India #1 - The Group

Growing up and through college, Spring Break was always a time of rest. Lots of people I knew made big plans and went on trips. I usually stayed home with the family and had good time with friends. While I have always loved my time with them, this year things are a bit different. So when you live internationally, you can travel. For cheap. So we did.

Spring Break 2012 = India

It was an amazing trip. It was full of beauty and heartbreak. I'm still trying to process the trip and am waiting for our picture exchange to share the highlights of the trip. Jen and I swapped and have close to 800 pictures between the two of us. And there are more to come. Patience, Dana. Patience. So while I wait for pictures and try to sort out what we experienced, I thought I would introduce you to the group we went with.


(Randee, me, Kris, and Jen - in front of the Taj Mahal. How's that for a teaser?)

This group of friends made this quite a fun trip. We laughed a lot. A. L.O.T. Like, can't breathe and stomache ache laugh. Daily. Can I just brag on this group for a bit? No one got sick. No fights. Pretty incredible! Seeing how we had not travelled together, that is a miracle in itself. Compromise and flexibility saved us. Go team!

This is the first time you have seen the amazing Jen. Yes, this is the same Jen you have been reading about since July. I cannot tell you how great it was to travel with her. Somehow we can "live together", work together, worship together, and now travel together. I don't think we have many of these kinds of people in our lives. So thankful I have her! Throughout the trip we shared brain waves and beds. We were able to talk about what we were experiencing as it happened. We complimented each other photographically. We could get lost behind a camera and have fun in front of it as well. We could read each other like a book. We entertained ourselves pretty well. She can laugh at me and get away with it. When I accidently slip and say something culturally insensitive, she knows its the exhaustion talking, not the real me. We back each other up when unknowingly breaking the rules. What can I say, she's awesome!

Randee was fun to have with us. She had the most random things to say to make us laugh at just about any given moment. She doesn't hold back. She could find randomness around every corner and caught it all on camera. She found what she enjoyed and went with it. Girl does love some puppies! Honestly, they were pretty cute.

Then there was Kris. Now before you get all worked up about poor Kris, the only guy on the trip, let me clarify a few things: 1. Yes, he did travel with three (not always cute) women - alone. 2. Yes, he was a good sport and did various male things for us (check the bed for bugs, take photos while we jumped repeatedly, held bags while we were in the market, etc). 3. Yes, he did see us all seriously grouchy at some point during the week. However..... 1. The man dishes out much, MUCH more than he takes. 2. He looked like a stud to many an Indian man. 3. Just about everything he suggested we do, we did. So don't feel sorry for him. At all. In all seriousness though, he was on full alert for us for a week. He also made a very long train ride significantly more enjoyable and memorable. He can be a pretty good listener too. So glad he was there.

This last person was not one that went with us on the trip but one that we met there. Meet Matt:

Matt and Jen are friends from Houston. None of us had met him before going to India but he definitely made the trip more memorable for us. He went out of his way to help us with train tickets, got a boat tour in Varanasi for us, and showed us what his life looks like in Agra. He had so many more things he could have been doing and yet took the time to help us out. His work there is so needed and we were blessed to see just a small piece of what he has committed to do there.

So that's the group! They made this an amazing Spring Break. Next post, the places we saw. Following that, the people we met. What can I say, India made for some great memories!