Field Trip with Ama

I thought we were done with field trips on Sundays, but we got lucky on Sunday, August 1st. We made a regular trip into town, had lunch at CityHeart and did some shopping. Then, Marie, Haley and I went to the ice cream store while Jessica and Bhagyashree continued shopping. We were going to meet up in a bit and all share a taxi back to SEARCH.

As Marie, Haley and I sat outside the ice cream store enjoying our snacks, a SEARCH vehicle drove up and we saw that Ama (Dr. Rani Bang) was inside. She started waving to us and calling us over. She introduced us to her sister and her sister's husband. They were going to see a temple. Ama invited us along, but we were unsure because we were supposed to meet Jessica and Bhagyashree and we felt bad leaving them behind. Ama really encouraged us to come, saying that there were only three seats in the van anyway- perfect for the three of us- and we needed to come. We left a hand written note at the ice cream store for Jessica and Bhagyashree and we went off with Ama. Before leaving, she kindly treated everyone in the car to ice cream (so we got two ice creams in the end!).

We headed South in a direction I had never been. The scenery was beautiful. In addition to the driver, Ama, her sister and husband, there were two other SEARCH staff with us. We ended up driving for at least an hour. At one point we got out to enjoy a beautiful river. We were actually at the point where two rivers meet to become one river called the Pranahita. It was really lovely to see the river because just a month or so ago most of the rivers were semi-dry and you could see the riverbeds. Now, because of the monsoon, they are flowing with water.

A photo of some goats being herded across the bridge that crosses the Pranahita:

Here is a photo of us on the river bank. I like this photo because it is one of only a few of me in India with my hair down. From left to right: me, Haley, Marie.

We got in the car and drove a little further. When we got to the location of the temple we were close to the river again so we got out of the car to take a look. It was sooo beautiful! Probably one of my favorite moments since being in India. Of course, my camera decided to lose all its battery power at that point, so I have to thank Haley who shared her camera with me and let me have the following photos.

We got there during twilight, at the end of dusk. Everything was soft blues and purples. There was a canoe boat just sitting along the shore. We got an amazing photo of the canoe and the water, but unfortunately my blog won't let me attach it despite trying for two days. (One of the reasons it took me so long to make this post). Here is a different photo in its place of us standing in front of the canoe.

Then we decided to be adventurous and get in the canoe! I wished I could stay there forever. It was so quiet and serene.

Then we walked up from the river to the temple we had come to see, Shahpur Temple. This is my favorite temple I have visited (I believe my fourth one now). We were there at night time so it was lit up and beautiful! It was also the cleanest temple I have seen. The floors were shiny and glossy.

Another reason I really liked this temple is that it had all sorts of different levels and staircases and balconies. At one point I wandered out on one of the back walkways and came to this balcony. The gray-white of the temple contrasted against the deeply blue sky and the black branches of a tree:

After awhile we headed home. Since it was a few hours since we had started out on our journey we were pretty hungry. We stopped at some road side stands and Ama (or perhaps her brother-in-law) bought us chai tea and a bunch of different kinds of Indian snacks, similar to the kind I had first had on the Air India flight. My favorite was Moohn Dal, little dried lentils, and a peanuty tasting snack mix.

We were very lucky to be at the ice cream store when Ama came by. It turned into a fabulous field trip with some of my favorite memories.

Side Note: This has happened several times, and I just want to note, the date of the blog entry is when I started writing the entry, not when I finished it and posted it. So that is why, for example, this entry says Monday, August 9th, when, if you checked yesterday, it was not up yet. Just some clarification for those readers who check my blog often enough and wonder why they don't see a post until a day or two after the date of the entry.