Agra to Khajuraho

After a full day of Agra, our train was set to depart at 1120pm an overnight to Khajuraho. Arriving at the train station early so we weren't rushing, the station was jam packed. A ton of people sitting, sleeping, and running around  jumping on and off of trains. The station was filled with quite a few travelers all waiting for the same train. It's the best people watching, but as we were watching we started to notice that all these guys started crowding around and staring at us like we were some sort of tv show. Again I know this comes from pure curiosity, but I guess when there is a bunch of foreigners together it makes for quite the spectacle. Then they start pulling out there phones, snapping shots and video taping us...ha! All I can do is laugh.

Finally the train arrives and from our previous experience, we were prepared to be ready to jump onto the right coach, hopefully standing in the right spot. So we had our eyes peeled for B2, a bunch of us saw B1 so we all jumped on that assuming ( very bad never assume, especially in India), that B2 would logically follow B1, but no surprise we find out B2 is at the other end of the train. No problem we all think we'll just walk through all the coaches, well no this isn't possible either. We find out we have to wait 4 hours until the train stops cause it's locked between 2 coaches. Ugghhhhh, it couldn't possibly be the truth, but it was so there we were sitting on the dirty cold floor next to the lovely smelling washrooms. 

Regardless of the mistake all of us were light hearted about the situation and laughed. Even a local man that was sprawled on the ground next to us joined in the laughter with gleaming smile. I kept looking at him and thinking this is the norm for him, don't complain. I began to turn the frustration I felt into thinking  positive and felt thankful that at least we were on the correct train. Sharing that space with that man made my night! We were greeted by many interesting locals a couple drunks, a police man that was drunk and his shotgun barrel was basically hitting Adrienne's head, and a handful of other locals staring at us and questioning why we were sitting on the floor by the can.We finally switched coaches at 3am and settled in for a short sleep and arrived in Khajuraho. Clean, small town and home to the Temples. Built thousands of years ago they depict a storyboard of eroticism, women, sex, gods, goddesses and animals. It's unbelievable how intricate the stone carvings are, when you see them from afar they look like a game of wooden building blocks that are perfectly placed together. We had a pretty chill 2 days here and relaxed at our hotel. It was a nice balance to get off  the tourist trail.

Next leg is somewhere I was very excited about......Varanasi the holy city.

Faridabad to Agra

We left Faridabad on an early train and it was our first go at the Indian train system. We were leaving from quite a small station so we had already anticipated there may be some confusion with figuring out everything. Well we were definitely standing at the right platform but this train was a commuter heading to Agra and it had many coaches. So there we were standing in the middle of the station and the train comes in at mach speed and notice that our coach is of course waaay down at the front of the line. Super. We booked it with our heavy packs on our backs and ran, the train was not stopping here long and we we not missing our ride. Hot, dripping in sweat and what seemed as if I was running an Olympic sprint, we jumped on our coach just in time.  Now to find our seats, found them but of course people are sitting in them. This is where you start questioning yourself, is that my seat, am I in the right place blah blah blah. Your mind starts toying with you telling you your wrong. At the end of it, they were our right seats and everything was fine. It's funny how powerful your mind can be pushing you to believe that your wrong, feeling embarrassed or that you screwed up, but really who cares if you are, tell your ego to take a hike. Let that all go. We become so judgmental of ourselves feeding and jumping to all these negative assumptions and judgements that at the end of the day it does not matter. Again to reiterate, let it go. Your the only one who notices and no one else cares. You have to make mistakes cause if you don't your not growing and learning. The train was lovely, I sat next to a local from  Delhi that made the 3 hour ride fly by. I love talking to the local people, every conversation is like peeling an onion and getting into the layers of life here. It opens you to a whole new understanding and perspective to many of the questions that come up about life here. I feel like a news reporter cause I have so many questions and want to learn as much as I can. Alas our stop-Welcome to Agra the home of the Taj Mahal. Also tourist central. It's a bustling little town that pumps out a ton of tourists everyday. Our guide at the Taj said over 15,000 people visit there daily! That is just insane. We got up at a ridiculous hour to head to see the sunrise at the Taj. 545am and there is already there was a massive line up of people. The Taj is breathtaking, very surreal and at sunrise it looks as though it's floating on thin air. Constructed of white and black marble and jewels, it shines so bright in the early morning sun. I feel blessed that I was given the opportunity to see it. The grounds are serene and peaceful and the amount of tourists that are there just seem to fade away because the beauty of the Taj overpowers everything. From here we had a mini rest and decided to venture in the later part of the afternoon when the sun cooled down to Agra Fort. I was not that interested in going but after being there I am so glad I went. It was magical, the buildings and the grounds were again so peaceful and tranquil. It was  a nice change from being on the streets of Agra being hassled to buy this and that, listening to constant honking of horns and hearing the same old touts. It was a perfect day and we were ready to venture onto the next leg of our trip....Khajuraho home to Kama Sutra.

