It took an Indian meal and having my lesson plans finished for the first week of school to finally sit down to write about my last week in India.
Arriving In Mumbai
It began with having my driver take me to the airport due to the taxi strike. About half a book later and a 2 hour flight I finally arrived in Mumbai with Priya, David, Caris, and Iris waiting at the airport for me. We spent the night with Priya's aunt and uncle in Mumbai. When me arrived a huge special meal had been prepared for me...Homemade chicken biryani, chapatis, and ice cream. All things that I love, but I am a vegetarian in India, I do not eat many dairy product (ice cream at the top of my list!). I was surprised how the food was prepared sitting on the kitchen floor, many Indian homes do not have counter space...I learned over the next week that this is just how things are done in a typical Indian household.
Day 2
We left early and traveled to Badlapur, it is about 40 miles from Mumbai, but took about 4 hours to get there. This is where Priya's family lives. We arrived in the evening and quickly after headed to the market to buy things for dinner. Most families do not refrigerate many things, food is purchased almost daily for the meals. In Badlapur the monsoon rains had not arrived the the town was rationing the water supply. This means that the water comes on in the mornings for an hour or two and if you are lucky again in the evening. It never came on in the evening while I was there. When the water comes on buckets are filled with water for the day i.e. washing clothes, dishes, flushing toilets, bathing. Turning the faucet and water not coming out is a hard thing to grasp the concept of!
Day 3
A whirlwind of a day began when Priya told me we would be leaving to take the train to Pune to visit some family. We were going to spend the night with them and return the next day. I threw a change of clothes and a toothbrush in a bag and off we went. I love riding the train in India. It is a mix of horrible smells, busy pushing people, and lots of odd stares. Not only am I the only white girl around, but Priya is married to a Korean man and they have two children that are Indian/Korean. We look like a circus compared to others on the train. About six hours later we arrived in Pune. We rode in an auto rickshaw true Indian style with four adults in the back with 2 kiddos on laps. We some how managed to make it! Everyone was so very warm and inviting, soon I realized that all ten of us were going to be sleeping in the one bedroom apartment. Two family members work nights, Bhavana in a call center who does serve the Texas area and Reshma is a nurse.
Day 4
I woke up with people hanging out in the room, basically because there is no where else to be other than the kitchen in the house. Awkward, but I did get a bucket of hot water to take a bath with! After breakfast and a morning of playing carrom with Iris a Caris, I was told that we would be going over to a cousin's house for lunch and to see the deaf ministry that they run. Then catch the train back to Badlapur. I was very interested in seeing the school and trades training that has approximately 100 students enrolled. We managed to miss the train and would catch the next train in the morning. Luckily they had guest houses for volunteers and people who help financially support the ministry, but because of the lack of water the showers did not work....Oh well, we wold be taking the train in the morning...At least that's what I thought.
Day 5
We woke up early and managed to miss the train, the first train is what I thought. We went to church there on the campus and experienced my first sign language/Marathi church service. It was beautiful seeing the students signing all the songs during the service. Sometime in the afternoon I realized that on Sunday only one train runs and we had missed it and would be spending the night again. This is when I insisted that we go to the market to buy clothes...I had been wearing those clothes for more than one dance and had not had a proper shower in days. I knew that I would not be getting one that night either. We did spend the rest of the afternoon filled in busy market haggling on clothes prices and going to the Pune zoo with Caris and Iris. One of the girls from the school also covered my feet in henna tattoos.
Day 6
We made the train and headed back to Badlapur. The train was full of people, women cleaning vegetables sitting on the luggage rack, noisy vendors selling tea, candies, and snacks at every stop, the windows going up and down to keep the rain out of the train. It was nice to make it back, especially with dinner waiting when we arrived. It was nice to be in familiar surroundings. No shower tonight...crossing my fingers for tomorrow...my plane is tomorrow...I can't get on a plane like this...
Day7
The full day began...with a Shower! Yeah, after the water quit and I was terrified I would not come back on. I was able to get a steaming hot bucket of water for a shower, one of the best in my life! It was a morning of playing with Iris and Caris before I left. Then for the four hour drive into Mumbai. We were able to stop and see The Gateway of India before heading to the airport. I waited in the airport for about 3 hours and caught my plan to Delhi, then a 3.5 layover until my 10 hour flight to London. Next a 4 hour layover in London, then a 10 hour flight into DFW. I made it home with luggage, tired, smelly, and ready to get home. It was the longest 40 hour day I have ever experienced!
