Agra, and the attraction of hair

I'll try to keep this post briefer, and better organized.

So, we (Charlie - the girl who joined me at the orphanage and I) are in Agra now. Yesterday we saw the Taj Mahal, and today I saw Fatehpur Sikri (an abandoned city 39 km away) and the Agra Fort. We also fit in a shopping trip, and I now have a beautiful cobalt blue sari with silver trim - I can't wait to show it off! Maybe it will help me blend in...

It started yesterday at the Taj Mahal. First, let me say that it is exquisite. Absolutely gorgeous. No picture could have prepared me for the first glimpse I caught of it as I passed through the gate before it. Surrounded by darkness, I saw part of the giant white structure, peeking through the doorway, framed by the beautiful scalloped edges of the traditional archways. As I emerged through the doorway and it came into full view, I think my jaw actually dropped just a little.

It's graceful and powerful at the same time. In person you can see the
slight texture of the beautiful white marble. It's awe-inspiring.
Anyway, as I was still staring at the monument (constructed by Shah
Jahan for his favorite wife after she died giving birth to her 14th
child), a boy of about 12 came up to me and said, "One photo?" He was Indian, and I think that was pretty much the extent of his English. Assuming he wanted me to take a picture of him and his Dad in front of the Taj Mahal, I reached for the camera. He pulled it away from me,and repeated his question, pointing to me. It still took me a minute to figure out he wanted a picture of me... so, fairly confused, I consented and awkwardly posed by myself while he snapped the picture. Later, a woman of about 35 asked me the same question. I caught on a little faster that time, and ended up posing for a picture with her and then for another with her husband. It's strange to think that I'm the one who looks so different that it merits a photographic record. Is it the light hair? The freckles?

The hair must be part of it, because as I was walking to the red sandstone mosque at Fatehpur Sikri, a group of girls - probably about 14 years old - almost swarmed me, asking me where I was from and trying to touch my hair. I was glad to have a group of people next to me motion for me to come walk with them, and they formed a sort of semi-circle around me to keep the curious girls beyond reach of my hair.

Interesting cultural experiences and crowds aside, seeing the monuments has been magnificent. The red sandstone of the Agra Fort and the mosque is striking, particularly when set against the vivid green of the gardens as it is at the Fort. I was the first person in this morning, trying to catch a glimpse of the Taj Mahal at sunrise from the walls (though the fog made this impossible). The architecture was still beautiful, though, and very similar to the mosque. Both look important and massive, but then have beautiful and tiny details carved into every doorway and column. That, along with the mist and the monkeys at the Fort, made me feel like I was in a lost ruin.

Well, I suppose that's it for now. Tomorrow we leave for Jaipur, and hopefully I will be able to write again soon!

Namaste!