Infosys

         We visited a huge company in Bangalore called Infosys. Infosys is an Indian multinational corporation that provides business consulting, information technology, software engineering and outsourcing services. We were given a tour of the company's campus and i just have to say the architectural work for the building was superb. I was impressed with the quality of service that the company offered. We were only able to receive an outside tour because they didnt feel comfortable giving us an inside tour.

Churches

     Among the various places we saw in Goa were the beautiful churches and cathedrals. We visited St. Cathedra, the biggest church in the east. The cathedral was built in purist Tuscan style and is staggering in proportions. The Cross of Miracles is kept in one chapel; it rumored  to grow in size & have healing properties. The cathedral holds the body of St. Francis Xavier (they literally have his body in a casket over there).Saint Francis Xavier was a great Saint and he was so well loved that they kept his body. They believe that he performed miracles. When he dies, his body was not preserved but yet up until today, the body is still intact and has not decayed. A couple of pieces of his body has been given to France and Portugal. Now this really bothers me because they are not letting St. Francis's body rest in peace. His body is not buried; its on display for people to see (seen in 1st photo). Every 10 years they bring out his body to celebrate. I find it very peculiar that they wont let a saint rest in peace.

Beaches in Goa

    The beaches in Goa are the most beautiful beaches i have ever seen in person. Two of Goa's most popular beaches are the Calangute and the Baga beaches. Together, they stretch 7 kilometers, which is about 4 thousand miles. We got to view the beaches from high vantage points because the view is the best up high. These beaches are huge tourists attractions. So popular that people come there just see the beach rather than lounge and go into the water. From the vintage point of where we stood, we were able to look up and across and be able to the Aguada Fort (already spoke about). Though we were not able to lounge at these beautiful beaches, it was worth it to take in the scenery and enjoy the views.

Fort in Goa

       We got a chance to visit a old and historical fort in Goa. It is called the Aguada Fort. This fort was used by the Portuguese soldiers. It was built in 1612 and consists of a lower fort with bastions all around an upper fort. It skirts the seashore ans the ascends the summit of the bare rocky, upland called Aguada Point. The upper fort was built as a vantage point to serve ass a fort and a watering station to the ships. The lower fort offered a safe berth to the Portuguese ships. The upper fort also has a moat , an underground water storage chamber, a lighthouse, gun powder room, and bastions. 

The fort is general also served as protection against invaders.

            This fort was also once used as a prison to hold captives. It was abandoned in 1976 and now serves as a tourist attraction to people all over India and he world. 

Extracurriculars in Goa

      My most memorable experience of being in India was the  trip to the state of Goa. It is very popular for its resorts, beaches, and historical sites. It is a huge tourists attraction to Europeans. During our stay in Goa, we visited old Goa, which housed building over 300 years old. We visited its popular beaches, which has great birds eye view. we also visited various Christian churches and the spice farm (which ive already spoken about). The thing i liked the mos abut Goa was the extra curricular activities we participated in. We got the chance to go down to the beach, which housed various restaurants and various activities. Members of the group went banana boat riding. Myself on the other hand went jet skiing. Being not able to swim well made it a very scary experience but worth it at the end.

Ashram Temple

        The group also visited a Ashram temple, also known as a meditating temple. We were given a grand tour of the temple and was also given a meditating session. I discovered that meditating is not just something people do for fun, to some people, it is a way of life. Yes, today people meditate for relaxation but the individuals at this Ashram take meditating to a whole new level. This particular Ashram we visited was a very popular and well known one. There have been many donations to this particular Ashram. It housed farm animals, which were donated, like horses, cows, and bulls. It also house turkeys, bunnies, and other animals life. The Ashram also had incredible physical beauty and detailed carvings on a few of the temples.
       We discovered that people come from all over India to learn the way of meditating. They have some like of school/learning system set up for people to be temporarily housed there until they have reached their goals.

