funny signs/t-shirts

while we were driving around in our mini tour bus on thursday (which has a horn which honks like la cucaracha):

storefront:  ENDOSCOPY SALE
t-shirt: YOU'RE NOT DEAD YET
t-shirt: BEWARE HOUSE PARTY with a giant red X over it

thursday was our city tour day. first we stopped at the qutb shahi tombs, which holds the old sultans' mummified bodies. inside each tomb, there was a little shrine with the koran written on it and a colorful sheet draped over the top of it. all of the domes are now tinged black (except for my favorite tomb, the queen's [go figure], whose is white), but they were originally turquoise and blue.

after the tombs, we went to the charminar, which is the second biggest mosque in india. we had to wear head coverings when we walked inside and take off our shoes. the man at the front rubbed ashes on my eyes and tapped me with a bouquet of peacock feathers. unfortunately, the boys couldn't go inside, so we opted out of going inside. security was really tight since there was a bombardment several years ago.

next, we went to the chowmohalla palace and it was sooooooo beautiful. my favorite was the inside, with all these dreamy chandeliers.

and to end the day, we went to the golcanda fort. it defended the kings and city from the invading mughals. we had to walk up all of these stairs to get to the top, and once we got there, the sun was setting a magical pink in the misty sky. it was funny because all the indian people wanted to take pictures of us. sometimes they weren't even in the picture, it was just a picture of us.

we saw a "light and sound" show at the fort once it got dark. my guidebook had described it as "trippy," and when we asked madhuri (one of our ciee guides) if she liked the light show, she waved her arms and said "i HATE this." when asked why she responded, "you watch. you'll see." well, madhuri was kind of right. it basically colored flood lights illuminating the big boulders around the fort while trying to explain the origin on the fort. a lot of us fell asleep, including madhuri :)

india is so wonderful. i love it here very much.

new years post coming up soon!

love
lauren