My Indian Fame Grows to 30 Minutes...

This evening I went to the INX TV Studios and was featured on a program called "Mission: Ustaad." We didn't really know what we were getting into... so it was an adventure for sure.

We left school at about 4 (a mere 45 minutes late) and headed on the bus for the studios. It took us a long time because of traffic, but we finally arrived and were ushered into a room where we were finally informed of what we were doing (which we learned would last until 11 pm). Originally a week ago, we were asked if we wanted to attend a game show filming in Bollywood... we said "sure." Fast forward to yesterday, we are informed we are going to a reality show filming with a UN representative and would have to wear a uniform of jeans and a white t-shirt (which just seems like a great idea to wear under tv lights... right).

We learned that the program on Channel X9 was in support of the UN Millennium Development Goals... a worthy cause. Each week, famous singers perform songs that relate to the eight goals of the UN MDG and the "jury" (a panel of 3 famous judges, including the former Miss Universe) votes for the best songs which will appear on an album at the end of the 11-episode run. We sat around, signed releases for the TV station, and spoke briefly with the UN representative (who heads all the UN organizations that work within India) who serves as an advisor for the program. We then were offered snacks and ushered into the studio to the green room where we watched the filming of the first episode.

Then a TV crew came and interviewed a few of us about our experiences in India and our thoughts on Global Unity. They then selected three of us, myself and two of the guys: Kim and John that would go up on stage to interact with the judges and performers. We were armed with a mic and after much waiting around, we finally made it on stage at about 10:30.

I was somehow roped into doing most of the talking... and also wound up singing a few lines in Hindi, much to the audiences delight. I also was able to use some of my limited Hindi, which earned quite a bit of applause. It was AWESOME! I spoke on the importance of global unity and explained some of my experiences in India.

Needless to say... it was really cool and exhilerating to be on national television (again) which will be aired to roughly 50 million Indians on January 26th. I miss performing, and the butterflies you get right before you step on stage and forget all your worries....I am going to attempt to get a copy of the program, and will be sure to share it!

It was a VERY long evening though, with a lot of sitting around... so we were all greatful to get out of the studio and back on the bus to head back. Luckily we do not have any lectures tomorrow, so after two very late nights I can finally sleep in tomorrow!!

I really am going to miss being a celebrity :-)

Two Danes, a Girl, and the Taj Mahal

We took the Shatabadi Express to Agra, which left New Delhi at 6 am, arriving in Agra at 8 am. The train was actually the nicest I've seen in India so far... including an announcement of distance to the next stop (what a novel idea), and a free breakfast. In the train station, as we awaited the arrival of our time (our driver must have made record time to the train station!) we listened to the announcements of the other trains... I was most amused by the "inconvenience fee" one of the trains had... Doesn't an inconvenience fee sound like something the passenger should be paid!! Our ride was uneventful, my only complaint was some of the scenery... as I had commented many times before I have seen my fair share of Indians (vast majority men) peeing and pooping... perhaps I'm even up in the hundreds now. But with such an early morning ride, I got to see more than usual... in fact, at one point I took my glasses off to blur some of the detail. Although, later, in talks with Kerry, I decided to re-write the words to have "10 Little Indians Crapping on the Line"... since I saw a row of ten Indian men at one point, perched on the railway tracks... well you know. Ew.

We arrived in Agra... and I wasn't surprised to find that our promise hotel transport wasn't there. It's always overwhelming arriving at train stations here because everyone approaches you attempting to get your business... we finally found someone willing to take us to the hotel for Rs. 50 (which I later deducted from my hotel bill). Agra (and Delhi for that matter) are even more visibly polluted than Bombay, with a thick layer of smog always present. We checked into the Tourists Rest House, but had to sit in the garden quite a while to await our rooms. I got exactly what I paid for in my room... which cost $7.00 for the night, but luckily we would be in Agra for less than 24 hours, so it wasn't a big deal that I wouldn't be able to shower... or more like, would refuse to shower.

After we checked in, we skipped the nap and hopped a rickshaw to the Taj Mahal. It was SUCH an Indian hassle to get into the Taj (which charges Rs. 750 for foreigners... Rs. 20 for Indians!) including security that wouldn't allow any bags through. Since the ladies line was shorter then the mens line, I went and grabbed the Danes stuff and ventured off to the "bag check." A number was written on my bag in chalk (similiar to how they write your baggage claim number in chalk on your bag in the airport) and handed me back a little tile with the corresponding number.... needless to say, I kept my wallet and passport with me, just in case. I finally made it through security and wound up waiting with two other foreign females who were also waiting for guys... and finally met an American tourist (my first!) and as we stood and chatted for a bit, we were asked to be in multiple pictures. The Danes were quite impressed with my celebrity status in India... and liked the fact that if I walked in front of them, noticed noticed them.

The Taj Mahal was awesome and really beautiful... although very crowded. I most likely appeared in a lot of Christmas Card Pictures though as I was constantly asked to be in pictures... there were signs for licensed photographers and different packages they could offer... I suppose some of the packages were "Picture with family in front of Taj... Rs. 30" "Picture with foreigner in front of Taj... Rs. 300"... "Picture with American in front of Taj... priceless." I had Mark, my personal photographer, follow me around to take pictures, which will be posted later today. It was quite humorous at one point when we had to put shoe covers on our shoes (one of the benefits of paying the foreigner fee... a free bottle of water and shoe covers)... but the pictures will have to do that image justice.

After walking around the Taj (there really isn't much else to do there), we decided to move on to the Agra Red Fort. We made the 2 km walk to the Fort (stopped by every camel cart, bicycle rickshaw, auto rickshaw, and horse and carriage that couldn't understand why we would walk!) but at this point, Nic was feeling poorly again so wound up staking claim on a grassy patch just inside the Fort while Mark and I walked around. The Fort was impressive, but not as much as the ones in Rajasthan, so we made a quick circle through, and collected Nic to head back to the hotel. My favorite moment at the Fort was when I was taking a photo and turned around only to discover 5 cameras aimed at me... I guess they won't have quite the same photos of the Fort as I have.

We headed back to the hotel for nap time (which the Danes didn't wake up from on time... I guess they aren't used to traveling with someone as punctual as they are)... so after I woke them up at 5, Nic decided to stay back while Mark and I went out in search of food. We settled in a restaurant in the main bazaar of town and we wanted to walk (those crazy foreigners, always wanting to walk) and we had a bicycle rickshaw follow us almost the entire way... the fare by the end was free... that's how badly he wanted to take us. The problem was he was a very old man, and I'm pretty sure if we loaded onto his bicycle rickshaw he wouldn't make the trip... and besides, we wanted to walk! We went to a restaurant called Park and had a decent chicken meal. On the way back we stopped to pick up some crackers and bananas for Nic and a pack of cards (so Mark could teach me a**hole... which he thought as a "Newbie" I might have trouble grasping...). Mark and I sat in the garden of the hotel and played cards... after I had won two games in a row, Mark was "tired" and grumpily went off to bed. Haha. Actually, he wasn't feeling well (or at least claimed not to be since he was losing so badly to me), so I feared that I would have two sick Danes on my hand the next day, and that would not have been fun.

I laid awake for quite a while in my room, unable to fall asleep... but finally managed to get some sleep in before our 5:15 am check out time to head to the train station to head back to New Delhi. The same train was booked for our return trip so we took the InterCity Express... for about half the price... and that was Nic and Mark's first "Indian train" experience. It was a very long ride (a scheduled 4 hours... an actual of 5.5 hours) with plenty of "scenery" (not the good kind... you know the kind) and I was quite antsy by the end. I did talk to a guy from Australia that was volunteering with an NGO here teaching English... he had been here a week and was homesick... yea, NO sympathy here buddy! Try 4 months... then come talk to me.

