Sunday Summary #22

Eid Mubarak!

Namaste ,

Welcome to An Urban Journey’s 22nd Sunday Summary. This edition of the Sunday Summary was written in our (same) hotel in the Blue City of India, Jodhpur. When you read this email, we will officially have been isolated for 9 weeks!

Not much has changed for us this past week. India is still under lockdown 4.0 and, since we are in a red district, are still stuck in our hotel room. India was hit by Cyclone Amphan on the eastern side of the country, and is still dealing with an increasing amount of coronavirus cases. We have been closely following the coronavirus around the world however and a lot is changing! My brother, who is currently teaching English in Israel, has gone back to teaching in a classroom with students. Florida, where our families are from, has begun opening up like the rest of the country. Italy and Spain, countries hit hard by the pandemic, are turning into some of the first countries to re-open for tourism. We hope India will soon follow when it’s safe!

Moving past our coronavirus news, today marks the end of Ramadan! India has the largest minority of Muslims in the world as well as is bordered by two huge countries which are majority Muslim, Pakistan and Bangladesh. You don’t have to look far to see their influence, just take a look at the “Jewel of Muslim art in India”, the Taj Mahal. Each day, even in isolation, we experience a small part of Muslim culture. We hear their “calls to prayer” broadcasted on loud speakers throughout the city. 

We decided to fast yesterday, on the final day of Ramadan as a challenge, setting time for reflection, and simply to try and understand this culture that surrounds us. It was very tough! I had a raging headache for most of the day and Jen had an unquenchable thirst, but we still enjoyed the overall experience and I think it will become a yearly tradition. I have a newfound appreciation for my old co-workers who worked for 10 hours days whilst fasting… Impressive. Happy Ramadan, Ramadan Mubarak, for all who participated!If you have time, we summarized our month in Melbourne in the two videos below. We highly recommend sailing to anyone even slightly interested as it was a challenge but very rewarding. If you want a rush of adrenaline, then we'd also recommend trying to race. We were not good, however somehow still came away as the champions! Melbourne became a second home to us and it is one city we will definitely come back to. Here is a fun fact: "Did you know that Melbourne has the highest number of nightly music shows per capita in the world?"

Australia

• Learning How to Sail | Our First Sailboat Race and MAN OVERBOARD

• Our Melbourne Adventure | Best Boba Tea, Queen Vic Market, and Free Walking Tours

Namaste,Jenn + Elliot