Published February 28, 2009

Hello, all! Val and I arrived back to Chennai yesterday from a excursion to Delhi. Seven of us from the Dean Foundation drove up for an international conference on palliative care that took place on the 13th-15th (all in one van–we got to know each other really well). One night we drove until 4:00 am to get to a town large enough that we knew they would have hotels, only to find out that there was a wedding that day and every room in the entire town was unavailable. We ended up sleeping on the stone floor of an unheated outbuilding of a hotel; all I have to say is that “no room at the inn” has a whole new meaning to me now.Val and I both learned a lot at the conference and got to met some interesting people. There were over 200 delegates from Kerela, a state in southern India that has the most developed system of palliative care of anywhere in the country. Apparently in the language spoken in Kerela, “val” means “tail” and “emma” means “tasty.” It was fun introducing ourselves, to say the least.After the conference, we had the opportunity to see more of Delhi and the surrounding area. Sister Meneka had never seen the Taj Mahal or any of the other sites we went to, so it was neat discovering them through her eyes as well as our own. Val and I firmly agree that the Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful buildings we have ever seen, but we’re still not sure whether having fourteen children before the age of 40 and dying in childbirth is worth it.Delhi was a great growing experience and I was stretched in ways I’ve never been stretched before. Running water ran out most days around noon where we were staying and I have never been more caked with grim than on the drive up (combine open windows with mostly dirt roads and over 2,000 km and see what you get). Val and I both felt very hardcore after being sick in dirty alleyways (technically I was in a corner, not an alley, but it was dark and groady, so Val says it counts). Val and I were both extremely grateful, though, when the opportunity to take a train back instead of drive across India again presented itself. Bulu, Val and I enjoyed the ride back so much–I had never been on a train before, so it was a novelty for me, and having AC, regular meals, and a place to sleep was glorious.Below are some of the highlights of our trip, displayed for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Day 1: Road 7, a national highway. “So that’s what the medians are for!” –Val

Day 2: the national highway, again.

<

We fed our leftovers to this puppy, which we named Clark, after my brother. The reason? “He’s skinny and will eat anything put in front of him.” –Val

Val looking beautiful in her sari before the formal banquet at the conference.

The Gandhi memorial. The design was beautiful and it’s wonderful how people from all over the world gather to remember a man who liberated a nation and unified the common man (everyone takes off their shoes before entering as a sign of respect).

Me being seriously impressed by a hand-made stone screen.

A portion of Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan (the man who built the Taj Mahal) was put under house arrest after he was deposed by his son. Tough life.

Val being goofy and Silva climbing over a fence at Agra Fort. Pretty self-explanatory.

Sugar: the universal language. The little one didn’t like having the ice cream taken away even for a second to take the picture, as you can see.

I was in awe of the ceiling at these ruins. They were so complicated; I can’t fathom how much time they took to carve.

The Indians have carpooling down to an art. The most people I’ve counted in an auto rickshaw at one time so far is thirteen, but I’m sure that’s not the limit.

Val got separated from the rest of us at the Taj Mahal because she was behind all the rest of us and got stopped by security. Lesson learned: cameras and cellphones are permitted past security, but e-books aren’t allowed. Who knew? We were reunited after a half an hour, but had to run to get back to the bus before it left. Good times.

Me playing hopscotch at the Taj Mahal. I was barefoot and the marble tiles were the perfect size and so warm from the sun…

Yours truly trying to blend in by being a fountain. Okay, maybe I had a little too much fun at the Taj Mahal. It was just so tempting, though…

A cow eating garbage next to a polluted stream. India contains such contrasts of extreme beauty and negligence; the poverty is so easy to see, though, because India is so overpopulated.

Val and I took advantage of the fact that we had running water for a while by scrubbing one another’s feet. It felt so nice to go to bed with truly clean feet for the first time in days.

The view from my berth in the train. The trip back was so much fun and Val and I enjoyed being on the train so much–we played cards, read, wrote in our journals, and generally gloried in the fact that we could move around and sleep whenever we wanted to.

Enjoying the tea and “biscuits” they brought us while we were on the train.