We finallllllly arrived to the New Delhi Train Station and faced the swarm of taxi and rickshaw drivers attempting to earn the favor of our fare. We almost got roped into a scam right from the Lonely Planet Guidebook... but I caught it in time and we wound up walking to our hotel. The walk was longer than anticipated, and I'm afraid my suitcase may never recover from what I drug it through in the big bazaar we passed through. I was a little nervous about what we would find when we reached the location of our hotel, but I was pleasantly surprised. The hotel was quite decent (a relatively soft bed and hot water, always a plus). I was sharing a room with the Danes so the hotel made up a mattress on the floor for me and we all attempted (but failed) to nap, so instead ordered room service. At this point both Nic and Mark were not feeling well, so we took an easy in the afternoon and watched some CSI (I wish we had more English channels at the Hostel :-(...). We then decided to hit Old Delhi (I was armed with a roll of toilet paper... which is how I earned my keep among the Danes) and wound up being hassled on the way by a good-intentioned rickshaw driver that was trying to convince us to take an entire tour of Old Delhi... we declined but finally agreed to go to two shops so that he could get a discount for bringing tourists. He also took us on a personal tour of his Sikh temple which was pretty interesting. At one point, when we were deciding whether to take the tour he was offering, the Danes complained that I should know Danish, because then we could talk about our plans without the rickshaw driver knowing... I blame them for not teaching me... I now know one phrase "How are you?"... and I used it repeatedly for the rest of the day... I blame them for not teaching me more than one phrase.

We visited a Mosque in Old Delhi which was incredibly crowded!! We had to wait outside the Mosque for prayer time to finish, and we discovered Nic might have equal celebrity to me (until they learned he wasn't American.... and poor Mark has zero celebrity). We finally were able to go inside and we climbed to the top of one of the towers... which was quite scary. We had to take our shoes off and climb up uneven, steep stone stairs in a very tiny tower... in the dark. So for those of you who know my fear of falling down stairs.... the trip down... NOT enjoyable. But slow and steady wins the race, and we all managed our way down the narrow tower (with two way traffic no less) with only a few stubbed toes and scraped heals. The mosque was pretty exhausting, as was the surrounding area, so we opted to skip out on the Red Fort in Delhi (we figured one Red Fort was enough. We hopped a rickshaw back to the hotel (Prince Polonia) and I managed to convince the Danes to order Pizza with me... which was delicious by the way. I also finally got that shower I needed and was delighted to find a clean shower with hot water and water pressure. We laid in the room (ordered more room service... those boys can eat!) and watched part of Die Hard 3, Election, and the Pink Panther.

We were FINALLY able to sleep in!! We decided to get up at 10 the following morning in time for breakfast... which was fine considering we were all asleep before 10 the night before. I woke up before the alarm, as did they, so we went up to the rooftop for breakfast. We had toast and eggs and planned our day ahead (since we had to check out at Noon, but our flight wasn't until 11 pm). The boys "claimed" there was an earthquake the night before and they were shocked I didn't wake up... I didn't believe them, but they were eventually able to corroborate their story and there was a 4.3 scale earth quake in Delhi the night before. When they tell the story though, I'm sure the hotel will become the epicenter of the earthquake and it will gain a few numbers of the Richter scale.

The boys both showered, and I laid in their bed (the floor wasn't so desirable) and watched Gossip Girl, much to their dismay (I repeat... I wish we had more English channels in the hostel, cause then I wouldn't have to download my shows each week) and eventually headed to the heart of Delhi, Connaught Place. We walked about 10 kilometers that afternoon! We circled around Connaught Place, walked into an underground bazaar where shop keepers attempted to sell the boys Indian porn, stopped at Cafe Coffee Day for a snack(where I managed to get sick... I guess it was only a matter of time, I hadn't been in stomach distress for almost a week) and then walked to the astronomical observatory (very similar to the one in Jaipur). Don't go to an astronomical observatory with Danes that study physics for fun... haha. It was cool though, they explained how all the instruments worked and then complained on the lack of maintenance on some of the instruments.

We then trusted Mark's map reading (which for once, actually paid off) and made our way to India Gate, and then to the Presidential Palace and Parliament. We had a small detour as we had to take direction to avoid the riots! All along the way, we of course had multiple rickshaw drivers stopping to offer us a ride... we got one offer as low as Rs. 2!!! They still couldn't fathom us wanting to walk... but walk we did! When we got to India Gate... Mark almost got a celebrity moment until he discovered they didn't want a picture with him unless I was also in it. I finally agreed to be in the picture, to allow Mark his five seconds of fame, but after the second photographer started snapping photos we said we were done and walked away. We also stopped in at Le Meriden hotel for a cool drink (milkshakes!) and to use the bathroom... which is perhaps the nicest bathroom I have ever been in!

We then walked back to Connaught Place (which is a really neat part of Delhi) to eat at KFC and kill some more time before our car was scheduled to pick us up at the hotel. We decided to try out Delhi's new Metro (which was probably a mistake at rush hour) since our hotel was just one stop away. The metro was really nice... despite the MASSIVE crowd... and we walked back to our hotel and sat in the lobby and played a**hole until our taxi came.

We arrived early to the airport and sat around waiting until we could check in. Our flight was at about 11 pm, putting us back in Bombay at 1 am (quite unfortunate). We had to wait on the plane a long time, since the "stair driver" couldn't quite seem to get the stairs up to the door of our plane. We finally collected our luggage and hit the taxi stand.

Rachel and I shared a cab back to the girls hostel... where our taxi driver tried to outrageously rip us off! (His meter was clearly broken as it read 18.80, where it would usually read 6.40 (the meter reading is then roughly multipled by 13)) We wound up paying him only Rs. 200, but he was not satisfied and stood there trying to convince us to give him more... the fact that he wasn't angry meant we weren't ripping him off, he was trying to rip us off. But he stood outside our hostel with us and we attempted to wake the guard and then the guard stumbled to the gate and attempted to open the padlock with a foil wrapper from whatever narcotic he had been... of course this didn't work, he stumbled back to the desk to get a different foil wrapper. This is "fat guard" that often tries to get money from us when we come in late... so we assume he might have been trying to get money from us, but once we handed him our luggage and prepared to climb over the fence he miraculously remembered he did have a key to the padlock and went off and quickly grabbed it.... did he really think a foil wrapper would open the padlock!!?

So at 2:15 I collapsed into bed... I changed my skirt for shorts and quickly fell asleep, since I had Finance at 10 this morning.

All in all, a VERY adventurous time!! I will quickly post pictures... as they often tell a far better story than I do. It was a lot a lot of fun traveling with the boys though, and a very nice reprieve from my usual crowd. But then again, boys are always more fun to hang out with ;-)

This evening I am heading off to Bollywood to meet with a representative from the U.N. ? (I have no idea... that will be a story, I am sure).

Delhi- Delhi Belly was the least of our worries

I left for Delhi on Tuesday evening at about 6 pm. We got to the airport uneventfully, checked in, and awaited our boarding time. We flew Go Air... and I don't think I've seen more seats crammed into an airplane before, but I suppose that is to be expected when you fly budget Indian airlines. We arrived to Delhi Airport (minus two, one missed the flight, the other stayed behind to fly with them) and attempted to get into the cars that would take us to our hotel (at this point, it is about 11 pm). For some strange reason, our coordinator only booked TWO cars to transport 14 of us and our luggage... can you sense trouble? We finally tied some of the luggage to the roof, sat practically two to a seat, and after 45 minutes of debate about how we were going to all fit, we were on the road. We checked into our hotel, but we were all starving from not having dinner. We traveled to what we were told was the only 24-hour restaurant in Delhi (a horrible lie we would later find out) which was actually a disorganized cafeteria type restaurant at one of the local train-stations. I have never seen a more chaotic system for ordering and collecting food. Our food took forever (thank goodness I always travel with my own food) and we would later come to learn three of us would get food poisoning (once again, thank goodness for traveling with tuna fish and protein bars) from the questionable train station food.

We FINALLY got back to the hotel at around 2 am and had to go through the long check-in process (here in India, every hotel has to collect a boatload of information from you, including your passport and visa vitals) which they decided couldn't wait until morning. At about 2:30, I was finally able to lay down to go to sleep for an 8 am wake-up call.

