As a person, I wouldn't really say I have really changed, except that I haven't gotten a haircut and I have a nice ginger beard on my face. My mindset has somewhat changed, I couldn't really tell you exactly how though; I would need a friend from home to fly out here, spend a day with me, and then let him or her tell you what about me has changed. Any takers? I still think I am the normal southern boy that left the US 31 days ago. I would say that one thing about me has allowed me to travel very well and that is my openmindedness to other people and their cultures. Throughout the past month and the semester that I studied in Spain, I have traveled with people that constantly compare other things to their country and are not willing to accept the other side of the coin for what it is. I love to tell others about my country and, honestly, how screwed up it can be, but I accept that; I do not let all that the world has to offer be hampered by my beliefs or views. No one else in the world is me, therefore, no one thinks the same as me on every level; whether it's what to put on your grilled cheese (bacon, sopresata sausage, gudda and guerra cheese, on white bread, butter on each side, cooked in the oven) or what things will mold our global economy in the coming years. I can be a smooth talker, but I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I enjoy an opposite mind of thought, after all, that's what makes each person unique. Regardless, I have yet to get sick of traveling. Living out of a backpack, not having any true responsibilities except to survive, receiving no text messages, emails, or phone calls has been great and not having a test to study for or a suit to put on in the morning is a rare and amazing opportunity. The only question I have to ask myself each day is, do my socks smell bad enough to not wear them again? Only needing the Internet to upload these blog posts and a couple photos on Facebook has been quite a change from constantly being on the Internet whether at work, in class, on the road, walking around, etc., thinking back on it is quite exhausting.
Because of Hinduism, a large portion of India is vegetarian, also, the cow is sacred, so beef is never eaten in India; if you go to a McDonalds, they would serve you a lamb burger instead of a hamburger. I will say that I am not a fan of this. I am the type of person who likes to kill a deer and then have the back straps that night for dinner. If there is not meat at every meal, something is wrong. My dreams are filled of the juicy steaks from this restaurant called Terra back home; the things I would do to have one right now!
Our venture from bustling Agra has brought us to Orchha, a small town with some significant things to see. We got here via train; talk about an experience. There were a couple tourists at the train station, which lightened the mood. Many people were trying to sell us stuff, shine our shoes, sew up clothes, or beg for money, it got rather annoying. As each train stopped, you would see this huge flow of water coming out of the car... As you can guess, that was coming from the "bathrooms." There was liquid and feces all offer the tracks, making for an interest 30 minute wait for our train. In the train station, as all over India, there were casually dogs and monkeys walking around. Going from seeing a monkey a handful of times in my life, to seeing them so often you don't even want to take a picture of them has been quite a change. I want a pet monkey when I get home! When we arrived in Orchha, there were all these guys trying to take our bags and give us a ride. To think I was going to do this on my own, India would have swallowed me whole. At first, Yash told us that we were staying in tents, some of the tour group was skeptical at first, but the tents ended up being quite nice. Not to mention the view was unreal.
Our stay was quite relaxing, we started off the afternoon walking across the street to the Royal Chattris. We didn't spend that much time in these temples, because we didn't have a tour guide, but the architecture reminds me a lot of the temples in Angkor Wat.
After the Royal Chattris , we walked through the village to the Raj Mahal or Orchha Palace, which was built in 1598. The Raj Mahal was an amazing site. The multi-levels made for extended exploration. Trying to find my way down, I got lost and came to dead ends several times. One of my paths took me to the outer lip of the Raj and I got to walk around the outside of the fort. We ended up having to go back into the Raj to find some of our tour group.
Later that night, we all met up for a religious Hindu ceremony in the Ram Raja temple. I was surprised that we were allowed to enter being that none of us were Hindi; however, it was an amazing experience. The whole thing is hard to explain, it would take a while and, not being there, you wouldn't really be able to understand, but let's just say that it is different from anything that I have ever seen.
As the night ended Yash, the girls, and I stayed up late with our typical round of night caps. Like I have said before, being able to pick people's brains from other countries. which I know so little about, is a priceless opportunity. From what I have learned of Hindi is that it is a way of life much like being Muslim; therefore, they know everything about their religion and what they practice. This is much different from being Christian. I have never fully read the Bible and can't tell you much about the religion other than what I learned in Sunday School and my one class I had in the Old Testament in high school. If you were to ask me questions during our mass about what was going on, I probably wouldn't have the answers. I was baptized as a child and have been to church, that is what make me a Christian; however, the life style that others carry out is what makes them Hindu or Muslim. It kind of makes me feel guilty and that I am not a true Christian.
Our drive tomorrow will be taking us to a village called Alipura for two nights then an overnight train to the much anticipated Varanasi. Not many people get to say that, literally, each day is a new experience. I am living that expression up to the fullest.
*The last picture is of the outside of the Ram Raja temple, which is just beyond those arches. We were not allowed to take leather or our camera inside. Also, our tour guide, Yash, couldn't go in because he had meat for lunch. Cultural differences at every turn.
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