mumbai was interesting!!!!! i had a great time exploring another part of india. it was an experience that i was glad to have. the volunteers and i had lots of laughs.
although........... i am not sure it is my favorite place to go. there is sooooooooooo much pollution. when i washed my face at the end of the day my towel had black on it...... it is a city filled with car horns blowing....you wake up to it and go to bed to it.... traffic is out of control... the cab drivers take advantage of you and try to charge you loads of money..... the cab drivers never know where you want to go..... they say they know where you want to go but after passing the same pharmacy twice you realize it is time to get a new cab. it got to the point where we went to the same two restaurants every night because we did not want to deal with the taxis.
the hotel we stayed at was called the causeway. it was right in the center of everything. the area we stayed in was called colaba. as soon as you walk out of our hotel there is a market with people selling everything you could think of; balloons, jewelry, clothes and drums. several times we had people chasing us down the street begging us to by a balloon or a drum. now what would we want with either of those things. the people are extremely persistent. they don't seem to understand the words "no thank you"
we did lots of sight seeing. we went to the taj hotel and walked around the inside. it was so nice!!!! we went to the gateway of india, dhobi ghat (which is a huge outside laundry facility). it is pretty amazing to see. it sounds like a funny place to go to but it is so interesting to watch these people as they work.
we took a tour of the house gandhi stayed in when he came to mumbai . after that tour we took an hour boat ride to elephant island. this is an island known for its caves. i was more interested in the monkeys which we were able to see on the island. the monkeys were everywhere.
i had a nice little interaction with one of the monkeys. as i was walking up the hill that leads to the cave i saw one of the monkeys looking at me. i knew he wanted something from me but i wasn't exactly sure what he could have wanted. i got scared and started slowly backing away. suddenly the monkey jumped towards me and took my pop right out of my hand. after he grabbed my drink he jumped up into the tree and tried to open it. when he opened the bottle the pop sprayed all over everyone. at first i was really scared but then at the end i was able to laugh because the whole situation was really funny.
we went to three restaurants total. the food was all really good. it was much more westernized then goa so i was always able to find something i wanted to eat. the restaurants we went to where called cafe mondegar, leopolds and then one night we went to dinner at a restaurant called the salt water grill. it was a really good restaurant which was located on the the beach.
after we ate dinner at the salt water grill we walked along the beach. all the people on the beach were so amused by us. we had two families come up to us to ask if we would take a picture with them. right now we are probably sitting on the dresser of a family we do not know. it is so funny.
there was more poverty in mumbai then in goa. people are sleeping on the sidewalks with their families and you see more slum areas. when you are in the taxis you have children as young as four or five knocking on the windows begging for money. we never gave them money but we did buy them food or give them our drinks that we were holding. it was really sad.
oh how could i forget the wonderful experience of the train. i posted pictures so you can see what it was like. it was definitely not as bad as i thought. we got to the train station for a 5:45pm departure and we did not leave until 7:15pm. nothing is ever on time when you are in india. the whole night men where walking up and down the aisle asking if you wanted food or drinks. even if you are sleeping they will ask you if you want something. we stayed up for while, ate snacks and drank wine. i took a tylenol pm and pretty much slept the whole night. a few times i woke up because the train ride was pretty bumpy but over all it was a great experience and i would do it again.
it was nice to get back to goa. i forgot how quiet and relaxing it was!!!!
so that was my trip
as for the mango house, four new volunteers started last week. this group also seems very nice!!!!!!! one is from holland, another from germany and two from england. we will be going out with all of them on friday. allan will be happy because two of the volunteers are male. he is not the only on now!!
saturday night ali (the houseparent) his wife and baby cinderella are going to come to the marriot and have dinner with me and allan. it will be really fun to have them over. it will be a very new experience for them.
allan promised that in the next blog he will write something!!!
love and miss you
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
This describes the picture above:
A unique feature of Mumbai, the dhobi is a traditional laundryman, who will collect your dirty linen, wash it, and return it neatly pressed to your doorstep. All for a pittance. The "laundries" are called "ghats": row upon row of concrete wash pens, each fitted with its own flogging stone. The clothes are soaked in sudsy water, thrashed on the flogging stones, then tossed into huge vats of boiling starch and hung out to dry. Next they are ironed and piled into neat bundles. The most famous of these Dhobi Ghats is at Saat Rasta near Mahalaxmi Station where almost two hundred dhobis and their families work together in what has always been a hereditary occupation
Thursday, September 13, 2007
happy new year!!! i hope everyone had a nice holiday.
everything has been going well!!!!
