Back in the Good Old USA!

To expand on my experience in India, let me tell you that there is no way in hell I’d ever go back to that poverty-stricken, trash-strewn, polluted country. As I said in my earlier blog, New Delhi has a population of 15 million and I learned that 5% are homeless which is a whopping 750,000 people living on the streets. Our Congress was in the “government enclave” area of New Delhi which is the equivalent of the Washington, DC area. I saw people living in tents, lean-tos, and any shack they could construct. I saw people sleeping right out in the open in parks and on sidewalks, sometimes laying directly on the ground and other times on a piece of cardboard. When I go camping I live in better conditions. I saw barefoot, filthy children performing acrobatics and contortionist moves on the streets with their mother sitting on the curb, hands held out for money. I saw an old man with his sandals on his hands moving down the street on his butt as he couldn’t stand up.

Just when I thought I had seen the lowest of the low, we started our journey to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. We drove through numerous villages where the conditions were even worse. There was trash everywhere with people & animals rummaging through it and standing water that was horribly contaminated and the cows & dogs were drinking from it. Every village we passed seemed to be crumbling and there were tons of people everywhere. I guess this is what you see when a country has a population of over one billion people. Our tour guide was quite open and we asked many questions and found out that India still practices the caste system. When I asked him if he felt sorry for the poor people, I was glad to hear him say yes. I have seen poor Mayan people in Mexico but I have never seen poverty in this magnitude. There were some children in school uniforms that looked happy but for the most part, the poor people would stare at our bus and they looked anything but happy. I told my co-workers that I’d probably have nightmares with their pathetic, staring eyes in it. If the bus stopped for any reason, we were rushed by hawkers trying to sell their wares. They were smothering and quite scary at times.

As we passed through these villages the traffic was horrendous. There were tons of cars, buses, bicycles, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws and bull-, horse-, camel- or donkey-drawn carts hauling unrecognizable loads. There were goats and even elephants walking in the street! I saw buses filled to the brim with people and then more people riding on top. At one point as we passed through a village about a mile or two further down the road was a huge, beautiful mall. I wondered who the heck shops there-maybe the tourists on their way to Agra. We stopped at what would be the equivalent of a truck stop to use the restroom and get a drink when we came upon a snake charmer. We took several pictures before realizing we’d have to pay so we bargained and the charmer wasn’t very happy with the result.

It was getting dark by the time we got to the Jaypee Hotel in Agra and we passed villages with no electricity. Some of the vendors had oil lanterns to light up their wares. We decided to get to the Taj Mahal at dawn in order to see the sun rising and reflecting off the Taj. It’s supposed to be a beautiful sight as the sun reflects through the white marble. Unfortunately, the fog & smog were so bad when we arrived that we couldn’t even see the Taj until we got right up on it. It was very impressive and we were able to get half-way decent pictures after being there for over an hour. I can’t say it’s the most beautiful historical site I’ve seen because I saw spectacular mosques, temples and palaces in Istanbul last year but it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. . On our way back from seeing the Taj Mahal we stopped at MacDonald’s out in the middle of nowhere. Let me assure you, they didn’t sell Big Macs or Quarter Pounders because you can’t find beef anywhere in India. They sold veggie burgers, chicken nuggets and fish. I had a fish & fries and they tasted great which made me wish I had ordered more.

There were several people who got sick during Congress, including our President who ended up in the hospital. I don’t think there was ever a diagnosis but he said the hospital was very clean, inexpensive and the doctors very good. He had a consultation with a specialist and it only cost 5 Euros. He said there is free medical care for all the citizens. I’ve been sick since I got back which is unusual for me because besides a cold, I hardly ever get sick. At the Presidential Gala which is the closing of Congress there were mosquitoes in the hall and I was bitten. Materne, our Area Director for Africa and the Middle East who lives in Togo told me I should get a malaria shot when I got home. When I mentioned this to Arrey who is another co-worker from Cameroon and quite familiar with malaria, he said that he has some pills I can take if I come down with it.