Mumbai, India

Here I am ;) Apparently I was gone for a little while, but I hardly noticed because I was busy having the time of my life....I am still in Mumbai and am trying to think of some things that have been going on that I can share. Last Sunday I ventured on my own to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, which is one of the main train stations right in the tourist district of Mumbai, called Colaba. This train station was actually one of the targets of last year's terrorist attack here in Mumbai and one of the men involved is on trial right now, which is covered daily in the English-language newspaper. I really had no specific plan on where to go, so I just bought a day pass that would get me out to the "suburbs" and then boarded one of the trains that was about to leave. There is a "ladies coach", which is kind of nice- several of the train cars are designated for the ladies only and at one point when some old man got in our car a funny old lady took off her sandals and started beating him with them. She was half joking, but was hitting him pretty hard until he finally got off at the next stop. I guess just boarding a random train and heading to nowhere specific isn't a top tourist thing to do because I was the only whitey on board and got quite a bit of attention. The city seems to last forever and the further out it goes, the poorer it seems to get. Along the tracks is just piles of trash and huge concrete buildings with laundry strung up outside the apartment windows. There are some nice apartment buildings out in the suburbs and these are fascinating because they are like 20 stories tall and just HUGE and several of them will be standing in a row- I can't even begin to guess how many people live in one building. I think I probably rode the train for about an hour and had fun taking pictures of people that were coming and going. We passed some slums along the way- just a sea of shacks made of whatever material can create a wall or roof. Mostly that corrugated metal sheeting I have mentioned, some tarps, a slab of plywood. I noticed that when I finally did get off the train there were way more women wearing burqas than in the city. I was getting lots of stares from kids and I even made a couple babies cry. Seriously. One dad came over to me while I was waiting for the train and asked if he could let his toddler touch my skin. On the train heading back, a young boy was so fascinated by me that I don't think he took his eyes off of me for an hour, which was pretty amusing to his mom and she was trying to get him to wave to me and come over and sit by me, but I think he was too scared. Sundays in Mumbai are all about cricket- everyone is out in the streets with a ball and paddle, or whatever you call the thing they use like a baseball bat. Most shops are closed and the city is actually kind of peaceful. Traffic here is still awe inspiring with all of the taxi cabs and auto rickshaws and buses and the past couple days have been awful with everyone out and about trying to get somewhere for the holiday break. I still love it though- it is just different. I was able to go to a photography exhibition at an art gallery in Colaba last week with friends which was a treat. My friend's friend, Sanjiv is a photographer and what we attended was his first showing ever, so it was an honor to be a part of it and see some of the other work on display. Enjoyed some wine and then had a late dinner with a group of people afterwards. I am still crazy about the food and have not had any stomach issues yet, knock on wood. Nothing here has been too spicy either, I am kind of surprised about that. In fact, I can handle the spicy stuff better than some of the Indians! This past week I went on a side trip to Matheran, which is an old hill station not far from the city. We took the local train to Neral, about an hour away and then took a taxi waaaay up a mountain to the village- population 6,000 and NO motorized vehicles are allowed in the town, everything is done by horse. The elevation of Matheran is 800m, so it was such a relief from the city heat and smog and the surrounding forest was beautiful. It was a very relaxing few days, but Matheran is popular with Indians, so when we left on Christmas Day, it was getting very busy with everyone coming into town. The toy train was full, so it was a bit of a walk down to where the taxis wait, but I enjoyed the rest of the day in good company back in Mumbai. Everyday there are new observations and things that I see that are so different from home- yesterday I was waiting in a rickshaw at a stop light when a girl who looked to be no more than 8 years old came up to ask for money and I just was shocked to see her holding a baby that I would guess was 4 months old, and she was just wandering through the traffic begging as the baby slept in a sling wrapped around her shoulders. All I could think about was taking them home and giving them a bath- these street kids are just filthy and their poor hair is so matted and tangled. But to be honest, there really hasn't been that many beggars on the street. I got my 4th and final rabies shot yesterday, so that is all over with. I think I will stay here through the new year and then begin traveling north. I would have never expected to stay in the city for so long, but I have just been so lucky to have met the most amazing people and have them share their lives with me for the past couple weeks. I really could not have asked for a better experience... I am so far removed from "home" right now and it is a feeling that I just can't even describe. I will update soon...I hope everyone had a happy Christmas and you better be enjoying the snow! I will beat you all to 2010 :)