July 2010
17 posts
July 9, 2010
Today we are in Tanjore, a city about 4 hours away from Madurai by bus. Two days ago, for our community service, we got to help some architecture students from Madurai design new food stands for the temple there, and if they like the design, the temple will actually construct them. We were also in the newspaper that day for the work that we’re doing at the temple.
Also, the other...
July 5, 2010
Wow, Tamil Nadu (well, Madurai area at least) is amazing! We have a great view of the city from our hotel, where we eat breakfast is up on the 4th floor with a terrace outside. Beautiful view! Madurai is also a bustling city, very different than slightly sleepy (rainy) Panaji.
This morning we went to visit a Jain cave and ended up seeing a tree that the local religion...
July 4th- Later in the day
We just met with the teachers from the institute here in Madurai. The city sounds very cool, but it’s apparently much more conservative than I even thought. They told us we have to wear long pants and loose shirts that go fairly low below our beltline. I’m not sure how many of those I even have! I didn’t feel like buying too much clothing here, but now I may have to. I can’t wait to explore...
July 4, 2010
It’s sort of easy to forget that it’s the Fourth of July when nothing around screams red white and blue, but Happy Fourth! I’m sort of sad to miss the fireworks and coleslaw, but what could say Happy Independence better than the beautiful city of Madurai and a relocation for two weeks before heading home?
The sky here is actually blue, a bright (though hot) relief after...
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July 3, 2010- Later in the day
Goa is a beautiful place. I was just walking around by myself noticing beautiful things specific to India- like the way it smells. Sometimes it’s a mixture of a smoky, spicy smell that you walk through like it’s a bit of fog. Horns honk often, but during monsoon the sound of rain is the backdrop to everything. Sweetshops on every corner hold glass cases displaying orange, green, yellow and...
Oh, I forgot
This week we also had an amazing talk by an architect from Goa who showed us some of the things he has designed. They all looked like SO much fun. He designed the house of the man who owns Kingfisher! And he does tons of hotels and environmental work, which all looks amazing. We also had a lecture on Le Corbusier, which was awesome. I really like modern architecture! I miss learning about it
July 3, 2010
Sorry I haven’t written in so long. Our last week in Goa has been extremely busy and finding the time was….well I always felt like I should be working on school work or taking advantage of the city. Anyway, this week I again went to the Hamaras school, where the orphans and students stay after school. Again I was struck by their awesomeness and it was hard to leave them for the last time. ...
June 2010
92 posts
tucker asked: Have you gotten over that nasty stomach bug that you had?
June 27, 2010
Yesterday we woke up early to go to the Taj Mahal. We beat the heat and most of the crowds. Even beat the normal not-so-hardcore hawkers. It is a beautiful structure, but I really think that a true appreciation cannot be had for it without seeing it up close. The inlay is absolutely amazing, delicate, and the carving is the same. The marble itself is also wonderful because the...
I’ll put up photos soon…They’re beautiful from this weekend
June 25, 2010
Today was another beautiful day in Agra. Everyone went to bed fairly early last night (as there’s not much to do because we aren’t allowed to leave the hotel) and got up this morning to go to Fatepur Sikri, which was a temporary capital of the Mughal Empire during the rule of Emperor Akbar (whose tomb we visited yesterday) in 1571. It was actually only used for 14 years or so before it was...
June 24, 2010
Today was incredible. We left around 4:45 as promised (actually that’s a lie, we didn’t leave until after 5 because a few people were late, which didn’t make our professor happy, but we got to the lobby around 4:45). We then took a flight to Mumbai and stayed on the plane for our second flight to Delhi. Seeing Mumbai out of the airplane window was really interesting, because it is such a large...
June 23, 2010
Both today and yesterday, for community service, I went to the orphanage/school that half our group has been going to. There are probably 30-40 kids there, ages (as far as I can tell) 7-15. They are absolutely amazing. Most of them speak at least some level of English, and the older ones typically have achieved a level of proficiently. The girls love my blond hair, and braided it today into...
