7/1/07
Now I am in Mumbai. The movie system on the way from London to Mumbai was way better. The selection of movies was still crappy, but at least I could start and stop them at will.
I have to say, Taipei is this huge bastion of cleanliness and beauty and paved streets for me right now. Seriously, there is just trash laying around in the street. And no system at all for how to get places. In Taipei, I was able to find little, out of the way places with just an address, because the maps were so accessible. Here, if there is a system, I am not aware if it. I have just been memorizing how to get places with landmarks and # of turns. I have been remembering stuff pretty well, b/c finding my way back to my room and all my belongings depends on it. Still, it makes me feel uncomforable to have to rely on memory.
Today is my first day in Mumbai. I watched it rain approximately 8 times today, and I didn't even get in until noon. It is going to be a wet few months. But at least it didn't really smell too bad in the city, and it cooled down the air to a balmy 85 degrees (or so. What is 25 degrees C? Also, what is 35 degrees C? I can never remember the formula)
I hung out with the guy from the office for a little while tonight. He was really nice. We tried to find a grocery store around my bachelor apt (room with a bathroom, soon to have a fridge) but we couldn't. So we walked along the shore a bit so I could see the water, which was really pretty. Then we got some food. The waiter totally didn't get my no dairy requests, so I could only eat half my food. But I was full, so whatever. I think if I ask for Jain food, I should be ok in the future, right? Someone check that.
The shower in my bathroom is broken, so I had to take a bucket shower with my travel mug and water from the sink. Super fun.
I saw my first street elephant tonight, and it made me really sad.
7/5/07
The shower does work. I just didn't push the lever hard enough. So that is a relief.
Also, the neighbor made her daughter show me where the grocery stores are. Phew. I will be going back today for some stuff. I have a little fridge, which is good, and I think I will try to find a hotplate so I can boil water.
It is hot, but I am inside a lot, which is good. Also, it is really stinky, but only in some places. I am breathing in one hell of a lot of exhaust.
Ok, more later. Hopefully once I am settled down a little I can write some stuff that is a little more interesting. I will try to take some pictures too, but there are so many people around always, all the time, that I feel weird pulling out the camera to take some shots. Also, whenever I stop for a few minutes to pull out my camera, someone asks if I would like a shoe shine, which I think is weird, since I am wearing an old pair of sneakers. And then I feel the need to escape from the strange men who want to shine my sneakers, so I can't take any pictures.
7 comments:
How to do Celsius/Fahrenheit conversions in your head:
Memorize this:
10 is 50
20 is 68
30 is 86
Notice that there are 18 degree gaps in fahrenheit for each celsius 10 degree gap. So, a five degree celsius gap is 9 degrees F, and one degree C is 1.8 F. That should get your pretty close.
I'm disappointed there's no kitchen. Hopefully you can find some sort of stove soon.
GOOD POSTING JOB, DORKUS! Have you called Nam's mom yet? What's with the total lack of kitchen? Where do those Indian bachelors eat?
Jain isn't going to help you. Jain followers are lacto vegetarians, so you'd still end up eating dairy if you specified Jain friendly meal.
Ask what foods are fried in. A common ingredient for frying is ghee, a derivative of butter. Ask for pure vegetarian food. Although, I'm not sure if that is easily communicated and understood.
Here's a good blog posting from a vegan traveling in India with some advice:
http://www.vegetarianbaby.com/articles/veganindia.shtml
And here's a list of vegetarian restaurants in Mumbai:
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/India/State_of_Maharashtra/Mumbai-1101422/Restaurants-Mumbai-VEGETARIAN_THALIS-BR-1.html
and kenneth forgot to mention that -40 is the same in both Celsius and Fahrenheit...in case that comes up.
So happy to see you're off on yet another far-flung adventure.
I reread "The Stranger" last evening along with "Noon Wine". Do take care in the hot sun as it can lead to improbable circumstance.
p.
Susan says:
Hey, Evelyn! Glad you made it there safe and sound. Also glad you do not have to pour a bucket of water over your head to shower anymore. That would blow.
Hope you are able to track down a hot plate.
i called nam's parents, but her sister was sick, so i will have to try to meet them again later.
i am trying to explain to restaurants what i want, but most really don't get it. so i guess i will be eating a little dairy. i asked the girl at the office to order me some lunch the other day, with no dairy, and i got paneer with rice. oh well, the rice was good.
i am not out in too much hot sun, i am inside teaching a lot of the time. that will be more of an issue on my days off!
Peter, this is Kenneth's mother. While we were flying to Fiji last December, I found the location and temperature information to be much more fascinating than any of the movies. Yes, I knew that at minus 40, C and F were the same, but it was neat to know that just a few centimeters away from where I was sitting that it was so. I think we got to about minus 45 or 50 on that flight. Well, K's dork-ism comes naturally.
Post a Comment