June 19

One of my roomies is from Istanbul and goes to UNC.  He made a comment yesterday: "when I went to the states for the first time, I thought how much my home town sucked.  But this place (we were in downtown Jodhpur walking along the shops) really sucks.  It makes Istanbul look like heaven." I was really taken aback... It put in perspective very quickly how blessed we are in the states and how much the entitlement attitude many people have annoys the heck out of me.

Between that and the discussion we had about castes and helping the Dalits, I'm even more fired up about being here and trying to make an impact.

The simplicity of life here is very attractive though. Since I'm the 1st guest in the hotel that's awake, I get to see the staff as they rise and start their day.  Many sleep in the driveway on cots and act as security and take advantage of the cooler night weather before the rain starts.  Just checked the weather, looks like we'll start getting rain on Tuesday.  Makes sense, since we've had cloud cover yesterday and this morning.  Mumbai is already getting soaked.

Bought some sandals yesterday, but we'll see if I wear them once the rain starts.  For today, I'm sticking with socks & sneakers.

Walking through Old Town in Jodhpur, I was taking in the sites and filming a little bit when all of a sudden I feel something slam into my tailbone and lift me up a few inches.  I thought I was getting jumped or mugged and was ready to turn and start swinging!  Well, turn I did to find myself staring at a 500 pound plus bull with 7 inch horns.  Guess I was walking too slow for him.  I quickly moved and the bull meandered away without giving me a second look.  I was so stunned I didn't even think to get a picture of him, but the other 5 interns and Sukie were all laughing and asking if I was OK.


On our way to dinner we saw a moving party.  A flatbed truck was rigged up with some lights and speakers and the local cricket team was shouting and waving trophies around as a crowd followed and danced behind the truck.  Tolison, one of the other interns, got dragged into the dancing & I taped him boogying with the locals.


Had a great dinner on a rooftop in Old City and we could see all of Jodhpur lit up at night.

the fort lit up at night.  not too clear, but it was beautiful.

cooking classes in jodhpur!old city clocktower

the party truck

tolison dancing


.  

June 18

9:33AM: Sitting at Mumbai's domestic airport waiting for my flight to Jodhpur. The last 4 days have been absolutely incredible.  So hard to believe that last Saturday I was in Atlanta going about my usual life and this Saturday I was driving through the slums of Mumbai to get to the airport.

We spent yesterday at Mira Road.  It's one of the suburbs of Mumbai.  Much quieter, smells better, and much cleaner.  The homes, as in any suburb of a major city, were much bigger and cost the same or less.  Parin Massi, Dr. Smita, and Munira were amazing hosts.  Had some awesome biriyani and then went to JK in Parin Massi's compound.

Meeting my cousins on my mom's side of the family has been a wonderful and enlightening experience.  It's interesting to see their humbleness compared to others in my life, and even me.  I think I received the best compliment I've heard in a long time from Dr. Smita.  She said that "I'm unlike any other guests from America, that I have that Indian warmness.  I never complained that something was too dirty or that I didn't like something."  I've been trying my best to adjust to this lifestyle.  It's definitely different, but treating people the way I want to be treated is essential!

This morning, Guli Massi had made sak from liver.  I normally hate liver, but didn't want to insult her, so I forced it down & am happy to say I didn't gag or anything and it was actually ok.  Fresh rotis and mango juice and chai finished off breakfast.

My cousins: Sofia, Assif, Kaamil, Noushad, Smita, and Munira were all amazing in welcoming me into their homes and into their lives.  I hope 1 day I can repay the favor.

June 16

5:30PM: I'm really starting to like Mumbai.  Today I had leftovers from last night, some thicker rotis, and some ghi with sugar cane treat.  Of course, we also had Mad Over Donuts again today.  Went by the mall and picked up 2 ties from a designer sari maker, Staya Paul.  At the mall I finally had pani puri.  Hopefully it doesn't crush my stomach.  Having dinner at Zakir Mama's house this evening.  Also did hanging gardens and took some video of the view.  But the highlight of the day was seeing Zakir Mama's store and learning more about his business.

This morning we spent time looking through all of Guli Massi's albums with Safia and Assif.  Noushad was there for a bit, but he left for school.  Seeing everyone from this side of the family has been really rewarding.  Tomorrow we're planning on going to Mira Road to see the rest of the local family.  I'll also show them the family pictures that I downloaded from mom for the trip.

Not sure if I'm getting used to the honking, but it seems like it's quieter today.  the weather has been pretty good today.  It rained for a bit, but stopped.  It was really humid at hanging gardens, but the temperature was fine.  The sheer number of people is still shocking to me.  Everywhere you look, everywhere you turn there are people.  And they build huts and shops in the tiniest of places.