Wednesday morning we were scheduled to visit two companies... neither of which we made it to. Instead we visited GS Lighting which wound up being pretty much a sweatshop where they made lighting housings (their employees were paid Rs 3500/month (about $80), worked 12 hour shifts with only a total of an hour break (three tea breaks and a lunch break), and worked in hazardous conditions). We walked through the factory, where we had to dart in between sparks from the welding, and then sat down in their "conference room" to discuss their operations. At least they were honest when they said the only reason they worked there was for the money. It took us about 2 hours to find this factory though after we took many many wrong turns down dirt paths. Luckily, I had secured a coveted spot in Bhuvan's Car (Bhuvan, one of my fellow IMBA students, lives in Delhi so was able to drive us around... we later formed a "Pact" for Bhuvan's Car to ensure we could maintain our seat all three days of company visits), so the ride was slightly more pleasantly. A lot of the dirt roads were wet though... and Mark surmised that perhaps they were watering the road, so it would grow. I also saw a number of dirt roads being "swept"... a pretty fruitless effort if you ask me!

After a relatively short visit at this company (that was at least an hour drive from our hotel), we learned that we would have no more company visits for the rest of the day. We wound up finding a TGIFridays and I had a great great lunch. After TGIF, Bhuvan's Car (Mark, Colin, Mitika, Bhuvan, and myself) deciding to go shopping in a local mall. I don't even know how long it had been since I was in a nice enclosed mall... with escalators!! We spent probably more time in the mall than I cared to, especially since I'm on a budget, but the company was very enjoyable and entertaining. We eventually headed back to the hotel, but had a stop in at a 5-star hotel as our second member fell victim to food poisoning. Once back at the hotel, I settled in for the evening (I was exhausted from no sleep the night before) and watched Ugly Betty.

The next day, we woke up at 8 am for breakfast and ready to hit the road by 9 (which by India standards means 9:45). Today we actually had two company visits scheduled which was an improvement I suppose. Since we were down one in Bhuvan's Car (Colin stayed back for the day), we were able to allow Nic in (he was the first victim of food poisoning and had stayed back on Wednesday) and we hit the road. We went to IndoAsia Electrical Management where they made... something like a fuse box maybe. We had a factory tour which took forever, as each intricate step was explained to us (it didn't help that I had one of the danes, Mark, in my tour group who is very interested in manufacturing (he has an MS in Engineering something) who kept asking questions even after I told him he had reached his quota... his new nickname is Kaisen (actually it's Snoopy haha)). After our factory tour, where we learned minimum wage should actually be Rs 5000/month ($125... shame on you GS Lighting), we hit the road again and stopped at a mall for lunch. Delhi has an inordinate amount of malls, and I can't imagine how so many malls are supported, but I suppose it is a booming market. We (Bhuvan's Car) ate at Pizza Hut, and rushed back to meet the group at 1 pm to hit the road again... as we gulfed our food down, worried we would be late, we arrived back to the designated meeting place... only to wait 30 minutes for everyone else. Will I ever learn?

We headed to the next place...a textile mill. Minus the disgusting work conditions and cotton-filled air, it was pretty fascinating to watch fabrics made from raw materials (I kind of wanted us to keep walking to the beginning of the operations where there would be a small flock of sheep) to final product. It was really cool, but at that point I was quite tired and wanted to be asleep... and we would have a long day ahead. We had to ride back in one of the vans, since Bhuvan had to head directly home as he was hosting a dinner for us (which was coincidentally Thanksgiving eve) at his family home. On the way back we stopped at the newest temple in India, which was beautiful (but no cameras allowed), for a quick visit through. We had to go through a ridiculous amount of security and couldn't bring anything in... but the temple was really gorgeous. We tried to make a quick tour, but wound up waiting for about 30 minutes for the last person to arrive back at the car. Inside the car we were at war with the mosquitoes, that are in full force in Delhi... and I'm afraid I lost and am covered in itchy bites!

We hit horrible traffic, but finally made it back to the hotel in time to make a quick change and head back out to Bhuvans. There was quite a bit of drama and tension in the group because of recent events, which I can't disclose at this time, so we had quite the time deciding who would ride in what car with whom... quite childish if you ask me. We finally made it to Bhuvan's, about an hour and a half late which I felt horrible about, and had a delicious and wonderful time! This was the first Indian food I liked.. and I asked Bhuvan where I could get food like that in Bombay, and he just looked at me and said "You can't." Too bad! We had a really nice time just sitting around and relaxing. We returned to the hotel that evening and I went to bed, because once again we would have a 8 am wake up time.

Friday was our most successful day of corporate visits (up until then, our time in Delhi had been a waste as far as valuable visits were concerned... but it was on Welingkar's dime.... actually, it was on mine in the end I suppose). We visited Subros in the morning, which has a really impressive and modern plant (the first in India) complete with a lot of Japanese management techniques (which made Kaisen.. aka Mark, really happy). We then had a presentation where we learned more about the company (they manufacture auto air conditioners), and they also provided us with lunch! Our next company visit was to Nirula's, which is a fast food chain in India. We walked through two of their restaurants... I felt really bad for the diners, and then sat in a training room and they explained restaurant management to us. The highlight of that visit was the employee discount we got when we bought cookies at the cake shop! Bhuvan then dropped us off at our hotel, and everyone settled on plans for the evening. At this point, everyone was parting ways since we had a long weekend attached to our Delhi visit to allow for travel. Four of us wound up traveling to the Defence Colony and ate at a really great Italian restaurant.... so tasty. Mark and I split a White & Dark Chocolate Cake... and he said he would take 70% of the dark chocolate, and 30% of the white... since I wanted the white chocolate, and obviously he wanted the dark chocolate... but when the dessert arrived it was a Dark Chocolate Cake with like three random white chocolate chunks in it... so I had to fight for my 50%! The dinner we really good though, and it is always nice to get good food in India.

The four of us (Stella, Nic, Mark, and I) crammed into a rickshaw and headed back to the hotel because the Danes (Nic and Mark) and I had a very early wake up call (a car was picking us up at the hotel at 5 am to take us to the train station)....

"Absolutely No Spitting Here"

The abundance of "No Spitting Here" signs never stops amazing me here. You see these signs posted at sinks during our corporate visits, on train platforms, or my favorite, in the toll booth lanes! Although I can understand the abundance of these signs... the Indians take spitting to a whole new level. This is probably because they are often chewing on tobacco or some sort of "drug" which requires them to spit... many a times I have had to duck and cover to prevent being in the line of fire of one of these impressive shows of spitting prowess.

Friday I went on two company visits which made for a very long day. We started off at Siemens, had some presentations on marketing and operations, a nice catered lunch, and then toured two of their factories. The factory tours were pretty interesting, although I couldn't understand what our hosts were telling us, so I'm sure much of the intrigue was lost on me.

We then hit Raymonds Clothing... and saw a suit factory. Unfortunately, no women's clothes are made by Raymonds as of yet, so no chance to nab a few samples. We walked through the suit factory literally step by step.... this piece of fabric is attached.. then this is done... then this little thing is done... so it became very drawn out and tiring.

Finally made it back to Matunga in time to hit the gym and be home for my daily online time with Mom.

Saturday we had class... for forever! 8 hours of class (with an hour break for lunch) is far too long. Especially because Indian professors haven't mastered the art of integrating different activities into class to break up the monotony... so we just sit there and are "talked at" for the entire lecture time. Boring!! Not to mention the uncomfortable chairs.

I hit the gym after class, and came back to treat myself to this week's episode of Gossip Girl and Grey's Anatomy and made a dinner of a packaged chicken breast, green beans, stuffing, and cheesy mashed potatoes... thanks to my Mom-supplied pantry. My variety of food is getting a little low... but I'm about at the month-way mark, so I can make it!!!

I leave for New Delhi/Agra on Tuesday evening and return the following Monday at midnight. Then we're almost down to 3 weeks!!

Luckiest Girl in the World

My day didn't start out well (sounds familiar from my tales of living in India). I haven't slept well since Saturday night (Sunday night I was worried I wouldn't get back to Mumbai, Monday night I was on a rickety Indian train... and then the last two nights I've had too much on my mind to sleep) so I was exhausted.

We had a guest speaker from Canada this morning... and no offense, but he should have stayed there. Never have I met a duller motivational speaker, he was soft spoken and continually asked us to take "7 seconds of silence." "14 seconds of silence." "Take 42 seconds of silence." It was too bad, because I believe his message was compelling and thought provoking (if not a little unrealistic) but the delivery was horrible... and 2 hours long in a very uncomfortable Indian auditorium.

