About two hours ago, as I sat in my room reading articles on the qualitative method, I heard several loud bangs. When I went downstairs to ask Rajiv what was going on. Rajiv is always really excited to see me, and starts gesticulating wildly and speaking rapidly in Hindi. I really like that he keeps talking to me as if I could understand a word he's saying; it helps me feel welcome. Anyway, I had noticed that the bangs were fireworks, which Ravij attempted to explain to me..something about India winning a cricket match, a fast bowler, and maybe dinnertime. It was a good conversation. I went back up to my room on the second floor, and almost immediately heard more bangs. This time, it meant the first major thunderstorm, and the start of monsoon season!
In the past few days, I’ve started to settle in more and begun to think about my research. In terms of basic survival in India, I’m feeling pretty good about things. I made my hotel room feel homey; I put up posters and maps, labeled each of the 15 lightswitches in my room, and set up a snack drawer, which consistent of a good mix of American comfort foods (Ritz crackers and Skippy peanut butter (smooth PB, duh)) and Indian snacks (Hippo Masala Chips!) . I’m also starting to get a sense of the neighborhood I live in. Today I found the nearest shopping mall and supermarket! Go consumerism!
On Friday, all the other Americans I’ve been with moved on to explore other cities, leaving me feeling pretty alone. It was really nice to have some time with them to explore the city on our own terms, learn how to direct a taxi, and help translate rapid Hindi and gestures into English. That said, I’m incredibly grateful to have the JYP and a few other connections as people I can turn to for help and, much more frequently, I hope, to relax and have fun with. In the past week, the other Americans and I met up with some of our Indian friends a few times, and it was a lot of fun. We helped (well, mostly watched) Natasha cook lunch, went out on the town for Ofira’s birthday, and hung out with Gabriel for a few hours in the hotel (he woke us up at 9am to say hi. It was unexpected, and we had a little trouble staying awake, but a very nice gesture nonetheless) . I’m excited to keep seeing everyone, both at official JYP meetings on most Sundays, and whenever I have free time.
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Okay, so now for today's quick post. I've already been in this internet cafe for three hours.
After a whopping 36 hours by myself, Alon came back to Mumbai on Sunday morning. For the next few days, we tended to do our own things, but it was nice to have someone to check in with, and we were usually hanging out at night. I also function best when I'm doing something new with someone else, so for a few important experiences ( I may or may not have ridden on the back of a motorcycle on Sunday. They told me to stop shaking. It was fun) , it was really nice to have some American backup.
On Sunday and Monday, I met up with Adir in the northern parts of the city and he took me on a tour of Indian cuisine. I wish I remembered all the names of the stuff I had, but a few highlights were Sev Puri (cracker with lots of stuff (veggies, corn flakes, etc) piled on, so you have to eat it in one bite or it goes everywhere), Pani Puri (basically a small breadbowl with a sweet sauce and a sour sauce inside, which you place in your mouth then crush, creating a flavor explosion Gushers only dreams of), and a series of Bengali dessert truffles. We also did a fair amount of wandering parts of the city, joined at several points by Nilly, Doron, and Ilana.
Another important skill I've learned is how to take the trains! They said it couldn't be done! They said "Don't try it Gabe! I'm Indian and I don't do it!" But I said "No!" and spent a full say learning the different methods of paying, how to figure out which train is going to which stations, and how to survive the trash compacter that is the Mumbai trains at rush hour. Its actually not bad at all most of the day. Its about 8 cents to get across the city, and pretty easy to navigate. Its just rush hour traffic thats difficult. When Alon, Jonny and I took the train on Tuesday evening to go to Bandra to watch the World Cup, Jonny spent the whole time explaining all the things that can go wrong in transit ( I promise I won't stand up on top of the train. Or squeeze between two cars. Or even hang out the door, which is actually fairly common).
Other updates: The monsoon is here. Its mostly a minor inconvenience. I want to take a taxi instead of walk to the train, but all the taxi's are taken since everyone wants a taxi because of the rain, so I end up standing like an idiot in the rain for ten minutes waiting for someone to pick me up. That sort of thing. I get drenched every time I step outside for more than 30 seconds, but everything in my backpack is protected in separate plastic bags, and my top half is dry thanks to a raincoat! I'm just going to have to get used to stepping in puddles of who-knows-what. The rains have gotten in the way some. I was supposed to go to Nilly and Ranita's house for dinner last night, but their station was probably flooded, so we decided to postpone. Similarly, Alon ended up staying at a hotel in Bandra with a friend instead of trying to make it back down to Byculla.
I'm hoping my research gets started soon. Working at Sanctuary Asia magazine is a great in, and I'm learning a lot from being there. Yesterday the staff had a session where one of the top guys at the organization, who is usually too busy to access, spent two hours fielding questions and discussing anything anyone wanted to know about environmental issues, which was awesome. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to have the meetings with people I wanted to have before I got started. Tomorrow morning though, I have a meeting at 9:30 which should be exactly what I'm looking for.
Here are a few pictures of my adventures so far:
The road right outside my hotel. Its one of the central veins of the city, which is really nice for hailing a cab, and for giving directions to get home.
Oshrit and I on the last night of the JDC trip. She's the president of the JYP, as well as a really sweet person. Shout out to Eric for the shirt. We all agreed to wear our Indian clothing, but I'm waiting until later in the summer to get mine, but what are friends for?
Natasha cooking fish at her apartment. It was really, really good. (Yes, skeptics, I ate fish and went back for seconds and even thirds). Her dad owns a fishing business, so it was really good fish. She also showed us down to make daal, and showed us just how much sugar goes into chai (hint: it puts knoerdel to shame).
Ben Brian and Josh magically appeared on Elephanta Island!!!! But seriously folks, the monkey's were really cool. One walked up to a tourist holding a coke bottle, swiftly slapped the bottle out of the guys hand, ran up a tree with it, and proceeded to twist off the cap and drink. I kept my distance after that.
Doron (left), Adir (middle) and I (right) at a northeast Indian (I think) restaurant, where I had some delicious mutton (which they think is goat, here), as well as black daal. This was the 5th or 6th restaurant I'd been to with Adir in the past two days. P.S. Yes, skeptics, I ate mutton. I'm trying to do the whole "adventurous eating" thing, despite the fact that half the country is vegetarian anyway. Don't count on this changing my habits back home though. Kraft Mac and Cheese is forever.
Gabe!! All of your adventures sound wonderful. I want to try all those foods! Of course, I've already fb stalked all of the JDC trip photos and it looks like you all had a great time. Bring me back some Hippo Masala Chips, just because I like the name. Miss ya!
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