11:51PM: Just got home.  Guli Massi corrected me on calling people aunty & uncle vs Massi & mama. Been trying all day to say the correct thing all day. Yasmin Massi made some awesome food tonight: kichri & khadi, prawn sak, roti, and biriyani. For dessert we had Mumbai mangos. Apparently, Guli Massi had been feeding me Gujarat mangos.  After dinner we watched cricket & some silly arm wrestling reality tv show.  Kaamil's car had a flat, so we took one of his friends bikes home.  He's definitely a faster driver than his dad and Assif, but I made it here in 1 piece.  Tomorrow, off to Mira Road and more family. I think we're going to JK out there.

June 15

8AM: Holy cold shower batman!  So, the bathroom floor is also the shower floor.  The toilet and sink are far enough away that you won't get them too wet by showering in the middle.  I did remember to move my toilet wipes... Oh yeah, did i mention theres no toilet paper here?  Last night when I got into the room, I was excited to see hot water faucets on the wall.  I should've known, they were just for decoration!

Only got a few hours of sleep last night. Guess I wasn't as tired as I thought. I bet tonight will be different.  Gulbanoo Aunty (GA) is coming by around 10 to grab me.  We'll then walk over to her her apartment and get breakfast.  Kaamil's will be meeting up with me later and then we're going to see the city and grab a few odds and ends.

4:45PM: Well, didn't get any odds and ends.  Learned a lot about the city.  Realized I still have a lot of self introspection to do.  Had McDonalds.

GA came by to get me around 10:30.  Khoja standard time is in full effect here!  Breakfast was awesome!  Fresh eggs, fresh roti, fresh chevro, & of course, chai.

Kaamil came by around 11:30.  First stop was Hassanabad.  Sultan Muhammad Shah's tomb was closed since they were doing work & even with the offer of a bribe, they weren't letting us in.  The tombs upstairs were open though.  It's so peaceful inside the tomb.  Even with the heat, there was a slight be breeze blowing across the marble which kept everything cool.

Next we went to different parts of the city.  Saw Diamond Jubilee School & Prince Aly Khan hospital. We parked near the Gateway to India and walked there to see it and the ocean.  Wow!  What a contrast: beautiful clean monuments, filthy ocean and parade grounds.  There was smog so thick, I felt like I was in LA.  From there we walked through the tourist trap shopping areas and saw cheap trinkets being sold to naive tourists for extraordinary prices.  The knock off business here beats China in my opinion.  I resisted buying souvenirs today in hopes of finding more genuine locally made things in Jodhpur.

Drove around a bit more and went to another ocean front view.  South Mumbai is huge!  The skyline was amazing!  Front there we were finally hungry, So being the good American I am, we went to McDonalds.  The Maharaja Mac was amazing!  Fries tasted the same here as they do back home. If I get a chance tomorrow, I'll try the Veggie Mac.

I didn't see last night were the sheer number of retail shops below every residential tower.  The Indians developed the live, work, play, pray concept a long time ago.  The Zoroastrians have similar compounds. In fact, at their graveyard, they don't burry the bodies.  They take them far into the sanctuary and allow vultures and nature's other carrion feeders to take care of the bodies.  It sounds cruel and weird, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea of giving back to the life cycle of nature after death.

Rain came and went at different intervals today, but it wasn't too bad.  Tonight is Yeo me Ali, so we're going to Dharkana JK.  I'm off for a quick nap & another shower.  Speaking of showers, there is hot water available.  You have to turn the heater on.

12:25AM: This really is an amazing city.  Tonight, my 62 year old uncle had me on the back of his bike racing through the streets of Mumbai. Experiencing Mumbai on the back of a bike is organized chaos of a different sort.  In a car, the smell & the people don't really affect you and the cars are at least your equals.  On foot, everything is a potential hazard: tripping, people, cars, bikes, bicycles, trucks, pushcarts, horse carriages, etc.  On a bike, everything is a hazard, but you have the freedom of speed.  I finally relaxed into the ride about halfway from GA's place to Zakir's...this just means I relaxed the death grip on the handle behind me and wasn't squeezing my thighs as tightly to my small seat. The smell was the most interesting part.  Each person, car, bike, shop that we passed presented a new smell.  We would turn a corner and BAM!  It would hit you!

JK ceremonies are very different here compared to Atlanta.

After JK we visited with Mumtaz Aunty and then went to GA's place for dinner.  Mutton curry with fresh rotis and mango juice!  Yum yum!  Then it was off to Zakir's place for some visiting time and I showed them all them pictures of our family I brought.

Tonight is the lunar eclipse, so the tide will be high all day tomorrow which means the walk way to Haji Ali Mosque will be closed.

Totally forgot about Mad Over Donuts!  This place is awesome!  It puts all the donut shops back home to shame!

June 14 pics

Here are some shots from the BH Hotel.  The bathroom was all 1 room with a drain in the corner.  Nope, there was no toilet paper, hence the Cottonelle wipes.  It took a little getting used to, but most of the bathrooms in India are like this.