Then I came back to the hostel to discover new restrictions have been placed on our washer. We are only allowed to use the washer from 10-2 and 7-11. This is absurd! The adapter was taken away... and I had laundry to do.

BUT

This is where the lucky part comes in.

I am so very blessed to have the greatest family and the greatest friends in the world. Without you all (and you know who you are), I would be so very lost and alone in India. Each time my energy gets low, I have a bad day and home seems too far away... someone from home reminds me that they still think of me and care for me. And they know just how to make me feel better. Whether it's an internet chat, a well timed card, or a thoughtful package to pick me up. The gestures are priceless and while it makes me yearn for home just a little bit more... it also brings me temporary relief from the frustrations and always brings a smile to my face :-)

So thank you. When I count my blessings. I count you twice.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

Please take a moment to check out my pictures from the trip... I know there are a lot, but some of them are pretty neat and insightful to what India is really like...


http://picasaweb.google.com/lbarteld


There are 4 albums from my trip, with lots of captions!

Placements

I was talking to one of the girls in the hostel about her experience here at Welingkar. Apparently, she thinks about the same of the conditions that we do... but she had some interesting insight (she visits me frequently, as I am her Blockbuster).

In India, "placements" (job offers) are guarenteed as part of graduate programs. Therefore, if I were a regular Indian student at Welingkar, I would have a guarenteed job after I completed the program. I thought this was pretty neat... until she told me more about the process. You can apply for a select few companies, there are about 3 or 4 days in December when there are on-campus interviews, so you have to sign up for when those companies come. But if you interview with a company on Day 1, that isn't your first choice, and they make you an offer, you MUST accept it... even if you top choice company isn't even coming to campus until Day 4.

Hmm.. I'm not so envious anymore of guarenteed job placement. I hope to have a job in August (and am confident I will find one I like, or at least more than tolerate)... any offers ?

Rajasthan- The Short List

1. There is NO place in India that is clean, smells good, is free of trash, or has good quality air.

2. Every person in India is obliged to try and take advantage of you. It is a blessing in Mumbai to have metered rickshaws and taxis.

3. I have had my picture taken more in the last 10 days then probably in my entire life. What do they do with these pictures you ask? I have NO idea and probably don't want to know. I try to remain uninteresting, but there are still intrigued. (Hint, if you want to take a picture on the slight, turn off the fake shutter noise.)

4. Visiting Rajasthan is much like a safari I saw camels, elephants, horses, cows (more cows than people probably), dogs, chickens, cats, crows, snakes, chipmunks, monkeys, vulchers, donkeys, antelope, a variety of birds, wart hogs, pigs, goats, sheep, water buffalo, ants, and DON'T forget my favorite: cockroaches.

5. Everyone will ask you where you are form, and you can't be playful and say "Guess" or they will say "Oh, Guess." No, Guess is not a country. We might be among the first American tourists to make it all the way to Rajasthan... which might explain all the picture taking.

6. I have seen more people go to the bathroom in public in the last few days, then I ever care to see in my entire life. We started keeping count... but lost track.

7. I didn't think it was possible for my living of standard to get lower, but I guess never say never! I have now found some of the worst bathrooms and hostels in India. I was covered in a layer of dirt all week, as will be evident from the pictures, and was ironically relieved to be back at my horrible shower at the hostel (showering with the use of buckets in a bathroom that reeks of urine, will make even the most makeshift showers seem desirable).

8. I still do not enjoy sleeping with bugs.

Rajasthan- Day 10- The Journey Back

I woke up early Monday morning, unable to sleep for fear that we would not make it back to Mumbai as we had planned. Since we didn't book the tickets as early as I had suggested, we were wait listed. We worked with a travel agent to attempt to get the tickets confirmed, and investigated other options for returning back. Unfortunately all trains for the week were booked, so we resorted to looking up plane tickets and I was uneasy at the thought of spending an additional $125 for a plane ticket (as that would pretty much be the budget for the remainder of my time in India including my trip to see the Taj Mahal in a week and a half). We managed to get on the VIP Quota waiting list, but had to wait until 11 to see if it would help.

Then it became 12:30... finally, the travel agent called back and two of us got confirmed seats. We were told to wait around 'til 1:30 to see if anymore were confirmed. So we ran out to quickly get food and agreed to be back to the guest house by 1:15. I was back by 1:10... and no one else was around. Our train left at 2:10.... finally at 1:45 all of us were there and had to run out to find a rickshaw to take us to the train station. Raced into the station, and then I was left to watch the bags while everyone went to collect more snacks. As I waited with a pile of luggage and a group of men staring at me and taking pictures of me, the train arrived, with my travelmates nowhere to be found. As the train arrived I watched the men board the second class car and it might be one of the most horrific sights I've seen, a mass of men piled onto the car, with men hitting each other, sticks batting at passengers, and people literally falling out the doorways and windows, in fact one person climbed over the car and fell down to the pavement, head first. I couldn't even imagine how many men packed into that car and how unsafe. But this is common practice, to have people hanging on to the side of the cars on a moving train. Finally, we were all gathered and loaded onto the train, in 1AC class (the highest class for train travel in India, and worth the $50).

We were technically riding illegally. We only had two confirmed tickets, but we agreed that we were just have two people per berth/bed and apparently this is common practice. We had paid for four tickets, so it wasn't like we were looking for a free ride, we just knew we would had to squish. Luckily for us the other two passengers for our cabin didn't plan to board until a stop a few hours later so we were able to spread out for the first part of our job. Our luck improved, when only one of the passengers boarded. The gentleman was very kind, and well connected to the railway, and said he didn't object if we wanted to share berths. He talked to us for quite a bit and managed to get the conductor to find more seats in the rest of the train. As it stood, another berth in the first class cabin opened up, he offered to move to it, and before sleep time we had an entire cabin with four berths to ourselves. I'm glad we risked it, since apparently we would have made it off the waiting list and on to the confirmation list if they had known a couple of passengers wouldn't show up.

I slept pretty poorly, but at least I slept a little. We arrived into Mumbai Central Station at about 8 am this morning, and of course faced the usual hassle getting a taxi, which is ironic, because all the taxis are metered here. My roommate started yelling at the cab drivers, which got us kicked out of one of the taxis. Finally we found a taxi who would take us back to the hostel at the metered rate. How exasperating!!! We reached our room, and of course found the usual cockroach. So I suppose it's Welcome Back to Mumbai, Leah... only 5 more weeks to go.

I will work on getting pictures up in the next few days, as they will tell a better story than I ever could!

Rajasthan- Day 9- Jaipur

After we finally got our act together in the morning, we hopped into rickshaws and headed for the City Palace. Our rickshaw drivers were friends and we had friendly races and banter between the dueling rickshaws. We finally arrived, paid our "foreigner admittance" fee (which is always almost tenfold the Indian fee) to gain entrance into the City Palace. The Palace was a bit underwhelming after some of the sights we had seen along our journey, and I was getting a bit tired of touring through old buildings. We all split ways to walk around and agreed to meet back at the main gate. I finished rather early, and sat on a bench near the gate monkey and people watching (the monkeys were more interesting), and the palace was quite crowded.

After the City Palace, we headed over to the king's Astronomical Observatory, an outside observatory filled with archaic astronomy tools. It was interesting, but mainly under repair and sort of resembled a crumbling sculpture garden. Also, it was poorly documented, so we were left clueless of a majority of the instruments. After this, I was completely "toured out" and decided to hop a rickshaw back to the guest house. After much negotiation (none of the rickshaws in Rajasthan have meters, I'm really glad the ones in Mumbai do, as it saves a lot of headaches on haggling), the rickshaw driver agreed to take me back and chatted a mile a minute on the short journey back. He was impressed with my Hindi, and wanted to tell me about some of his clients. He then insisted I sit in the rickshaw an extra five minutes to look at his business card collection from around the world, and then he showed me different phone numbers and text messages from foreigners. Finally I was able to break loose as I said my "boyfriend" (which he asked about, like all other Indians, probably looking for a greencard) was waiting for me.

