mid term break photos!!!!

Rock Garden, Chandigarh, Punjab, India - July 14, 2010
This garden is made entirely of recycled materials. There are walls made of the electrical sockets, some statues made from broken bangles, etc. It was really wonderful.

Rock Garden: Mili and I! Tulane Grads unite! Mili was so gracious to let me stay with her and her family while I was in Chandigarh. I stayed in Sector 22. I love that, when people ask you where you're going, you say the sector and then you are automatically understood. Her mom is amazing as well.

Sarovar: Harpriya, Mili and myself at Sunset. Chandigarh, Punjab

Lava Bar: Myself, Samira, Mili and Harpriya. This was a lot of fun. Chandigarh has a lot of fun things to do.

Kasauli! I also went to the Monkey Point, but because it is in Army Boundaries, no photography or any form of bags are allowed in there. They definitely confused me with a local and didn't even bother to ask me for my passport. It is pretty nice to be confused with a local, especially on such minimal Hindi spoken.
Here is the photo that I've wanted to be taken for so long. Here I am at the Harmandir Sahib, Golden Temple. This Gurdwara is one of the most important for Sikhs. It is located in Amritsar, Punjab. This was absolutely breathtaking. I cannot describe in words what this experience was like. I went and visited this place about three times in the two days I was in Amritsar. The second time I ate dinner there, for free, and then ended up seeing a religious function at night and then slept on the floor of the temple with the other people. I got up in the morning to go volunteer and washed dishes and cut vegetables to be prepared for the meals. It was a really nice experience and I was really welcomed in.
Here I am at the monument for the 1818 Massacre at Jallianwala Bagh. It was a more morbid experience. What happened here was truly sad but the park is well kept and everyone there seemed to be very respectful. There is a nice museum inside telling of what happened there.

Here I am outside of the Jallianwala Bagh!

Here I am with Hanuman Ji at the Durga Mandir, which is somewhat of a rip off of the Golden Temple. You will see in the following photos what I mean.

Here I am with the rip off Golden Temple. This is actually the Durga Mandir in Amritsar. It was interesting to say the least.

Here I am at the Wagah Border ceremony where they close the gates between Pakistan and India.They have a staged ceremony which was somewhat weird. They do not allow bags in of any kind and my passport got me into the VIP section!

Here I am at the border afterwards. I'm on the India side, obviously.

Here I am at the Mata Mandir, where women who want to become pregnant come to pray. I did not want to go in, but was somewhat coerced into doing so. The mandir turned out to be some sick fun house where we had to crawl through weird spaces and whatnot. Then I saw this and decided to mock it. This is me with Kali Ma. See the similarities?

Here I am for the last time at the Golden Temple. This place is so remarkably beautiful. If you've ever seen it in a movie, it does not do it justice.

Here I am chilling out on the banks with the guards there at the Golden Temple. I called it a big swimming pool with these guys as the really decked out lifeguards. They don't have buoys though to save people, they have spears. This is just a joke though!

Last photo at the Golden Temple. I hope everyone gets a chance to visit here one day.

This trip was absolutely exhilarating. It was definitely what I needed and I was really glad that I had the opportunity to do so. I met some wonderful people on this trip and Punjab has captured my heart. Whatever media people have seen of Punjab does not do it justice. Punjab is so green and lush. The men are beautiful too! The food is great and the sites are beautiful. I suppose I am biased because I've always been fascinated by the Punjabi culture. I like the way Punjabi looks, sounds and everything else. I suppose I should learn Punjabi!
Now we are back to the grind and I've decided to go to Delhi this weekend to see Saba and then perhaps Lucknow the other weekend. The first weekend in August is my trip to Agra to see the beautiful Taj Mahal. I will probably piss myself out of excitement. I am so honored to have the opportunity to be here in India learning so much and to be able to see so much. I am afraid I will not be able to ever see everything truly remarkable here in India no matter how many times I will visit.
I hope one day my family gets the chance to come here and at least see Kolkatta and the Taj Mahal.
I cant believe its almost over though.