Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

Whenever I get pulled out of my normal bubble, I get new perspectives. Well, I got a TON of perspective on this trip. I saw so many blessings in everyday life. A major miracle: no migraines. I typically have to take something for migraines every week, sometimes multiple times. That's on top of the preventative medication I take every day. Due to a horrendous mistake by my pharmacy, I ran out of my prevention medicine, AND I could not depend on my abortive migraine meds because of risk of drug interaction with a new medication my doctor had put me on. So I found this out the week before my trip. Three days before I left the country, I asked my home teachers (men in my church assigned to watch over me) for a priesthood blessing, because I was VERY nervous. After the blessing, I found a way of (legally, I promise) getting enough preventative meds to get me through my trip. The night before my flight, I had an awful migraine that left me hunched over in pain and incredibly nauseated....

I had to wait to write this post til I had distributed most of the gifts. But finally, the day has come. I owe pretty much everything I got to the kindness of friends and the help of my tour guides (see  melissatravels.com ). You see, I had no idea what things were worth, especially in a foreign currency, and then I had no idea where I should go. And of course, since I look like a foreigner, I am more likely to be charged foreigner prices. So how awesome is it that I got to go to all sorts of places I had no idea existed, and then have people bargain for me? Pretty Awesome. The first market I went to is probably the most epic. Old Delhi. I didn't buy anything there, but boy, if I had wanted to, I would have had no limits. There were all kinds of shops, and it was PACKED with people. At first we were on a rickshaw, but then we had to get off and walk because there was no room. In the streets of Old Delhi For the rest of my tour in North India, it seemed that we'd go si...

I admit I was concerned about the food as I was preparing for this trip. I am not a spicy fan. India is known for spices. In fact, there was this thing called the spice trade in the first millenium BC... Anyway, the food was an adventure all in itself! Firstly, I got overwhelmed by the amount. My hosts, be they family of friends or waiters in restaurants/hotels, seemed to enjoy feeding me. For example: I get to my first rest stop, and aunt Nikita asks if I would like breakfast. "No, they fed me on the plane." "Oh, well here are some chocolates and nuts. Do you want milk? How about tea? Do you like fruit?" Or, in Goa: "You only ate two naans! Eat more!" To avoid overstuffing my stomach while simultaneously not offending anyone, I learned some tricks. I'd say I was chewing gum, or sucking on a cough drop (which would ruin the taste of their excellent cooking), or that I had just brushed my teeth, etc. Secondly, I had a lot to learn on what I was...

My last post for this particular Indian theme! Hurray! One of the first things I learned in my capacity as a tourist in Goa was that it has a completely different cultural history than the rest of India. That's because Goa was a province of Portugal for nearly five centuries. Hence, Catholic churches. Church of St Francis of Assisi Basilica of Bom Jesus Saint Francis Xavier Kept within the Basilica of Bom Jesus is the tomb of a saint I've never heard of. The inside story on the relics of Saint Francis Xavier is that during one of the public displays of his body, an older woman bit off his thumb to start her own reliquary. So now there is a protective something-or-other to preserve the rest of him. I also went to the archaeological museum in Goa, next to the Church of St Francis. I learned about stuff, I'm sure. There were lots of paintings of governors, some with crazy hair-dos. There were some moderately-preserved carvings from pre-Portuga...

To complete the golden triangle in India, I traveled to Jaipur, the capital of the Rajasthan state. The name Jaipur means victory city, but the city is more commonly known as the pink city. From what the tour guide told me, this name came because a prince of some country was scheduled to visit Jaipur, and the Jaipur ruler told everyone to paint the buildings pink to make a good impression. Over time and with additional coats, this seems more terra cotta to me, but still impressive. In the first hour of entering the city, I got to do two importantly classic Indian things: see a snake charmer, and ride an elephant. I was so happy! Ghulabkali the elephant On to the architecture. The Amer Fort, also known as Amber Fort, impressed me with its scenery, the planning of creature comforts (heating chambers for water for spas, for example), and the architecture itself. Afore-mentioned water heating chamber One of the other impressive things: apparently...

While looking over my last post before 'publication', I realized it was taking too long to load, and that I could not include all of the places I had been without compromising accessibility. So here is the Agra installment of buildings. Basically, that means the Taj Mahal. Ta Da! I went with Christina and a tour guide, which was awesome because it meant I knew what I was looking at. In a brief americanized summary, a powerful king had 3 wives, but he loved the 3rd wife best because she bore him children. A lot of children. As she lay dying from the birth of the 14th or so, she requested that the king tell his kingdom how much he loved her, and that he not marry any more wives. So he built the Taj Mahal as her tomb. The outer complex Inlay of precious and semi-precious stones Detail EVERYWHERE I was very popular at the Taj Mahal. As I was taking pictures of the exterior, Christina told me that someone wanted to take a picture of me. I had no p...

It is getting really hard to title blog posts these days. Nothing like what it used to be in the old days, before the time of Hemingway. He got away with "The Old Man and the Sea." I'm jealous. My very first day in India, after taking my first shower in 2 days, I went with my Indian aunt (actual relationship: the wife of my Indian friend's father's brother. Sorry, Tamanna, to reduce you to the epithet Indian Friend) Nikita to see Akshardham. I'd never heard of it before a month ago, but because I work with a lot of Indian nurses, I got lots of recommendations of where to go on this trip. So, armed with a letter to get me a personal tour in English, I entered the amazing grounds of Akshardham. At the request of security, I left my camera, phone, and even shoes, so to my great disappointment I cannot show you how awe-inspiring that temple is. The best I can do is borrow photos from the Akshardham website. This doesn't even start to give you the idea of ...