Putting my big girl panties on!

On Sunday (yesterday) thanks to some encouragement and prompting from Alex (without him even realizing) I embarked on one of my biggest independent ventures in Mumbai to date! My scariest adventure would probably still be locating the dermotologist office and filling a few indescript prescriptions... but this adventure was my most successful and led me to become even more familiar with my neighborhood.

I ventured down Napuu Road (the "main street" I've highlighted in some of my photos) to seek out King's Circle... I had heard rumors about a restaurant there that may just serve something bland enough for me to finally get some food besides rice and bread. I was also on a quest to find a few shops including a tailor and the post office. As per my usual routine, I pulled on my rain boots... grabbed my umbrella (never leave home without it) and set on down the street. I reached the invisible line that I had not yet crossed, and boldly stepped over. The streets were of course packed (as usual) and one kind hearted Indian woman who spoke english started increduously at me while asking "Are you looking for something?"... I said "No, just exploring." I walked into quite a few shops in an effort to find a tailor to make blouses (so I don't have to ruin my good clothes by wearing/washing them here), and after numerous rejections I found a shop "The Matching Shop" that had the entire rainbow of fabrics represented and I can purchase fabric and have a shirt copied for a little bit less than $5.00. So success! I also located the post office, so I can send off those hard to find post cards... and I found a little book shop and a sweet shop. I ended my adventure at King's Circle. I had quite the adventure crossing the streets to get around the circle, but it was worth my effort when I found The New Yorker restaurant!

I excited went inside after reading that they served continental, lebanese, italian, and indian cuisine!! And for the first time in my life I sat at a restaurant table by myself and enjoyed lunch. And by enjoying lunch I mean at a few forkfuls of fresh steamed vegetables when my shrinking stomach decided it was full (I did get the rest of my meal packed up). But the service was excellent, and the experience energizing. After my quick independent lunch, I continued to make my way around the circle, stopping at the cyber cafe on my way home to pick up the longer ethernet cord I ordered so I could lay in bed and still have the internet. I also found a dry cleaners... but I'm pretty sure it is not the same we are used to in the states (although looked better than the dobi kots I visited on Saturday). I plan to bring a shirt to be copied to the tailor, and hopefully the experience goes well enough that I can have five shirts made to rotate through the week, and I don't have to worry about washing my clothes from the states.

That evening I had to meet up with my marketing group to complete an assignment, and we met up at The New Yorker per my suggestion. I decided to take a new route (a back residential road where there are far far less people, so a much easier trek) and discovered a short cut. Ironically along the way I ran into another classmate, and was able to chat about his discovery of a local yoga studio and then when I arrived at The New Yorker I ran into another group from class. Interesting how "small" the neighborhood is appearing to be (this is probably only because it is much easier to spot a classmate, than a neighbor I may pass every day). We were seated on the second floor of the restaurant admist a little girl's crazy birthday party (they were served cake, brownies and ice cream FIRST) that made for a pretty loud work environment. But it was a successful end to a good adventurous day. And I have to give all credit to Alex for the fact that I didn't stay in my room for the day moping about how much I wanted to go home. So that adventure is dedicated to him.

Now today I had yet another adventure! My friend Rachel and I decided to run over to Phoenix Mills (the western-like mall) in search of a calculator for her and some food for me (I did try a steamed rice cake with yogurt for lunch... pretty agreeable, but still only consuming about 400-500 calories I did... I'm working on it). On our way there we decided to check out this little massage place that Rachel had discovered on one of her walks, a place that did acupressure and acupuncture. We walked in and spoke with the owner, who was very excited to meet us and who was fairly well versed in English. She offered to give us a trial (only in India)! It was actually this table that did all the work... almost like a horizontal chair massage, if that makes any sense? So it was unable to be personalized, but it felt pretty good... and then there were acupuncture pads that simulated the needles with electric shocks (that was a little less enjoyable). But I enjoyed the acupressure and will probably go back (in fact, I will make a point to go back so she doesn't think that we weren't grateful for the free trial). It will cost about $4.00 for an 1.5 hour session. Can't beat those prices. They were extremely kind there, and it was only about a 2 minute walk to get there.

We then hopped a taxi over to Phoenix Mills and after an unsuccessful attempt to buy a financial calculator (I'm glad I carry mine with me everywhere... you never know when you might need to calculate the NPV of a capital budgeting project) we settled on "The Spaghetti Place" for dinner. This was QUITE succesful! I had a delicious italian meal complete with garlic bread... and we were placed in the front window (I'm pretty sure as free advertising. My friends and I were at one place called DPs last week and they took pictures of us for the owner... I think we'll be featured in the next advertising campaign, "Even the Americans eat here!") and also asked to try out some of their new recipes.

All in all a successful two days! Class today was boring as usual. Statistics is like pulling teeth, and I'm pretty sure our Stats Professor does not appreciate our American sense of humor or sarcasm... I think we're growing on her though. Classes got cancelled tomorrow, but instead we have two company visits so that is pretty exciting. We are going to Reliance, one of the largest mutual funds in India, and another place whose name escapes me.

We only had a little rain today (which happen to come down in sheets the moment I dared to defy nature and walk half a block without my umbrella) and besides the pungent odor that has settled on our street... it was almost pleasant outside.

Hopefully I can continue to climb over this "hurdle" between vacation and living. All of us mentioned that after being here for a week, we feel like it's been long enough... but I'm trying to adjust and settle in, and each day is a tad bit better. There's hope... but there's no chance I'm staying a second longer than I have to :-)