Palghar, Maharashtra

Last Thursday, my team had a BDO (Business Day Out)...where we went to Kelva Beach Resort. It was a 4 hour drive from Mumbai. On the way there, we passed views like this one. I couldn't help but stop and take a picture with the view of the mountains behind me.  For some reason it reminded me of the scenery in the movie Avatar. Except, this was real life and i got to experience it for myself :).

Earlier that day, i was so excited to go to to Kelva Beach Resort. I thought, how could you go wrong with a place that had the words "Beach" and "Resort".  As we were driving to the place, there were signs showing 15km away and finally 1km away. As we got closer, i kept thinking...hmm i wonder when i'm going to see signs of a beach and a resort. It didnt help that it had been raining all day and everywhere was a little flooded. When we finally pulled up to the "Kelva Beach Resort" sign, i looked straight head and it was surely no beach and no resort at least not one that i had ever seen before.  In fact, i would encourage you to close your eyes and imagine a beach resort...any beach resort. The Kelva Beach resort was probably the opposite of that! Either way, it was a FANTASTIC day! There were about 20 of us at the "resort" that day. We did all kinds of things....things i never imagined i would do in my lifetime...simple things however. Like play football (soccer) in the pouring rain with a bunch of guys surrounded by the waves of a dirty ocean and ox looking cows roaming the beach with stray dogs huddling together starring at the game before them....incredible. But i'm currently facing the consequences. sick. Playing soccer in the rain only made me sick for the following 3 days. But it was well worth it. 

Last night, i went to my first comedy show in Mumbai and it was amazing! There was an American comedian as well as a Canadian comedian and they were both extremely good! I went by myself of course, but met a sweet girl called honey who also came by herself. Funny how things work out. Before i came, someone at the hotel told me that it would be an empty show and because of the rain, no one would go. The show ended up being packed! and a great time indeed. I'm definitely going back.

I spent this morning.....still recovering from my football tournament at Kelva Beach! I pulled myself and went to a place called Cafe Mondegar my myself for brunch. I thought i owed it to myself after a long week from New Delhi to Agra to Palghar and back to Mumbai. I had lunch with a nice journalist that i met at the cafe. Another great day indeed.

This week, for some reason, an american song has been stuck in my head. Theophilus London- I Stand Alone

For my friends in New York facing Irene....Stay inside and be safe!

Alas, the Taj Mahal!!!

It had to be close to150 degrees today....as i was sitting on a bench, starring directly at the Taj Mahal.  Although i was sweating bullets out of my new, overpriced golden shirt that i bought from Zara at Phoenix Mall in Mumbai, something hit me.  It was one of those moments where a split second feels like several days and for that second, i felt consumed with complete and total joy. How could you stare at something so amazing, so gorgeous, so historic, so meaningful, so touching and have a single care in the world.  Knowing that years and years ago twenty thousand laborers worked to build such a monument but not all twenty thousand lived to see the result. And here i am, admiring its beauty. With the struggle and the passion it took to build it, all i could offer back was "Wow" and my feeling of appreciation.  It's not much but i did discover something about myself in that split second.....that from then on, no matter where i would find myself next in the world, i had to become my own best friend. I was the only person that was i going to live with me my entire life so i might as well get to know myself and treat myself like the valuable person i am.

Well i didn't think all of that in a split second but i did think of it until i couldn't stand the heat any longer and got up.  After i covered my shoes with little white shoe covers (which was required--either that or take your shoes off), I walked around the compounds of the Taj Mahal, went inside, snapped some pictures and went on my way.  It was an amazing experience....probably one of the best sights my eyes have laid eyes on, and one it will never forget.  The trip to and from Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) was an even more interesting experience. I sat in the backseat of the care as people continued to stare at me as they were driving/walking or riding my. In India, they just have no shame when it comes to starring.  Please stare at me so hard that sometimes i have no choice but to stare back so that they will stop looking at me. Then again, i'm not sure how many black women with long golden braids they see on a daily basis. That may contribute a little to the starring :). By the way, my driver was driving like a complete maniac..i was clinging onto my seat or forcing myself to fall asleep at any given time.  He was speeding in which i joking asked him to slow down (but meant it), blasting Bollywood songs (which i didn't really mind) and then asking me personal questions like if i had a boyfriend and did i smoke and drink beer. I obviously lied and said i had a boyfriend....then he asked to see pictures of him! I just acted like i didn't understand his English...it worked.

