Hi Everyone –

It has been a really fun and busy week. It started out with us trying to get everything done – shopping, preparing food, etc. on Christmas Eve. It was tough! We had to go to 3 ATM machines before we found one that worked. We were going to order Craig some new glasses, but he left his prescription at our house. Everything seemed to take so much longer than it should have. We were exhausted and there was still Christmas Eve dinner (party food) and Christmas day dinner to fix. Somehow it all worked out and we were exhausted when we went to bed.
Christmas morning the kids were up at 7 a.m. (some things never change!) We had a nice dinner with ham and party potatoes and fruit salad and home made bread and even pumpkin pie. We had our friends from John Deere here with us as family. We would like to thank Michelle and Ryan for bringing all the good things to make the party food and pumpkin pie. We had vanilla ice cream with the pie instead of whipped cream – we still aren’t comfortable with fresh cream!

We had a nice visit with Brice – he called us from Chile. It is still hard to imagine that a call from a 2nd world country on the other side of the world can make it to this 3rd world country and go through. It wasn’t very clear. He is doing well and enjoying the missionary work there. He said that he hasn’t spoken any English since he talked with us on Mothers Day. Luckily, Michelle and Craig were here to help him through some of the conversations!

On the 26th we got up early and packed our bags for our trip to Delhi and Agra. We caught the plane in Pune – only a 30 minute drive to the airport. It’s a 2 hour flight and not too bad. We got there in the afternoon, and we had a driver pick us up at the airport. He drove for us all week. Doug specifically asked for an English speaking driver – maybe this was the best they had – but it wasn’t good. His driving was adequate if you like sharp starts and stops. Our hotel (which we booked over the internet) was interesting too. It was about $50 a night and when we got there we almost croaked. It was in the middle of the car repair part district. It would have been perfect if we needed seat covers, transmission parts, brakes, car horns, back up music, clutches, or any other replacement pieces for our car. Unfortunately, we didn’t check with Feroz before we left Pune so we didn’t get anything for him or the car. The noise from the street was very loud and there were plenty of dog fights all night. The good things about the hotel: clean, (except for Michelle and Ryan’s sheets the first night), breakfast was provided (if you like Indian breakfast), and cheap (but we had to pay in cash at the end, so we followed the hotel employee to the ATM and get cash).

Our second day in Delhi we got up early and headed to Agra. It’s 225 km to the south. Doug asked the driver how long – 3 hours? No, 6 hours. No, 4 hours? No, 5 hours. We were laughing at Doug trying to barter the length of time the trip would take. It did take us 5 ½ hours one way. We got there and were very hungry. We found a bad café recommended in the Lonely Planet guidebook on the top of an old building, but the view was great! It was fun to eat lunch and gaze on the Taj Mahal! They made us park about ½ km from the Taj – to cut down on pollution, etc. There were tons of electric carts, pony carts, camel carts, and bicycle rickshaws to take us the rest of the way. We had been in the car so long we just walked, but there were some bicycle rickshaws that walked half way with us trying to get us to jump in their vehicles. That’s tough when there are six of us!

By the time we were done with lunch, the rest of the crowd from Delhi had arrived by bus and the lines that were non-existent an hour before were now long and winding. We had trouble with our money too – it was in the car, ½ km up the road. We worked on that for 45 minutes and finally we were able to get in line. For non-Indian foreigners, the cost is 750 rupees (about $19 per person) while 50 rupees for Indians. The lines were long to get inside because they put everyone through a metal detector first. The Indian way to stand in line is to take your entire family (usually 10-17 people) and choose a place up front and cut in front of everyone. When tapped on the shoulder and asked to get to the back, they back up and get in line right behind you. The tour guides also put their foreign tourists up in the front of the lines too. Frustrating!

Now we’re inside the East gate of the Taj Mahal. We walk in and through the archway and the view is breathtaking. We kept telling ourselves, “We’re really at the Taj Mahal!” We have lots of pictures to look at on the blog. Click on the one that says, “Taj Mahal” and it will open up all the other pictures. One interesting thing in India is that you take your shoes off in sacred/holy places. So here we are with 40,000 of our closest friends taking our shoes off. There was a funny smell – then we realized what it was – 39,994 of our friends all had stinky feet! It was overwhelming! There were lots of boy scouts and girl scouts and families and everyone had their shoes off and they all had stinky feet! There are other offensive odors in India, but I didn’t expect stinky feet at the Taj Mahal! We all went up a small staircase and it was packed. Then the people on the top decided they were tired of waiting and wanted to come down. Then the shoving and pushing began. I was really scared and afraid they were going to push me down and trample me. It was very frightening and the police stationed at the top of the stairs did nothing to help the traffic flow. I was not very anxious to go back down in that crowd!

We walked around the main level, but decided not to wait in the long line that snaked around two or three times in the front of the entrance to go inside. The work was beautiful and well maintained. The weather was cool and delightful. It was a fun and interesting experience! We got down the staircase without mishap and then headed for the exit. All our friends wanted us to shop in their souvenir shops. We stopped in one, but it was extremely expensive. We caught a cart and pony back up the hill to the car. The driver was unhappy because we negotiated 50 rupees for all of us, but he insisted that it was 50 rupees per person. He was sorely disappointed! We got in the car and headed home about 8 p.m. We stopped for dinner along the way and got back to the hotel at 12:30 a.m. It was a very long day!

Friday we did more sightseeing around Delhi. We visited the India Gateway, which commemorates the Indian soldiers killed in WWI. We went to another tomb – Humyans, which was similar but different from the Taj Mahal. We enjoyed that a lot. Lunch was at an Indian restaurant where we ordered way too much food! We also went to the Lotus Temple (which looks like a lotus blossom opening). This is a Bahai religious temple. They also have one in Wilmette, IL. We were able to go in free and even spend some quiet moments meditating. Again, there were lots of boy scouts, girl scouts, families, etc., and they all had stinky feet! We asked the driver to take us to a market. He took us to a very expensive “department” store with rugs, clothes, souvenirs. We looked around and asked again. He took us to a crazy market in the middle of a big circle that was underground. We went down these circular steps into the unknown. And there were all the shopkeepers trying to get us to buy their shawls, Kutras, shirts, shoes, trinkets, etc. These are the real barters in India. You think you’re getting a good deal, and they always make a profit! It was hard to be hounded with the item in a bag already and them handing it to you for a price that may have been mentioned once. One of the shopkeepers followed Craig and Hannah quite a long way trying to sell the sandals he had. It was a relief to climb the stairs again and go back into the fresh air of the night.

We decided a trip to TGI Friday would be a treat too. The music was blasting and the décor was American. We had appetizers and desserts and it was hugely expensive. A dinner order of “imported” ribs was $37; we passed on that. Back to the hotel again and we slept through all the noise and confusion outside. It only takes a couple of hard days of travel before the noise doesn’t bother you any longer. Saturday morning we got up and packed to fly back to Pune. We made it to the airport and our flight was delayed ½ hour. This was critical since Michelle and Ryan and Craig were leaving at 7 p.m. for Mumbai to catch their flights to the US. We made it back in time, got the pants and glasses picked up, packed and out the door they went. It is so quiet here now and we really miss everyone!

Today at church we only had 4. Our other attendee is not a member and would really love to have the missionaries come and teach him the gospel. He has had some wonderful spiritual experiences and wants to know all he can.

We are all fine and doing well. Our next worrying project: the Indian visas for the next year. We start on that tomorrow!
We miss you lots!
Love, Lucinda

Meet our new friend

Craig grooving to the tunes

We caught the gecko

Going for our morning stroll