June 14

I flew out of Atlanta 24 hours ago.  Right now I'm sitting in a hotel room, the Bismillah Hotel (BH), in Mumbai.  It's 2:30AM local time, which is around 5PM in Atlanta.

The flights were good.  Had coach from Atlanta to Amsterdam, but had an awoke seat, so it wasn't too bad.  Got bumped to Business Class Elite from Amsterdam to Mumbai.  Let me tell you, if I could afford it, I'd travel Business Elite all the time!  Delta definitely took great care of me the whole trip.  Thanks again RS for the buddy pass!  I owe you bro!

When I landed in Mumbai, Customs & Immigration was a breeze.  Thanks FSD & Unatti for getting me all the info I needed for my Visa.  As soon as I exited the airport, I was looking for my cousin.  Not sure if Kaamil is my cousin, but that's now his title. Kaamil is the son of my mom's dad's sister's son.  I also met Gulbanoo Aunty who is my mom's dad's sister's daughter. Her brother, Zahkir, is Kaamil's father. Mumtaz is their sister.  There's also Assif, Noushad, Yasmin, and 2 other family members I met tonight. It's late & I don't remember their names.  Kaamil set me up at BH.  He figured I'd want my own space to sleep and get settled, at least for the first night. I'm not sure if they don't want me to stay at their place or if I would be in the way or what.  I just accepted it and we'll figure it out tomorrow.

From the airport, we went to Kaamil's place, met all of his family, then went to Gulbanoo Aunty's place to eat and meet everyone else.  To say places are small here is an understatement. I knew I was spoiled back home with my condo and the house I grew up in, but WOW!  Space is at such a premium because of the sheer number of people. Heck, at 2:30AM, there were people hanging out in the streets and traffic on the roads.

Living here is interesting.  In America, we have live, work, play concepts.  Here, they have live, pray concepts.  By that I mean, a lot of the Ismailies live in a gated or limited access community towers and the Jamat Khana (prayer hall) is the focus.  The apartments were built around the JKs. Kaamil's has promised to take me to the major centers tomorrow and I'll snap some pictures on my handy dandy new Flip that my awesome staff at Sutra got for me.

The food here is already amazing.  I have dietary restrictions because of my colitis so gharam masala & mercha are out.  This proved to be a huge challenge for Gulbanoo Aunty and company in preparing my dinner for tonight. But, I must say, they nailed it.  The chicken curry with fresh roti and sweetened mango juice was fantastic!  There was also some penda, which is a sweet dish, that they had brought from their recent trip to Gujarat.  It was amazing!

Speaking of roads, driving here is an adventure!  Since India was a British colony, everyone drives on the left side of the road and the drivers side is the right side of the car.  Very different. It's funny how you theoretically know something, but don't really know it until you experience it.  Honking, hooting, blowing the horn is a way of life.  Driving at night with no lights on or flashing your  brights takes some getting used to.  We did cross a huge suspension bridge that connects South Mumbai to Central Mumbai.  There are actually signs on the bridge telling people to stay in their lane and not to honk the horn.

From reading about India, I was expecting to smell it first... Like right when I got off the plane.  It's a different smell.  Maybe because of the rain (monsoon has already started) it didn't smell that bad.  The humidity took about 10 minutes to get used to after spending 16 hours in a plane that had ample AC, but it's fine now.  We'll see if that's what I'm saying tomorrow.  There's a sweet, cloying smell in the BH.  I'm getting used to it.

There's so much more that's just running through my head, but I need to get some sleep.  Tomorrow seems like it's going to be filled and I definitely need the rest.  My bed for tonight is a 2 inch mattress on a raised cot sized wooden plank.  I like hard beds, but this will be interesting.

Oh yeah, everyone here is very energy conscious. I'm not sure if it's because they don't want to pay or if electricity is a premium and they don't want to waste it. My hotel room, when I looked at it had all the lights, AC, and ceiling fan all turned off.  But, by the time I had signed in and they had documented me, it was nice and cool in here.  At the airport, when I was waiting for my bags, I noticed it was a bit dim.  The lights above our baggage carousel (or belt as they are known here) didn't come on until the carousel started.  And when it stopped, the lights went out.

June 21

Hello folks.

Didn't have a steady internet connection until today, so any brief snippets of time I did get on line were spent answering emails and dealing with other stuff.

Mumbai was amazing!  I'll post some pictures and videos and info later.  My family there is absolutely fantastic!

Got to Jodhour on the 18th.  We've been exploring the city and get orientated and acclimated to the heat!  When I say it's hot, it's HOT!!  105 all day and only down to 90 at night.  The heat actually isn't too bad, but the lack of relief from the heat is what makes it tough.

Just moved in with my host family this evening.  We're getting ready to sit down to eat.  Just wanted to drop an update and let you know more would be coming!