The last day of school...

Our train was booked to leave last Sat at 730am from Faridabad to Agra so that meant our last day with the kids at the slum would be Friday. The last day was hard, the kids seemed to not have as much energy and were all just blah. But even with the low energy in the room, there was an unspoken feeling that we all shared that filled our hearts. Each time you look at these innocent little human beings and they smile with that sparkle and kindness it makes you feel like you were given an amazing gift. The gift of being able to be a part of their lives and allowing to share their prescence with us even for such a short period of time. I would just hope that in all the time I spent at the school the children were able to take away something from the time were were together. Unfortunately the time had come to end and as one of the teachers told them we would be leaving and not returning the next day, the kids just looked up and waved, smiling, thanking, giving high fives and wanting to hold our hands. I was trying to hold back but I cried. My heart melted and I cried some more. I just wanted to take all of them home with me. Even writing this my eyes are filling with tears. It was an unbelievable experience that has inspired me to continue on this path of helping others, learning more and more about what an impact it can make. This type of travel is different and I would not have wanted it another way.  It makes you realize how thankful you should be everyday. And that the little things and annoyances that come up at home are so minuscule and trivial compared to the everyday life of what I've seen. So remember how lucky you are and to be thankful for everything you have.  During our time volunteering many questions came up about how these organizations work and at times you wonder at times just how does the whole thing work? Is it an ethical organization? Where does the money go? How does the hierarchy look like of these organizations?What are the schools/ orphanages getting from all the fees that volunteers pay? How transparent are these organizations about the costs/breakdowns of volunteer fees? In hindsight, everyone we volunteered with including us agreed that we should've asked a thousand of questions before we embarked on the volunteering journey. We did ask questions but learned you need to ask more, sometimes you just assume things and find out later that you were completely wrong. What it has taught me is that for next time I know what to ask. There is nothing I would change even if I was frustrated at times, the experience has prepared me for my next volunteer opportunity abroad. It actually has created a good platform to start our get MAD projects. If you are interested in going to volunteer please ask me any questions I'd be more than happy to share more details about my time here in India. I'm lagging a bit behind and will write about Agra and Khajuraho, but I thought that my last day deserved it's own post! Currently we are in Khajuraho leaving on an overnight train to Varanasi. love. xx

