Two Amusing Observations

Everyone prepared me for this, but there is something undeniably hilarious about seeing people bob their head in an oval like motion as a way of communicating yes, no problem, be well or basically any other way to conclude a sentence/conversation. It’s as if Shalom had been turned into a body motion.

Secondly, this one caught me a bit off-guard, but bathrooms are really full service. You simply enter the bathroom and the toilet, sink and shower are all in the same place without anything separating them.

Reality sets in

I would be lying if I said this isn't really hard. I feel so foreign and wonder whether I'll ever feel comfortable. Perhaps not but I guess that's not necessarily the goal. Yesterday Will and I took the train into the Dharavi slum where I am going to be working. It was very intense and we were both pretty shaken up afterwards. I knew that it would be shocking to see but the reality of being amongst such poverty and delapitation feels obviously much scarier than the theoretical. I start Wednesday (it's Monday afternoon here right now) and I'm feeling nervous. Trying to keep myself busy until then doing some Indian cooking and exploring our neighborhood. Been listening to U2, Beth Orton, and Belle & Sebastian to calm my nerves. We are hoping to venture into other parts of Mumbai as well, the more "downtown" area, the more Southern sections. Tomorrow night we are planning to have dinner with a future classmate of Will's who is Indian and is moving to California for graduate school. She has been very helpful in our preparation and we are looking forward to that.
Deep breathing...

Mumbai Mets

Though part of me wishes this were a really inconvenient stopover on the way to Miami for Mets Opening Day, it's been fun and incredibly insane adjusting to life in Mumbai. It smells like burnt rubber, it's quite scary crossing the streets (where Mumbai's drivers make New Yorkers look Midwestern) and it's been hard to find restaurants. But it's also been pretty cool seeing this city for the first time. It's a mix of ramshackle huts and nice buildings and clearly is in the midst of a big transition. Our apartment is relatively nice and there is a good fridge, shower and washing machine. There aren't that many restaurants in our neighborhood, but we have all other basic amenities (including an internet cafe). I'm starting work tomorrow and hopefully will have the chnace to explore a little bit more of the city and feel a little more comfortable. Mainly, though if all goes according to plan, I'll sleep past 3:00 am and really be on my way.

Here's the view of the speed and Russian Roulette Rickshaw:

And it begins...

Welcome to Windia '08! Will and Lindsay in India...for two months. Shout out to Josh Kaplan for his contribution to the blog title ;-) So, we've been here a day and a half, and it would be an understatement to say I'm a tad overwhelmed. There have been some challenges, but lots of good fortune as well and we are starting to settle in. Yesterday, we moved into our apartment in Santa Cruz (West) which is an area of Mumbai near Juhu Beach, and it's definitely livable. There are fans on the ceiling, a working refrigerator, decent bathroom and stove burners, and a clothing washer! Mr. Patel who works in the building met us to give us keys and a tour of town. Really sweet man though can't understand 85% of what he is saying. A very nice woman named Joan lives upstairs and has already helped us when we shut down the electricity yesterday trying to plug in American outlets...Across the street is St. Theresa's Convent School for Girls which for some reason makes me feel comforted, and a reliable little store that sells food, toiletries, etc. including Skippy Peanut Butter! The streets are frightening -- as there are very few traffic lights, basically you just have to dart across when there is a "window" between cars and rickshaws (if a motorcycle and a golf cart had a baby and named it Taxi). It sort of makes me want to sit in the apartment and never leave, but we are getting the hang of it somehow and trying to cross with others (esp women and children) who have a better grasp of the art of it all. As for food...last night, we decided to go eat our first Indian meal and face the digestive reality of the next 2 months. Though I have to say when we had asked Mr. Patel and Joan where to eat Indian food in the area, they both kept suggesting we go to the Chinese restaurant down the street...not sure whether that has any meaning. We hit the streets in search of a restaurant and walked for 30 mins without finding one! Finally we hopped into a rickshaw (which costs $1-2) and headed to Bandra West where Will is going to be working. More of an upscale part of a town. We found a lovely vegetarian restaurant and enjoyed our meal of vegetables in cashew sauce and spicy biryani rice. This morning (when we woke up way too early due to jet leg) we went for a long walk and discovered a fantastic park not unlike Thompson Square Park in the East Village. What was amazing where the tons of people doing "laps" around the park! The women were still dressed in their traditional day outfits but wearing sneakers instead of sandals (EVERYONE wears sandalim here). We did a lap of our own and then sat down on a bench to take it all in. To our right was one older man meditating, another doing breath retention and to our left was a man doing sun salutations! It was pretty cool. Final points -- yes it's hot and most people (men and women) wear pants so we've been doing the same. People glance in our direction but no one seems particularly taken with the Americans and we are happy for that. There are tired/hungry dogs everywhere in the street. For the dog lovers out there, it would probably break your heart, but we are just trying to avoid getting bitten. We also saw a big fat bull in the middle of the sidewalk today sitting at the bus stop!

Here are a couple of pictures of our apartment and the view from our bedroom window.

Okay, that's it for now...thinking of you all!