Head Bobbles and Marriage Proposals

What an incredibly eventful past two weeks we have had here in India. After spending a few days in Rishikesh, the "yoga capital of the world" where Kaitlyn was able to get her stretch on twice a day while I  made friends with the resident monkeys surrounding the ashram we stayed in, we next stopped off in Haridwar, one of the holiest cities for Hindus located on the Ganges River. Aside from the indescribable chaos that is India, we have recently been joined (at last!) by Kaitlyn's parents. Their arrival has come at an opportune time as well since both Kaitlyn and I were nearing our wits end in dealing with the Indians. Our patience (mine especially!) was wearing thin with the endless honking of mopeds and rickshaws and harrassment by storekeepers. In fact, my frustration toppled over one day as I "accidentally" kicked a guy on a moped and Kaitlyn "inadvertantly" pushed a bicycle rickshaw out of her way. This whole country is truly a crazy ass place where nothing makes any sense whatsoever. So needless to say, the arrival of the Bagnatos was impeccable timing. Aside from the incredible hotels they were treating us to and finally being able to sleep in a comfortable bed without having to wonder if the sheets were clean or not (or even present at all), it was definitely refreshing to get a taste of home and family life once again, not to mention being able to share in all the squalor and craziness of India together...and if that meant having to see it from plush hotels and resorts while being served tea, well dammit, it's a sacrifice we were both willing to make!

We spent our first day together touring the sights of New Delhi, all of us still in a slumbered state from our middle of the night awakening upon their arrival. Early that morning Kaitlyn and I headed to the U.S. Embassy where she completed the final steps of paperwork to officially become a lawyer and was sworn in by a notary at the embassy, something I'm sure not too many lawyers can brag about! The next day we boarded a flight to Varanasi, one of the oldest living cities in the world and the holiest place for Hindus. Our guide was fantastic, taking us to Sarnath, a nearby town where the Buddha first began his teachings, and to the Ganges River where we were able to watch a Hindu ceremony taking place along the river's edge.

The next day we were brought back to the river for a boat ride offering amazing views of the bathing Hindus just in time to see the sunrise and see two bodies being burned in the crematory pyres along the banks. It was definitely an unforgettable experience! From there, it was back to Delhi and then onwards to Agra to see the Taj Mahal...Oh, and also to ask Kaitlyn to marry me!
 

The Proposal
Back in Istanbul, I had snuck out of our room one night when Kaitlyn was fast asleep (aka snoring) to Skype with her parents. They just happened to be online and thankfully, both happened to be sitting there together,  naturally expecting Kaitlyn to be on the other end of the call. Instead, they got me...shaking and awkward. I asked for permission, they granted it (thank god!), and then I told them my plan. Kaitlyn's sister, Brittany, had already been in on it and helped me out by being the caretaker of the ring since our departure. I asked if they could bring it with them to India where I planned on popping the question in front of the Taj. I had no idea what to expect once we got to Agra, nor how it would happen or when it would happen. I just knew I wanted it to happen and that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Kaitlyn. I was freaking out for the better part of two days prior to our arrival in Agra, gradually becoming shakier (and gassier!) as we got closer and closer to the evening. We were only in town for one night and one morning so it had to be done sometime in there. I knew that she would kill me if I did it in a public forum so I knew it wasn't a smart move to do it in front of the thousands of people visiting the Taj the next morning. I only had that evening, Friday November 5.

After a visit to the Red Fort and an introduction by our tour guide as to the history of the Taj Mahal and its founder Shah Jahan (as our tour guide repeatedly pointed out), imprisoned by his son in a tower, forced to live out the rest of his days overlooking the memorial he built for his beloved second wife, we headed back to our rooms to shower and get ready for dinner that evening. I took the shakiest shower in my life and put on some of the nice clothes the Bagnatos brought us for all the fancy times we'd need them for, and then headed out to our gorgeous balcony that overlooked the Taj Mahal to wrap my head around the logistics of what was about to happen. Fireworks were going off all around the land below as this was Diwali, the Hindu new year, the festival of lights, and the absoultely unplanned perfect and memorable evening for an engagement. Kaitlyn finally finished getting ready and joined me outside to watch the fireworks and try to capture one going off behind the sillhouette of the Taj. I jokingly handed her a grotesque black leather bracelet, complete with dangling skulls and crossbones and asked her to wear it that evening since it matched her dress. [The bracelet itself was given to me by a woman at a store in Cappadocia, Turkey, who wanted to give me a souvenir after seeing my armful of bracelets from around the world. I, in turn, gave it to Kaitlyn, since it was obviously more her style than mine. She hasn't worn it at all really, because "it's just too special" she says, so it's been an ongoing joke between us since we acquired it.]

She laughed at the notion but indulged me in putting it on since it was black and did, in fact, match her dress. Upon strapping it on, she noticed something peculiar dangling from the silver skulls and brought it closer to her face for inspection. At that moment, I dropped to my knee, with trembles in full force and tears in my eyes, and managed to piece together a few coherent phrases of which I assume added up to be something good enough to have her say yes, but only after I had asked if she had "given any thought to my proposal."

The ring itself has tremendous meaning behind it as well. The setting is from the first ring my dad ever gave to my mom some fifty years ago combined with the diamond from her engagement ring. She told me that he would have loved Kaitlyn and wanted me to have it. I'm sure that he's smiling down from heaven right now, along with us on every step of our travels, happy to welcome such an amazing girl into the Statile family. Now, here we are...engaged!....and with a pretty cool story to remember it all by!

We next headed to the most incredible tent ever on the outskirts of Ranthambore National Park. We went on tiger hunting safaris and on our second morning there were one of the fortunate few jeeps to actually spot a tiger roaming the forest, yet another amazing experience we had and were treated to by the Bagnatos. There is no way to describe just how lucky and grateful we are to them for everything they have done for us and allowed us to share in alongside them over this past week. We got to see the luxurious side of India, something I never in my life thought I would ever have the privilege to see. We are going to miss our fancy dinners and comfortable beds of course, but we will mostly miss just being with them and all the laughs we shared in and chaos we endured together, memories we'll have forever.

After a final stop in Jaipur, the “pink city” at the heart of the Indian state of Rajasthan with all its palaces of maharajas and a visit to the breathtaking hillside Amber Fort aboard an elephant, we said our final good byes and we were once again off on our own to explore the rest of India.

We now have about two more weeks left in India to tour the rest of Rajasthan with stops in Jodhpur (the blue city), Jaisalmer (the golden city), Pushkar (to see the famous Camel Festival!), Udaipur (the city of lakes), Mumbai and Goa before heading to Thailand. Internet here is atrocious so please bear with us and we will try to post whenever we can. It will be a hectic couple of weeks as we try to see everything we can. Plus, we just love overnight bus rides, especially aboard the glorious Indian buses. Thanks for still following along with us....We'll be arriving home on December 18 just in time for Brittany to pick us up from the airport and all head to Albany for Christmas!