I sat around and finished my book Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, and we were meeting at 7 pm to go to Om restaurant which is a revolving restaurant that rests atop Jaipur. The dinner was good, and the view was spectacular. It was nice to take in the city night life without the noises, and we had a panoramic view of the fireworks and Diwali lights. When we finished dinner, we took bicycle rickshaws back to the guest house (we walked there), and I felt bad for the rickshaw as a skinny little guy attempted to bicycle two girls back to our guest house, I felt like I should get out and help push, but eventually we started going downhill and his job became a lot easier.

I was tired, and went to bed relatively early after reading an US Weekly that one of the last American tourists had left behind about a month ago. I slept horribly, however, worried about whether or not we would make it back on the train tomorrow since at that point we had four unconfirmed tickets.

Rajasthan- Day 8- Pushkar to Jaipur

I woke up early (to the sound of explosions) and got ready to hike up to the Sharavi Temple. It was about an hour hike up and then another hour back down. It was a lot more challenging than anticipated, because part of the hike was an old stone staircase which was very steep and uneven. My thighs really felt the burn, and after getting to the top my lungs needed a break (which they got thanks to a few puffs of the inhaler). The hike up was gorgeous though, especially since it was still early and the air was cool. I passed a lot of monkeys, and unfortunately, a snake (ew!).

After the hike I went back to the room and we created a plan for getting out of Pushkar. Pushkar is a religious center, and is usually a quiet, calm place... with the exception, apparently, of Diwali. So we all wanted to get out of there. We learned however that since it was Diwali, there were NO buses leaving the town that day! We had to regroup and wound up hiring a car to take us the 4 hours to Jaipur. On the way out we were hassled by a group of little boys, one boy was playing a little stringed instrument, playing "Brother John" repeatedly and asking for money, saying "Don't broke my little heart." Carey wound up giving him a Rupee, but he wasn't satisfied, wanted more money from the rest of us, Rachel offered money, but instead he decided he wanted an ice cream. So finally we just got in the car, managed to see a snake charmer across the street, and headed out.

Our driver did not speak any English, but miraculously we found our way. I think he may have been going for a world record of fastest travel time to Jaipur because he drove like a maniac. Which I suppose most Indian drivers could be categorized as. He sped on the highway, around obstacles, in between trucks, and over speed bumps. We made the trip in record time but I was griping on to the door the entire time. My favorite part was when he was driving full speed and opened his door to spit out whatever drug he was chewing on (a popular past time for all here). We finally arrived in one piece to the Sunder Palace Hotel. And while the hotel doesn't compare to the ambiance of the last few places, it is by far the cleanest place we have stayed with the nicest bathroom, so that was a relief.

Jaipur, however, is probably a good transition back to Mumbai as this city is much like Mumbai (minus the size and height of buildings). The traffic here is equally crazy, although faster moving. I checked in, enjoyed some Cheese Nan on the rooftop restaurant and three of us trucked into the old city to do some sight seeing. We went to the Hawa Mahal, which was a building (connected to the palace by underground passageways) where the king, queen, harem, and concubines would sit to watch the festivals in the street, since the women weren't allowed out in the street. It was a really pretty building. We ironically ran into one of the guys we had met at our dinner on the fort in Jodphur. Small world!

Jaipur is the Pink City and the buildings are for the most part, really pretty. I'm not so sure I would call it Pink, it's more of a Salmon color... but I guess that doesn't have the same ring. We walked around the city for a bit looking for the astrologer, but I finally got frustrated and headed back to the guest house. It's tiring to have every single merchant call out to you, and have the feeling that when you ignore them, they mutter bad things about you under their breath. We also had a slew of children following us around the city which made me uncomfortable. Walking down the street, it's almost as if you trip a sensor as you walk down the street, and every shop you pass lights up as you walk by with promises of the greatest bargains and the best quality. It's best when you catch them unaware and they haven't been staring at you walking down the street preparing for the moment you stand before their shop, because it's funny to see them scramble to get a shawl to display for you and then ask why you don't want to spend money in their shop. I was finally fed up with the chaos, and since we didn't have a plan until dinner a few hours later, I bowed out and headed back to read my latest book, Teacher Man by Frank McCourt. It took 5 rickshaws before I finally found one that would take me back to the guest house for the same price that I got to the old city for.

I rested for a bit and met the group at Niro's for dinner. I then headed back, talked to my Mom for the second time that day and fell asleep relatively early. We didn't have a plan for the morning and I was looking forward to finally sleeping in past 6 or 7.

(It's Sunday morning now, and I'll wait to tell about my day until I get back to Mumbai and more has happened. I've been hopping on the internet when I get the chance at guest houses, and use my time updating my blog, so haven't checked my email since I left. I think our plan today is to do more touring in the city, which I'm not sure I'm a fan of, and then heading to a restaurant to celebrate Rachel's birthday. I'm off to continue reading and waiting for everyone to get ready for the day!... Wishing I could go home after vacation, although I suppose the benefit of traveling India via trains, buses, and hostels, it makes going back to Mumbai easier than experiencing India through the lens of a Marriott (which I prefer), at this point, ironically, I am looking forward to a nice camp meal in a bag, and semi-non hard bed, and a shower that occasional works and is not in the bucket-form. However, I am even more looking forward to going home... I want to go there so badly. But no point in bailing now, with only 38 or so days to go. I can do it. I just don't want to).

Rajasthan- Day 7- Ajmer to Pushkar

We had an early departure, and needed to leave the guest house by 6 am. We were told that someone would be up at 5:30 to prepare our breakfast and check us out. By 6:10 we finally had to wake someone up so we could give them our money and get to the train station. Apparently our haste was for naught because we arrived to the train station to find our train delayed by 45 minutes.

As with most train stations here in India, they are not among the loveliest of places, in fact they usually smell (even worse than the streets) and are very crowded. We also usually draw a lot of unwanted attention so the fact that we had to stand track side for an extra hour was not so appealing. Alas, we finally boarded the train and had almost an empty car which was a relief. This time we were booked in 3AC and I determined the difference between 2AC (our trip from Mumbai to Ahemedebad) and 3AC is the lack of privacy curtains and the infestation of mosquitoes. As I killed one, two appeared, as I killed two, three appear. I jokingly said to one of my travelmates that we had to kill all three to advance to the next level where we would be faced with four. As I walked down the corridor to check for the conductor, I determined there would be no end in sight as there were at least 50 mosquitoes, with new ones boarding at every stop.

We finally arrived to Ajmer, only 25 minutes late, and Ajmer seemed to be the dirtiest spot yet. This is when it started to feel like I was emerging from under the overpass as my Mom so eloquently put. We had a huge hassle with the rickshaw drivers, as we were told on the inside that the rickshaw to the bus station should only cost Rs.10. We wound up paying Rs. 20 after bargaining down from 100. We just kept going from rickshaw driver to rickshaw driver until the initial suitors eventually determined we weren't giving up. We got to the bus station and literally caught a bus pulling out of the station heading to Pushkar. It was a government bus that was old, rickety, and very smelly. I guess you get what you pay for, because our bus trip to Pushkar only cost Rs. 8 which is about $0.20. But the ride was hot, sticky, and I had about 25 pairs of eyes glued to me. Not so desirable.

We arrived in Pushkar to once again be hassled by people trying to get us to stay at their guest house. We thought the guest house was within walking distance so set off down the road. After realizing the guest house was not where we thought it was, we managed to flag down a hotel taxi to take us to our guest house. We checked into the Navratan Hotel and ordered some food since we were all exhausted and starving. We ordered room service, and were told it would take 10 minutes, after 45 minutes, Stella went down to check and we were told they were "understaffed" so they were having some problems filling the order. They asked Stella to write down and number the order. So she wrote "1- Baked Potato with Cheese, 2- A Fanta, 3- A Sprit, 4- Spaghetti." As she was told to number the order. Well, I was talking to my Mom downstairs in the garden and discovered "understaffed" was in fact, not true at all, as there were 7 people in the kitchen, sitting idle. But then the waiter passed by with a baked potato, 2 fantas, and 3 sprites. We corrected him and said one of each, "ek" which means one. He didn't seem to understand, but finally took back one fanta and two of the sprites. Then 15 minutes later I saw him walk by with 4 plates of spaghetti. I said "No, ONE." He gave me a bewildered look, walked back to the kitchen, then turned around and walked by me again with the same tray. Finally after 10 minutes of confusion, Stella got her one plate of spaghetti.

