Happy Birthday Mom

Pictures= Pooja, traditional dress, Haji Ali mosque, and Juhu beach at sunset.

Happy Birthday Mom. This blog entry is your gift so enjoy and just so you know I had to stay up till 2 am writing it when I will get up at 5:30 am tomorrow to go on vacation. So if the language is sloppy forgive me.

This blog is intended to answer some peoples questions, tell what I’ve been up to the last week or so and explore a little about the Hindu holiday Diwali.

First I will try to zip through what I’ve been up to. I left you on October 20th so I will pick it up from there. If you remember last blog I mentioned that extremists from a local political party prevented North Indians from writing the Railway exam. Well the a couple local courts didn’t really take well to that so on Tuesday the police apprehended the leader of this political party, which is called the MNS. So the extremists of the party didn’t really like to see their leader put on trial so they flocked to the streets in large numbers rioting. I had planned to go out that day but I was not allowed to go out for much of the day. Near where my second host family is there are many supporters of the MNS so there were riots there. What these riots entail are burning buses, breaking cabs/ rickshaws, and just generally disturbing the peace including fighting with riot control police. They are not really organized rather just going on power trips and breaking stuff. I watched some footage on the news about the riots and thought it would be pretty cool to be one of those police guys with the baton hitting everything that moves but it would not be so great being the guy getting hit or the rickshaw driver being beat up by the extremists. I was walking to my Hindi class that day which was the only thing I was allowed to go out for and four guys on two bikes drove by on my street and threw two large bricks at a cab which was parked on the side of the road while they were still moving. They really had terrible aim though and missed the cab from like 10 feet. It was weird because my area is one of the safest and quietest areas in Bombay. If I had been walking like 10 seconds faster I would have been right beside the cab when they threw the bricks and who knows what would have happened. The MNS leader had to spend a night in jail so more riots were expected the next day that never really happened but I did spend almost the whole day inside my house. The plan was to go to the water park that day too so it never happened. I forgot to mention that I went for a run a few days before and went out to meet some other exchangers and I walked by some beggars and one of the beggars threw a piece of dirt at me and was not happy.

The next day I went to an art gallery with a couple other exchangers and the Natural History society. The art gallery was decent and it changes artists pretty frequently so it’s not just a one time deal. Best part the gallery was free, I love free things. At the gallery we went into a room that only had like 3 modern art statues and it was a huge room so we thought there should be more so we made up art. What this means is we would go stand at a huge blank white wall with a “No Smoking” sign on it and analyze it as if it was art. Some Indians would look at us funny others would come see what we were checking out which was hilarious because we were actually looking at nothing. Just analyzing it like “you can really capture the artists emotion in the color of the sign” or this scuff mark on the wall is perfectly placed. I think it was one of the countless had to be there moments.

The next day was a birthday party but I was going out during the day too to meet a couple exchangers, (it is holiday time right now) on the way to the train station a bird shit on my nice birthday party shirt so I had to go change it. Anyways in India when a bird shits on you it is said to be good luck and I found that out. It was a really good day. Firstly we went to some Mosque that is on a man made island with a foot path out to the mosque. During high tide the foot path is submerged in water so you can’t get out there and it looks like the mosque is floating. We reached at low tide so took the foot path to the mosque and saw it. After that we went to a mall that sells all the fake Rolexs, Omega, etc… it was good. After that we were walking to the station and somebody I knew from Canada, named Steve Morie, phoned me. He is my dad’s friend’s son from Edmonton and he is traveling through India for 3 months on his own. So he phoned and we have met up twice over the past few days. He is just in Bombay for a few days before going to Rajasthan. So when he phoned we were just going to Juhu beach so he came also and saw Juhu at night which is crazy. Then the girl’s birthday party. We just went to a restaurant and had a good time together. We had an Indian Rotex guy with us who is Sikh and believe it or not another Sikh guy saw this and bought us 2 pitchers of beer. We got to talking and the guy who bought us beer was actually from Mississauga, Ontario. He is in town for eight months on diamond business. It was awesome.

