Jaipur,Ranthambore,Agra, Taj Mahal, Delhi.....and Bombay

The last five days have been hectic and coupled with the lack of internet has caused me to fall almost hopelessly behind with updates...so I'll try to do a brief summary of what has happened since I left Hugelli, India.

Following our school dedication last Sabbath the group rushed back to our hotel to clean up and check out in time to make our evening flight from Hyderabad to Jaipur. By the time we all got checked into our hotel in Jaipur it was after midnight and we had a full day of sightseeing ahead of us Sunday.

Sunday started early with a visit to The Amber Fort, a world heritage site. The fort and palaces are impressive to say the least and dominate the landscape in its valley location.

We had the option of taking jeeps or Elephants from the parking area up to the Fort. I took the Jeep but many folks rode the elephants. I suppose I should have ridden the Elephant but it just didn't appeal at the time. Rather than try to describe the fort and palaces I'll let the photos do the work.

After lunch we were taken to a carpet factory. I went in with an attitude of been there done that but walked out having purchased a beautiful carpet for my house.I was just so impressed with the craftsmanship and the fact that this "co-op" keeps the ancient art of rug weaving alive while employing folks that would otherwise have no work.

Another night in Jaipur and then an early start to our next destination, Ranthambore National Park. This park is famous for tigers although I'm not certain why. We saw Peacocks,Monkey's, and Deer but nary a Tiger to be found. We did however catch a glimpse of a Leopard which is supposed to be even more rare than a Tiger. Probably the highlight was the magnificent hotel we stayed at out in the middle of the park. Again, I'll let the pix talk. After our morning "safari" our second day we headed off on another long bus ride to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal.

Having visited the Taj Mahal a few years ago I found it quite pleasant to just enjoy the visit rather than frantically taking pictures as I did on my first visit.

After our morning visit to the Taj and yet another shopping stop, we hit the road for Delhi...another LONG bus ride that got us to our hotel near Delhi late in the evening Wednesday.

Thursday found us touring New Delhi. Sights included Qutab Minar,The Indian Parliament buildings and the India Gate. Following lunch I and two others left the group for the airport. The group continued to a final shopping stop before the remainder of the group began their departures.

This has been quite a journey. India is a country of extremes. Extreme poverty and extreme wealth. Extreme beauty and extreme squalor...and all of it in such close proximity that it can be almost overwhelming at times. The one constant seems to be the people. So kind and accepting of us as we trample their language and culture....and in return we received kindness and courtesy.

In every small village or town we passed through during our epic bus travels the kids always waved and smiled....beautiful big smiles.....it was heartwarming and made the journey so much more pleasant. I will miss that. What I will not miss is the smog,and the insane traffic.

At times the driving in India was entertaining to the point of being hysterically funny while at other times it might cause the faint of heart to lose bowel control....I realize that is not a delicate way of stating it but it is very difficult to put capture in words the chaos and gut wrenching experience that is driving in India. That said, amazingly it all seems to work....most of the time. If an amusement park wanted a truly fear inducing thrill ride, "Driving in India" would be it.

I had a very pleasant day in my new second favorite city in India, Bombay, yesterday. Varanasi is still #1, but Bombay is a thoroughly delightful city that I must return to.

I am in Hong Kong enjoying the hospitality of the Cathay Pacific First Class lounge, The Wing, as I wait for my flight to Los Angeles. I'll miss India, but it is indeed time to get home!

Thanks for sharing this journey with me. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did......I know that's impossible but seemed like a nice way to wrap up...=)

Catching up

I've been without internet since we left Hugelli and Hyderabad Saturday night so time to catch up.

On our final Sabbath we held a dedication and ribbon cutting for the new Hugelli School and it was a special day!!

We met the kids at the old school and each person took two of the kids by the hand and led them to the entrance to the new school. Church and city officials as well as hundreds of folks from the village turned out. It was quite the occasion!

After a prayer and words of dedication the ribbon was cut and the kids were the first to cross the threshold of the new campus where a big surprise awaited them.Inside one of the classrooms we had laid out new shoes, socks, school uniforms, and backpacks with school supplies for each child. The children had no idea what was about to happen.

As they filed by the tables piled high with the gifts their eyes grew wider and wider and the smiles bigger and bigger as their hands got fuller and fuller of new things. It was a very special moment and I'm not sure who had more fun....us or the kids. There weren't too many dry eyes in our group and we watched these beautiful children receive what for them was a treasure of immense value.

Next the children were lead to another classroom that was filled with the new desks they would use. I'm not sure that the reality that they wouldn't have to sit on a dirt floor anymore for school had really taken hold yet.

The children then sang several songs for our group followed by our group singing for them and then a final prayer and good byes.....along with more tears.

I watched one little boy look through his back pack and as he did he came across some candy that had been put there. What surprised me was that he wasn't really interested in that....what made his eyes get big and cause a huge smile to cross his face was the pencils and paper in the back pack!!! Such a simple thing but so valuable to this little guy.
This was a day that will stay with me for as long as I live.

New and Old

It is humbling to see how God plans things...even when we think we have a plan.

We started out the day with plans for several vehicles to take those of us who wanted time to take pictures out in the direction of the school site but as we drove we realized that the villages and towns along the way still hadn't really started the day.
The vehicle I was in decided we would just proceed to the school site and have the opportunity to take photos of the school without a crowd. God had a wonderful surprise waiting for us.
We did indeed arrive before the crowd and decided to walk over to the old school. School is a generous description for what is a very small, dark, and cramped three room house that has served as the school. We arrived at the school about 30 minutes before start time and only two boys were there but within a few minutes the kids started arriving and what a treat to see them sing and see their smiles as Dottie Crane read a story to them.

A bit later the rest of the photo tour group arrived and the teachers herded the kids over to the new school and had them take their seats in the new desks. You could just see the wonderment on their faces. I found myself thinking perhaps the fact that this beautiful new school and desks is for them hasn't really become reality yet. They have been sitting on the floor of this little school and now I'm certain this new facility seems a bit surreal to them.

The teachers had the children sing songs including the national anthem of India. It was priceless and it made it very clear in my mind what our purpose really was for being here. We have been blessed to be part of this school building project.

Tomorrow we hold the dedication for the new school.