Ginny: Fleuveau

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 basically completely abandoned, but it was a beautiful complex.  Many of the buildings were intricately detailed, carved into fruitful designs that animated every surface.  The complex is split into three parts, one for visitors to the king (common people) one for the men, and one for the women (called the Zenana area).  We spent a long time in the desperately dry heat, but in the shade it was cool with a bit of a breeze and the structures were definitely worth seeing.  We also saw a lot of bats hanging on the walls.

            After the royal city itself, we visited the beautiful adjacent mosque.  It towers over the approaching visitor who is, regrettably, distracted by a swarm of children who are trying hard to sell merchandise.  I think that these children are what captivated our group’s attention more than the mosque, and they were definitely the topic of conversation upon exiting the mosque and re-boarding the bus.  They all had a script that they would spout off as soon as they saw us.  Many of them spoke (quite fluently I might add) multiple languages.  I had a bit of a conversation with one in French.  When we got up to the mosque, I had a slight fear that I wouldn’t be allowed in because I was wearing shorts, but they tied a red cloth around my waist and, after removing my shoes, I was allowed to enter.  The pavement was HOT and there were long cloth rugs lining the courtyard as pathways from one door to another.  People were talking to us all over the place, claiming not to ask for money, but giving us information about everything.  They “advised” (read pushed) us to take the path around the covered edges of the courtyard to “stay away from the heat” (read walk past the people selling things in the shade).  There were so so many children there.  A few started playing around on the floor in the mosque, hoping to attract our attention.  I talked with one about how he broke a toe playing “football” (soccer) and I told him that, no I didn’t want to buy anything, but he should really wear shoes when he played football.  Another boy told me that my six-person family is small, as most families there have closer to ten people, in his humble view. 

            We finally left, wishing we could do more to keep children from pawning worthless items at tourist sites in the middle of a Friday, but alas what could we do?  Our British professor (who I’ve decided I like a lot, if simply because of this fact) announced that we would return to the hotel for lunch and then rest until 5:30, when we would have a short discussion, and then be free for the rest of the night to watch the Brazil-Portugal game.  It was wonderful having time off so early in the day: it was only 1:00!