Winding Up
Time just seems to have flown by over the past few days. Enjoyed speaking to the student body on Sunday morning during chapel. Speaking to future leaders is an awesome responsibility when you realize you are speaking to ordinary people with a passion to change their villages, provinces and country for the better. Many young people drop out of school early making their individual futures even bleaker. It is encouraging to meet young men and women who have pressed on to get such degrees as their Masters in Business Administration, etc.
The rest of the day we spent interacting with small groups of students as we slowly and sadly began packing to leave early in the morning. Only one suitcase was coming home with us loaded mainly with gifts and souvenirs. Carsen and I trimmed down on the amounts of clothing we were taking, leaving a suitcase full, either for students needing items, or for selling in the market to generate funds for the school.
Sunday night was our last supper with the students in the dining hall. Mixed emotions were evident. We have come to love this amazing group of students and will leave a part of hearts here.
Monday morning we are up and gone at 5 a.m. It is still dark and the traffic is light. We stop only to get some breakfast at a Subway and then carry on to the Ramoji Film Studios. This film site has made the Guinness World Book of records for being the largest film studio site in the world. We did some little tours of the amusement park with demonstrations of the making of a movie and a stunt show. Then we took a tour around the grounds with duplicated villages and train stations, airport, hospital and church. Crew were filming projects as we drove. Y. We walked through some areas from one bus drop off point, to a pickup point as the tour progressed through the scene backdrops for various film settings. It is massive and it would take a whole day or even two to appreciate the intricacies that have been developed there. By midday, it was really warming up and we found a bus that would return us to the parking lot.
From there we continued to Hyderabad where we went to the Golconda Fort. It is the most amazing historical site I have been to. It was built In the early 1500's, destroyed once and rebuilt. The British colonization saw the Fort ransacked and today there are just the remains of massive walls and staircases and arched rooms. Some are built in such a way as to carry sound to the top of the hill by magnifying the acoustics. In one room, Carsen stood facing a corner of the room and I stood facing the opposite corner about 75 feet away. We could speak to each other as though face to face due to the acoustical engineering. We climbed up ancient stone stairs through many ruins. Carsen made it to the top, well almost, as there was a Hindu temple at the very top that prevented one from entering the king's chamber. We marvelled as we were told the king was taken up every day by porters carrying his throne chair to the top where he would have a half hour meeting and then go down again. There were special arched rooms where royalty could sit and watch the activity below without being detected. Of course, that tour like so many others, took longer because of the constant request to pose with youth and adults alike for a photo op.
Eventually it's the Hyderabad airport and onward to Mumbai on a domestic 737. We got into Mumbai 15 minutes early, picked up our one piece of luggage, found a taxi and were at our hotel before midnight. Mumbai has its own unique smell and we were quickly reminded of the never ending bustle of a city with 37 million people.
We had breakfast in the hotel Cafe where we met travellers from Sweden and Israel and had an interesting conversation about our travels and theirs within India. Of course now we had experiences we could share with first timers to this country.
We took a taxi down to the southern tip of Mumbai, Colaba District, for souvenir shopping. Little did we know we were almost at the Gateway to India site with its massive stone structure. Building started in 1912 and it was completed and inaugurated in 1924. It was only a block away and we only stumbled on it because we wanted to see the harbour and the boats. This is a staging area for boats to Elephant Island. Masses of people mingled in the square in front of the huge arched gateway. Tourist hunters wanting to take our picture, for a fee of course, and others wanting to get a picture posing with us. One cannot go right inside the overpowering arch, as it is fenced off from public access, but we got as close as we could.
Hindu priests wanted to bless us with little flowers and wrist bands. Carsen had to physically fend one off as he tried to put a spot of red dye in the middle of his forehead. I, too was approached for a similar encounter, but said, No, but I will bless you instead and right then and there prayed for him. He stood there a little stunned. We carried on and encountered a young man with a baby boy who wanted some rice and milk powder, refusing any cash. So I broke down and purchased 5 kilos of rice and a can of milk powder, all of which would supply food for a month. After checking out the many stalls for curios, we crossed the Main Street to the other side, we found there were no pedlars, but higher end shops. A security guard suggests we go and look in one particular shop. So we did. At the front were the usual tourist figurines, but farther in was a showroom for carpets. Rolls of carpet wee pulled off shelves and rolled out for us. They were very beautiful and made of Kashmir wool or silk. Prices started as high as U$3000, but today there was a 50% off deal with free shipping. Being reticent is good, because the price finally came down to $1000 with free shipping. I was skeptical as to whether the shipping would even materialize. While sitting and talking, now there were 5 salesmen putting the pressure on, I began to feel woozy and actually fainted and rolled onto the floor. Must be blood sugars as it was 3:30 in the afternoon and I hadn't had a meal since be breakfast. Eventually, I wobbled out of there, no purchase, and we found a MacDonalds nearby for chicken nuggets and fries that had me feeling better in minutes. But to be safe, we took a taxi back to the hotel. We rested and spent the early evening walking to the Reliance Superstore. When we found any kids, we divested ourselves of the last of our rubber bouncy balls. Now we are close to the end of our trip. On Wednesday, we make our way, slowly, towards the International Airport. This is almost the last post.
