The Taj

So…I apologize for not writing in a few weeks. The internet access here remains limited and my computer has conveniently chosen this summer to not function. BUT! I have ventured out to an internet café and will be updating you in rapid succession.  

Now…what do you get when you put ten Americans who have limited Urdu language ability and haven’t eaten dinner into two cars with drivers who have limited English language ability and the desire to complete an eight-hour car ride as soon as possible? That’s right! The beginning of my trip to Agra! A few weekends ago a group of us decided to venture to the..wait for it… Taj Mahal.  

Eight hours, no food, three hours of sleep, and a cold shower later, we were there. 5am. (But if you think about it in CST it was really like 7pm so it is as if we slept the entire day!) Anyway, the Taj Mahal is an extremely impressive structure. Shah Jahan built the mausoleum as a memorial for his favorite wife who died giving birth in 1631, and upon his death, Shah Jahan too was buried there. As you can see, we practiced our jumping skills and finally were able to capture a photo with everyone in the air. The ten of us explored and took many pictures for close to three hours, but there is something about seeing an iconic landmark that requires a few moments of absorption. It really was breathtaking.  Also, there were monkeys.

For lunch we went to “Joney’s”. Now Joney’s deserves mentioning because it was a beacon of light in a maze of food choices. The menu included omelets, pancakes, and best of all SANDWICHES! On top of that each sandwich was only 20-25 rupees. At 45 rupees to $1, it was a very welcome and delicious lunch. 

Later in the afternoon we went to the Agra Fort. A giant military-structure-turned-palace-turned-prison, the Agra Fort was massive. Overall the trip to Agra was a great success and my fellow travelers made the trip even better. That said the person of this post must be CJ or formally referred to as Cornelius Anthony Canton II. CJ is quite the character with a very narcissistic–but hilarious–sense of humor. In addition to Urdu, CJ speaks French, German, Hebrew, and Arabic. 

Words to learn: KahaN? = Where? ; Kaun? = Who? ; Kya? = What? ; Kub? = When? KyuN = Why?