First Day in Bombay

Wow. India.
Landing this morning was quite intense, immediately I realized the small ideals of personal space here in this country as everyone was jammed packed in line for immigration. I ended up missing my flight in Manila and had to reschedule which meant spending the night in Bangkok. Since I lived there for a month last year I was happy to spend the night because I knew my way around the city being there for the night made me really miss Thailand seeing the monks doing there morning food collections, the temples, the smiles.
I shouldn't have missed that flight in Manila, I had my confirmation number and everything but my ticket was lost in the system. The Philippines is a very laid back country- and I loved that so much about the place except when I needed to figure out what happened to my ticket- it took 4 hours to finally reschedule the flight, but whatever- it all worked out in the end. I am going to miss the Philippines because it was such an adventure and I loved all the aspects about life there. In the Philippines everyone raises their eyebrows to motion hello. At first I thought everyone was flirting, but realized it was just a gesture to great someone. It became extremely catchy and now I keep doing it here in India and everyone just stares. I will also miss in the Philippines how you'd hear people trying to get your attention by going 'pppssssssstttt”.
So my mind was completely overwhelmed when I stepped out of the airport- I felt like I was in a whole different world- the sights, the variety of different smells, the actions of the people. the glares, my stares, and most of all- all the colors. India is everything I pictured it to be- I have been studying this country for about a year now so I am so happy to see everything I've learned in person. I was picked up from the airport from two of the students working on Haath Mein Sehat from the Berkeley campus and taken to our apartment where we will be living for the summer. We live in an area called the Rajasthan Society in a strictly vegetarian building. I spent the first day figuring out the city, sight seeing, learning the trains, and trying to stay grounded from such a culture shock. The trains are the craziest to me right now- you get jammed packed like sardines into a car and people have to push hard to get off at the stop they want-even if the train is still moving. It is going to be a very interesting summer, I can't believe I'm in India!
Picture from the Dhobi Ghats- this is where all the clothes of the city are sent to be washed and cleaned.

This is a view of the infamous Taj hotel and the Gateway of India in South Mumbai

This is a picture from Elephanta Island in South Mumbai from a rock cut cave- These images date back to 5-7 century.

This is where everyone in Mumbai comes to stroll along Marine Drive at night.


Back to the Philippines- Here are some pics I've been meaning to share

This is a sunset in El Nido... Such a beautiful place, it was worth the 10 hour death boat

Snorkeling in the small lagoon, an island off of Palawan with crystal clear waters...

A guy showing us how to eat Balut- the fertilized chicken or duck egg- he said that you eat it for energy, "like a redbull"

This is the bus getting caught in mud in the jungle on the way from El Nido to Puerto Princesa


This is when we made it to the top of the mountain on the rock climbing trip I thought I was going to die from



Ok... it's time to start working on Water and Sanitation- I might be MIA for a bit- just got a cell phone number here- email me if you need to get in touch