Hello to all you lovely readers! It's about time I posted, so I figured I at least owe you some pictures of the Taj, which we visited on Sunday! It was really amazing to see; every part of it is so detailed and ornate, and it's majestic to behold. Unfortunately, my camera died once it came into sight, but I managed to get pictures with so many other people that it wasn't a problem. :)
Julia, Syahirah and I wanted a jumping picture together...it ended up sort of working!
These are a bunch of the host siblings and students from Amity. This is such a sweet group of people! To our right it the Yamuna River.
After seeing the Taj, we had the opportunity to shop in the markets in Agra for about a half hour. That's right, we finally got to bargain - and it was even more fun than I expected! Shopkeepers quickly recognize that you are a foreigner, so they more than double the price; however, if you immediately insist on half the price or less, and then begin to walk away if they won't give you a deal, you can almost always haggle for a better deal. Using our limited Hindi to bargain also seemed to help and was a fun opportunity to use the language. :)
In other news:
- We have been going back to the Vidya and Child NGO! Our visits have been on Tuesdays and Fridays and will continue to be on those days until we leave. I have really enjoyed returning to the same group of kids twice a week, because we get to form relationships with the kids that last beyond one visit. :) I have really loved getting to hang out with one group of young girls in particular. This past Tuesday, a NSLI-Y student named Jenna taught the kids how to square dance while another NSLI-Y student, Lea, played her fiddle for them. Afterward, we broke into small groups and taught them educational English songs - i.e. Hokey Pokey, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, etc. Julia and I were in one group and had so, so much fun with them. :)
- Our music teacher has taught us three Hindi songs so far! She is also very keen on making each person sing alone, to ensure that we know the notes...we will also be performing a Punjabi dance for the founder of the school soon. I knew I would be stepping out of my box in India, but I didn't realize it would be in this way. ;)
- Interesting fact about Hindi: the word for "yesterday" and "tomorrow" is the same: kal. कल When I learned that, I was confused; how can that be? Does that never become a problem in communicating if something already happened or will happen? As one of our Hindi teachers reminded us, however, language is a reflection of culture. "Yesterday and tomorrow are the same for us," he said, "because we believe all we have is today." I've been finding so much truth in that, especially over this past week. It's a treasure I've begun to understand in India but one that transcends culture and country: to be fully available and alive in the present moment, and to refuse to let it be stolen by regrets of the past or anxieties about the future. Not only is all we have today; all we have is this very moment. How beautiful a challenge it is to flourish in it!
Thanks again for reading! Hope you all are doing well!
