I'm really learning to love Indian food. It is so good! We ate at a really fancy restaurant at a hotel called The Taj. This is the same chain that was bombed in Mumbai. Because of all the bombings, every hotel and every public place has introduced security guards everywhere, metal detectors, frisking and purse checks. It's really pretty crazy. And everyone keeps telling me it has never been like this before.
But anyway, today we ended the work day early so we could take a tour through Bangalore. This was so fun and about 10-12 team members went with us. I totally loved it! We went to the state capital and courthouse first, followed by a famous garden called Lalbagh, then two different temples.
The architecture is really phenomenal in some parts and then so dumpy and broken down in other parts. They have a very big discrepancy in wealth in this city. It has grown so quickly and left so many others behind.
The temples are quite interesting. One must remove the shoes before entering and so everyone takes their shoes off in the car and then walks up to these temples barefoot. There are temple workers there and they have a bowl of incense and ink. The Hindus put their hands over the incense and perform some sort of ceremonial signs and symbols on their heads and faces. They also place a red dot on their forehead. And then they pray. In one temple, people were laying down to pray. There are many similarities, actually, with a Mormon temple. It was a really cool experience to go and see these places. Sadly, I know very little of Hinduism.
The first temple we entered was called Big Bull (there is a big bull in the middle made out of one stone). No one really prepped me on anything except the shoes so I started to panic when every person was performing the ceremony. Fortunately, I remembered one person (William) was a Christian and I followed what he did - which was to do nothing. Simply observe, be quiet and show respect. Simple and logical enough.
So the craziest part of this whole tour was our driver and our car. There were 8 of us piled into something smaller than a Nissan Exterra. But it's India and everywhere you go is packed - so you kind of get used to having no personal space. Our driver was so erratic - he was darting in and out of traffic every few seconds. Almost ran us into a pedestrian several times, came inches from a bus, and nearly missed several other cars. I was laughing just thinking how crazy this place is and thought this must be how everyone drives. Except the rest of the guys in the car were also freaking out. Just part of the whole experience I guess!!
But anyway, today we ended the work day early so we could take a tour through Bangalore. This was so fun and about 10-12 team members went with us. I totally loved it! We went to the state capital and courthouse first, followed by a famous garden called Lalbagh, then two different temples.
The architecture is really phenomenal in some parts and then so dumpy and broken down in other parts. They have a very big discrepancy in wealth in this city. It has grown so quickly and left so many others behind.
The temples are quite interesting. One must remove the shoes before entering and so everyone takes their shoes off in the car and then walks up to these temples barefoot. There are temple workers there and they have a bowl of incense and ink. The Hindus put their hands over the incense and perform some sort of ceremonial signs and symbols on their heads and faces. They also place a red dot on their forehead. And then they pray. In one temple, people were laying down to pray. There are many similarities, actually, with a Mormon temple. It was a really cool experience to go and see these places. Sadly, I know very little of Hinduism.
The first temple we entered was called Big Bull (there is a big bull in the middle made out of one stone). No one really prepped me on anything except the shoes so I started to panic when every person was performing the ceremony. Fortunately, I remembered one person (William) was a Christian and I followed what he did - which was to do nothing. Simply observe, be quiet and show respect. Simple and logical enough.
So the craziest part of this whole tour was our driver and our car. There were 8 of us piled into something smaller than a Nissan Exterra. But it's India and everywhere you go is packed - so you kind of get used to having no personal space. Our driver was so erratic - he was darting in and out of traffic every few seconds. Almost ran us into a pedestrian several times, came inches from a bus, and nearly missed several other cars. I was laughing just thinking how crazy this place is and thought this must be how everyone drives. Except the rest of the guys in the car were also freaking out. Just part of the whole experience I guess!!
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