"Hello, My Friend!"

I still can't believe I'm here. All the noise and people here a lot to take in, but I can't help but welcome all the changes. Waking up to prayers playing in the street makes getting up at 6:30 am so peaceful. Immersing myself into the constant flow of traffic just outside Hotel Relax was much harder than I thought it would be. Despite this, the past two days have been incredible.

Within the past two days I have made many 'friends.' The streets are full of Indians just waiting for tourists to come and check our their merchandise. As we walked to the bus stop today, many people opened the doors of their shops and greeted us as their friends in hopes of selling their items. The building we saw today are the most difficult to put into words. The architecture here makes our so called beautiful skyline look quite simple and possibly even boring. The first stop we made at the Humayan Temple was just the first of many captivating buildings we would see throughout the day. The wealth of the Mughal Dynasty was definitely apparent as seen by the elaborate tombs built Humayan had built for people like his favorite general and favorite barber. The next stop we made was to the Lotus Temple. No words would give the architecture to this building justice. I desperately wish I brought my camera cord here so I could transfer pictures. The Lotus Temple was inspired by the Lotus flower that is a symbol seen throughout many religions in India. The temple is shaped almost exactly as a Lotus Flower and surrounded by 9 bodies of water. We learned a lot about the Baha'i faith while spending time at this temple and I can't believe I knew nothing about it before. The volunteers there are so kind and respectful to all of their visitors and the workers have done an incredible job of explaining how selfless their religion truly is. The video we watched greatly explained the importance of unity in the Baha'i faith and did a wonderful job of educating us about their history. The last stop we made at the Birla House was one I will never forget. It was amazing to see the place in which Gandhi spent the few days of his life. The area even highlighted the last steps Gandhi took before he was assassinated. This was no surprise considering the numerous contributions Gandhi made to India's history. It was disappointing not to see Akshardham today due to the crowd, but at least I know we'll be back to see it at the end of the trip.

Thankfully jet lag is going away faster than expected! I can't wait to see what else is in store!