I was extremely excited to get back to the Guest House and get out of the car. As i was getting out the driver said, "Ma'am...Tip?" I laughed really hard in my head, then replied with ...."tomorrow". I do plan on giving him a tip tomorrow...i actually didn't have any change at the time and i also thought in my head "I bought you lunch today and a drink, and now your asking ME for a tip! especially with your wild driving!!"...but i didn't say that out loud. Maybe i should have.

All that happened on Sunday.....

My discrete attempt to take a pic of the Bollywood Stars

On Saturday, the day before the trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal, my flight arrived to New Delhi, the capital of India very early in the morning. Apparently i was on the flight with two Bollywood stars. All the little kids kept taking pictures of them. I had no clue who they were but i thought about taking a picture with them then googling who they were later that day. I tried to discretely take a picture of them...It didnt come out very well..as you can see.  The first thing i said when i got out of the airport was "Wow! this is nice!!!" No wonder New Delhi is the capital and not Mumbai! Its gorgeous here! Of course you'll still find mega huge cows roaming around, poor women and children knocking on your car window asking for food, broken down kiosks selling coca cola and lays chips and pockets of traffic BUTT, its not as dirty, crowded, smelly, traffic infested and fast paced as Mumbai. Its like the comparison between New York and Chicago.  Chicago is the nicer, cleaner, friendlier version of New York, except New York will always be better..more stuff to do, more foreigners, busy, fun....so here goes: MUMBAI:NEW YORK as NEW DELHI:CHICAGO.  While in Delhi, here are the awesome attractions that i visited!!! See Below----->>>> just,  AWESOME!!

Akshardham Temple in New Delhi

Humayun Tomb in New Delhi

Statue of Lord Shiva in Gurgaon

I spent the rest of the weekend eating Donatos pizza and watching, well you know what..... Bollywood movies and these YouTube videos...on replay!

Holiday Weekend in India

What an exciting weekend in India! It was Independence Day weekend so I had Monday off from work. There is something about weekends in Mumbai that make it ten times more fulfilling than weekends in New York City. Maybe because it is not filled with drinking every night, $20 taxi rides across town and hot, crowded subways. Well, there are crowded subways...trains here in Mumbai. They are certainly three times as crowded as those in New York but i just haven't built up enough courage to ride the local Mumbai trains yet...but i'm working on it.  I'm not sure if the horror stories about local trains outweigh the experience..just yet. 

I went to see my first movie (at a movie theater) in India this past Sunday evening and that was quite an experience in itself.  The movie theater was upstairs in the mall. It almost looked like a run down building from the back and side but when i opened the door, i walked into a huge, extravagant movie theater. I was quite pleased. Especially when i found out that my friend had gotten us V.I.P tickets! In India, movies have assigned seats...as i discovered.  We sat in the elite seats that were plush recliner seats. In all the years i had lived in America, i had yet to sit in a reclining chair at a movie theater. It doesn't stop there. About halfway through the movie, a big, englarged word appeared on the screen that said INTERMISSION. The movie paused and people started getting up. I turned to my friend and said "Is this real!?...intermission during the movie!?" Not only was it intermission, but about 4 men started walking around in what looked like McDonald's outfits carrying menu's and taking orders for food.  I was intrigued! They even brought the food to you!  So the movie we went to see was Aarakshan, a bollywood style movie about the corrupt education and caste system in India.  The movie was entirely in Hindi but luckily and quite suprisingly, i was able to understand the entire movie from beginning to end.  My friend turned to me several times and asked me if i understood what someone in the movie said, and i would translate what i thought they said in English. She was impressed. 