Arriving In Mumbai
It began with having my driver take me to the airport due to the taxi strike. About half a book later and a 2 hour flight I finally arrived in Mumbai with Priya, David, Caris, and Iris waiting at the airport for me. We spent the night with Priya's aunt and uncle in Mumbai. When me arrived a huge special meal had been prepared for me...Homemade chicken biryani, chapatis, and ice cream. All things that I love, but I am a vegetarian in India, I do not eat many dairy product (ice cream at the top of my list!). I was surprised how the food was prepared sitting on the kitchen floor, many Indian homes do not have counter space...I learned over the next week that this is just how things are done in a typical Indian household.
Day 2
We left early and traveled to Badlapur, it is about 40 miles from Mumbai, but took about 4 hours to get there. This is where Priya's family lives. We arrived in the evening and quickly after headed to the market to buy things for dinner. Most families do not refrigerate many things, food is purchased almost daily for the meals. In Badlapur the monsoon rains had not arrived the the town was rationing the water supply. This means that the water comes on in the mornings for an hour or two and if you are lucky again in the evening. It never came on in the evening while I was there. When the water comes on buckets are filled with water for the day i.e. washing clothes, dishes, flushing toilets, bathing. Turning the faucet and water not coming out is a hard thing to grasp the concept of!
Day 3
A whirlwind of a day began when Priya told me we would be leaving to take the train to Pune to visit some family. We were going to spend the night with them and return the next day. I threw a change of clothes and a toothbrush in a bag and off we went. I love riding the train in India. It is a mix of horrible smells, busy pushing people, and lots of odd stares. Not only am I the only white girl around, but Priya is married to a Korean man and they have two children that are Indian/Korean. We look like a circus compared to others on the train. About six hours later we arrived in Pune. We rode in an auto rickshaw true Indian style with four adults in the back with 2 kiddos on laps. We some how managed to make it! Everyone was so very warm and inviting, soon I realized that all ten of us were going to be sleeping in the one bedroom apartment. Two family members work nights, Bhavana in a call center who does serve the Texas area and Reshma is a nurse.
Day 4
I woke up with people hanging out in the room, basically because there is no where else to be other than the kitchen in the house. Awkward, but I did get a bucket of hot water to take a bath with! After breakfast and a morning of playing carrom with Iris a Caris, I was told that we would be going over to a cousin's house for lunch and to see the deaf ministry that they run. Then catch the train back to Badlapur. I was very interested in seeing the school and trades training that has approximately 100 students enrolled. We managed to miss the train and would catch the next train in the morning. Luckily they had guest houses for volunteers and people who help financially support the ministry, but because of the lack of water the showers did not work....Oh well, we wold be taking the train in the morning...At least that's what I thought.
Day 5
We woke up early and managed to miss the train, the first train is what I thought. We went to church there on the campus and experienced my first sign language/Marathi church service. It was beautiful seeing the students signing all the songs during the service. Sometime in the afternoon I realized that on Sunday only one train runs and we had missed it and would be spending the night again. This is when I insisted that we go to the market to buy clothes...I had been wearing those clothes for more than one dance and had not had a proper shower in days. I knew that I would not be getting one that night either. We did spend the rest of the afternoon filled in busy market haggling on clothes prices and going to the Pune zoo with Caris and Iris. One of the girls from the school also covered my feet in henna tattoos.
Day 6
We made the train and headed back to Badlapur. The train was full of people, women cleaning vegetables sitting on the luggage rack, noisy vendors selling tea, candies, and snacks at every stop, the windows going up and down to keep the rain out of the train. It was nice to make it back, especially with dinner waiting when we arrived. It was nice to be in familiar surroundings. No shower tonight...crossing my fingers for tomorrow...my plane is tomorrow...I can't get on a plane like this...
Day7
The full day began...with a Shower! Yeah, after the water quit and I was terrified I would not come back on. I was able to get a steaming hot bucket of water for a shower, one of the best in my life! It was a morning of playing with Iris and Caris before I left. Then for the four hour drive into Mumbai. We were able to stop and see The Gateway of India before heading to the airport. I waited in the airport for about 3 hours and caught my plan to Delhi, then a 3.5 layover until my 10 hour flight to London. Next a 4 hour layover in London, then a 10 hour flight into DFW. I made it home with luggage, tired, smelly, and ready to get home. It was the longest 40 hour day I have ever experienced!
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