Email from Sarah & Joey
August 25th (or so)
Bombay, India
|
Email from Sarah & Joey |
August 25th (or so) |
Good morning to all of you! It's 8:15 pm here in Mumbai (Bombay) and we are just finishing up our first full day in India! It's really cool that technology will allow us to share with you today a little about the first few days of our trip. All we're gonna say about the actual plane trip is that it was long and Joey survived her first plane trip, even with the thunderstorms and turbulence we encountered on the way into Bombay. We also got to see a little of Amsterdam (well, the airport anyway) - and also got to experience the MAJOR differences between airports like Atlanta and Amsterdam (very similar) and Mumbai (VERY VERY different).
Immigration was no problem - didn't even check our bags. We also met our drivers with no problem, though I don't think they were quite prepared for the amount of luggage we brought with us. Cars are a LOT smaller here in India, and one of the tour guides, sitting up front with the driver, ended up holding one of Joey's suitcases for the whole hour and a half long trip to our hotel.
Our hotel is very VERY nice - very posh and a great place to hang out. There are all sorts of people in and around the hotel, and everyone has been great to help. We enjoyed a western/indian breakfast and a lunch buffet at the hotel which were both great. No Dehli belly yet! (knock on wood) This morning, we took a taxi into one of the shopping districts and found some beautiful cloths, jewelry, shoes, and more! I'm not sure we've quite mastered the art of bargaining yet - they REALLY want Americans to spend a lot of money here. Our afternoon tour guide, Susan (an Indian woman who just finished her Masters' in History), helped us bargain a little in the afternoons - for obvious reasons, the shopkeepers didn't really appreciate that much. Susan is WONDERFUL - she and our driver George took us on a whirlwind tour of Mumbai this afternoon.
We toured a Jain temple, visted two popular gardens, the Crawford Market (kind of like the DeKalb Farmers Market, only MUCH BIGGER and BETTER), saw our first cow in the street, Bombay University, Bombay High Court, and more. We also got the chance to talk with Susan quite a bit about her life here, education in India, marriage issues, religion and more. She's very honest and upfront, and a great resource as we get to know our bearings and the city/customs a little better. Tomorrow is the Elephanta Caves (islands offshore) and the home of Mahatma Gandhi. I'm sure more shopping will also be in store, as well as writing in our journals (yes, we are writing VERY diligently) and preparing for our trip to Pune.
We leave for Pune Sunday morning, 6:40 am our time here - Saturday night for you guys. We are thinking about everyone back home and are wishing that you could be here to share this with us. It is purely amazing some of the things we've seen, but Joey suggests that we not give away all our secrets so we have stories to tell when we return. Some of the before-the-trip rumors have been true, but overall we have felt safe, respected, and in awe of our surroundings and our experiences. We can't wait for y'all to see the pictures and try to get even the smallest taste of what it's like here. We love you all - will write again soon - in Pune! :)
Love, Sarah and Joey :)