Bethany and Rachel's Honeymoon Part 2 (See fbook for Part 1)

Tuesday June 28: 

One of the first things we noticed was the kindness and friendliness of many of the people we met in Pushkar- it was such a contrast to Agra. While we still received many stares most of the greetings we got from people tended to either just be friendly or curious. We started the day by visiting the Brahma Temple and the Brahma Ghat. As much as it is interesting to see these ancient places with so much history and mythology surrounding them I never felt very easy entering temples or shrines. Hinduism allows for many differing and demands for little acceptance of any one specific doctrine. At the Brahma Ghat the priests tried to convince us that since Brahma is the creator (all other gods and goddesses are just various aspects of Brahma) any person, whether Hindu, Bhuddist, Christian or Muslim can offer their flowers and prayers to him on the edge of Pushkar lake. I wanted to believe that I could give my offering (flowers and some sugar candy things) out of devotion to God but I simply couldn't and I left the priest flustered and upset when I refused to donate to the priest hood and left my flowers on the ground. We spent the next couple hours wandering through Pushkar's charming markets (I bought several things that I hadn't planned on but were incredibly beautiful) and visiting a couple other sites in the city. By far our favorite part of the day is when we climbed a hill just outside of the city around 5/6pm as the sun was approaching the horizon. The temple on top honors one of Brahma's two wives, but we went up just to see the incredible view. Standing in one spot, the wind pulling at our clothes and hair, the green hills were behind us and the pretty white washed and blue painted painted city stretched ahead. It was so peaceful to get away from the crowds and admire God's creation. Rachel sat on the main hill and I went off to explore a couple more hills connected to the one with the temple (but I turned back after I thought I heard a rattlesnake (whomp, no rattlesnakes in this part of India actually)). 

Can you find me?

Wednesday June 28 to Sunday July 3:

Rachel and I arrived back in Jaipur midday on Wednesday. Though she planned to leave on Friday originally she had to change her original plans and ended up spending until this morning (July 4th) with me in Jaipur. We spent a lot of the time in the Pink City, exploring the markets, eating food, and looking at the beautiful old architecture. Among the list of other highlights: going to see a Bollywood movie at the Raj Mandir Cinema, drinks at the Naragahr Fort overlooking the city at night with some couch surfers, going to the Amber Fort and climbing up to the Jaigahr fort with a very sweet family, and going to a Hindi Apostolic church service. 

Street view in the Pink City

View from the Jaigahr Fort

Jal Mahal (water palace)

Food Market in the Pink City

We spent our last night talking for several hours and debriefing over the trip and our relationships. It was such an incredible blessing to have a close friend from home get to see where I'm living, meet my friends, and help me further along in my adjustment to this country. This week I start work again and hope that it will improve and that I will be able to go out into the field soon. More updates coming soon!