Temples and Talking

Today we put on our American clothes and acted like tourists. Unfortunately Danielle and Dawn are both still down with the illness so Ali and I went out on our adventure without our other two partners in crime. We started with a nice early breakfast around 7 and then Pargathi and Barkavi took us to the Rock Fort Temple which overlooks all of Trichy. We had to go early because they said it gets too hot past 9. At home, I’m usually not out of bed by 9, so that shows you how different of a life I’m living over here. We were instructed to take off our shoes, so in exchange for 10 Rupees a vendor watched our shoes and gave us a coconut of flowers. The girls thought this would be a better idea than leaving our shoes out in the open.

On we went into the temple with random fees along the way for being a tourist. I act like these fees were a big deal, but in retrospect they were only 3 rupees which is less than 3 cents. I’m getting used to how cheap things are here, I’m not going to be able to buy anything when I get back to the US! Anyway, we began our hike up a trillion stairs, stopping along the way to see the various Hindu idols. After what felt like a million years in the desert we made our way onto the top of the rock where we had the most amazing view. As a tourist would do, we took way too many pictures and got plenty of funny looks. While taking pictures, we caught some people taking pictures of us. I guess since we are not a common find in Trichy, seeing us was something they wanted to remember too.

After our temple excursion we went shopping in what I can only describe as a really big Macy’s Department store. There were floors and floors of fabrics, shalwar kameez, leggings, nightys, basically any clothing item you would want in India. We probably spent way too much money and way too much time in there so we had to get out. The rest of our afternoon turned into a lazy afternoon as Ali and I just sat around and talked and let the other two recover.

Today we learned a little bit about how Americans are viewed to some other parts of the world. We learned that other countries look up to Americans and that we should feel blessed to go to school in the US. We saw this more than once today. While checking out at the department store, the workers found out we were from the states and immediately gave us juice boxes to drink while shopping.  Then later in the day as Ali and I were going on an afternoon stroll around campus we ran into an international student from Africa named Maxime who told us everyone wishes to study in America. He mentioned how lucky we were to get an education from there and that it is one of the best educations you can receive. I never realized how lucky we are.

Fun fact of the day. Ali and I took this picture at the temple today and did not realize until just now that it is taken from the exact same spot as my background picture for this blog. Enjoy.