Author Archives: jkmarsch

The rug shop employs men and women who get paid by the square foot. Most have a loom at home and can work when they have the time. They do periodic checks to makes sure there are no child labor laws being violated, although that would be hard to enforce. It seems any way a family can make some extra money- they will go for it. Desperate times, call for desperate measures.
The workers come to the store and get a kit with all the yarn they will need and the pattern they must follow.
The kids loved playing in the yarn pit!

Emerson really liked this shop. She got to tie a knot on the loom. If you watch the process, you’re amazed at the amount of skill and length of time it takes to create the rugs. The backs are as beautiful as the fronts. The man showed us how they burn the back to get rid of “hairs and fuzzies” so the rug doesn’t slip on a smooth floor. Since we have three pyromaniacs- they really enjoyed this part of the process.

He was the first mogul Muslim king to acknowledge Christianity and Hinduism as well. He had one wife from each denomination. Jesse went to this fort without us because the kids wanted to hang out at the pool for a bit.
He built this fort- called Agra Fort.

We’ve had a challenging time in India, but very worth it. We were planning on going to Varanasi (the place where they cremate the bodies and put the ashes into the Ganges- this city is a real ‘slap you in the face’ kind of place.) Anyways, before we did that- Jesse found a great hotel with a fun water slide. Crucial to gather some positive energy and have some fun before experiencing a place that brings up lots and lots of questions and different feelings.

This was the man’s area, the woman’s area was off to the side. There are some mosques we’ve visited that do not want women who are menstruating walking around their building. How would they check for something like that?!

The couple was all smiles until Jesse said, “Wow. She is beautiful!” They didn’t seem so happy after that and buttoned up the kids shorts so it didn’t look like a dress.