Chapter nine: Agra! A whole new world

So the adventure still continues...now in the misterious city of Agra, once we arrived to our hotel and left the stress behind we decided to go to have some apperitives at McDonalds,(I know is not a good idea having a McDonalds when you have paneer and butter naan around the city) but the place was in front of us, calling us, tempting us !!!!

Then we heard drums and fireworks and a wedding parade suddenly appeared, with a lot of people dancing ad smiling! And everyone (I guess) was invited!! So we accepted the invitation to fun! And also to eat a lot! 

They incredible guest invited us like a thousand dishes in one hour! They wet happy to have us in the wedding (even we were not properly dressed for a huge wedding like this)

For a minute I thought that I was in Mexico! The weddings here are actually huge (around 300 persons) so I was swimming in a sea of colors, food and people!

It was a whole new experience, I really enjoyed to see that we were so well received by the people in the party. The stage was beautiful decorated and the music was awesome and sticky as well.

The people of the wedding was so excited to have us there!! And the place was amazingly decorated! A lot of people walked by the catwalk and they all looked amazing! 

So the very next morning we woke up at 6 am to be at taj at 7 am! It was so foggy and there was already a few people testy to drive us to the magical place called Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal"crown of palaces" is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage.

At first when you enter there's a huge entrance like a forth with the otomani influences on the architecture 

Once you enter you can perceive a change in the atmosphere, like your crossing the line to another dimension , like traveling on time (goosebumps) and when you cross the door suddenly at the distance seems to appear a living legend

At first was a little foggy and blurry but the my best friend "the sun" decided to join us in this amazing moment, it was just magic with a touch of misticism 

The environment was just perfect to be there, quiet, reflexive and calm.

Me and my friends were happy just with the fact to be there and accomplish that moment in our lives, it was just unique, quiet and just as we imagined in our dreams.

I took a lot of pictures, I was feeling like in a history chapter, feeling happy and part of an incredible history of deep love and respect because of the meaning of this place.

Then see the architecture and the details of this place was just stunning !!

The place was just magic! The perfect place to be and have a self conversation and meditate.

In the back of the Taj was a beautiful river called Yamuna! The name Yamuna seems to be derived from the Sanskrit word "yama", meaning 'twin', and it may have been applied to the river because it runs parallel to the Ganges

There was a tree that also capturated my attention by his form and the shape, it was just beautiful designed by the hand of nature 

Also I took a picture watching the Taj from the Masjid

The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes the decorations are refined proportionally. The tomb is the central focus of the entire complex of the Taj Mahal. This large, white marble structure stands on a square plinth and consists of a symmetrical building with an iwan (an arch-shaped doorway) topped by a large dome and finial. Like most Mughal tombs, the basic elements are Persian in origin.

So after that I decided to take my personal pictures of the moment (the postcard pictures) for a lifetime, to remember the great feeling that I had being there, the resume of a bunch of feelings in just one picture but I couldn't have just one

It was the cool one...

The serious one...

And the typical one...

And at last the postcard for me and for my soul. If I could describe this place , I would say that is a longlasting love masterpiece, a monument that remember us that love can be eternal  and live trough generations. Wow!!

So after that incredible view we went back to our home now, ludhiana, but with a great experienced lived and with a moment that will last forever.

Thank you Agra!! See you soon or in the other life.

Chapter eight : A new weekend has come

After two weeks of hard work in ludhiana, finally our second weekend arrived ,and the destination was Agra! And this time I had two great travel partners, from the bella Italia, Alessandra and from the exotic Brazil, Bernardo! We were very happy to begin our next wild adventure in the middle of our beloved India! So we went to the trail station for our departure at 4:30pm

The station looked very quiet and we were very happy to be there on time and relaxed.

We placed together and we were making jokes and talking about cultural facts of the places that we will visit.

