Today was probably the most eventful day of my trip so far. In the morning we visited Sandipani Muni school, which was built and is financed by Food for Life Vrindavan, a NGO that gets most of its money from donations from western countries. I have to say I was very impressed. The school was very new, clean and most importantly, free for all the students. Everything is paid for by the organization, including books, lunch, uniforms and school trips. They select the poorest of the poor, meaning that they have got a long waiting list and there would be much more demand than what they can offer. They have got about 400 students at the moment, but the school is getting bigger year by year. They teach the grades 1 to 12 and in addition they have a crucial day care service for younger siblings of the students. Otherwise the older sister (or maybe even brother) would have to stay home and take care of her little brother or sister. I'm pretty sure I am going to sponsor one child when I get back home. I was very impressed.
The second highlight today was a tourist trip to Agra, to Taj Mahal. Me and my roommate got some company two days ago, when two new volunteers arrived. They told me yesterday that they were going to see Taj Mahal the next day. I directly asked if they'd mind taking me along. They had nothing against it. I was happy, because I was already getting a bit worried about getting there at all.
There's no question whatsoever! The Taj definitely deserves is place among the seven wonders. 20 000 people were working on it for 22 years. The amazing detail of the carvings and the marble wall decorations are simply amazing. Still the thing that made the biggest impression on me, was the perfect symmetry of the complex. Everything is built so exactly that it borders perfection. I'll try to upload some pictures later.
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