Poverty, Idolatry, sickness, rancid smells...

I’ve been super busy here, there’s so much to take in. We’ve been having an India orientation before we start on our projects; Learning about India architecture, learning about cultural differences, etc. Last week we went to Rishikish and Haridwar. They sent us on a scavenger hunt to help us know how to travel around India by ourselves. They wanted us to experience India by traveling, eating the food, finding a place to stay, talking to locals, seeing the idol worship, the poor, etc. Experiencing Culture Shock 101! Wow! That was an experience I’ll never forget! Not a good experience though; Poverty, idolatry, sickness, filthy streets, flies, fecal matter, rancid smells, dirty water, and garbage piles in which people call home. I have never seen anything as bad as this… my heart was so heavy. We walked along the Ganges River, which was super filthy and there where people washing their clothes in it, bathing in it, and worst of all drinking it. We met up with some people that were by the river and they told us they believed that the Ganges is holy water and that by bathing in it they will become purified, as long as they come every year to purify themselves. Sad. I’ll never forget this. …