Day 6: Faridabad Highs and Lows

Over the past few days we have been continuing to volunteer at the slum school and trying to figure out what happened with the whole orphanage set up. I could basically write a whole post on the miscommunication and reasoning behind it but I'll save that for a later time. Let's just say that in all the planning we did prior to getting here,  it wasn't at all what we expected. You make an assumption or hear a plan and it doesn't always work that way. You sometimes can't control it and that's what traveling is all about, learning and testing yourself to adapt and just go with the flow without any set expectations. There is no point in letting yourself down and dwell on why it didn't happen the way it should've, you just push through and learn from it. Our morning walk to the school is through the area of Sector 4 in Faridabad a slum, generations of families living in tiny makeshift homes, garbage, pigs, cows and dogs. Dust, pollution from factories, the hot heat and no breeze make for a interesting morning walk. Everyday we head to the slum school, the people of Sector 4 stand watching and staring at you. Their deep dark eyes just stare, it can be really intense but I've come to understand that a lot of it stems from pure curiosity. We are here with 3 other volunteers from Australia and California and when the whole group of us walk it's like a thousand eyes are following you. Many people have mistaken me to be Indian and start speaking Hindi to me, it's quite amusing everywhere I go I seem to fit the bill of the local people.  The children run up to you wanting to shake your hand, ask your name, and bring big smiles, this makes up for everything. It's their infectious smiles and the happiness they shine from the interaction they have with us- holding their hand, giving a high five, these simple things are a definite highlight to their day. I'm lucky to say that the individuals I am here with are like minded and we all feel the need to get MAD (Make A Difference). Our conversations are short of silence as we all share ideas, plans and questions on how we as a group can become a force to make some sort of change. It starts small and takes commitment and  we all can use our life experience to come together to bring inspiration, motivation, passion and empowerment to those who need it. Clearly we are all here for similar reasons and there is a purpose to why we were introduced to each other. I am so grateful to have met them and be able to share my ideas and visions.  Last night four of us felt like we were 15 again, hiding out and sitting on stairs, sipping a few beers we called our little watering hole the Canadian Pub. After getting home we were informed that was an absolute no-no in Faridabad. It's a different trip when you stay with a host family, it's an eye opening, raw, real lesson on what everyday life is like here. Not easy, not glamourous and "A India Hai"- meaning this is India.  Our days can go from one extreme of high to the other extreme of low but at the end of each day I reflect and it arrives somehow at a perfect  kinda balance. The next leg of our trip begins Saturday. Destination Agra home to the magical Taj Mahal. I've been having issues posting photos so I apologize for not having visuals. Here's the number one song on the India! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sP7ixdeFoB4&sns=em

Delhi Sensory Overload

Ok, so Adrienne ( my awesome traveling companion who I met in Africa last year) and I decided to venture to Delhi for one night and see what the city has to offer and there are probably no words to describe it, the only way to understand it is to experience it and for those who've been there, I would love to hear your stories because it's like nothing I've ever seen. We decided to take a tuk tuk to the metro and venture in on the Delhi metro system- which was very impressive, clean, air conditioned and even has separate lines and sections for ladies. This is probably the only clean thing about Delhi. Easily finding our stop we get off jump in a taxi and head to our hotel in the area of Pahar Ganj- backpackers galore, a bit seedy and a bit overwhelming. Bumper to bumper traffic consisting of cycle rickshaws, auto rickshaws, taxis, motorcycles, trucks, you name it. They all line the streets honking and trying to move in the smallest and tightest spaces all to get ahead a few inches of each other.Our taxi mildly hits a scooter and the driver gets out and is about to get into a fist fight with the driver if the scooter in the middle of all the traffic congestion. Whoa....this is our welcome to Delhi-12.8 million people and counting. Our taxi driver decides he doesn't want to take us any further and we get transferred to a cycle rickshaw who drops us off at our hotel. The room is barebones basic, dirty and definitely a bit on the sketchy side. It's one night let's just deal with it. Well we dealt with it and that's all i'll write about it. Out to venture the streets again, I'm pretty sure we got into the typical Delhi tourist scam but the only positive thing was we didn't actually pay money for anything and after being shown to the " government tourist office", the lightbulb went on and we got out of there. Seriously, it seems like everyone is out to scam you and you lose faith very quickly in trusting anyone, it's a horrible feeling but the amount of scams are infinite. After getting lost for an hour in Connaught Place, the centre point of New Delhi which is a circular ring of roads that made absolutely no sense to me. We found a great south Indian restaurant called Saravana Bhavan and they have a franchaise in Vancouver! This made up for the BS we had to deal with earlier. It's amazing how a good meal can instantly change your mood! Back to the hotel to get to bed. We woke up early eager to get out of Hotel Sketch and walked down to a street called Main Bazaar- tons of guesthouses, chaos, and tiny shops selling everything and anything to make a buck. We spent the day in Old Delhi at Red Fort, being somewhat scammed again by a cycle rickshaw and  finally deciding time to get out of Delhi. One and half days is enough. Although Delhi is completely chaotic, dirty, crowded, hot and you feel like everyone is out to scam you, its a city to be experienced cause there is nothing like it. The tuk tuk rides weaving in and out of traffic are something you can't describe, it's like a bad car accident you don't want to see what's happening but you do all at the same time. I can never complain again about road rage, it's a science to drive the streets of Delhi. Crossing the street is like a crap shoot with everything coming at you from all directions. No one stops and it can feel like a game of life or death. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a understatement, but in doing so you can really find out how much you can handle and how strong you can be. I wouldn't have changed anything about my Delhi experience, it was a true test to finding out more about myself. Anything goes here. Complete sensory overload. Its Thanksgiving back home and being in India makes you really think how fortunate and lucky we are. Getting outside of the bubble we live in and being put into some of the most poverty stricken areas of the world makes you think what is real and what is important in this lifetime. What we often overlook and take for granted is what others pray for their entire life-food,water, shelter, family, friends, to be loved.........the list goes on. Today brought a new perspective on everyday life. A picture painted in my mind that will be difficult to ever be forgotten. Remember to be thankful everyday. Love everyday. Spread positive energy to those in need everyday. Be kind to one another everyday. Happy Thanksgiving from India. Love and light.