The next night a few exchangers went to Marine Drive and there were fire works because it was 2 night before Diwali starts. There were crazy loud crackers and flares and everything too bad they are made by children. The fireworks are a little dangerous and the Indians operating them are crazy. They are dangerous because most of the fireworks are ground based so little pieces of debris fly everywhere. The vertical ones are pretty good and basic but some people complicate things by light the fire work then waiting till the last moment then throwing it towards the water while it explodes in the air. The reason why there are so many fireworks is because it is Diwali, another festival. But this one is big it is the new year according to the Hindu calendar and is the major holiday for vacationing or seeing your family. This is the festival of lights so there are firecrackers for the 4 day festival (Mon-Thurs) and a few days before and after. I will go more in depth into Diwali and include more information on religion in my next blog because I do not have the space in this one. Basically all you need to know is Diwali means bright lights, loud noises (which wake you up at 7am sometimes), family holiday, equivalent of Christmas, traditional dress for me, not traditional dress for Indians (so I was the only guy in traditional Indian dress the 3 Diwali functions I have dressed up for even though I am a foreigner), streets/houses decorated with lights, and religious rituals which are called poojas. You do something different at the separate poojas your family has, first one in our house I wore some hat (like the ice cream men from the 1960’s) and saw my reflection in water, then broke a fruit with my foot then tasted it. The second one I was just on cymbals the whole time making loud noises and trying to keep a beat with the chanting of my family.

On the Sunday I went with one of the Rotaract clubs sponsored by my Rotary Club, which is like Rotary for youth. So they have local projects that aid local people. This Sunday we went to a project that celebrated Diwali with mentally ill or orphaned children. It was a really great program we spent time with the kids doing arts and crafts and talking with them. It is kind of depressing when you analyze the children’s situation but that is all forgotten when you see the big smile on their face and realizing you put it there. It was also a little disheartening when I realized that a child who just learned to walk and from the smell just pooped their pants speaks better Hindi than me. That program was great and really put me in my place in the world, it made me step back and really look at how fortunate I am. In the evening there was another program which raised awareness about transgendered people, aids, and homosexuality. I don’t know how I was dragged into that one but I went anyway. The whole program was in Hindi so I didn’t understand much but the idea was good for the area. I am sorry if this sounds blunt but I didn’t like the program that much because my idea of a good time does not consist of a transvestite, a homosexual and a bisexual talk in a language I don’t understand for an hour and a half. That night I went with my family to a Diwali dinner with my family and a bunch of family friends, dressed in traditional wear and everything. I know I am not the person to be saying this so forgive me but I was ballin’ out of control.

As I said next post I will go more into Diwali and religion but now it is question time.

Yes Maeghan you had a question: “Do you find that people speak to you in English? And is there anything they don't have in India that you wouldn't have thought about?”
- Yes pretty much everybody speaks to me in English, I find it hard to learn the language because I am not totally immersed in it. Hindi the national language is not even the local language so I don’t even know if people on the trains are speaking the language I am learning unless I can pick out a word I know. There are way too many languages in India so you never know what to learn as per the location you are in. 29 languages have at least 1 million speakers, and newspapers are written in 90 languages all over India. The Indian people are really amazing when it comes to languages anyway like most people speak or understand at least 3 languages if they are educated. That is a long way to say yes people speak English to me. Not really anything you can’t get here apart from cold weather and clean public bathrooms but I already had thought about that. There are many imported food stores which sell you things you are used to at high prices, like the Europeans love getting Nutella here. Also there is no toilet paper is many bathrooms instead there is a spray hose. Indians think TP is not clean but soaking your butt is so that is a little different. I bring TP with me almost everywhere.

Callander: “Do you find that you are continually amazed by the people and culture but at the same time, longing for the efficiency and cleanliness of North America? It really is like being on a different planet, isn't it?”
- YES, especially the cleanliness part. There is so much diverse culture here stemming from the region or religions and I love the culture even such a big city has culture, and I’ve heard out of the city there is way more culture.

Many people asked about the tube video: I do feel some what refreshed after the process but I really just do it because it is so rad and is cool to tell people what I’ve done. The purpose they say is the friction in the nasal passage increases the blood flow to the area and in turn creates a more healthy nasal passage which is less likely to become infected. And no it is not a piece of red licorice but I am seriously considering going out to buy licorice now just for that purpose. I only had to do it a few times before I quit gagging but even now I still gag a little.

Aunty Linda: Will you be seeing the famous Taj Mahal?
- YES I will be seeing the Taj Mahal in mid December on the Rotary organized North India and Rajasthan trip.