I took a nice shower that evening (after two days of showering with buckets of cold water) and settled in for the evening. Since it was the Diwali festival there was an abundance of activity in the street and I have an aversion to Indian festivals. But as I tried to get to sleep, I now know how it must feel to live in a war zone. Granted, I was not in imminent danger, but the noises outside sounded as if they were right off the soundtrack of an old war time movie. It was the loudest explosions I have ever heard! There were firecrackers being set off in the middle of the street right outside the window. The worst past is, most of the people setting them off were small children. I can only imagine how many die each year from these celebrations. The explosions shook the entire building and created a pounding in my heart. I was finally able to fall asleep and awoke to the same deafening noises.

It would be another early morning, with a 7 am departure to climb to the top of a nearby mountain and visit the Sharavi Temple.

Rajasthan- Day 6- Jodhpur (And my 15 Minutes of Fame!)

Our morning started relatively early. We booked a Village Safari tour to take us into the villages of Rajasthan. At 9 am we met our driver, whose name escaped me, who was overly excited to have us on his tour. He was driving a war-time Willyz American Jeep (including steering wheel on the "left" aka correct side of the car, so I'm sure it wasn't a street legal vehicle in Jodphur) and wanted to know all about us, including if we had any boyfriends (why he was asking was beyond me, as we eventually learned he had just had a baby with his wife, oh well). He was proud of his limited American knowledge, which mostly centered around types of cars. We headed off the road and into the villages.

Our first stop was to a Muslim community of potters. We were able to see clay pots being made, using a wheel that rotated on a piece of wood and manually had to be turned. It was pretty fascinating how they could create pots and matching lids with a wheel that spun crookedly. Next we went to a Bishnoi Village, where they believe in eco-friendly behavior (very unique in the trash-covered India) and protection of the green trees. They are thoroughly dependent on the monsoon, and live in very isolated villages where farming provides their main source of income. They share an opium pipe with us (I did not indulge) which is actually illegal everywhere in the world, offered us some tea, and allowed us to dress up in traditional Rajasthani outfits and attempt to carry a pot on our heads (we were unsuccessful in the balancing act). We continued on our way to a Unicef School, Shepherd's Community, a Co-Operative Weaving Society (who was very proud to show us his book of famous visitors, including Richard Gere, Prince Charles, the Smashing Pumpkins, and a few others I wasn't familiar with), and a Block Printing Family, and finally a nice lunch at the driver's brother and sister-in-law's house. We also spotted lots of wildlife along the way, and stopped at a bird sanctuary.

The highlight (which is probably the wrong word) of the safari was when we were stuck in a herd of sheep (which we actually encountered multiple times). Our driver was quite impatient (he was a fast driver, which was annoying on back dirt/sand roads with lots of bumps, while we had to hold on to straps for dear life in the back of an open-air WWII jeep!) and continued driving into the herd, despite our protestations. Well, he ran over a sheep. The sheep managed to get out from under the car, but was limping, and it just about broke my heart. The shepherd came to confront our driver since he had hurt one of his sheep, which is the shepherd's livelihood. Our driver refused to apologize, and a 20 minute fight ensued that scared us all. The shepherd wanted our driver to pay for the sheep and then take the sheep, since a lame sheep was no good to him and would slow the progress of the herd. Finally the argument ended with our driver agreeing to pay Rs 100 to the shepherd (which he had to borrow from us).

Finally, much later than we had anticipated, we arrived back to the hostel. When the driver offered one last plea for us to get him into Lonely Planet (Lonely Planet recognition means the world to businesses here! If they get in the guide, their business is set. There is a story of a man who had a shop somewhere in Iraq perhaps that waited 5 years for Lonely Planet to come visit, and was so excited when they did, the advisor had no other option but to write a lovely review). The village tour was rather fascinating, as it was like a heritage village, except these were real people living their real life. Apparently, National Geographic is coming in two weeks to do the same tour to film a special for TV.

I rested in the evening, read some more of my second book of the trip, Sunflower, and wound up having a very active evening!

I was on TWO Indian National News Channels.

So the owner of the guest house asked if I wouldn't mind dressing up in Rajasthani clothes and filming a special on Diwali. Myself, Stella, and Amanda (from Australia who was at the guest house helping with the NGO for Empowering Women), and Sofi (from Germany who was also with the NGO (Non-Government Organization) were dressed up in beautiful dresses and worked with a film crew for more than 2 hours. We created traditional symbols on the floor, adorned them with flowers, did a traditional Indian dance (that we were improvising by attempting to follow Sofi's lead), participated in a prayer ritual, and finally were interviewed about our thoughts on Diwali (The Indian New Year/Christmas equivalent). The interview questions were very leading, and you could sense the sound clips the station wanted us to say, which none of us did. They asked questions like "Do you feel more beautiful in this traditional Indian dress?" "Do you feel better with having yourself covered?" "How does this festival compare to those from your home country?" "Do you want to come back to India every year for this festival?" I was very careful with the wording of my response, and the other girls were impressed with my PC responses (perhaps from years of working with a State Senator). The evening was fun though, and I was very honored to be involved. I can't wait to share the pictures!

After our very long, tiring evening in the bright lights with the film crew, we were hungry. We went to a restaurant called "On the Rocks" and had a really nice dinner. The ambiance was great, as it was like the Rainforest Cafe (except real). I do find a funny similarity in the restaurants here, however, and that is the number of menus they bring. We are a group of 4 at most meals, and it would seem that most restaurants only have 3 menus... as we never get enough menus and always have to insist on more!!

I went to bed exhausted, and knew I would have an early morning with the alarm set for 5:15 (ugh!) to catch a train to Ajmer.

Rajasthan- Day 5- Jodhpur

Well, I guess it was about that time to shower again. Little did I know, I would be showering with buckets of water in a bathroom reeking of urine. Hmm… how many more days until home when I get a good shower? So after I “showered” we gathered and headed down to the Clock Tower again for some shopping. I bought some spices and we walked around all the different markets before venturing further into the city where we happened upon this bangle shop where they were making bangles outside the shop. The bangles here were gorgeous and made of gum from the gumtree. We wound up buying some bangles, but had to wait quite a while (my usual task here: waiting for others to finish) for some of the bangles to made larger for my big handed friends. We sat with the two boys from the shop who grilled us on WWE and Arnold Schwarzenegger, some people have a pretty misconstrued image about the “identifying” traits of America. After our time at the bangle shop (which was lengthy) we headed to the world famous omelet shop. This man is very proud of his books of pictures, post cards, and guestbook. It is everything in the world here to be listed in travel guides and shop keepers pride themselves on the listing, and pride themselves on their pictures with foreigners. The girls enjoyed their omelets in the middle of the street with some makeshift seating, while I choked down another protein bar, not willing to risk getting ill. After this we went on a tour of the Fort, the biggest in Rajasthan. From here, you could see the entire city of Jodhpur which is known as the blue city. The blue color dates back to the caste system, where the priests would paint their houses indigo as a sign of wealth. It ironically also serves as a good coolant and insect repellant. The city was beautiful from up there. The fort was also pretty spectacular. We toured the fort at our own pace, so I finished first as was able to enjoy some alone time up top in time for Mom’s daily phone call. We then enjoyed sunset from the fort, but then had to sit around for two hours waiting for our dinner reservation. We ate dinner at the top of the fort overlooking Jodhpur. It was a breathtaking view of the city all light up, with fireworks in celebration of Diwali. The restaurant was literally on the roof of the fort, with eight small tables, and the entire place lit by only a few candles. Probably one of the most romantic settings I’ve ever been in… but alas, I was there with three girls, rather than one special boy. Such is life. Dinner was good, but took entirely tooooo long, so I was quite tired by the time we got back to the guest house.

