Day 11- My dog Lion

Along with cows roaming the street, there is also an over abundance of dogs who live the streets here, and especially down the alley and bazaar where my hotel is. I saw this dog the first week I was here, and he immediately stuck out to me because he looks nothing like the other street dogs here, he is a completely different breed. But he also had this adorable look in his face, especially when his ears perked up, and I instantly took a liking to him. I have since claimed him as my dog, and he now recognizes me and waits outside our hotel for me. He is the sweetest dog and reminds of a Lion because of his loyalty, big heart, ferocious attitude when other dogs encroach upon me, he lays around all day, and because he guards my den every night. My classmates and I now feed him on a regular basis, but this might be causing him to fight with the other street dogs. He is also somewhat of an underdog, so he needs my love. I am trying to convince my dad to let me bring him home to our family.

Day 10- Delhi- J.J. Camp

This is another community that the Smile Foundation develops, for this location they promote children's education, and women empowerment. This is by far the worst living community I have seen since being in Delhi, this camp is considered a slum, their houses are made of tarp and there is only one watering hole. However, these are almost the most inspiring group of people, because the kids and families are still so happy almost to the point of disregarding their living conditions, in order to still enjoy life. Visiting these communities make me even more grateful for the things I have in life, but also show me how much I do take for granted.

Day 9- Back in Delhi- Crashing the Sri Lanka Hotel

For this project I have been fulfilling the role as a writer for the production. What this often means is that the production team has a day off of shoots, but this excludes the writers and producers, who are constantly working to create a workable script and prepare for the next day's shoot of interviews and what not. So far, I have yet to actually receive a full day off. However, by the blessing of some karmic universe after spending a majority of my day in writing meetings we got the reward of getting to crash the 5-star, Sri Lanka Hotel to get to go swimming, drink beers, get to go to a spa (it was nice to see a real bathroom), and eat some delicious food.

Day 8- Vrindavan

On our way back from our weekend trip to Agra, we made a surprise stop at the city Vrindavan. Vrindavan is the scared home of the lord Shri Krishna, and is considered to be one of India's most holy city. There are over 5,000 temples dedicated to Krishna here, who is considered a god of love. We got to stop here because a lady, Molly, in our group has a friend living there and was able to give our class a personal tour of the city. So far this has been one of my favorite places in India, mostly because it was so tranquil and still compared to all the other places that we went. My favorite part of visiting was getting to go down a river in wooden boat to see the city from the outside.

Day 8- Agra- Agra Fort

Red sandstone fort was originally The Mughul Emperor Akbar's Fort and was converted into a palace during Shāh Jahān's time, and reworked extensively with marble and pietra dura inlay. Such a beautiful place, I wouldn't mind living there, but there's no electricity, rent is affordable though. =P

Day 7- Agra- TAJ MAHAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the 7 Wonders of the Word. The mausoleum of Shah Jahān's favorite wife, Mumtāz Mahal, said to be the most beautiful woman of the 16th century. He made it in honor of her and her fourteen children, he wanted to build something so great to show the world how great their love for each other was.

Day 7- Agra- Akbar's Tomb

Akbar's Tomb is the last resting place of the Mughal Emperpor, Akbar the Great.