The train received us with a warm homecoming...food! And more food and more food! (I will return to Mexico very rounded)

After 4 hours of laughs and little times of sleep we finally arrived to New Delhi, at 10pm and the city was still alive and full of noise of course, so we decided to take a little walk around the corner

After a short walk and fresh air, we went to sleep!, in the morning we went for some quick breakfast! And it was really nice one, the morning was fresh and pointing to be a great day!

In the road we stopped for food at some restaurant in the middle of nowhere,miaterious like in a horror movie,(the shining) hahahaha!! But against our toughts the food was veeeery good, specially the noodles and my favorite ones( the butter naan) 

And outside of the restaurant we saw some lucky charms for protection and good luck used in business places and also to carry with you in your car or motorcycle, they looked kinda different  but was interesting know other traditions

The charms for the safety..

And for the good luck..

And after some hours (approximately 7) we arrived to our first attraction! Fathepuhr Sikri!

All the view inside was incredible and very interesting, also the solitude and magnificence of the place, only with the simple fact to be there relax you and makes you feel in another time and identified with the place.

The color and the detailed construction was just incredible and worth of fairytales.

We walked over the place and we took so many good pictures!

Built during the second half of the 16th century by the Emperor Akbar, Fatehpur Sikri (the City of Victory) was the capital of the Mughal Empire for only some 10 years. The complex of monuments and temples, all in a uniform architectural style, includes one of the largest mosques in India, the Jama Masjid.

The place also was full of graveyards of warriors who defended the city in ancient time!

The place was stunning! And full of brilliant colors as well...

Then we went inside of the white temple and we offered flowers and made a wish in the door

The architecture and the design details as well were impressive!

We had so much fun there!

So after a time we decided to spend the night in Agra, but that's other history.. Keep going in the next blog :)!!

Chapter seven: See you in México!

I strongly believe in that the more friends you have, richer you are.

And in this great experience as is CSC with my partners and working with Swabhimaan group I have gained many more!! 

Working with Swabhimaan group I met two super smart guys (Vishwas and Sameer) they were working as interns in Swabhimaan as part of their master program in Mumbai :)! 

So this week was their last making the school practices and we decided to hang out together! 

First having some fun with Cathy, Kazu and Vishwas at the hotel, having some refreshments, and watching figure skating!!

Then after some time and laughs we decided to go out and have a blast! And the soundtrack of the night was awesomely provided by our friend Vishwas!

He has an incredible good taste in music, so I stole some of the names of the songs to download it!

And Ganesh made us the night with his holy presence! 

Then Vishwas took us for some delicious refreshments!! And then for an awesome "noodle burger" that tasted UFF just delicious! It was the perfect flavor and temperature.

Then we decided to go to have some additional refreshments at the Brew master! And it was very goooood! We had also a peanut masala, I never get tired to eat them, they are sooooo delicious and crunchy as we'll!

We made the cobra!!! So fun!!!!! Now I have a new dance movement for my endless party nights. 

We had a great time joking and talking a about the future plans! And for sure the plan of go visit MEXICO!! And japan too! Or me to visit Mumbai!

And after some time we left happily the place, actually (I'm planning to return soon with my CSC partners!!) 

To go back home, as well the music was fantastic and Vishwas added a little speed to the ride!! Hahahaha was so fun!!!

Once arriving at the hotel I relaxed and watched happy and thankful the special gift received by Vishwas, I had no words since I know it's a holy bracelet and now will make me company everywhere I go.

Next day, we had our second customer meeting, we talked about the progress of the project and also the preliminary assessment made to the org, was very good with so many questions and feedback about the current work made and we had the presence of more members of the comitee,was so exciting!

The guys as well presented the results of the assessment made in the time that they spent as interns in Swabhimaan, the presentation was pretty good an clear!

We finished successfully the meeting!! But now it was time to say goodbye :( ( for a while) they needed to return to finish their master and be an awesome professionals!

I will miss you guys but now I have new friends and you have a new friend  in Mexico!! Thank you for all your help and good moments! See you very soon :)

Namaste!!