I finally got access to the blog today so below are the past three days of my thoughts.

First Impressions (7/28):

I arrived at the Mumbai airport around midnight on Saturday. I expected the airport to be relatively quiet considering it was so late. I was wrong. No one is allowed inside the airport doors without a ticket, which means that all family, friends and hotel rides wait not so patiently right outside the entrance. As I walked outside to look for my ride to the hotel I was suddenly met with air so thick that I had difficulty breathing and the realization that I really was not in Kansas anymore.

Things I observed on the 15 minute ride from the airport to the hotel:

1. Traffic laws do not exist in India.
2. At midnight, Mumbai looks like one huge construction zone, hardhats recommended.
3. Slumdog Millionaire did not lie to us, homeless children really do sleep under bridges and along the road. Just imagine any highway median in the US lined with children sleeping. This site was one of the most jarring things I have ever witnessed and I am sure it was only a preview of what I will see in the next two weeks.
4. India has a trash problem. Everywhere I looked there were mountains of trash.

The Next Day (Which I Think is Sunday):

I woke up at 6am local time to the sounds of drumming outside my window. In the darkness last night I did not realize that the hotel is right on the shoreline of Juhu Beach and the Arabian Sea. From my window I look straight onto one of the public entrances. Later in the morning, Jess and I found our way down to breakfast and hesitantly ate watermelon that may or may not make us sick later.

We next set out to find an ATM on the streets of Mumbai. The hotel front desk informed us that Citi Bank was a 5 minute walk away. I am sure that they were correct in their directions, we just had no clue where we were going and after 45 minutes gave up. However, our 45 minute walk was not without adventure. As mentioned before, traffic laws do not exist in India, so trying to cross the street is an intense game of running for your life before getting hit by any number of cars, buses or tuktuks (an Indian taxi). Jess and I were also faced with our first reality check of poverty. An Indian girl, maybe eight years old, followed us for five minutes begging for food or money. She even wrapped herself around Jess’s leg so she could not walk any further.

Homeless people in DC live better than this little girl.

7/30/12

Today I stepped over a dead man’s body on the sidewalk while walking back from the bank. Enough said.

Our program officially started tonight. We met as a group in the hotel lobby before heading to dinner at China Gate, an Indo-Chinese restaurant. I love Chinese food to begin with, but this food was amazing. It was the perfect mix of Chinese classics in Indian spices. My group had an amazing cab driver who spent the time telling us jokes and pointing out important places in the city. His son works for J.P. Morgan in Singapore, so this man no longer has to work (his son sends a lot of money home) but still chooses to work most days. I got the sense that some of this was his wife’s decision who does not like having him home all day.

We all decided to take tuktuks back to the hotel (it began pouring rain half way through the ride). At one point we were literally touching the back of a public bus we were so close. There is no point at which there is not traffic in India. What makes it worse is that there are no traffic lanes, traffic laws or stop signs, and everyone is horn-happy.