1 LIttle, 2 LIttle, 3 Little Indians, 4 Little, 5 Little, 6 Little Indians.....All STARING at ME!

Our first ambush occured as soon as we were out of the taxi at the train station. Ten of our new best friends all tried to tell us where we should be going. We then learned about the Bureaucracy in India you hear so much about while purchasing train tickets to Agra. We took the metro to tour "Old Delhi" and quickly learned it was a Muslim holiday and were greeted by thousands of our closest friends when we arrived at the Red Fort. Incase you didn't know, standing in line in India means boxing out so no one passes you and the fine art of standing so close to the person behind you that they are stepping on your shoes and the person infront of you is 6 inches from your nose. The security was high with many guards with machine guns and a jeep with a gunner on top. Nate had to assume the role of bodyguard quickly as teenage boys thought Kristy was fascinating and tried to take pictures of her and grab our wrists to say hello. We expected stares and attention as foreigners but nothing to this extent of stares from all ages and both sexes and the picture taking also surprised us. We are thankful for our basketball training as we have used the "Box out" and "Pick and Roll" moves first to prevent the endless amount of people who try to get ahead of you in lines and the second when a group of teenage boys made a beeline for Kristy (NAte planted the pick infront of the group and kristy executed the roll by heading in the other direction). And people say Americans are rude!We then walked to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in India, with a capacity of 25,000 people (I think it was at capacity when we visited). Not a bright idea on a Muslim holiday. There must have been 500 people begging for money and thousands of people celebrating. After escaping that situation, we went to Raj Ghat where Mahatma Ganhi was cremated after being assasinated. Each was very pretty in their own way, but we found travelling here tirersome.The second day we toured New Dehli, which was less crowded and more enjoyable. We saw Safdarjang's tomb, Humayun's tomb, India gate, the Presidents House and Parliament buildings. The area around Parliament and the President's house resembles the area where al the memorials are in DC. The tombs were incredible. Everything is symeterical and would have been amazing in their day however now it is hard to imagine what they were like because the gardens and inside have all been abandoned for so long.We travelled to Agra on the third day in a 2 hour express train ride, which was really nice. Once in our room (our 1 nice hotel in India) we decided to go for a run, Nate got a much needed haircut and we showered before heading out to see the sights. Nate used his excellent negotiating to hire a richshaw for the day so we were able to see the Agra Fort, the Taj Mahal from the river view and the Taj (Inside) all in one day. Some of the more interesting stories are: While we viewed the Taj from the river side we gave pencils to kids sitting, playing quietly. When we walked away, an old man came up and snaked the pencils from the little girl. This bothered us so we walked back to them and asked if there was a problem. The man returned the pencil but as soon as we turned around again he said something & the girl gave him the pencil. The kids then ran up to us and asked for another one so we gave her one more then we heard them run and tell their father what they had received. Another story is trying to get into the Taj there was a huge line. We walked up the foreigner ticket counter paid 15 times what Indians pay and asked if we had to wait in line (We learned the hard way that foreigners do not have to wait in line). They said no but when we wouldn't hire a "guide" (loose sense fo the term) the guard told us to go to another gate. We debated about what to do then saw other tourists walk right up so we followed them and their "guide" and got in with no hassle. Our mistake was to ask at all!The following day we decided to take advantage of the hotel pool. Nate ran, Kristy had a yoga class then the majority of the afternoon was spent by pool writing in the journal, playing "Fill or Bust" and swimming in 122 degree heat. Then we took a 4 hour train to Jaipur.Yesterday was rough getting started because the smells and sights were almost too much for Kristy. Once in the City Palace, we sat and regrouped and decided not to walk around but hire a autorickshaw forthe day and only visit two more forts after the palace. We also realized that all these forts are beginning to look the same. We bought tickets for a 5 hour bus back to Delhi for the next day then had a great dinner on a rooftop with something called"Special Tea" (beer poured into a tea kettle b/c the restaurant did not have a liquer license). The rest of the night was enjoyed in our room with English Premier League soccer and beverages.Tonight (October 29th) we leave for Shanghai at 11:00pm. To be honest, we are looking forward to it!Observations of India- The first word that comes to mind is struggle. Life here is a daily struggle. SO many people are living on the street without their most basic needs being met. This makes the street a common home and thus the sidewalk is not for walking but living and the streets are for foot traffic and all other traffic.Travelling here is also a struggle. There are too many occurances to count when people lied to us or misled us. Some examples: Our hotel in Agra e-mailed us the day before we were to arrive and said the price went up $20. When we got there we showed our confirmation and refused to pay any more (You know us; we were ready to walk before paying anymore) and after talking to 2 managers we received the quoted price. All shopping/transportation is bargaining which is also difficult. We were also mislead at the train station about where to buy tickets so we would use a travel agent. And, you have to fight off rickshaw drivers everywhere you go.We were also not prepared for what the streets would be like. There are places where the smells and sights were bad that we had to fight off being sick. The traffic is crazy with what appears to be no rules and total chaos. It is also a mess of cars, rickshaws (cycle & auto), bikes, walkers, cows, elephants, dogs, camels, pigs and goats. We were in an autprickshaw for 20 minutes and our driver beeped 61 times.As evidence of the struggle, some of the current issues in the Indian times are:The Domestic Violence Law was put in place while we were visiting.The male to female ratio is 111 to 100 however the birth rate is 105 to 100 showing sex selected abortions. This problem is larger in areas where ultrasound machines are used and credit the problem to the Caste and Dowry systems in India.Dengue is also a major problem. Passed on through mosquitos. It affects platelets and the red tape to get platelets to people who need them are too long to cover in this blog.The food has been good! Kristy is in pig heaven in a country where Vegatiarian rules!