This weekend was pretty nice. It was nice to get to sleep in - I think we are getting used to the music the plays over loudspeakers every morning or it is just not as loud as before. On Saturday, we went to the Vellore Fort which is about a 15 minute ride from where we stay. It was built in the 1500's and is made out of large granite slabs - pretty impressive. It also has a large moat surrounding it, which was filled with water at this time. During the hot summer months, all the water is dried up. The Fort has a pretty long history of Kings and such that lived in it and the British took it over and held the Ruler and his family in captivity here as well in the 1700's.
The Fort has a Hindu temple, a Muslim Mosque, and a Christian Church within it -- very well rounded. We walked along the wall of the fort (picture of Paul and I on the wall) than walked in the temple, but only after being yelled at by a shoe man to come take our shoes to him. We all just went in at different times and had the other person hold our shoes, except for Scott... who decided to put his shoes on the other side of the street and hope the little shoe man would not see. Well after everyone came out, Scott had no shoes. The shoe tender had taken them to his store - Scott had to pay the man for watching his shoes ( and taking them too). Kind of funny ... but I'm glad Scott got his shoes since they are the only pair he brought with him. The temple was very large - and I felt a bit out of place so did not spend too much time here ( this is the large white tower pictured above.
We also walked around the Christian church but it was locked up -- it was very pretty. We than walked over to the museum, which had a large T-rex outside as well as some stone sculptures dating back to the 400's. They were just sitting outside without any coverage from the weather - but I guess they have made it this far. The museum was 4 rupees to enter for the locals, but 250 for foreigners. So we decided to not go in.
We also went to our a hotel to eat lunch (Hotel Darling). This took about 3 hours - very slow - but is was very good and the largest meal I have had since being here. We even had ICE CREAM!! It was so great.
Sunday we hiked up the hill/ mountain that is across the street from the campus. It was not a huge hike, but it was great fun. The young boys of the village come up here, I think to smoke, and like to make fun of us I think. Kathryn went up half way due to her asthma, and the boys kept her entertained while we went the rest of the way up. On the way down, Paul was being all adventurous and ended up spraining his ankle. But he is healing quickly. That is what happens when you try to climb boulders with sandals on.
We also went to a Church service Sunday here on Campus. The chapel here is in the shape of a octagon which I had never experienced before, but it was so nice. And the music seemed to resonant on the walls. It was a beautiful service and very refreshing to me. The speaker that gave the sermon was a guest speaker - he was a Urologist here. His message was very good and I think touched all of us that attended. He spoke of God seeing us as we are and we try to hide, our sins and who we are from others, but God sees us for who we are. And that we should be loving and loving others and not be caught up with the materials or what we can obtain here. He used a depiction of a mouse he was chasing in his house. It was great.
And starting our second week...
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