Posted by Amanda

Today was a bit of a hodge podge. Basically there were three groups from SAS with the same itinerary. Noah's group was the first to leave Delhi and head back to Chennai. Our group was split into two and left mid-day. Rachel's group left last. In the end, I think ours was the best time frame. Noah's group didn't get to see anything of Delhi the last day. Rachel's group didn't have the bus after lunch so they were stuck at the hotel. Our group got to see the city before and after lunch. Our poor guide seemed a bit at a loss for stuff for us to do, but he worked it out. Most of our students really just wanted to shop at local stores but our guide was afraid we'd lose people.

We started by visiting Humayun's Tomb. We were told this was a prototype for the Taj. It was very pretty.

We drove by the Red Fort where the prime minister makes the Independence Day speech. It was also home to the Mugal kings. I wish we had been able to go inside rather than driving by as it looked majestic.

We did some shopping at a stupid factory store. Well, our guide dropped us there, we walked around, and then we jumped back on the bus much sooner than our schedule out of boredom and rebellion.

Lunch at the hotel then off to two museums. Our first stop was the Gandhi museum. It was basically the place where he was shot. It was moving though as he had so few possessions, it wasn't that much to look at. There was a lot of information about the events leading up to India's independence from Britain.

The second museum, the Indira Gandhi museum, was of more interest to me than it was for most of the students. Sadly most of the students weren't listening in the Global Studies when Indira was briefly mentioned. This museum was her home and the place where she was shot. Both museums had a nice way of marking the leaders' last steps. M. Gandhi had foot prints marking his last steps. I. Gandhi's had a crystal path with regular glass at the spot where she fell. As she had not taken a vow of poverty, her museum showed a lot more of her possessions. Plus, she was a woman in power so I was interested in that.

Following that, it was off to the airport then back to the ship. We did have a very fun race with the two other buses of SAS students from the airport to the ship. When you get back to the ship you have to have your bags searched. This takes a long time if there are lots of people in line. No one wanted to be the last in the group of buses to get into line. We were there first, but a last minute car impeded our victory. The bus behind us opened their doors and their passengers came streaming out right by us--including their trip leader who is a very popular professor.