Rajasthan- Day 4- Journey to Jodhpur

The group was running late, as usual. We raced to catch our bus at the bus station, and just barely made it. The bus was half sleeper/half sitting. And crowded. The journey would take about 7 hours. The bus had a very obnoxious horn that grated on my nerves, but I simply sat there and listened to music and waited for the time to pass. We did sit at train tracks for a really long time waiting, for what I believed, a nonexistent train, when after about 45 minutes it finally passed through. But the sights along the way, as typical rural India is, were beautiful! There were all these mysterious walled enclosures, like wannabe secret gardens along the way that I am unsure their purpose. There were literally plots of land enclosed by a two foot high stone wall. I think perhaps they just have a surplus of wall builders and needed to give them something to do. I also noticed an abundance of hot pink turbans. Turbans tell you the region and occupation of a man. I wonder if the classified for a shepherd read “must be able to herd sheep, spend long hours alone, and carry off a pink turban.”

We finally arrived in Jodphur. As usual, met a lot of hassle, and finally made it to our guest house, Durag Niwas. This is a family run guest house and the people couldn’t be nicer! We checked in, and then sat down and enjoyed a meal with the owner, Govind. Jodhpur is a very polluted and dusty city, bustling with activity. We are on the outskirts of town and I am grateful for that! The rickshaws here are a class of their own, and embellished to the extreme! I’ll have to post some pictures of them. Rachel and I ventured to the clock tower to take in the Sadar Market. We stopped in Baba Art Emporium where we were shown beautiful bed spreads that are supposedly made for every top designer you can think of, I had a hard time believing every single fashion icon in the industry shops there, but they do have picture proof of Prince Charles and Richard Gere. Everyone who meets us tells us that Richard Gere was in their shop! Coming back to the guest house, empty handed, we faced a battle with rickshaw drivers. Luckily with fierce competition and 20 rickshaws waiting nearby, we usually win the bidding war. I read some of my new book, and then we headed out to dinner at Uncle Sam’s Pizza. Uncle Sam’s had some disappointing food and service, but the experience was worth it, and we were probably the only Americans to have ever eaten there, so they were pretty upset when a few of my travel mates left in a huff. We returned again to the guest house where I enjoyed some caramel custard and apples and curled up on the rock hard bed to go to sleep.

Rajasthan- Day 3- Udaipur

Today was Carey’s Birthday and we sat on the roof of the guest house and celebrated over breakfast. I had French toast, which was quite tasty, but nothing like Mom’s. After that Stella and I set out with a mission- to find an elephant to ride. We walked allll around Udaipur looking for an elephant to ride and finally found one and chased it down the road, attempting to “hail” it, we were unsuccessfully but finally came back to a plaza where we ran into Dodi, who we saw all over the place. He was from the tailor’s shop, but also worked with an artists cooperative that sold, you guessed it, miniature paintings. We sat in his shop and he had one of his helpers keep an eye out for the elephant we promised would return to the plaza. We looked through paintings and learned that the horse in India stands for power, the elephant for good luck, and the camel for love (because if you can get over the smell and get close to the camel, that is true love). We did finally get to ride an elephant through the streets, but our elephant had a different opinion. Poor guy stood at one intersection for about ten minutes, finally turned around, much to the distress of his keeper, and headed back to our starting place. We said that was okay, we got our picture so could be done. Riding an elephant is treacherous… between gripping on to the sides of the basket and avoiding the low hanging wires and banners across the narrow streets. But it was fun and only cost $1! We then continued to shop, I bought some shoes to go with my traditional Indian outfit, went into another art shop, and finally headed back to the hostel to book the bus for the following morning to take us to Jodhpur. We went back to the tailor for the girls to try on their coats, met huge hassles, and I was so embarrassed I left to go watch the sunset from the foot bridge and wait for the girls to finish up there. We then went a mission for the Sunset View Terrace for a birthday dinner celebration and after more than an hour of misguided directions, we wound up at a lovely restaurant, The Ambrai House, right on the water about a minute from our guest house. We sat in view of the City and Lake Palace, watched some fireworks and enjoyed a quiet dinner. We then went back to the hostel, and I finished my first book of the trip, Next by Michael Crichton. It was a very good read about the potential of genetic and gene patenting, in kind of a scientific thriller.

Rajasthan- Day Two- Journey to Udaipur

We hailed two rickshaws in the morning, and headed to the bus depot. The rickshaws have the engine of a push lawn mower, and are started much like a lawn mower, pulling a crank. The rickshaw driver insisted on taking us to lots of shady travel agents who each quoted us different prices and gave us different information, frustrating to say the least. After much insistence, the rickshaw driver finally took us the bus depot and charged us extra for making him wait… when it reality he was the one who took us to all the unnecessary stops trying to make a commission off of us. We found out at the bus depot there were no AC buses going to Udaipur, and for a 6 hour journey, we didn’t want to sit in a Government Public Bus. We wound up hiring a car for $75.00, who would take us the 220 km to Udaipur. Our driver pulled over after about 15 minutes and walked off with no explanation. As we sat on the side of the road, creating a rubber necking problem for the traffic (which was using both side of the road) as everyone, including the camel pulled carts, stopped to stare. Our drive mysteriously reappeared and informed us a new driver was coming in 2 minutes. 45 minutes later we finally hit the road again. The drive to Udaipur was actually quite lovely. The countryside of India is beautiful, and some of it untouched by civilization, so devoid of trash… yet still with that unmistakable smell.

Once we got close to Udaipur, our driver stopped and asked for directions… at least 7 times. The nice part was, everyone in India (including other drivers, your “competition”) are more than willing to give directions. Our driver, however, clearly had the short memory span of a fly and could only remember one set of directions, so as soon as there would be two turns involved, after the first turn, we would stop and ask someone again. Miraculously we finally found our guest house, the Panorama Guest House and I crossed my fingers that it would be nice. It was!! It was a very quaint guest house that included a rooftop restaurant with a gorgeous view of Udairpur… called the White City or City of Lakes. We had a view of the City Palace, Lake Palace, and the town. The rooms were bright and clean, and I was quite relieved. Udaipur is very quaint, with Greek-like narrow alleyways and streets, that should not be two way. There is no sidewalk, and a trench (for sewage/water/trash) on either side of the road. Walking around was a bit treacherous and I don’t even want to think about the air I was breathing in! We did however spot elephants in the road. Hooray! That evening we walked around and visited a Jagnesdesh Temple, where someone tried to convince us to pay to get our shoes back (no thank you, we’ve been in India for 3 months, we know better). We then went shopping, I met Rajeesh, a minature painting artist who told us all about his American customers (pretty sure we’re the first Americans in Udaipur, in fact, every single shopkeeper (even the shops we didn’t enter) asked us where we were form and by the end we were all from different countries, I started telling people I was from Brazil, or Norway, or some other fun place). We then went to an Indian dance performance that was fantastic, held in the courtyards of one of the old museums. I can’t do it justice at all, so you will have to look at the pictures when I finally get them posted upon my return to Mumbai. But each of the dances held historically/cultural significance to the Rajasthani area. After this, we went to a tailor shop because Carey and Stella wanted to have winter coats made. TWO hours later (and quite a few chapters into my book) we finally left and headed back to the guest house to get some much needed sleep. Interesting fun fact of the day, one gram of saffron is made from 400 flowers! I learned this as a merchant was trying to sell it to me on the streets of Udaipur. Now we know why it is so expensive.

