A little context for a very complex story

Okay. Updating this blog regularly may prove to be a little challenging as far as motivation purposes. But I will try. I wanted to start by giving some background as to why I find myself in Mumbai, India for the next roughly 4 months. I am in the process of earning my International Masters of Business Administration (IMBA) through Temple University. The one year program (modeled after the more intensive Executive MBA) will bring me to 3 continents in one year, and I will graduate this August (2008). I am studying in Mumbai until mid December, will be in Philadelphia until June, and then spend the final month or so of the program in Japan, Tokyo. The hope is that I then land an amazing job that allows me to use my new found expertise in global management!

So far, Mumbai, has been overwhelming and fascinating all at once. I'm not sure that I've ever felt so many emotions or have had so many senses stimulated at once, and it is, I fear, a big exhausting! As with any move, it is a challenge to adjust to a new environment. I think the challenge becomes particularly cumbersome when it is faced without your family as I have been accustomed to. I have been here for little over a week and am still having trouble adjusting to the time change (that, or just not sleeping at all... could be either since jet lag usually does not bother me), the climate (my skin reacted poorly to the humidity and maybe water?), and of course the cousine. I have a very sensitive stomach and have never acquired a taste for spicy food. This has left me very hungry. Luckily I am drinking enough water a day to satisfy a camel, and they say you can surive a lot longer without food than water. Therefore, I am fully hydrated and munching away on about 400 calories worth of bread and rice a day. I did manage to find Pop-Tarts, and that is my morning snack!

The first few days were plagued with homesickness and sleep deprivation, but things have slowly been improving since. There are so many sights and sounds to take in! The ladies hostel that I am currently residing is called S.P. Mandali Quarters. It is the equivalent of a US "dormitory" without perhaps the "luxury" of a US dorm. Luxury? Dorm?... Comparitively? Yes. The first few nights were very prison-like, but now, thanks to a set of sheets shipped in from home and a little splash of color, the room is looking (but not feeling) a little more livable. I also finally mastered the shower, although it is still not a part of my day I look forward to because afterwards I fear I smell worse than before!!

I have mastered the local market of Matunga (the neighborhood our hostel is found in). We are the only westerners in this part of Mumbai (perhaps in ALL of Mumbai??) so I am slowly getting used to the constant stares and learning how to speak "Indian English" to get my goods bought at of course the best price. I've already adjusted to the prices here and seem to be unwilling now to pay more than $2.50 for a meal! I had an adventure to visit the doctor here in an effort to combat the rash that took residence on my face, and the adventure only cost me $20 (this included the cost of the entire doctor visit and having three prescriptions "filled" by the Chemist). I have purchased some fruit from the market and dry goods, but it's important that I can be sure of the safety of the food. The water here is not safe to drink, nor to wash your fruits or veggies in. Therefore I stick to fruit that can be pealed, and for the next 130 days I will be brushing my teeth with bottled water. Sort of like camping, for a realllly long time.

All of our classes take place at Welingkar Institute of Managemnet in Classroom 504. There are 15 of us in the IMBA Program here in India (and roughly another 15 currently in Paris who will join us in Philadelphia). I have class 5-6 days a week (we have class maybe every other Saturda), with two 3 hour sessions (10-1 pm and 2-5 pm) with a break for lunch. It's a long time to sit still in relatively uncomfortable chairs, luckily it is an AC'd classroom. The first part of our courses are basic foundation business courses (hence my current boredom) in Financial Accounting, Financial Management, Economic Analysis, Statistics, and Marketing. At the end of September we will finish with these classes (that do not count for any credit) and hopefully enter into more challenging coursework. This is lucky for me, since I can feel comfortable with the material with little to no effort, and it gives me adequate time to adjust to Mumbai and regain control of my health (a slow process).

I have had many mini adventures since arriving, and almost all adventures require a taxi ride. Taxis here are very cheap cheap! The current exchange rate is roughly 40 Rupis to the US Dollar. This means that my 100 Rupi taxi ride is just $2.50! Driving here, is another nightmare though! The Indians have the British road system, but never have I seen more chaos on the road. Not all the roads have lines on them, and those that do seem to be ineffective. There are often only 3 marked lanes, but up to 6 lanes of vehicles... going whichever direction they want to go with no regard for the other cars on the road. I'm surprised there aren't more accidents or people with really high blood pressure! There are some 19 million people estimated to be in Mumbai, with the number rising every day thanks to migration to Mumbai for purposes of employment. Mumbai also has the largest slums in Asia (it is the second most populus country in the world), with 50% of its population residing in "slums" scattered on the sides of road, or hugging train tracks (the number of people killed by trains each year is in the thousands).

I finally took a comprehensive tour of Mumbai (well actually mostly South Mumbai, the slightly more "touristy" area... still not westerners) and was able to take some nicer photographs of some of the sites that Mumbai has to offer. I have been posting my pictures on http://picasaweb.google.com/lbarteld so please visit for my adventures as shown in pictures.

We are currently in monsoon season, until the end of September. This means there is a ridiculous amount of rain daily. I wear my rain boots every single day, because you never know when the rains will start. Matunga is in a low lying area of Mumbai because of the fact that much of the sea has been dredged to flesh out Mumbai (that was originally a series of islands)... leaving Matunga to collect the nastiest floods. So far we have not had flooding as bad as my first day (talk about a welcome party). The floods are bad because it brings in a lot of the sea water, which is the dumping point for Mumbai's sewage system. This brings in a lot of bacteria and sickness (so glad for the rainboots) because the streets are filthy here anyway, with elephants, cattle, goats, cats, dogs, and people roaming freely and using the street as not only a bathroom, but as a trash bin! We reside on a very nice street (perhaps one of the nicer I've seen) and only have one or two cattle to call my own... in fact I am disapointed when I don't see them on my morning walk to school. We also have neighborhood crows that serve as my alarm clock, and the friendly neighborhood goat whose excessive bah-ing is also a good wake up call.

This is all the update I have for now. I would recommend checking out my pictures because I have a lot of interesting information about Mumbai that I picked up along my way on the tour yesterday included in the picture captions. It is Sunday here (I am 9.5 hours ahead of EST (yes .5... this is so that all of India can share the same time zone) and while I have nothing to do, I may try to do more exploring in the neighborhood rather than take the nap I so badly want to take, but know will in the end hurt my sleep schedule even worse.

I will continue to post stories here, particularly as I finally adjust to Mumbai and can share all my exciting adventures when I have a rested, well fed, and healthy body. In the meanwhile, I send my love to all of you in the States as I embark on this lesson of a lifetime! Keep in touch and be sure to email me the happenings of your life. After much searching I finally find postcards (but no post office yet) so be sure to let me know if you'd like to be a lucky recipient of a post card from good ol' India.