Day One.....

Well after a grueling 12 hours to Ghangzhou China, a delayed connection and another 6 hour flight, we made it to Delhi ! My expectation of landing in a chaotic, dirty, crowded loud airport was instantly erased as we walked off the plane. The airport was the complete opposite- very organized, modern and quiet. After checking through customs my instructions from my contact at the organization we are volunteering for said " exit gate 6 someone will meet you at the coffeemore coffee shop". Sounds pretty reassuring right ! Well of course no one was there to meet us and a little bit of panic mode sets in, but you just deal with it. So I reluctantly pulled out my cell phone which I was against bringing in the first place, but I admit now it solved our problem and our ride was standing a few feet away from us with a tiny sign with our names. A dark drive into the streets of Delhi, the streets to my surprise look very clean, with the odd cow roaming the streets. Honking of horns, motorcycles with several people on them, bikes and people on foot all filled the streets. As we headed to to the city of Faridabad, this is where we will call home for the next while. The streets start to show signs of pollution, scattered garbage and small shacks constructed of basically anything that could create shelter. We finally arrive at our home stay and are greeted by Shree, his wife and two sleeping children. An amazing family that founded the slum school for children and host a handful of volunteers. Today we woke up enjoyed a hot cup of chai (YUM) and made our way to the slum school. We are not really certain where our volunteer program is now but for today it was at the school not the orphanage. We are welcomed by a dozen 3-5 year olds with sparkling smiles and curious eyes. My heart melted. I cannot describe the feeling of being in front of a group of young children that without this school would be roaming the streets of the slums being out to work to help contribute to the families earnings to live. But Shree and his family out of the kindness and vision to create change allows for these children the opportunity to learn. An inspiration that makes me question what can I do to make a difference? The happiness they hold is nothing like I have ever seen.....and they have nothing, absolutely nothing. I could write pages and pages about the emotions I've felt today but i think I am still taking it all in. I'll leave it with two quotes I over heard today. One regarding the slum school: "It's not just the money we need, it's the people the interaction the relationships with the children that make a difference". How amazing is that it really puts into perspective how important interpersonal relationships are in our lives and that money is just money it doesn't define happiness, success or life. It's the experiences and interaction we share with each other, learning, connecting, sharing, teaching, love and knowing the impact you've learned from them and the impact you've made on them. Lastly, a quote from a man on the street "Everything is possible in India". Leaves me with goosebumps.