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I honestly feel like nothing, not pictures, videos, or words, can describe what I experienced in India. There are many disturbing things that I saw that will be stuck with me forever….
We pull into port the first day and immediately Ashley and I wake up to the nasty stench that we will smell for the next 6 days. We went to the front of the ship to see us pull in and I gagged when I first stepped outside. We had the first day free until about 1pm so Ash our friend Joe Brooks and I jumped into a rickshaw. This was so much fun! They are easier to get than cabs so not once did I use a cab. It was very scary at first but after the first few times I got used to it and considered it normal to almost be hit by cars or run into people on bikes or motorcycles. We spent our day going around Chennai and to a few shops that the rickshaw drivers take us too because they get gas or money if they bring us there.
I went on a SAS trip to a few different places in India. We first flew into New Delhi where the population is 18 million people! As you would imagine there were people and animals everywhere! We took a train into Agra and got to see the Taj Mahal, which was obviously amazing. We went at sunset and it was even more beautiful then! I got asked to have a few pictures taken with people through out the day because of my blonde hair.
The next day we took a plane into Varanasi where we would go through the most fascinating, holiest, experiences I have ever been through. We went to the Ganges River. I had heard that this is a pretty intense experience but nothing got me prepared for what I saw. All 55 of us took rickshaws through the large market which was an experience of its own. There were thousands of people everywhere and we got to witness their life everyday. We got dropped off in the middle of the busy street, it was terrifying!. Then we started walking to the river. Along the way we see homeless people, starving children, kids trying to sell us stuff, cows in the middle of the road and much more. Like I said earlier…it is very hard to actually write out what I experienced because nobody will ever understand unless you experience it for yourself.
When we get to the river they are doing a ceremony that happens daily. There are thousands of people everywhere watching. While I was watching it these kids came up to me and at first tried to sell me things. I said no, then they started having a conversation with me. We were talking about Obama and Goldie Han…very random! Their English was perfect and they said they loved school. So these kids were a lot more fortunate than most kids in India. When it was time to leave I decided to buy something from the boy because he had been so friendly and I gave 2 dollars to the girl. They said they would use this money to help pay for school. It was something that meant nothing to me but everything to them. I had many experiences like this along the way.
Through out this whole trip I struggled with many things. First off seeing the starving people and animals was extremely hard for me. I could not go close to the animals (dogs in particular) and give them food because they might try to bite me. There were a few dogs that literally came up to the group I was with and laid down next to us. It just wanted a little love but we couldn't give that to him….it was heart breaking. We also walked past many people with deformities. I have seen people with missing legs, arms, hands etc..before but I have never seen anything like this. There were people that literally could not walk because their feet were so inflamed or twisted the wrong way. People had to use their hands to walk and could not straighten their legs. It was horrible.
There are little things that we were able to do that I think made a difference for people. When we were taking the train back to New Delhi there were a group of young boys playing with each other. One of them came up and asked for food and our tour guide said to not give anything to them because then they think they can ask all tourists for food. After a while of begging we couldn't take it anymore. There was so much food in our boxes that we were not going to eat so why would we not give it to them? It seems so wrong not to give them food when we are clearly not going to eat it. The smile on the boys faces made it so worth it.
Also when we were heading back to the ship the last day there was a family sitting by the railroad tracks. The mom had an empty water bottle and a girl I was with had a full water bottle. The ship makes us dump our water out before we get on the ship so she gave the mother all her water and she and the kids started chugging it. We also gave them whatever coins we had left…it wasn't much but considering the country lives on $2 a day it helped them out a little bit.
Overall I think India is the port that would change me forever. I have a new outlook on life and what is most important. I have learned to not take little things for granted and be thankful for everything I have and everyone in my life. I am extremely happy to have experienced India the way I did because it makes me realize that whenever I am having a hard time, there are people who will always have it worse than me. May God be with everyone in India and thank you so much mom and dad for giving me this opportunity. Words can't describe how thankful I am.
Alex
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