Lights, camera, action! Mumbai and Pune in action

Those photos I promised....here they are! I blame our hotel's internet connection (or lack thereof) for the delay. 

early morning on the Ganges

The sun rises over the boats of tourists 

At a silk factory in Varanasi, making the VERY detailed silk hangings

Up close and personal: These patterns are memorized by the artists when they're youngsters. Tres impressive. 

Our weekend in Mumbai turned out to be pretty uneventful. However, I did have a very memorable near death experience. We were on an architectural tour of the city and we were making our way through a street that didn't seem to have cars. I was walking along chatting with someone and (seriously out of the blue) a huge SUV rushed by me--literally so close that my foot hit the tire as I attempted to move away. After some seriously deep breathing to blow off the adrenaline rush that immediately ensued, it was time to cross an actual street with cars going in every direction. I attempted to stay as close as possible to the group and somehow I managed to survive. Yes, I'm talking about crossing the street. If you're confused you should see these streets. They're completely terrifying. 


I had a really interesting experience today doing the very simple task of sending a package. Well, actually, because this is India, this process is going to take three days and hopefully I'll be able to actually send off the package. 


Day 1- I attempt to find the post office. No dice. I consider asking people on the street but I'm pretty sure they won't understand me. I can't say "post office" in Hindi yet.


Day 2- I found the post office. Excellent. Then I get some sort of form where I fill out the contents of the box, their value, and the to and from addresses. I'm also told that I must make three copies of this form. So I return to my hotel, fill out the form, get the copies made, then book it back to the post office. It's 4:30 by the time I get there. They close at 5. I walk up to send my package but then the postman informs me that I must get the contents wrapped, I can't just buy a box there. So I walk down the street and make the motion of packing a box to attempt to find this packing man I'm supposed to go to. Finally I find him; it's a bit hard to grasp that he's going to give me a box because he seems pretty busy selling coconuts. I'm serious. I convey to him that I need a box. Oh, did I mention this man has the hairiest ears I have ever seen in my entire life. I'm not sure how, but hair was growing (we're talking at least three inches in length here) from the outer edges of his ears. Back to the box. He picks up an empty box that's quite flimsy and a bit damp, which he then proceeds to fill with the things I'm shipping. He seals this box with some duct tape and I'm sure the operation is over. I'm very wrong. He then cut a large piece of cloth and covered the box with it as if it had been wrapping paper. At this point I'm thinking he'll secure that with tape and we'll be done. What really happens is, after selling some coconuts, he takes out a spindle of string. Ok, so he'll tie some string around the cloth. That's fine too let's just get this over with. But no. Then, I see it. He takes out a needle, specifically a huge needle. And yes, you guessed it, he proceeds to sew the cloth around my box. Then I wrote on the cloth "to" and "from" addresses. When that's all said and done he tries to fit the official form on the box and it's not looking like it will fit. Shouldn't that have been considered in the first place?? Of course by now it's five after 5pm and I can't send the box because they're closed. Hopefully tomorrow goes smoothly, for now the little box sits in my hotel room. Tune in later to see what goes down and if my box ever makes it's long journey. And I can't help wondering--is this what Julie Andrews sang about with the lyrics "brown paper packages tied up with string"? Because that process was definitely not one of my favorite things. 


Also, I discovered I can write in हिंदी (that says Hindi, but the script is actually called Devnagri aka देवनागरी) on the blog. Amazing!