Here we are in Mumbai. As I expected- nothing like we had imagined. No real way to describe the foreign feeling of this city. Nothing is expected- the smells, the stares, the crumbling fortress like buildings.. Much more beautiful than I had thought it would be, everything is shabbily elegant and insanely dirty. Our first room had wrap around windows and I woke up in the middle of the night with a feeling of extreme loneliness, stared out into this world that will hold us for the next few months and felt a stirring of immense anticipation. I just cannot predict who will emerge from this experience.. when the surroundings are so unpredictable, how do we know our reaction? As I watched the dark city (no lights remain on at 4am) a window lit up in the distance and then off again, like a wink. I lay back on the sweaty pillow and dreamed of the world teasing me, leading me on a journey through such foreign lands that the only stranger there is me... I can't wait.
Oh it's really hot and the food is amazing. xxeliza
No exaggerations anymore, none needed. The cab ride from the Mumbai airport to the hotel was 1 hour and
fifteen minutes and the entire time we were on city streets with scattered high rises, shops, stop lights and chaos. This city is gigantic. It just goes on and on--has 16 million people. Really no one follows any traffic laws so it seems to work. Its like New York where we are defensive drivers--times 700. I swear the car was scraped by passing cars a number of times.
Zaz speaks of "shabbily elegant" and you try and wonder the heck that means. Its a perfect description. Mumbai, as we've learned, is a city with enormous wealth and devastating poverty literally right on top of each other. There are restaurants and clubs that charge New York prices with Mercedes parked right in front, with extremely young mothers and their children begging for money completely covered from head to toe in dirt. There are amazing restaurants, cafes, and markets, right next door to alleys filled with garbage and people's self built shacks...The architecture follows the same path---intricate, 19th century British/ Indian buildings and filthy squares of concrete....
I am lovi
ng getting to know this city. Because of all this diversity, there is so much going on underneath the surface. If someone speaks to you, you don't know if they are trying to get money out of you or just saying hi. They are really friendly....many people have just come up to say hello and ask us if we enjoy their city. We even had a group of men ask zaz and I to take a picture with them. We thought they wanted something from us, but all they wanted was a photograph of a couple of whiteys....we died laughing...
we are taking a train into the country tomorrow---talk soon!
gregg
Oh it's really hot and the food is amazing. xxeliza
No exaggerations anymore, none needed. The cab ride from the Mumbai airport to the hotel was 1 hour and
fifteen minutes and the entire time we were on city streets with scattered high rises, shops, stop lights and chaos. This city is gigantic. It just goes on and on--has 16 million people. Really no one follows any traffic laws so it seems to work. Its like New York where we are defensive drivers--times 700. I swear the car was scraped by passing cars a number of times. Zaz speaks of "shabbily elegant" and you try and wonder the heck that means. Its a perfect description. Mumbai, as we've learned, is a city with enormous wealth and devastating poverty literally right on top of each other. There are restaurants and clubs that charge New York prices with Mercedes parked right in front, with extremely young mothers and their children begging for money completely covered from head to toe in dirt. There are amazing restaurants, cafes, and markets, right next door to alleys filled with garbage and people's self built shacks...The architecture follows the same path---intricate, 19th century British/ Indian buildings and filthy squares of concrete....
I am lovi
ng getting to know this city. Because of all this diversity, there is so much going on underneath the surface. If someone speaks to you, you don't know if they are trying to get money out of you or just saying hi. They are really friendly....many people have just come up to say hello and ask us if we enjoy their city. We even had a group of men ask zaz and I to take a picture with them. We thought they wanted something from us, but all they wanted was a photograph of a couple of whiteys....we died laughing...we are taking a train into the country tomorrow---talk soon!
gregg
1 comment:
i'm so psyched for you guys. thanks for letting me live vicariously through you. keep the updates coming!
much love,
jen
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