Brad Duholke: 1) Do you ever feel unsafe during this journey?
2) have you experienced the Indian medical system yet? Any insights?
3) Do you think a trip like this is for everyone or only the bold?
Finally could a girl do this and could you have done this without a sponsor family?
- I have not really felt unsafe on the journey, India is actually a very safe place when it comes to crime on a large scale but does have quite a bit of petty crime. When I am walking around alone after dark is the only time I really have to keep a watch out. I have seen a couple of fights but I was in the house for the riots and apart from the brick throwing incident I was very safe. I do feel unsafe in the cars sometimes but that is just the cultural differences, it is part of the culture to dive the wrong way down a road or pull out in front of a speeding car in traffic to make a slow turn. The two most important parts of the car are the horn and the brake here. The hoards of people are, although overwhelming, reassuring of your safety. If India is not the country for you there are many other more safe European countries offered as choices.
I have not experienced the Indian medical system yet, I assume it is pretty good. If you want to know more ask Steve Morie who was a little sick. I have heard the system is relatively clean and efficient but I don’t intend to find out first hand. I heard that if you want medicine at a hospital you have to buy it from a pharmacy then the doctor will administer it.
I feel this exchange is for anyone who is up for a challenge and wants to have a great time becoming more mature and meeting new people in the process. Many people are content at home and I respect that but the world is waiting for you to see it. If you really want to learn a ton about another culture and even more about yourself the exchange is for you. Yes girls can definitely do this and world wide more girls than boys do the exchange. In my district in Canada there are about twice as many girls as boys abroad in 15 or 16 different countries (I think). I don’t really understand the sponsor family question but I can tell you how I began the exchange process. My father is a Rotarian but it is not a necessity nor very common to have the parent of a student abroad as a Rotarian in Canada. That is how I knew about the exchange process because my family has hosted students before. Otherwise you can contact the schools guidance counselor about the Rotary International Long Term student exchange or look up your Rotary International district and there is usually a web page dedicated to the international youth exchange (IYE) in the district. You can get info there. If you want to leave in summer 2009 then start planning fall 2008, there is a preliminary application, an interview, a full application and a few orientations you need to attend. You can tell them what country you want or what you want in a country but you won’t necessarily get that one. You leave for the exchange July or August and return about 11 months later. What the parents need to pay is the airline ticket, the insurance, trips in the country, vaccinations before you go to the country and spending money beyond what you get from the Rotary Club locally. This is the best thing I have decided to do in my life. Sorry if I bored the other student who read this blog but I really support the program.

Lauren: Just to clear it up.. .Is a eunic like a transvestite? Because I thought eunic's were just men who had their... parts.... removed... you know like a gelded horse. It's still a guy but just... less of one. You know?!? But is a Eunic different?!
- I am not actually sure what they are. People here call them eunuchs but they look more like transvestites or transgendered people to me. I thought a eunuch was like a gelded horse too and enjoyed that analogy but these ……. Dress up like women but I am not sure if the breasts are real due to taking female hormone pills or if they are just fake. I am really just baffled by the whole thing. From what I knew from before I think a eunuch has no parts but doesn’t necessarily dress like a woman, and a transgendered person dresses and acts like a woman but I am not sure if they have parts or not I would guess not (I think I don’t know from experience), and I think a transvestite is like a transgendered person who went to the extreme with hormone pills and no parts, I actually didn’t look this up so it is not legitimate at all but that is what I feel from what people call different people here. I know they call the thing that touched me a eunuch I just don’t know if it falls into the eunuch category I explained. What I would call what touched me is a transgendered person.

I have left some people questions for next blog as I am running out of time including questions from Dad, Trevor, Carlann, and Lesley. Remember to leave comments and I think this answering questions thing could also be reoccurring so leave comment or ask questions.
Have a Happy Diwali.

100 Days!

The pictures are of the Gateway of India and the Taj Hotel, followed by me in front of the 3 headed Shiva (god) bust at elephanta, then the durga pooja, and finally the Ravana that was burnt.

Not that I am counting but I just wanted to know so I went back to July 10th when I arrived and counted 100 days to today (October 17, 2008).

This blog will just tell what I have been up to and answer a few of the questions people leave as comments.

First my activities, I saw my first Hindi movie since the last blog; although I didn’t understand the dialogue I understood the story. It was called Kidnap and was about some billionaire’s daughter getting kidnapped then her dad is sent on a wild goose chase to find clues and such. I really didn’t have anything to compare it to so I enjoyed the movie but other people said it was bad so I guess it was bad. I don’t know if I have mentioned it but movies in India are a pretty sweet deal. You can get the ticket for about $2.40 and the popcorn and pop for $1.75. What would you expect at that price? While you get a sick theater where the seats recline (just the back so it’s not quite a lazy-boy but it’s comfy) and the seats are assigned on the ticket but you tell ticket guy before where you want to sit so you don’t have to wander around the theater scouting out the best seats only to have them stolen right before you go to sit. Anyways theaters are pretty ill here and they have to be, the average Indian sees way more movies per year (in theaters) than any Canadian I know and with Bollywood pumping out a new movie every week they have to see the movies fast.