Spice Farm

         The group also visited a popular and well known spice farm called the Sahakari spice farm. The farm was over 300 acres big, and housed a variety of spices and plants we know today. Upon arrival, we were welcomed with an Indian traditional Aarti. The Aarti is a traditional welcome dance that was performed by  a group of young girls. Following the dance, we were served welcome drinks. The people of the Sahakari spice farm are very welcoming!.
         We were given a tour of a small percentage of the farm since it was too big to give a full tour. We were shown different plants and the contributions they make to the food we eat today. During the tour we encountered one of the farm's tree climbers.The tree climbers for the farm climb the highest trees to pick the fruits that they grow. Members of the group were also given a chance to try to climb the trees. I, fortunately was able to "attempt" to climb the tree and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
     The farm also housed a family of elephants; a mother, father, and daughter elephant. We got the chance to ride on the elephants and also feed them. I was able learn some fun facts about elephants like, they are the 2nd longest living animals in the world.

Visit To The Royal Palace

          I got the pleasure of visiting the former royal palace of India. Former meaning that India used to be run a monarchy system where they had kings, queens, and a royal family. Now India is run by a government and the palace where the royal family use to reside is now open for tourism. The group was giving a tour of the grand palace. During thee tour i was able to see where the king sat to address his subjects. We were also able to see portraits of former kings and queens. The thing that  interested me the most was the physicality and architecture of the palace. Majority of the things i saw in the palace was all hand crafted. The detailed wooden doors were hand crafted. Even the portraits on the ceilings were hand painted. There were some doors that were made out of pure silver. Most of the work was done by Indian craftsmen. Now there is an interesting story behind that. The royal family had originally planned to hire craftsman from Europe to oversee the carvings of the palace. Local Indian craftsman had been offended of the fact that people were brought from oversees to do the work instead of craftsmen of the country. The royal family gave the Indian craftsmen a chance to prove themselves and they did more than that. The work done on the former royal palace was one of the best architectural work i had ever seen.
       The royal palace was once in a fire so most of what we saw was done to the palace after the fire. We were not allowed to take photos of the interior but were able to get exterior photos (Seen Below).

Bollywood

        The group also visited a Bollywood studio. We were given the chance to visit a Bollywood set where they were filming takes on a very popular Indian television show. We were given a tour of the set and got the chance to witness the filming of a couple of scenes from the show. We also got a chance to see the building of different parts of the set. We got the details on what goes on behind the scenes and how everything comes together. What really interested me during the visit was the wardrobe of the cast members. I am a big fan of the Indian Sari (a traditional Indian woman's attire) and the Saris the women wore on set where beyond beautiful. Take the photo of the Indian actress below for example, she has on one of the most intricate saris i have ever seen. It is full so very fine details; from the gold sequence to the the complex patterns.
       Another part of our day was that were able to go to a dance studio and learn modern Indian dance. We had a professional dance instructor teach us some basic Bollywood dancing. Since i'm a dancer myself (mostly hip-hop and African), it was very fun and interesting to learn a dance outside of what i'm usually accustomed to.

 

Elefanta Island (Mumbai)

Day 1 in Mumbai was a very informational and breath taking experience. The group visited Elephanta caves on an island called Gharapuri. In that island was a temple that locals no longer worshiped their gods. The temple is so historical that the state kept it open for tourists to visit and witness the ancient grounds. The Temple was hand carved and made completely out of stone. There are a few gods/idols that was carved into the temple. The most abundant carving was of the Hindu god, Shiva. Shiva is a very well popular and well known god in India. Shiva is known as one of the primary forms of God and also the king of other gods. He is known to have many forms. During the tour of this temple, we also learned that Shiva had a wife, Parvati, who he had two children with. Shiva is also known to be a creator and a destroyer. Something significant i found interesting during this tour was that Shiva had a third eye. It was said that he used his third eye to burn desire to ashes.
The temple itself is now ruins due to the fact that the temple was once used by Portuguese soldiers to practice shooting. Now most of the statues that were carved (seen in picture) are now missing parts of it. The missing parts was not restored because of  what was used to build the temple and they also wanted to keep originality of the temple.

Shiva (Hindu god)