India

Jennifer and I had a great trip to India. We left early Saturday mo
rning (14 Jan.), and flew first to Chicago. From Chicago, we had a 15-hour flight to New Delhi. We flew north over Greenland, and then south
through Russia and Afganistan to India. That flight wasn't very comfortable - both Jennifer and I were in the center of a five-seat block, separated by 15 rows. Neither of us slept well. We both slept a little during our flight from New Delhi to Bangalore, though.

In Bangalore, a driver was supposed to meet us at the airport to take us to the university we were visiting. However, due to confusion about which flight we were on, he wasn't there. We paid a guy 20 Rupees to let us use a phone to call the driver, and he came and got us. When we finally arrived at the university guest house (like a hotel operated by the university), it was 1 a.m. (Monday morning) in India (12:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon in Utah). By that time, our body's sleep schedules were completely confused, and we ended up not being able to sleep more than about 3 hours for the rest of the night.

Monday we went to see the university (Indian Institute of Science). I also gave a talk on my research. My host, Prof. Suresh, showed me his research projects, which were very interesting. For dinner, we went with Suresh, his wife, and his 12-year-old son to an on-campus restaurant.

Tuesday was our sight-seeing day. We paid a driver to bring us to Mysore,

where there is a beautiful palace and several temples. The palace was beautiful, and we enjoyed the temples, though they seemed to be magnets for beggars and people trying to sell you cheap junk. We also visited a bird sanctuary near the town, which was very peaceful.

One of the most interesting things about India is the driving. People drive crazily there, so normal people just don't drive. Instead, they hire a driver to bring them where they want to go (if they can afford it), or they take public transportation. Jennifer described our experiences riding in cars as like being in Mario Kart. People don't bother with trifles like only having one car per lane, or stopping at most red lights. There were times that we were genuinely scared, but we never saw an accident nevertheless. One of the most interesting moments was when our driver rolled down his windows and pulled in both mirrors so that he could squeeze through a very tight spot.

Wednesday, we flew from Bangalore to Kolkata (Calcutta) with Suresh and another professor traveling with us to a conference. We were intending to visit some touristy things in Calcutta, but the driver who picked us up from the airport refused. Instead, we drove straight to Durgapur, about 3 hours away, where the conference was. We checked into our hotel and had a nap. That evening, we ate with several others who had come for the conference, which was really nice. There was also a wedding party behind the hotel, which we could watch from our balcony.

Thursday and Friday were the days of the conference. My presentation was well-received, and it was great to meet several of the people there. On both evenings, the conference put on a cultural program. The first night, we enjoyed Indian music played on Sitars and a really cool kind of Indian drum. The second night, we enjoyed Indian singing and some dancing. We also had really good food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We really liked the food there - very spicy and full of flavor.

Saturday, we drove with the other conference attendees to a nearby university that was founded by a Nobel laureate poet in India, Rabindranath Tagore. He felt that Western culture was too far removed from nature, so, at his university, all of the classes are taught outside under a tree. We saw several homes there that Tagore built, as well as a beautiful shrine (pictured).

Sunday, we got up early and drove from Durgapur to Kolkata. We managed to find the church building in Kolkata and attended the Kolkata Branch. Including us, there were only 15 members at the meeting. It was great to take the sacrament and feel the Spirit there.

After church, we went to the airport for another long flight home. This time, however, we managed to sit together, and I had a window seat. As we flew over northern Russia, we saw the northern lights out of our window! It was very beautiful. The other unusual thing about our flight was that the entire 15-hour flight was in darkness, because we were flying in the same direction that night travels over the earth. In all, our night was about 24 hours long.

We're happy to be home, and very grateful to Dad and Sharon, as well as Brent and Melissa, for taking care of our kids while we were gone. We're also glad that we were able to experience a little bit of Asia.