others looking at the holy book. Outside there was a huge pool in which people cleansed themselves. Back to the bus. Then we went to a huge Arch which is a memorial to fallen soldiers in various wars. It loooked almost just like the Arch de Triumph in Paris, France. Then we went to the site of the tallest free standing stone tower not only in India but in the whole world. It was also the site of the ruins of the first masque in India. Next we went to IIT, Indian Institute of Technology where we saw a presentation by an administrator at the school telling us about the seven ITTs in India which are the top rated schools in the country.

By this time it was HOT! It has been hotter here than anytime that I have been in Africa. Go figure! Next we went to a large shop where they sold the most beautiful Cashmere (spelling) carpets that I have ever seen. We saw how they are woven using single knots of silk. These are considered to the be most beautiful silk carpets in the world. Oh by the way, did you know that silk is the second strongest fiber in the world? Guess what is first? Spider webs! If anyone wants me to buy you a rug let me know. They range from $400 to $15,000.

The currency here is called ruppies. It's fairly simple to keep up with. One hundred US dollars equals approximately 40 ruppies. So one ruppie is approximately $2.10. The daily exchange rate changes everyday. Things here are priced relatively well. Lots of buying going on by the members of my group.

Finally we left New Delhi for our six hour bus trip to Jaipur, the pink city. It is said to be one of the most beautiful cities in India. We're touring it today. They are keeping us on a very tight schedule and when they say be ready at 2:30 they mean 2:30. But we are seeing so many wonderful things. Yesterday I saw a herd of camel and one was walking beside the road. There was a large traffic jam yesterday because of a cow in the middle of the road. Cows here are sacred and can not be injured. Oh I saw a McDonalds' yesterday. Wonder what they make their hamburgers out of since they don't eat beef here. Maybe that's why they raise camels! LOL!

I can't believe that I am still waking up at my regular time - 5:00 a.m. It doesn't matter if there is nine and a half hours difference in our times. We are nine and one half hours ahead of N.C. time. I have tried to call make a phone call with no luck. I haven't seen a pay phone yet and I bought two $20 international phone cards. Oh well!

The people here are so friendly and helpful. All of them don't speak English but speak Hindi, their native language. I noticed that some men wear turbins and long thick beards. I found out why. These people belong to the Seekh religion and it is forbidden for them to cut their hair or beards. Our bus driver is Seekh and I'll share a picture of him with you later. Well I guess I"d better be going. It's almost time for our bus to depart for the day. I wish you were all here with me. I'm having the time of my life and this group is one of the best that I've ever traveled with. Take care everyone and let me hear from you all.

Larry

Map of Where I'll Be Traveling

Thought you might like to see a map of India so you can keep up with me as I travel. As you notice we'll be in the northern part of the country. By the way I got my Typhoid vaccination yesterday. Now I have to do lots of last minute errands such as going to the bank, finish packing, etc. OK the next time you hear from me I should be in India. Take care everyone.

Wednesday and Counting!

Four more days till I leave for India. Has today ever been hectic! I have one more injection to get before I leave. The Columbus County Health Department called me today to inform me that they do not have any Typhoid vaccine and will not be able to get any before I leave. I began to feverishly (pardon the pun) look around for some. In order to get injections at the Travel Clinic in New Hanover County you have to have an appointment. I called and left a message. Hopefully they will return my call tomorrow morning. A good friend of mine called Cumberland County Health Department today. Thank goodness they have plenty. So if all closer possibilities fail, I can always boogie on down to Fayetteville. One last note, if any of you want to make a comment or ask me a question while I'm away, feel free. Click on the comment button below the entry and type away!

ITINERARY FOR INDIA TRIP

Here is my itinerary for my trip in India.

Sunday, June 24:
Depart from RDU at 5:58 pm. Continental Flight 334. Arrive at Newark, NJ at 7:50 pm. Depart Newark at 8:45 pm. Continental Flight 82
Monday, June 25:
Arrive in New Delhi at 8:15 pm. Lodging at Ashok Country Resort, Telephone: 011 91 11 2506 4590
Tuesday, June 26:
Tour New Delhi, Private bus to Jaipur, Lodging at Hotel KK Royal, Telephone: 011 01 141 2530500
Wednesday, June 27:
School visit and tour paper factory in Sanganeer
Thursday, June 28:
Elephant ride to Amber Fort, City Palace, Observatory
Friday, June 29:
Bus to Agra (143 miles), Taj Mahal, Lodging at Hotel Jaypee Palace, Telephone: 011 91 562 233 0800
Saturday, June 30:
Train to Jhansi by express train and bus to Khajuraho, Lodging at Hotel Clarks, Telephone: 011 91 7686 274038
Sunday, July 1:
Flight to Varanasi, Lodging at Hotel Hindusthan International, Telephone: 011 91 542 2411484
Monday, July 2:
Ganges River boat ride, Flight to Delhi, Lodging back at Ashok Country Resort, Telephone above.
Tuesday, July 3:
School visit, Old Delhi tour, Indian Institute of Technology
Wednesday, July 4:
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage, Farewell dinner and Bollywood experience, transfer to airport for return home.
Depart Delhi 10:50 pm. Flight 83
Thursday, July 5:
Arrive in Newark 4:35 am. Depart Newark 8:20 am. Flight 3084 Arrive in RDU 10:22 am.

We have been warned: Schedule is subject to change....and this is India so it will change!

National Scholastic Awards Ceremony at Carnegie Hall

This past weekend I had the pleasure of escorting two of my students with family members to New York City where they received their National Scholastic Gold Key Awards and walked across the stage at Carnegie Hall during the annual awards ceremony. The two students were Tiffany Britt and Morgan Walker. Tiffany did a self portrait done in oil glazes while Morgan did a portrait of a little boy in tempera. Both pieces were professionally matted, framed and exhibited with the other gold medal pieces in a New York City gallery. Congratulations to both girls for a job well done and thanks to Dr. Dan Strickland and the Columbus County Board of Education who made this trip possible.