Heartbreaking...

Let me begin by saying that I think the decision of coming to India was a great one and this trip was truly meant to be for me...Already in my second day here i can say this has been an experience like none other, and a worth it one at that.

We went on a tour of the city today. It was not your typical tour on an A/C bus and the guide at the front with a loud speaker phone...this was a shady bus and when we first arrived at the place i must say i was quite intimidated and scared. Eventually, we took of and began our journey throughout the VERY LARGE city of Bangalore. We went to the Sri Radha Krishna temple...amazing temple in which there were Sadhus (kind of like monks)...praying with huge devotion, it was a powerful sight. There was an altar made out of pure gold and is was something like 20 ft high. Oh and i forgot to mention that they asked us to take our shoes off in the bus...so we walked up there barefoot. At first i was worried about catching some sort of disease through my feet but when we finally entered that temple, the please was so clean and it was just so holy. It was amazing to visit that temple.

We then visited some other temples that were also great, and we visited the botanical gardens and the tech museum which was actually kind of hokey.

Anyways, the heartbreaking part: today i witness something very harsh. We were walking down a very crowded and loud street looking for Saris to buy...when we saw this woman pulling on a wooden cart, a man...a man that had no eyes, no hands and no feet. There is something in India called the beggar market. Children are sold to the beggar market when families don't have means for feeding them. The beggar market is a place were they mutilate children to them drag them around the streets begging for money. This had happened to the man being pulled on the cart...we saw two more of the same later on in the afternoon. It is a thought and a site that i have not been able to stop thinking about...truly heartbreaking to think that this exists...I'm so grateful for the school that i will be working at...those children that i will be teaching, those "untouchables" as they call them could have suffered from those circumstances, instead this school is teaching them how to be leaders, how to sustain themselves, and believe in themselves.

This experience has already been humanizing to say the least. India is a difficult country but along with its difficulties it has an amazing spirit...so unique.

A slightly funny story to leave on something lighter. So we are riding a rickshaw today and we are taking pictures and chatting, and all of a sudden the driver stops in the middle of a busy street because there is some other driver beeping at him like crazy. Our driver proceeds to jump out of our rickshaw and fight with the other dude. OMG francesca and I were so shocked! I started running the opposite direction...i'm scared of fights...anyways he settle down and Francesca told me to run back to the rickshaw, it was really funny.

Tomorrow they pick us up and take us to the country side...

See you all soon!

Much love!