More Hindu Temples

November 21, 2008 Today was crazy, busy day. We were up at 4:30am and we ready to leave our guesthouse by 5:00. However, we did not leave at 5:00. We ended up leaving at 5:30. I was so angry because I could have used that extra half hour of sleep. Anyway, I tried not to let it get me down. I wanted to have a good day. We walked down to the river. I couldn’t believe that I was standing on the shore of the Ganges River. It was still very dark outside but we were going to start our tour anyway. We looked around for a few minutes and then climbed into a boat. Auzzie looked at me and asked, “Do you think these boats have lifejackets?” I told her not to count on it. We had a little laugh. It was so amazing to be on a boat on the Ganges River. I looked around and noticed all of the garbage along the shore. I can’t believe that people actually use this water for bathing. The water did not smell as bad as I thought that it would though. We have been near a lot of water in India and it seems to always smell just terrible. Our tour guide told us about the religious significance of the river and its importance to the people of this city and this country. As we traveled down the river we were able to see the sun come up through the fog/smog (I’m not totally sure what it was). One major part of this journey on the river was to stop and watch where dead bodies were cremated. We watched as some men placed wood around a body and start it on fire and then watched as the body burned. This was not an easy thing to watch. I thought about how this religious experience means a lot to the people of this community and wondered why it is okay for us to be here just watching this happen. I was really uncomfortable and really just wanted to get away from there. The guide told us that after the body was burned the ashes were placed into the river. This is happening 24 hours of each and every day. Downstream from this site we watched as local residents used the river as a bathtub. They wash themselves in the same water that the ashes are thrown in. I know that this river is holy to these people but I just can’t believe that this is happening. It just doesn’t seem right. Here I go again judging a community that I don’t fully understand. I really need to work on that. The rest of the day was filled with Hindu temple visits, some shopping and a ceremony by the river at night. It was a really full day. I am a little frustrated because we went on a bunch of temple visits today and we were given very little background information. I felt like I had no idea what I was looking at. It’s hard to know what is important when you don’t know what you’re looking at. We talked to our professor about this. He told us that it is just how the program is done. We are given the opportunity to get an experience and formulate questions, and then lectures come after to fill in the gaps. I don’t really like this system, but I guess that I will just have to live with it for the next month.