1/28/09
Well no sign of the spider….thank goodness. I woke to singing from the temple. It is eerily magnificent. Religion is such an integral part of there existence and every day living. Such a compassion for all of the many god and goddesses. I have much respect and admiration for their devote dedication. Off to the work site. Today we started on the above ground walls. The boundary controversy was solved so we could start the back wall. The facility will have 35 toilets and I think several common shower areas I’m not clear on that. In what I have seen of rural India so far the women seem to be the backbone of the country. They do all the work while the men seem to lounge around, sit on their haunches, sleep, pay cards, get stoned and chat. The children are taking care of the children because the mothers are off taking care of the household. The women and older girls generally do not like to have their picture taken. Every time I try to get their picture they run away or cover their face. We had a nice treat today and went to the holy village of Sohna this afternoon and were able to walk through the villages tiny narrow streets to the temple. There are approximately 30,000 people in this village. Before entering the temple we had to take our shoes off. I was able to get a few girls to let me take their picture. In the temple they have hot springs which you can bath in. There is a women’s and men’s section. We went to the women’s section and found them not only bathing but also washing their clothes. Sean dared to venture to the springs with Elias which is something I dont think he wishes to do again in his lifetime. He said it was the most disgusting thing he has ever done. It was very dirty & dingy but the women and girls that were there seemed to truly enjoy it. Then we had a monk or the holy men as they are called who aspire to pray and ask for money for they believe that the world will provide for them, who was writing Uh mm in Hindi on our hands he also wrote Cassandra down both of the insides of my arms. This temple was built around a monk who lived under this very large tree that still stands on the property and near the hot springs. They build the temple around him because they believed the springs supposedly had magical healing powers. So people pay 20 rupees to use the spa which they feel have many healing powers. We were able to go around the temple and Sanjiv taught us about the many different gods and their purposes. It was quite fascinating. While walking back to the bus we were able to watch the “omelet man” make omelets. It was very interesting. We also went by several tailor, the bank (very primitive-tried to get a job but it was run by men only why does that not surprise me!) and shoe repair places. We stopped for some quick photos in the market and Elias thinks several of them were proposing marriage so we quickly headed on our way. Then back to the farm for dinner.
Well no sign of the spider….thank goodness. I woke to singing from the temple. It is eerily magnificent. Religion is such an integral part of there existence and every day living. Such a compassion for all of the many god and goddesses. I have much respect and admiration for their devote dedication. Off to the work site. Today we started on the above ground walls. The boundary controversy was solved so we could start the back wall. The facility will have 35 toilets and I think several common shower areas I’m not clear on that. In what I have seen of rural India so far the women seem to be the backbone of the country. They do all the work while the men seem to lounge around, sit on their haunches, sleep, pay cards, get stoned and chat. The children are taking care of the children because the mothers are off taking care of the household. The women and older girls generally do not like to have their picture taken. Every time I try to get their picture they run away or cover their face. We had a nice treat today and went to the holy village of Sohna this afternoon and were able to walk through the villages tiny narrow streets to the temple. There are approximately 30,000 people in this village. Before entering the temple we had to take our shoes off. I was able to get a few girls to let me take their picture. In the temple they have hot springs which you can bath in. There is a women’s and men’s section. We went to the women’s section and found them not only bathing but also washing their clothes. Sean dared to venture to the springs with Elias which is something I dont think he wishes to do again in his lifetime. He said it was the most disgusting thing he has ever done. It was very dirty & dingy but the women and girls that were there seemed to truly enjoy it. Then we had a monk or the holy men as they are called who aspire to pray and ask for money for they believe that the world will provide for them, who was writing Uh mm in Hindi on our hands he also wrote Cassandra down both of the insides of my arms. This temple was built around a monk who lived under this very large tree that still stands on the property and near the hot springs. They build the temple around him because they believed the springs supposedly had magical healing powers. So people pay 20 rupees to use the spa which they feel have many healing powers. We were able to go around the temple and Sanjiv taught us about the many different gods and their purposes. It was quite fascinating. While walking back to the bus we were able to watch the “omelet man” make omelets. It was very interesting. We also went by several tailor, the bank (very primitive-tried to get a job but it was run by men only why does that not surprise me!) and shoe repair places. We stopped for some quick photos in the market and Elias thinks several of them were proposing marriage so we quickly headed on our way. Then back to the farm for dinner.
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