Mysore Trip

Group shot at Lalitha Mahal Palace

The trip to Mysore turned out to be awesome! I was a little apprehensive about it at first because many of the details weren’t worked out and I didn’t know if a weekend with 6^th-10^th graders would be fun or crazy. But, I had a blast with the kids! I also learned a lot about India and Indians in the process. Read on if you want to know more about the trip.

Day 1: We sat on a dark school bus at 5:15am as we waited for the bus driver and other students to arrive. Then we drove to another village to collect more of the kids. Altogether we had 46 students and 8 teachers. At the state border we changed buses because the school bus does not have a permit to drive out of the state. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the bus was. I was not expecting much for the trip since we were on such a tight budget. We arrived in Mysore around 11am and headed to our hostel. I was once again pleasantly surprised with the conditions of it. I thought I would be sleeping with only a sheet between myself and the floor, but we had beds! After our late breakfast, we went off to start exploring the long list of places we had in mind to visit. Our first stop was St. Philomena’s cathedral, next it was the Mysore Zoo and then a late lunch. After lunch we went outside of the city to visit a dam and the Brindavan Gardens where we saw a cool light show.

Day 2:

We got a very early start so that we could squeeze in all the other places we wanted to visit. We woke up at 4:00am, got ready and headed to a temple on a hill. Even though it was so early there were many people lined up outside the temple ready to go inside the moment it opened. I saw a group of men walking around the temple grounds chanting something and then do some strange rituals. I actually captured one on video. It was a very eye opening experience but it wasn’t until later that I realized how much it impacted me. After that we went to a palace turned 5-star hotel and then we went back for breakfast. For the rest of the morning we visited the Amba Vilas Palace which was really amazing. I didn't get any pictures because they didn't allow any cameras into the palace but you can click on the link to see some. They also didn't allow us to wear our shoes inside the palace and so we did the 2 hour tour barefoot. Two of the most amazing things about the palace were a golden throne and the ornately decorated hall overlooking the courtyard. After this we went to an art/history museum, bird sanctuary, Tipu Sultans summer palace and mausoleum and another temple. We started home that night and arrived back at 11pm. We ate dinner and then had a slumber party at the school.

I saw so many things and experienced so much within the 2 days. I witnessed people bow down to images of bulls and elephants made of mere mortar. Not only strangers but also teachers and students in our group went in to worship these idols, putting ash on their forehead and giving reverence to the stones. One girl asked me “Miss, can I go buy a god?” I was thinking to myself, what kind of question is that? What kind of god is that that you can just buy him? I also had some disheartening but eye-opening conversations with other students on the trip. Upon our return I was hit with the realization that not only they, but millions of people are deceived and led astray like this. It’s hard to explain, but I felt like God moved my heart for them. I felt like I understand more clearly how He feels for them and how He passionately loves them and desires them to be set free by the truth.