Well, I have arrived in Mumbai. It is difficult to even try to explain the experience!
I am currently sat in a posh hotel listening to the instrumental version of 'Let it be' which is making me giggle as I think of Annie's rendition of it! I also heard Kate Bush, Wuthering heights earlier which made me think of fixing speaker grilles in the warehouse at EuroTec with Hannah and Annie and belting out Wuthering Heights whilst Chris attempted to block his ears... or slit his wrists!
Sooooo Wednesday night, Shane and I went to Gav's for dinner, it was so nice to see him and he has the most lovely girlfriend called Alana. Their friend Glen was also there and it was a really fun evening, I haven't laughed so much for ages. We were talking about music and the fact that Shane has recorded a rap song! So funny! It was actually quite good in comparison to what I was expecting - I was giggling nonstop waiting for his verse to play! I have downloaded it on to my MP3 player. Shane went on to say how I had been taking the piss out of his old taste in music - Shola Ama and the Spice Girls and so was going to change his ring music to "i wanna fight, i wanna fight, i really really really want to zig-a-zig FIGHT" At which point I think I almost stopped breathing I was laughing so hard! It was so horrible saying bye to Shane on Wednesday night - he said he would get up when he heard me in the morning but I knew if he was still the same it would take world war three to wake him up. So I said my goodbyes and went to bed. I had forgotten how much I miss him and how nice it is having him around. Boo hoo hoo. Anyhooo 3am on Thursday morning I got up and my taxi to the airport collected me. After a very very very long arse journey involving a 4 hour stop over in Brisbane and a 5 hour stop over in Singapore (of which I didn't know about!) I arrived in Mumbai ever so slightly pooping my pants. I stepped off the plane and the heat and the stench of rotting meat hit me like a slap in the face!! As we went through to baggage reclaim I was praying that my bag hadnt got lost amongst all the stop-overs - luckily, it hadn't and I only had to wait about 30 minutes. I went through passport control which entailed a lot of head wiggling of which I had no idea of the meaning (I have since found out that it means everything from yes and no to hello and goodbye! haha!) I had booked an expensive hotel in Mumbai (well by indian standards anyway - it's mega cheap compared to english prices) so that I could ease myself into the culture shock slowly and so that I had a pick-up when I arrived at the airport and didnt have to worry about dodgy taxis at 4am! But was the car there to pick me up? Oh no. So I had to brace myself and venture into the crowds of 90% men and 90% of those, scary looking and/or staring at me as if they had never seen a white woman before in their lives. And then it started.... rats scurrying over my feet, some man tugging at my backpack, some man trying to sell me a watch, some man trying to sell me some sunnies (even though it was pitch black and 4am in the morning) some man (with deep slash scars down the length of his face) trying to convince me he was an airport official and where was i going, where was i staying, what was my name etc.. So I stuck to the ignoring tactic or the tactic of just saying No whatever it was that they said and eventually they all pissed off. I ended up ringing the hotel and they sent someone to pick me up. I was pleased to see the car had 'the orchid hotel' printed on the side so I knew it was all legit! When we got back to the hotel, they checked for things under the car and in the boot which was a little unsettling - surely he should have checked before we got in the car?! Ah well, I made it in one piece and was greeted by lots of 'thank you madam, good morning madam' then I went to check in and it turned out it was friday morning, not saturday morning as I had thought it was! DOH!! So the lady on reception said she couldnt check me in until 12 and that I would have to wait in the lobby. Urgh, after 35 hours of travelling I was so tired that I fell asleep on the sofa almost straight away! A couple of hours later at 7am I was woken up and told I could check in - YAY! I got shown to my room and almost had a heart-attack - almost a mini suite it has a huoooooge bed, a sofa, a desk and a huge bathroom, all with the most gorgeous little details. Boy, do I feel guilty when I look outside and see slums stretching as far as the eye can see, little girls balancing bowls of manure on their heads (we take wheelbarrows for granted!)a little boy in a bright red tshirt playing around in a mound of dirt and mud, a cow collapsed in the midday sun, a woman being slapped in the face by a man and running off as fast as her legs could carry her... its all heart wrenching and even though we see it on tv and in papers and magazines back home you really don't get it until you get here.
Ooh the instrumental has now gone to 'love is all around' Gotta love a bit of wet wet wet!
Anyway I am here for my second night now - yesterday I had breakfast, went to bed and slept til midday, watched a bollywood film (not quite sure why as I couldnt understand a word but it was quite mesmerising!) went swimming and sunbathing on the roof (whilst hiding my face in a towel because the stench was sooo bad) and then I had a packet of trusty noodles for dinner (separated into a mug and a toothbrush glass as i didnt have a bowl to eat them out of and I tried using the bowl my fruit was in but it leaked all over the floor haha) I watched the nutty professor on tv and slept for a loong time! Today I got up about 9 (ahhhh, bliss) went for breakfast, smuggled some pastries for lunch, went swimming and sunbathing and met some english and scottish people who are being put up here by British Airways while they wait for their flights to go ahead after the Iceland volcano incident! I ventured out of the hostel but it is right in the middle of the slums and as I got to the end of the road I saw a group of men closing in on me - probably nothing to worry about, just trying to sell me their wares but I found it a bit intimidating so I turned at the end of the road and came straight back to the hotel.
Ahh Im running out of time, I will update again as soon as I can!
I am flying to bagdogra tommorow via calcutta and then will start my voluntary project in Kurseong. (www.makaibari.com is where i'll be working) I'm not sure about internet access while im there but if i can update you, i will
Lots of love xxx
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