DAY FIFTEEN - Jan 11th - Agra

Today is our isolation day, which means we are taken to a local hotel to stay overnight and we are not involved in any rotary work, meetings etc. Some of the team wants to do some shopping and others are trying to find out any other cool places to see locally, but for me, I just want to stay in and rest. It seems Lindas cough and cold has spread to me. On our way to the hotel we stop at a local artisans mall where we had a tour and demonstration on how they make designs in marble. Here over 300 families are employed to make beautiful pieces of marble using the same practices as they used to make the Taj Mahal, many of the pieces take months or even years to create. Some of the team indulge in a few momentos to take home, priceless pieces that I am sure they will cherish forever. Next we are taken to Hotel Amar for our rest day. After we get all checked in, I finally get some time to go online and post all the blogs I have been writing for the past 10 or so days. This hotel is filled with foreigners from all over the world, it neat to sit in the lobby while I am blogging and listen to all the different languages and accents. The hotel is nice and clean and I am most excited about the bathtub, something we have not seen here yet… After a long afternoon nap, the team meets up for dinner at the hotel restaurant and shares some much needed laughs and relaxed. After dinner some of the team head out for a quick walk to a few local markets to get Erin a battery for her camera (she forgot her charger) and me a camera (mine broke). The people on the street all hound us to buy things or take rides with them, but betty jo and I just link arms and begin speaking Spanish..lol… On our way back from the market we make a stop into Pizza Hut to indulge in a little treat!! Man I miss home cooking…. Today was a great day of relaxing, shopping and no commitments! We all really appreciated the break, plus now that Linda has a phone we have all been able to call home at least once which has helped with the homesickness., so our spirits are higher now!!!