One of the Great World Wonders

Another early morning began, but I was brought tea as I got ready, so it wasn't so bad.  After enjoying tea and some biscuits, Maninder, Teena, one of their drivers, and I hit the road!  For the first couple hours I was in and out of sleep, but then enjoyed wonderful conversations with Maninder and Teena.  We spoke about India's corrupt government, the pollution, health care, and the poverty in the country.  It was so interesting to get their perspective on all of these issues and as Maninder said, "although it's sad, at least it gives us something to talk about."  This may be true, but it is important for me to hear about these things, although I suppose I could read about them as well.  We stopped on the way to pick up some breakfast at a south India restaurant that they knew they could trust.  The food was yummy and the company was even better.  We hopped back in the car when we were done and reached Agra after another two hours of driving.  Interesting fact about driving in India.  No matter where you are, even if you are in the middle of nowhere, there is always someone around who you can ask for directions.  There is no such thing as a gps, at least that I've seen, because you can always roll down your window and ask someone where to turn.  Our first stop in Agra was Fatipur Sikri, which was cool and interesting to see, but of course I had my heart set on seeing the Taj Mahal.  We spent about an hour at Fatipur Sikri walking around and taking the tour because driving over to the Taj Mahal.  Also, if you are keeping track of the number of times I ate this day, we are up to two and it is currently 1pm at which time we at meal three of the day which comprised of vegetable sandwiches which were delicious.  Anyway, we parked the car and took a horse drawn carriage from the parking lot to the entrance of the Taj Mahal.  It was either this or a typical car and Maninder insisted on the experience, which I enjoyed!  Walking up to the Taj Mahal was a beautiful site.  Teena warned me that the govenment does a poor job at keeping the monuments clean so she wanted me to be prepared for what I may see.  I was of course not disappointed, but was amazed at what I saw and learned.  The Taj Mahal was a magnificent and truly is a great world wonder.  Everything I learned about the way in which it was built and why in this specific way was so interesting!  As the day was getting late, we finished the tour and headed to a hotel to clean up, use the bathroom, and have a cup of tea (I of course had coffee J ). When we walked into the hotel, a necklace of jasmine flowers was placed over my head and a bindi placed on my forehead. We sat down and decided to have dinner there since it would be a long ride home- it was very yummy!  Spending the entire day with Maninder and Teena was so lovely and I enjoyed every minute talking with them and learning more about them.  By the day's end, I felt so much like part of their family and it felt incredible to find that thousands of miles from home.  When we finished eating, we got back in the car and headed home.  At around 9pm, I woke up to find us at a rest stop for the driver to eat and again, Maninder ordered food and at meal 5 of the day.  This food was different though as it was "economical" eating.  Basically it was a rest stop where they prepare fresh, cheap food.  Maninder trusts the food, which was good enough for me considering they are as careful as I am about what to eat, so we ate daal and naan- yum!  By this point I thought I was going to explode if I ate another thing so I was sure to keep my mouth shut for the rest of the day (which only had three hours left in it anyway).  The car started moving once again, but sadly we did not reach home until about 12:30am, which meant it was an incredibly long day and a VERY long drive for Maninder.  He insisted on driving the entire way even though the driver was brought along.  We turned in as soon as we got home and I was excited to explore Delhi with Jiya the next day!