since i have arrived in india i never look at the date. i can go days without knowing what the date is. i can't believe it is already mid sept. time is going by very quickly. allan has already been here for two and half months and i have been here for a almost five weeks.
we have been spending lots of time with the volunteers from the mango house. there is a couple from germany and a couple from england who will begin volunteering next week. come holiday season 15 new people are going to be volunteering at the same time. it is so interesting to meet people from all around the world. hopefully we will stay in contact with some of the people so we can go and visit and they came come visit us.
this week all of the volunteers came to our hotel for drinks and then we went to a restaurant down the street from us called the delhi darbar. it was fun to have everyone come to our hotel. it is very different from were they are staying so they all had a really good time.
the mango house is still going very well. i just love the children. they are sooooooooo cute and so funny. i know i have said this before but it amazes me how sweet, polite and generous these children are. many of the parents are wonderful but a majority of the parents are not the best role models. it makes you wonder how these children have picked up such good behaviors.
one day we were walking to the swimming pool which is about a half a mile away from the mango house. one of the little boys stopped at the little grocery store to buy a piece of gum. the piece of gum was probably the size of my thumb nail. he started ripping apart the piece of gum and insisting that i have some. now, here is a little boy who probably gets one rupee every few days and he is sharing this little piece of gum with me. it was so sweet.
another thing that was so shocking to me was on a friday when we were celebrating the aug birthdays. a little girl brought a bag of chocolate candies. when she took out the bag you could tell there were not enough pieces for all of the children. all of the volunteers looked at each other with the same thought "oh no this is going to be a disaster." we thought there would be a massive fight between the children but there wasn't. they all sat quietly, some got candy and some did not and nobody shed a tear. i couldn't believe it.
this past sat all the volunteers were invited to ali's house (the house parent). his family lives about an hour and half away from the mango house. ali lives at the mango house during the week so he can work and then on the weekends he takes the bus home to be with his family.
he invited us to his home so that we could meet his 6month old baby, his wife, in laws and parents (who all live in the same house). the area he lives in is so cool. all u see is big green trees (very green because of all the rain) and palm trees. it is the jungle. it is so quiet compared to what we are use to in panaji (where our hotel is) and mapusa (which is the town i work in).
it was so nice of him to have us at his house. when we got to his home his family gave us chi tea and cookies and we all just sat around playing with his little girl and talking with his wife. nobody else spoke english so we were not able to talk with the rest of the family. even though they could not talk to us you could tell that they were so appreciative that we came to visit them.
ali named his little girl cinderella. at work one day he read all the children the cinderella story. he loved the name so much that he decided that was what he was going to name his baby. (keep in mind that was probably the first time he had ever heard the story)
the women who cooks the food at the mango house came with us to ali's house so when we dropped her off at home at the end of the day she invited us into her house. she wanted us to meet her family as well. again, nobody spoke english so it was just us talking with each other. they also gave us something to eat. it was some kind of fruit salad. if u go to an indian families home and refuse the food they pass out they get very insulted and think that it is rude. thank god it was only fruit salad because whatever it was she was giving us i would have had to eat it!!!!! it was really neat to see the different homes and meet the family members of the people that we are working with.
allan is in china right now and will be back in goa on monday night. on sat i am leaving to go to mumbai with three other volunteers. allan has a lay over in mumbai sunday night so i will spend sunday night and monday morning with him in mumbia. he will leave for goa monday afternoon. i will go back to goa on wednesday with the other volunteers.
to get to mumbai we are taking an overnight train which takes 12 hours. ( i know , i can't believe i am doing that either.) it is going to be quite an experience. i am looking forward to it. on the way home we are flying. it only takes 45mins to fly to goa.
it is suppose to be one the best weekends to go to mumbia because on sat (in all of india) starts a ten day festival which marks the birthday of hindus' elephant-head god. the festival is called genesha chaturthigenesh. there will be lots of people partying and lots of different parades. it started in mumbia so everyone says the parades are the best.
when i get back i will post pictures. i have a lot more from the mango house and i am sure we will have some from our trip to mumbai.
yesterday my friend sophie and i went to the mapusa market which is the market that most goans go to. it is not a very touristy market. it was really fun to watch people and see the different things that they sell. we went to a jewelry store and i bought alot of fun jewelry for only 18 dollars. lots of rings, earring and bangle bracelets. if anyone wants anything let me know!!!
we miss everyone lots and hope to talk with everyone soon.
oh just so everyone knows i always ask allan if he wants to write something. i still don't think he is as into as me. so, alot of this will be about my experience at work!!!!! at somepoint i will get him to write something!!!!!!!
love allan and abby
everything has been going well!!!!
