iPhoto is being dumb, so I had to post my pictures from Tirupati late.
Here they are!
This is from the first day we arrived to Tirupati. Unfortunately, my picture-taking skills were limited, because this pic is taken from the back of Madhu Uncle's motorcycle! (I missed Madhu Uncle though...)
Below, you see Madhu Uncle with his son, Pushkar, a really cute kid who took a little while to warm up to us, but once he did was loads of fun! Also, you see Madhu Uncle's wife, Bhagya Aunty. The picture is taken at Madhu Uncle's house.
Here is Pushkar with a toy he made out of newspaper. It's essentially 10 or 15 cone-shaped papers that are hard enough to throw. Sort of reflects the fact that kids in India enjoy the simpler things in life. In America, kids would get bored of a toy like that.
Here is a picture at Sai Aunty's house (Madhu Uncle's older sister). The kids on the left are Pushkar being held by Anudeep (Sai Aunty's son). The grandma is my grandfather's younger sister, who I had never met before (I don't think...). It was a great first night!
This is the start of the ~3600 steps from Tirupati (downstairs) to Tirumala (upstairs), where the God actually is. You can see it says "Way to Footpath" in English.
The way up! It was mostly stairs, but parts of the walk were on the road. We did the walk without shoes because it is supposed to be more holy that way. Also you might be able to tell that there were a ton of people climbing on the weekend!
The climb up is essentially through a thick forest, so TTD (Tirupati-Tirumala Devastanams; the group that organizes everything in the two cities for the temple) decided to make the climb a national forest and you can walk up to a bunch of animals. We saw people feeding small deer, but this was the coolest animal we saw. We were actually wondering - do reindeer exist? If not, I think this thing is what they were modeled after!
I guess the views were okay too...
So, when I got to the top, I got all my hair shaved off. It's a very religious thing to do (and it would cool me down in India's thick heat!) This priest came to our room and did it. This is the before picture.
This is the during the event picture.
And... I'm bald. As I write, though, it's been about a week and my hair is already growing back. I couldn't take my camera with me to the actual temple, so there aren't any pics of that. I guess you'll just have to go and see for yourself!
The day we came back from Tirupati happened to be Srinivasan uncle's birthday, so, naturally, we had... MEAT! it was great, and we all sat in a circle and ate together, which was cool.
A cool picture of my name on a mat. In India, at restaurants, and even when you're a guest in a home, you get served on a banana leaf. I engraved my name in this one.
Till next time (should be soon), see ya
Here they are!
This is from the first day we arrived to Tirupati. Unfortunately, my picture-taking skills were limited, because this pic is taken from the back of Madhu Uncle's motorcycle! (I missed Madhu Uncle though...)
Below, you see Madhu Uncle with his son, Pushkar, a really cute kid who took a little while to warm up to us, but once he did was loads of fun! Also, you see Madhu Uncle's wife, Bhagya Aunty. The picture is taken at Madhu Uncle's house.
Here is Pushkar with a toy he made out of newspaper. It's essentially 10 or 15 cone-shaped papers that are hard enough to throw. Sort of reflects the fact that kids in India enjoy the simpler things in life. In America, kids would get bored of a toy like that.
Here is a picture at Sai Aunty's house (Madhu Uncle's older sister). The kids on the left are Pushkar being held by Anudeep (Sai Aunty's son). The grandma is my grandfather's younger sister, who I had never met before (I don't think...). It was a great first night!
This is the start of the ~3600 steps from Tirupati (downstairs) to Tirumala (upstairs), where the God actually is. You can see it says "Way to Footpath" in English.
The way up! It was mostly stairs, but parts of the walk were on the road. We did the walk without shoes because it is supposed to be more holy that way. Also you might be able to tell that there were a ton of people climbing on the weekend!
The climb up is essentially through a thick forest, so TTD (Tirupati-Tirumala Devastanams; the group that organizes everything in the two cities for the temple) decided to make the climb a national forest and you can walk up to a bunch of animals. We saw people feeding small deer, but this was the coolest animal we saw. We were actually wondering - do reindeer exist? If not, I think this thing is what they were modeled after!
I guess the views were okay too...
So, when I got to the top, I got all my hair shaved off. It's a very religious thing to do (and it would cool me down in India's thick heat!) This priest came to our room and did it. This is the before picture.
This is the during the event picture.
And... I'm bald. As I write, though, it's been about a week and my hair is already growing back. I couldn't take my camera with me to the actual temple, so there aren't any pics of that. I guess you'll just have to go and see for yourself!
The day we came back from Tirupati happened to be Srinivasan uncle's birthday, so, naturally, we had... MEAT! it was great, and we all sat in a circle and ate together, which was cool.
A cool picture of my name on a mat. In India, at restaurants, and even when you're a guest in a home, you get served on a banana leaf. I engraved my name in this one.
Till next time (should be soon), see ya
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