Sadly, we left the beautiful mountains of Mussoorie for an 8-hour bus ride to New Delhi. We stayed the night in Delhi, getting food at a Southern Indian restaurant, and then, heading for another 4-hour bus ride to Agra. We have had the amazing opportunity to be within a hotel with a pool! So, we have been swimming around in the over 110-degree heat.
We saw the Taj Mahal and had our flight cancelled. We ran around the airport for 8ish hours changing flight after flight, finding out that this one or that one wouldn’t work. We stayed up for over 24-hours straight, and our leadership skills were tested in how well we could stay together in a cohesive group through the stress. Now, if we did that or not is definitely up for debate, but I believe we are all extremely thankful that we were not completely alone. One of our guides was still with us, and he took care of us since most of us could not actually speak the language.
After that terrible situation, we left the airport and are now in a 5-star hotel, and I have never been more pampered in my life. I am so grateful for this hotel, and I really hope we do end up getting home within the next few days. The hard part is that all of our visas ran out last night, so we are not actually allowed to enter the airport. We have a team working on it now, and everyone is saying we “should” be able to enter the airport. Fingers crossed.
What are you learning about yourself? What are you learning about yourself and leadership?:
I am learning a lot about leadership, especially during the unexpected high stress flight cancellation situation. We were all put in a situation where we had to respect the directive leadership from our guide, self-leadership to ensure that we were all with the group and had all of our own belongings, and peer-leadership in the form of figuring out which flight where as well as ensuring that everyone was present with all of their belongings. It was a great use of all of the learnings that we had previously gotten at both the Hanifl Centre and Pittsburgh.
One of the most important things I learned about myself during this trip is that I do not like airports. Having said that, this was my first experience with flying, and from what I hear, it actually is amazing most of the time.
Reflect on the cultural site visits in/around Delhi including the Taj Mahal. What did you find interesting? What did you learn?:
The cultural sites were amazing feats of beauty and engineering. With an engineering background, I found most of the tricks for ventilation, air conditioning, and moving materials to be the most interesting part. The “air conditioning” used in the Taj Mahal was the use of hollow walls that have an absorbing material, so they would absorb some of the water. Then, there was ventilation to allow for air flow, so that the water would evaporate to lower the temperature. Not only did engineers and architects figure that out in the 1700’s, but they also thought about how to push the cold air into the king’s room. They made smaller entry ways so that the air would gain more pressure and move into the room with force, allowing the air to circulate well.