I had given my driver the weekend off since Saturday and Monday were both holidays. Saturday was  a holiday called Raksha Bandhan which celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. It is also called Rakhi Purnima in other parts of India. During that day, sisters tie a rakhi (sacred thread) bracelet on her brother's wrist. It is meant to symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her. Although i bought a Rakhi braclet, i didn't give it to my brother. I plan to give it to him when i get back to the U.S.

On Sunday, i went to church with my co-worker, Nisha who was the same friend who treated me to go see the movie Aarakshan.  She picked me up in one of the local taxis and we took a quick 10 minute ride to the catholic church. It was a very old, traditional catholic church.  The Mass was only about an hour...there were about 100 people there. I told Nisha i had been baptized in a catholic church when i lived in London and that i had attended that church for several years. She was pleased. I am hoping to go with her to the same church every Sunday. Later that evening, after watching the movie Aarakshan, i was lucky enough to be invited to an event sponsored by Videocon, one of the largest companies in India.  During that event, they presented award to Hema Malini who is a very famous Bollywood superstar who actually appeared in Aarakshan, the movie i had seen earlier that day! She is an older actress, but was the premier Bollywood star of her age. I was thrilled to see her and joined in the mob of people taking picture of her at this very formal event :)

I spent Monday, my day off going for a drive to Bandra and Juhu-two very popular cities in India.  I found a map of each town, circled a few places i wanted to go and ventured there. Below is a picture of Mount Mary Church, a very famous church in Bandra. The kids were nice enough to take a picture with me!

Victoria Station

When i pass Victoria train station (below), i know i'm close to home :) Just one of many beautiful Indian architectures in Mumbai

.

My First Indian Birthday

Today was probably one of the best birthday's i've ever had! My team presented me with a big bouquet of flowers and an email from the entire team wishing me a happy birthday! Throughout the day, associates came up to me, shaking my hand and wishing me a happy birthday. During a conference call, the HR coordinator called me aside because someone had come to meet me. When i walked out of the office, the Sales Manager from the hotel that i am staying at was standing there waiting for me. He presented me with a birthday cake and a card! Later that day, two people from my team treated me to a delicious mean with an even more delicious dessert...a hot brownie with ice cream and chocolate syrup.  After that, the team secretly gathered in an office, called me in and presented me with yet another chocolate cake! It is Indian tradition to smear cake icing on the face of the birthday person after they cut the cake. I was no exception. After getting white cake icing smeared on my face, everyone dug in to have a piece of the cake! I then walked out the room to be greeted by a group of new employees who wanted to wish me a happy birthday!

Oh and the day before, i bought my first Kurta! (top that im wearing)

What a great birthday! and thats only what happened in India.....Its 7pm now which means its almost 10am in New York, so that mean i still have a whole day to celebrate my birthday, American time! :)

My First Week at Work!

 Nameste!

The people in Mumbai that i had met during my first few days were absolutely wonderful and the people in the office were not different. As i walked out of my hotel building on Wednesday to head to work, a woman named Sarikha kindly greeted me with "Good Morning Ma'am" as many of the hotel staff greet me throughout the morning.And most of time i kindly ask them that they should just feel free to call me "Jessica". The drive to the office was an interesting one.  Much like the YouTube videos i had seen of traffic in India, this was  no different. There were hundreds and hundreds of taxis sharing the streets with cars, buses, bikers and motocyclers. Not to mention people including infant children trying to cross the street at all times and always almost 2 inches from being hit. To top it off, the journey was filled with constant rain as it is currently Monsoon season in India so it rains all the time. 

The office is very similar to the office in New York except a bit more stuffy and a lot more crowded.  I walked in the office and sadly looked for the first foreigner i could find and what are the odds that i ran into Whitney Bush, an American from Chicago who took me to exactly where i needed to be.  By 10am, i had met my entire team and met some team members on a different floor. Everyone welcomed be with open arms. Some assured me not to be worried about safety (in regards to the July 13th bombings).  One girls noted, "You'll be fine...see, we survived!"  I wasn't sure how reassuring that was but i wasn't too worried. Another person called the three bombings a "firecracker"...a small bump in the road.