since i have arrived in india i never look at the date. i can go days without knowing what the date is. i can't believe it is already mid sept. time is going by very quickly. allan has already been here for two and half months and i have been here for a almost five weeks.
we have been spending lots of time with the volunteers from the mango house. there is a couple from germany and a couple from england who will begin volunteering next week. come holiday season 15 new people are going to be volunteering at the same time. it is so interesting to meet people from all around the world. hopefully we will stay in contact with some of the people so we can go and visit and they came come visit us.
this week all of the volunteers came to our hotel for drinks and then we went to a restaurant down the street from us called the delhi darbar. it was fun to have everyone come to our hotel. it is very different from were they are staying so they all had a really good time.
the mango house is still going very well. i just love the children. they are sooooooooo cute and so funny. i know i have said this before but it amazes me how sweet, polite and generous these children are. many of the parents are wonderful but a majority of the parents are not the best role models. it makes you wonder how these children have picked up such good behaviors.
one day we were walking to the swimming pool which is about a half a mile away from the mango house. one of the little boys stopped at the little grocery store to buy a piece of gum. the piece of gum was probably the size of my thumb nail. he started ripping apart the piece of gum and insisting that i have some. now, here is a little boy who probably gets one rupee every few days and he is sharing this little piece of gum with me. it was so sweet.
another thing that was so shocking to me was on a friday when we were celebrating the aug birthdays. a little girl brought a bag of chocolate candies. when she took out the bag you could tell there were not enough pieces for all of the children. all of the volunteers looked at each other with the same thought "oh no this is going to be a disaster." we thought there would be a massive fight between the children but there wasn't. they all sat quietly, some got candy and some did not and nobody shed a tear. i couldn't believe it.
this past sat all the volunteers were invited to ali's house (the house parent). his family lives about an hour and half away from the mango house. ali lives at the mango house during the week so he can work and then on the weekends he takes the bus home to be with his family.
he invited us to his home so that we could meet his 6month old baby, his wife, in laws and parents (who all live in the same house). the area he lives in is so cool. all u see is big green trees (very green because of all the rain) and palm trees. it is the jungle. it is so quiet compared to what we are use to in panaji (where our hotel is) and mapusa (which is the town i work in).
it was so nice of him to have us at his house. when we got to his home his family gave us chi tea and cookies and we all just sat around playing with his little girl and talking with his wife. nobody else spoke english so we were not able to talk with the rest of the family. even though they could not talk to us you could tell that they were so appreciative that we came to visit them.
ali named his little girl cinderella. at work one day he read all the children the cinderella story. he loved the name so much that he decided that was what he was going to name his baby. (keep in mind that was probably the first time he had ever heard the story)
the women who cooks the food at the mango house came with us to ali's house so when we dropped her off at home at the end of the day she invited us into her house. she wanted us to meet her family as well. again, nobody spoke english so it was just us talking with each other. they also gave us something to eat. it was some kind of fruit salad. if u go to an indian families home and refuse the food they pass out they get very insulted and think that it is rude. thank god it was only fruit salad because whatever it was she was giving us i would have had to eat it!!!!! it was really neat to see the different homes and meet the family members of the people that we are working with.
allan is in china right now and will be back in goa on monday night. on sat i am leaving to go to mumbai with three other volunteers. allan has a lay over in mumbai sunday night so i will spend sunday night and monday morning with him in mumbia. he will leave for goa monday afternoon. i will go back to goa on wednesday with the other volunteers.
to get to mumbai we are taking an overnight train which takes 12 hours. ( i know , i can't believe i am doing that either.) it is going to be quite an experience. i am looking forward to it. on the way home we are flying. it only takes 45mins to fly to goa.
it is suppose to be one the best weekends to go to mumbia because on sat (in all of india) starts a ten day festival which marks the birthday of hindus' elephant-head god. the festival is called genesha chaturthigenesh. there will be lots of people partying and lots of different parades. it started in mumbia so everyone says the parades are the best.
when i get back i will post pictures. i have a lot more from the mango house and i am sure we will have some from our trip to mumbai.
yesterday my friend sophie and i went to the mapusa market which is the market that most goans go to. it is not a very touristy market. it was really fun to watch people and see the different things that they sell. we went to a jewelry store and i bought alot of fun jewelry for only 18 dollars. lots of rings, earring and bangle bracelets. if anyone wants anything let me know!!!
we miss everyone lots and hope to talk with everyone soon.
oh just so everyone knows i always ask allan if he wants to write something. i still don't think he is as into as me. so, alot of this will be about my experience at work!!!!! at somepoint i will get him to write something!!!!!!!
love allan and abby
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