In looking back at the class, I must say that it was very interesting. I did like the fluidness of the class, however sometimes it could get a bit hard to hear. I think that a different room would make a lot of difference for that.
I also very much liked the snakes. They were cute, or at least I thought so. The design on the cobras back was fascinating. The hole face your fears thing is also partly why later on I almost fell into a well ((I am terrified of heights). The brakes also helped a lot with the heat. At about 1 or 2 pm I belie we were walking on the sun. I burn very easily however so this might be a bit bias in that regard.
I am also a fan of the chi brakes. I had a cold during the class, which seemed to affect everyone, and the tea helped my through immensely.
The fact that there was no textbook also helped, thought the shaky internet made it difficult at times to complete assignments (hence why these blogs are post class)
What I think I enjoyed the most was meeting and getting to know our team. I am proud to call them my friends.
Out of everyone I can think of, I am the last person to think they would be traveling here. It is a place of beauty and color like I have never seen. The historical visits where possibly my favorite but I wish I could have shared that experience with my team.
I hope to see them soon, so that I may show them my country, however cold it may be.

And pancakes.

In this blog post I’d like to mention a few things on archaeological preservation in India. Now in the USA part of the resign that things are put behind glass and not touched is due to the damage it can do. Oils from fingers will slowly erode, rust, smear different surfaces and flashes from cameras will cause shadowing in different types of material. The best example of shadowing is when the bomb dropped on japan, the flash of light created permanently burned the shadows of the people caught in the blast onto walls and things around them. It is akin to putting something in the sun for years and never having it move. One side will bleach more than the other. Anyhow, the museums that we visited did not have the proper preservation tetchneeks for many of their exhibits. Many where open to air and humidity and many could be touched. The effects of this kind of erosion tacks years to effect the artifact visible, but chemically and physically the pieces are weekend because of it.
Wall at the Taj mahal, you had to ware booties and the steps where covered by stairs. This is a good way to help prevent damaging, however the amount of people allowed in the space without gloves has already had a visual toll on the stretchers. Many of the railings, doorways, and undone seals have been growned smooth. This tack decades with stone, but with the volume of people flocking to it this is excel orated. It is akin to very old wooden stairs in which the steps have a smoother surface where people have placed there feet over and over. Now as far as photographs go, the damage will not be as noticeable in a large area such as the Taj due to light entering it. The burial chamber would be the only concern.
Part of the resign our historical artifacts are kept under such lock and key is more because they were not built to last century’s. Our country is in its infancy compared to India. Temples and ruins that scatter the land may be at risk in a long term scents, but they also act as tourist attractions and drive commerce into the land. I would hope that in the future tourists where given more history and more warning of the damage they can do, however not everyone is into history like I am and might find it boring.

so, again these are being posted after i got back due to internet troble. now, I am very tall, Irish, and have a red beard. this is not normal for India. also im still not good at titles.

This is a bit of an odd topic, but the amount that Americans stand out here is staggering. In the USA unless you’re on fire most people don’t pay attention to you. I am rather tall, with a red beard. People took pitchers of or with me in the streets, some waved hello, others gave dirty looks. India has a large population, of mostly Indian people. Some of the people we crossed paths with either could not comprehend someone of fair skin was around, or that I had some sort of disorder.
I find it very strange to be stared at, and in fact dislike it heavily. It did not help that our bus had a large tourist sing on it, so pan handlers would come up and ask for money for nick knacks or whatever. I will say I don’t mind tipping someone who has done a good job, but I was harassed by workers because they knew that to be here I needed some capital. One of the guys, who was trying to sell me some sort of elephant figurine insisted that I had cash after I told him I did not. I wanted him to go away, but I am very bad at this. When the Indian students are around this happens a lot less. I believe that because we are fourin, they try to tack advantage of us. For instance the car ride to the hotel I currently sit in at an airport was told to be a 15 rupee ride by the coordinator however many of the rickshaws where trying to gorge us at 350. I don’t think if they think we are stupid or jest exploitable. I think my concern for people puts me as a target for this, as I was asked it far more than others on the trip. I think it is because I talk to people if thay ask something rather then immediately dismissing them.
I will however say, no matter where in the world I am, I cannot stand bathroom attendance. I’ve come across a few in India and they are just as bad. They go into a bathroom, pull out all the tissue paper and black the door until you give them money. Many seem to not speak English ether but fully understand you if you produce cash.
I would feel bad about the panhandlers too if we were not told that the poor here are given free school, clothing, and supply’s if they send their children to education. I fell very badly for these kids that are pan handling on the side of the road, but handing them cash will only further the problem.
Someone tried to pick my pocket in the Taj mahal in fact, however I keep my wallet in side pockets, and thus they ended up jest grabbing my ass for about 3 very confusing seconds. The crowd would not let me turn around to see who, and they were jest a face in the crowd after.
My trip had very few issues with interacting with the local people once we were with the Indian students. I think this is partly in due to the fact that English is a second language here, and we speak much faster than some can understand. I am paranoid of crowds, but this had made me appreciate how much space Boston people give one another.

now that I am home I get to the net I can post some of the blog posts i had typed up beforehand.

For this blog post I would like to focus on food as a brod topic. Now Indian food is far different then food in the USA. This is not to say that there are infect recognizable ingredients within each dish nor that they are not prepared in similar ways however the different spices and colors may make it harder to identify things. When we were warned of the spice that was used the first thought is that everything is hot. This is city not true. What they mean is there are far more flavors in the food then Americans are used to. Yes there are many dishes witch are hot in taste, mostly curry, but it is more an overwhelming amount of flavor that should be warned of.
Food in itself also is basically divided into veg and non-veg denoted by a green or red cercal in a square respectively. Due to religious resigns, pork, beef, and some other meats are not consumed so the majority of the food that can be found if meat will be mutton (lamb) or chicken. I am still very confused by KFC in India as they serve burgers made of fried cheese. It was good. If it didn’t make me violently ill I would recommend it.
The other thing about food that should be observed is that no matter clean or “dirty” as some people put it, it can still make you sick. Dirty usually refers to street vendor food or things that are not packaged. Clean is restaurants and bagged food with health regulations. This doesn’t mean that everything will make you sick, however being from across the globe there are many bacteria and things in the foods we never built an immunity to. Most of the locals will not be effected be these partly in due to having had the food all their lives and have antibodies to prevent such sicknesses.
One of my group mates got Indian jaundice from street food. We know Indian jaundice as hepatitis A or B. that scared me a bit so I tried to stay away from the street food if possible. O and as tempting as it may seem, cane surge juice has a very high chance of getting you very ill.
In short however it may be wise to wotch what you eat and where, however if the opportunity arises you should try stuff. Jest make shear to bring along the appropriate measheres to combat being ill if it arises.

BCD