Matt's birthday was on August 11th... the big decade-type of birthday! It was great having all of the people we love most here to celebrate with him and sing to him. I can't believe we are both the decade of age that we are and that we're having a baby in only 4.5 more months... it boggles the mind!
We also went to one of the most historic sites in our city. It is located in probably the craziest part of town. If you have seen the scene in Aladdin where Princess Jasmine is walking through the markets of Agrabad and people are trying to sell her stuff, you might get the idea. There are bunches of beggars there, too -- not like the kind we see in the States that hold signs and look sad. The beggars here aggressively stalk you, tapping on your elbow/back of your arm. Thankfully, we didn't see child-beggars here like the ones in Slumdog Millionaire, but we have seen children like that in our city elsewhere.
As with most old cities, the growth outweighs the capacity to make sense of city-planning. Buildings stack irregularly and additions are haphazard. The traffic and crowds from up in the monument look much smaller than they are in actuality!
Merilee and a friend... we joke sometimes that people will think she is my daughter due to our difference in height. Haha! She is such an awesome gal and we've become good friends with she and her husband.
This shot and the next are a much better view of the crowds, the auto-rickshaws (those yellow vehicles), and the 'haze' of pollution and people blending together near the peak of the arch. Below show the difference in culture of this part of town -- lots of ladies in burqas.
The next few pictures show how attention-getting it is to be 'different'. When you are a different color, people just ask to get their picture taken with you. I have no idea who these people are, but they were insistent on getting their picture taken with us. They were very sweet and friendly! The two ladies had their faces covered, but uncovered them to talk to us and get their picture taken. The face part of the burqa just pulls over the top, apparently.
Matt had two fans... one was really shy,
...and the other wanted a picture shaking his hand. I wonder if they think we are famous, or will tell their families they met us. It might have made their day? I know it made us happy to be greeted - the photo-taking was unexpected, but it was nice to meet friendly people!
This is the view from the top of the monument.
The monument we visited, taken from the conveniently placed coffee shop across the way.
These are the ominous stairs that narrowly wind up into the top of the monument and that you again must go down to get out of it. The experience is much like spelunking, minus the ropes and head-lantern. I was really happy we didn't visit this monument later in pregnancy because the small stairwell with uneven stairs and electricity that goes out really was un-nerving.
Overall, this was an awesome experience getting to visit a new part of the city!
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