Time just seems to have flown by over the past few days. Enjoyed speaking to the student body on Sunday morning during chapel. Speaking to future leaders is an awesome responsibility when you realize you are speaking to ordinary people with a passion to change their villages, provinces and country for the better. Many young people drop out of school early making their individual futures even bleaker. It is encouraging to meet young men and women who have pressed on to get such degrees as their Masters in Business Administration, etc.
The rest of the day we spent interacting with small groups of students as we slowly and sadly began packing to leave early in the morning. Only one suitcase was coming home with us loaded mainly with gifts and souvenirs. Carsen and I trimmed down on the amounts of clothing we were taking, leaving a suitcase full, either for students needing items, or for selling in the market to generate funds for the school.
Sunday night was our last supper with the students in the dining hall. Mixed emotions were evident. We have come to love this amazing group of students and will leave a part of hearts here.
Monday morning we are up and gone at 5 a.m. It is still dark and the traffic is light. We stop only to get some breakfast at a Subway and then carry on to the Ramoji Film Studios. This film site has made the Guinness World Book of records for being the largest film studio site in the world. We did some little tours of the amusement park with demonstrations of the making of a movie and a stunt show. Then we took a tour around the grounds with duplicated villages and train stations, airport, hospital and church. Crew were filming projects as we drove. Y. We walked through some areas from one bus drop off point, to a pickup point as the tour progressed through the scene backdrops for various film settings. It is massive and it would take a whole day or even two to appreciate the intricacies that have been developed there. By midday, it was really warming up and we found a bus that would return us to the parking lot.
From there we continued to Hyderabad where we went to the Golconda Fort. It is the most amazing historical site I have been to. It was built In the early 1500's, destroyed once and rebuilt. The British colonization saw the Fort ransacked and today there are just the remains of massive walls and staircases and arched rooms. Some are built in such a way as to carry sound to the top of the hill by magnifying the acoustics. In one room, Carsen stood facing a corner of the room and I stood facing the opposite corner about 75 feet away. We could speak to each other as though face to face due to the acoustical engineering. We climbed up ancient stone stairs through many ruins. Carsen made it to the top, well almost, as there was a Hindu temple at the very top that prevented one from entering the king's chamber. We marvelled as we were told the king was taken up every day by porters carrying his throne chair to the top where he would have a half hour meeting and then go down again. There were special arched rooms where royalty could sit and watch the activity below without being detected. Of course, that tour like so many others, took longer because of the constant request to pose with youth and adults alike for a photo op.
Eventually it's the Hyderabad airport and onward to Mumbai on a domestic 737. We got into Mumbai 15 minutes early, picked up our one piece of luggage, found a taxi and were at our hotel before midnight. Mumbai has its own unique smell and we were quickly reminded of the never ending bustle of a city with 37 million people.
We had breakfast in the hotel Cafe where we met travellers from Sweden and Israel and had an interesting conversation about our travels and theirs within India. Of course now we had experiences we could share with first timers to this country.
We took a taxi down to the southern tip of Mumbai, Colaba District, for souvenir shopping. Little did we know we were almost at the Gateway to India site with its massive stone structure. Building started in 1912 and it was completed and inaugurated in 1924. It was only a block away and we only stumbled on it because we wanted to see the harbour and the boats. This is a staging area for boats to Elephant Island. Masses of people mingled in the square in front of the huge arched gateway. Tourist hunters wanting to take our picture, for a fee of course, and others wanting to get a picture posing with us. One cannot go right inside the overpowering arch, as it is fenced off from public access, but we got as close as we could.
Hindu priests wanted to bless us with little flowers and wrist bands. Carsen had to physically fend one off as he tried to put a spot of red dye in the middle of his forehead. I, too was approached for a similar encounter, but said, No, but I will bless you instead and right then and there prayed for him. He stood there a little stunned. We carried on and encountered a young man with a baby boy who wanted some rice and milk powder, refusing any cash. So I broke down and purchased 5 kilos of rice and a can of milk powder, all of which would supply food for a month. After checking out the many stalls for curios, we crossed the Main Street to the other side, we found there were no pedlars, but higher end shops. A security guard suggests we go and look in one particular shop. So we did. At the front were the usual tourist figurines, but farther in was a showroom for carpets. Rolls of carpet wee pulled off shelves and rolled out for us. They were very beautiful and made of Kashmir wool or silk. Prices started as high as U$3000, but today there was a 50% off deal with free shipping. Being reticent is good, because the price finally came down to $1000 with free shipping. I was skeptical as to whether the shipping would even materialize. While sitting and talking, now there were 5 salesmen putting the pressure on, I began to feel woozy and actually fainted and rolled onto the floor. Must be blood sugars as it was 3:30 in the afternoon and I hadn't had a meal since be breakfast. Eventually, I wobbled out of there, no purchase, and we found a MacDonalds nearby for chicken nuggets and fries that had me feeling better in minutes. But to be safe, we took a taxi back to the hotel. We rested and spent the early evening walking to the Reliance Superstore. When we found any kids, we divested ourselves of the last of our rubber bouncy balls. Now we are close to the end of our trip. On Wednesday, we make our way, slowly, towards the International Airport. This is almost the last post.
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