Now that I am back in Faridabad for my last few weeks, I will continue to work at the school and women's project. Today I have been typing the annual exams for the kids that are coming up next month. They will have a series of three hour tests made up by their teachers. So far, most of the teachers have turned in math and environmental science tests but there are many more to come.

The picture I posted is from the internet and I will post mine when I get home. It is of the Golden Temple in Amritsar. It is the most sacred place of the Sikh religion and is visited by about 50,000 people per day. It also provides free accommodation and meals for tourists and Sikhs who make their pilgrimage there. I traveled to Amritsar with Laura, another volunteer. We were able to see the temple in the day time, late at night, and then again at sunrise. It is open 24 hours a day and always plays prayers throughout the area.  I found the Golden Temple to be more impressive than the Taj Mahal. We were also able to see a few other sites in the area. We went to Jallianwala Bagh, which is the memorial grounds of the Amritsar Massacre led by General Dyer on April 13th, 1919. We also walked to nearby temples all dedicated to different Hindu gods, one of which was a miniature version of the Golden Temple.

In the train station on the way home I met a family that was also traveling to Delhi. I was sending a message on my phone and I saw two little feet standing in front of me so I looked up and there was a little girl with one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. She introduced herself as Muskaan and made her brothers and sisters, who were quite shy, introduce themselves as well. They were fascinated by what I was doing there and asked me a bunch of questions about America and were very curious to know what I thought of India. They were all ecstatic when I asked to take a picture of them and they all were all so sweet and wished me a safe journey and hoped to meet again someday. It's the little things like that and the kindness of the Indian people that makes me love this country and forget the things that make me hate it...like my rickshaw driver getting lost 5 times on the way back from the metro station and then trying to over charge me (which is nothing new). Luckily I had a friend in the area who was able to come pick me up and I got home safely.

I'm back to typing the exams now. Have a great week everyone!!!