Day 3 part 1

Early on Sunday morning we were packed again and taking a 2 ½ hour train ride to Agra. I rode in the backseat of a scary taxi with one of the springs in the seat causing me discomfort on the way as our driver coughed incessantly. It was pretty frightening at the station; traffic was loud and made me disoriented as I tried to walk between the cars without losing sight of the group or losing grip on my luggage. This moment was when we really noticed people staring at us. Being a large group of white people, we stood out to say the very least! And when Indians stare, they have an expressionless face and they don't really stop staring--even when you meet their eyes. Some how I got used to this during the next six days.

We hustled and bustled to get everyone on the right train car, in the right seat. Finally, we were departing and on our way to Agra. Out the window of the train car, I saw countless slums as we moved through and out of Delhi. Children and women were walking around through piles of trash and garbage, there were housing areas that were made of flimsy materials, and there was litter all along the side of the train for the length of our journey.

When we arrived in Agra, the leaders of the community we would be visiting later that day greeted us with flower leis. There were people everywhere but we managed to stay as one group and load up into cars as we drove to our hotel. I already liked Agra better than Delhi. It was crowded like all of India is, but it seemed like the roads were more open and the sky more bright. When we arrived at the Hotel Taj Plaza, I looked down the street and saw the top of the Taj Mahal! We explored our less-than-stellar room with three tiny beds (smaller than a twin) and sketchy bathroom. The roof was fun, you could eat meals from the hotel restaurant there, and had a specktacular view of the Taj Mahal.

Since we had two hours to kill before our afternoon footwashing, we got the chance to walk around and see what normal life looks like. Since we'd mostly been in the TruthSeekers office the day before, it was good to get out and feel the sun. Although you can never really take a deep breath of clean air in India due to the pollution, the warmth of the air seemed to help us adapt to the time zone.

We walked down the road in front of the hotel that leads to the Taj Mahal. The closer you get to the Taj, the more venders and sellers start to yell at you and walk alongside you and try to get you to look at their postcards, snow globes, marble works, wooden trinkets, etc. We were taught that the best approach to losing their interest is to simply look straight ahead, not making eye contact, and completely ignore them. Sometimes I'd shake my head from side to side and say "Nay. Nay." But often that just encouraged them more than the ignoring.

As we turned left down another road outside the West entrance to the Taj Mahal, the shops became less tourist-oriented and we saw more of the simple shops and trades that occupy the streets of neighborhoods. We saw monkeys wandering around, pigs digging through trash, naked children, hardworking men and women, donkeys carrying carts, cows wandering around, bicycles and rickshaws, goats, dogs sleeping in the street, and lots of curious glances.

We quickly discovered that the children all know "hello. chocolate?" and "hello. money?" in English. Since we weren't handing out money or chocolate, we entertained them with our cameras by taking pictures of them and then showing them. I remembered my go-to phrase of "What is your name?" in Hindi and got many giggles in return. It was a fun way to spend the morning.