Rajasthan- Day One- Leaving Mumbai

We had a 14:50 train leaving from Bandra Terminus. I spent my morning packing, buying birthday cards (both Carey and Rachel would have birthdays along the trip), and preparing myself for the adventure that laid ahead of me. We headed to the train station, leaving late as usual, and as soon as we arrived were hassled by porters (typical Indian style). We had e-Tickets but were unsure of the protocol so we walked much of the station looking for a customer service booth, stood in multiple lines, until we finally realized it would be best to just go to the track to ensure we didn't miss the train. For those of you who know me, I am a very anal/organized traveler, so the fact that I had not made any of the intinerary for this trip was quite bothersome to me and I was anxious about the details. We finally located our track and car number, and waited patiently (or not so patiently) outside the car until a roster was pasted to the side of the door, and we were granted entrance. Our "berth" was two benches facing one another, with two bunk beds. It was called 2 AC. Our windows were cracked class, the conditions were less than clean, but overall it didn't defeat my expectations by too much... my standards are much lower now. I mostly read and listened to music during the 10 hour ride. I finally, unfortunately, had to venture to the toilet after drinking a couple of liters of water. The toilet was a squat-style (aka hole in the ground) with a bar to hold onto. Not only is this not preferrable, but peeing into a hole on a speeding train is an art to master. Needless to say, I only went once, and held it the rest of the way. Ocassionally there would be venders passing through (there was no dining car) that would hop on a stop quickly run down the aisle "khana" or "chai" and then jump off. There was no announcement of stops, so the fact that we were arriving into Ahemedebad in the dark had me nervous we would miss our stop... as we had NO way of knowing, unless the train was precisely on time. At one point I asked the boy sleeping in the linen closet by the door (which remained opened the entire trip) and he informed me in broken english that the train was running on time. We hopped off at the station closest to 23:45 and hoped it was the right one! We might be the first tourists to EVER go to Ahemedebad! The rickshaw drivers circled us practically salivating at the thought of being the ones to win our business. We were hassled and frustrated, but finally agreed to pay Rs. 20 to one driver to bring us to our hostel for the night. Ahemedebad, if possible, is even dirtier than Bombay! My conclusion is the entirity of India smells and is covered in trash. We checked into the Balwar Palace Hotel, were escorted to our rooms, where we were handed a roll of toilet paper and a man sprayed a room deodorizer around. Our bathroom was tiny, with a non-working toilet... and the best part... the roaches. After killing 3, I slept with the lights on (so they wouldn't sneak up on me) and slept at the very foot of the bed with my feet resting on an adjacent table and used by backpack as a pillow... thinking to myself since I had seen most of the roaches at the head of the bed, they wouldn't find me at the bottom of the bed. I tried to stay awake all night, reading, but I was never successful at pulling all-nighters, and I finally unwillingly fell asleep. We were up early to catch a bus... little did I know. We didn't have a bus reservation. After Day One, dirty and exhausted from my one hour of sleep... I wasn't hopeful for Day Two.

The wheels on the bus go round and stop... round and stop... round and stop.

I might perhaps be able to say "I've done it all" in Bombay, because I have now ridden the bus (which I promised myself I wouldn't do). We needed to head down to South Bombay last night for Mitika's birthday dinner at an Italian Restaurant, Indigo, and I usually wouldn't think twice about hopping in a cab. But... apparently I was the only one in the group that felt that way. A taxi, when split 4 (or even 3) ways (the backseats don't comfortably hold 3... but we squeeze in anyway) wouldn't cost more than $1.00... probably much closer to $0.75! So instead we trotted off to the Eastern Expressway to find the bus stop for the Bus 6-7-8. We wound up catching Bus 7. We got on, the ticket man gave us our ticket ($0.25) and we sat down much to the delight of our fellow passengers (100% Indian). We were the entertainment for the evening. I sat their quietly, as to not draw attention to myself, but, apparently was once again the minority in my actions. The bus ride took FOREVER. We were stuck in horrendous traffic (since a bus follows a set route, so obviously can't detour to avoid delays) and the bus trip took us more than an hour and a half (a cab takes about 30 minutes, if that). It was hot, sticky, and very smelly.

So, now I've "done the bus" and can clearly mark that off my "to experience" list. We got to dinner late, and I felt horrible about that because those of you that know me, know that I am punctual to a fault. We also were let off a few blocks from the restaurant in the MIDDLE OF THE STREET. We had to dash across multiple lanes of traffic, run through a traffic circle, and then cross Colaba Causeway. Um. NOT FUN. I saw my life flash before my eyes multiple times.

But, deep breath. We arrived at the restaurant and had a lovely evening! I ordered some plain pasta with prawns (since my stomach is so sensitive, I am no longer taking the risk of fine fancy cuisine) and we enjoyed celebrating with Mitika. The restaurant was really nice, one of the best parts of Mumbai is the dining. There are so many restaurants, and the upscale ones are always so classy and have really intriguing decor. After dinner, we headed to the Czar Bar, where I only stayed about an hour or so, since it was quite smoky despite the room Mitika had rented for the evening. All in all, I had a lovely evening, took a cab back (of course... total cost $3.00... I'll spend a $1.00 versus $0.25 anyday if it means avoiding the bus) and laid down to sleep.

This morning I got up much earlier than intended, the downfall of roommates, and finished getting all of my things ready for this afternoon when I head to the Bandra Train Station and off to Rajasthan. Since I will be incommunicado until 13 Nov, I hope everyone has a great weekend/week, and I look forward to touching base upon my return and filling everyone in on what is sure to be an adventure-filled trip.

A bakery, a shoe factory,a buffet, oh my!

So I actually had a pretty nice day today, so thought it was important to share. First of all, I can say now "I come home next month!" Yay!!

My day didn't start off so well. My roommate was up until 4 or perhaps 5 am, and living in close quarters that meant I was up until 4 or 5 am. Not very fun at all. The one thing that works well here is the falling apart desk lamps that we were provided, they are VERY bright. So it's very hard to sleep when I have a bright light in my eye, pretty much felt like laying on the operating room table. Needless to say, my roommate finally went to sleep so I could attempt sleep as well. But I had to wake up early for a company visit today (company visits happen every Friday) and woke up with a very sore throat. So I begrudgingly trudged over to school to get on the bus, and has a very nice afternoon!

Since most of our classmates have left for Diwali vacation, there were only 6 of us (a much more ideal number for company visits than the usual 14). We went to Wibs Baking Company, a local family run baking company, and had a wonderful time. Three brothers started the company and are now grooming three cousins to take over operations. I have never met a nicer or more engaging family here in Bombay. They were clearly passionate about their business and very excited to have us to their factory. One of the cousins actually completed the IMBA program last year, which is how we were able to get a visit arranged. We sat down for some Q&A and taste testing, and then toured the factory. I took some pictures and will post them upon my return from Rajasthan. It was pretty neat to see the assembly line operations, but the whole process was surprisingly manual because bread is considered a "small scale operation" and therefore expenditures are not allowed to surpass a certain benchmark. This means, because labor is cheap, the company opted for a majority of manual operations, although many of the processes are still mechanized (it's more the transport which is manual... there is no conveyor belt). After we saw a loaf of bread from ingredients to package, the brothers decided to take us (unplanned) to a shoe factory across the alleyway.

The show factory was owned by a friend of the family, but I was disapointed to learn they only made men's shoes, not women's. Boo. But, this small exporting company has over 65 clients including Clarks, Aldo, JcPenny, Macy's, Sketchers, etc. They have 6 assembly lines, but almost all the work is done by hand. But, I find it ironic that all these high end brands are made in a backcorner shop in India, yet are able to charge exorbitant prices for simply a label!!! The workers in the shop make US$ 120 a month (to give you a benchmark, a full time security guard makes about US$ 100 a month, a cashier at McDonald's $75 a month), which is a "good wage" here. Clearly operation costs are small, yet Clarks will sell shoes for $100 (Almost a single factory worker's wage for the entire month of shoe production!!!). Pretty amazing. We got to go into their "idea factory" and look at all the samples of the shoes they have made (like I said, would have been heaven had it been women's... they hope to expand to ladies shoes, and I told them I was available to consult if need be) and they were kind enough to bring us drinks and show us shoe designs for winter of 2008. They are high fashion suppliers, but very low frills operations. Interesting pit stop.

After our time with our company visit, we thought we would head back. But the brothers, and two of the cousins, insisted on taking us out to lunch! We, of course, agreed since our group never turns down free food. We were brought to The Leela Hotel near the Int'l Airport, a lovely five star hotel with gorgeous architecture and treated to their buffet meal. The buffet had amazing hummus and really good steamed vegetables. But, like all food cooked in India, it didn't like me. Oh well.

We then headed on the bus back to Welingkar and I raced back to the dorm to talk to Mom one last time before hitting the train tomorrow, and packed for my trip. I hate packing. Because packing out of slim pickings, is no fun, and rather frustrating... plus makes me want to be packing for my "big" trip in December. Oh well. I am exhausted, so I will try and muster some energy to be sociable tonight for Mitika's birthday!