So everyday around 1pm they shut off all the lights in the office to signal lunchtime. Apparently by switching the lights off, employees are supposed to stop their work completely and eat. Although a handful of people continue to work, i loved the concept! At that time, your supposed to flag down Ji-Too, the "office boy" and place your lunch order and he'll bring your lunch right to your desk! How cool is that?  Since i haven't adjusted my stomach to Indian food, I've been having Subway and cheese sandwich that they bring me with ketchup! Interestingly enough, Indian's each ketchup with everything! Even with Chinese rice....and noodles!

So i walked into the office on Friday and had some serious issues with my laptop so i called IT. To my amusement, i could not reach one person in IT that knew how to get me connected to the server. I would never imagine in a million years, that i would be in India and not find a single person in IT to help me with my computer problems. After getting my laptop fixed, the rest of the day went well. I ended the day filled with excitement that this was exactly the kind of experience i wanted. The people in India were so different...they think different act differently and always have a unique perspective. I chatted with one coworker who pointed out that if i just continue to have an open mind, I'll leave India a completely different person. I'll be able to take a with me a new perspective and a new frame of mind back to new york. This was refreshing. He said, "In India, people care about the "whole"...there is a warmness about the people here that is hard to find in Americans...in the U.S people are very individualistic and usually put their self interest first" With that, I've been making every effort to keep an open mind and to open my ears as much as possible...to deliberately listen and not just hear. 

So, other than work, i have been taking this time to work on me...and watch as much Bollywood as possible! I have been learning a little Hindi day by day, lost 1kg on my new work out plan and and now accpeted Kareena Kapoor as my idol (Bollywood actress)!

"I Can't believe I'm In India....I Can't believe im in India"

I arrived in Mumbai, India on the evening of Monday, August 1st....around 10pm.  When i got off the plane and walked into the airport, the smell slapped me across the face and almost knocked me over.  I thought to myself...aah this must be the smell of India. Every country has its "smell" and alas, i had smelled India's...Mumbai's smell. Much like the "smell" of Ghana, its was dense, musty and thick.  Those words do not sound very enticing at first but the smell for me was somewhat refreshing...especially coming from New York!As i walked through the airport to immigration, i kept thinking to myself..."I can't believe im in India....I can't believe i'm in India...I can't believe i'm in India". I kept thinking that until well....now...at 11pm Tuesday evening. It look 24 hours for me to actually fully realize that i was in India.

The journey to the hotel was interesting....fortunately, i was picked up by my driver, Namdeo who may just be the nicest man in India. Although he doesn't speak that much English, he does understand the basics which is helpful.  When i got to the hotel, i was amazed....it was fascinating!!!!!! People were standing there...waiting for me to arrive. I felt like a queen....for about 3 minutes. Although the queen feeling lasted a few minutes, the hotel staff was and is amazing. All the stories of how wonderful the people in India are are true!!!! The people are almost too nice....always wanting to accommodate you.

So, i couldnt sleep that night because i still kept thinking to myself...."I can't believe im in India...I can't believe i'm in India...." so, i turned on the t.v. and watched...and danced to Bollywood movies...all night until i finally fell asleep to 5am.

So my driver came to pick me up at 12pm sharp for a mini tour of the city and all i can say is wow! We drove down Marine Drive also knows as the "Queen's Necklace because if viewed at night from an elevated point anywhere along the drive, the street lights resemble a string of pearls,forming a necklace"- Wikipedia :)  India is just one of those countries that so many people want to visit but only a few get to actually come.  How lucky am I. 

While sitting in traffic, a small boy came tapping on my left window...begging for food. On my right was a woman holding her baby, also begging for food, money or anything that i was willing to give to her.  I knew if i rolled my window down just one inch, that i would be sending an invitation out to every person in the area looking for money or food so i just looked down and tried to avoid eye contact.  I felt powerless but deep down, i knew that this was the reality of Mumbai and much of India as it is the reality of many developing countries.  If you had one dollar in your hand......a 4 year old malnutritioned boy to your left and a woman carrying her small child in her arms to your right, who would you give your dollar to?

Just something to think about.....