On October 8th I had a good day although I was forced out of my comfort zone a few times. First I met up with a few exchange students and we went to the Elephanta caves which are some coves on an island 10km off the main island. You catch a boat from the gateway of India and take a 45 minute ride to the caves. Unfortunately they take advantage of tourists majorly there. For entry into the caves Indians pay 10Rs and foreigners pay 250Rs. No joke 25x what the Indians pay. That is only like $5.50 but still it is the principle. I guess it is a UNESCO world heritage site though. We also got to see the Gateway of India from the water which was pretty neat. Near the caves there were monkeys that were perfectly adapted to all the people there, they knew humans are afraid and took advantage of it. One Indian guy I saw was chased by a monkey and was forced to throw his bag containing a souvenir up in the air to distract the monkey.

The same day I went with my host family to a Durga Pooja it is some god with multiple arms that is a woman. What we did there was just offer gifts to the god and ate some food. I can’t believe how grand the idols of the gods are here it is insane.

On that same day I was invited to do this dancing thing. It is called Dandiya and it is like dancing with sticks that is sort of like line dancing but it looks like you are in combat with the other person with sticks. First I went to some big open area and there were many people dancing. This dancing is part of the festival navratri which means 9 nights roughly. What the festival entails is dancing for 9 nights, although I only danced for one night. What the dancing entails is swinging the stick with your left hand and contacting the other persons stick then with the right stick, then clapping the 2 sticks together and finally hitting both your sticks with the other persons 2 sticks and doing a spin. People said I was good but I know what I look like when dancing and it is not a pretty sight. After the big open space dancing with sticks a couple friends took me to a street dandiya dancing on one of their friend’s streets. I was already pretty tired so I asked not to dance but when the people there saw me I had to dance. This was a circle dandiya where after every round you change partners as there are 2 circles going around in opposite directions. The people who organized this event went crazy when they saw me and were like whistling and yelling “FROM CANADA” then everyone looked at me and cheered it was weird. When I was dancing it was like people forgot how to dance because they were like a deer in the headlights or they wanted to do something stupid to impress the foreigner. I was just about to leave and the organizers said no don’t leave and they called me up to the stage and said I was the chief guest. They made me make a speech and I gave out prizes, I got a rose and a sweet pen out of the deal so it was ok though. So I went from not wanting to dance to chief guest and dancing till my feet were red, actually my feet were red and I had to walk some of the way home without sandals. When you are out of your comfort zone that is what defines you as a person so this experience was good for me even if I didn’t think so at the time.

The next day was a holiday so I slept in a little but my room heats up way too much in the morning to sleep in too long. It is really way to hot these days I hear this is the worst part of the year. Yesterday was a high of like 37 C and low of 24 C; the low is still too hot. This day I went to the burning of a huge wooden person called Ravana. Ravana is the enemy in the Hindu epic poem the Ramayana and is a dude with 10 heads or something like that. So to show the defeat of Ravana they have a huge play then at the end they burn the Ravana and he has fire crackers and such everywhere, it was pretty impressive. What was more impressive was how man people were there. I still can’t get over how many people live here. After the burning of the Ravana there was a massive speech of a political party that is huge in Maharashtra, I did not stay for that because I went out for dinner with my host family and because politics can be dangerous here. There were bus loads of people going to hear the speech that were all very patriotic and extreme. That political party in insane, I don’t want to judge them too harshly but they think everyone in Bombay should be Maharashtran or at least be able to speak Marathi and they are particularly against the North Indians from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar. I have heard of some of the things that the extremists do which include going up to cab drivers (who are generally from UP or Bihar) and asking them to speak Marathi if the cab drivers can’t then they will beat up the cab driver and the cab. Just yesterday extremist from the political party rioted at Railway examination centers where North Indians were taking examinations to work for the Railroad and prevented 6000 North Indians from taking the exam. They claimed inadequate representation of locals in the railroad industry as their justification for the riots. So there was just a speech, no riot, on the holiday but there was an insane police presence at the park where it was at. Like I said we went out for dinner that night, while we went out to the “suburbs” and while out there we locked the keys in the car so we needed to take the ½ hour dive back home in a cab and then take the other car to pick up the car with locked keys. Also the watchman at the building tried to pick our lock with a ruler which ended up breaking inside the gap between the window and door. I thought it was funny but others didn’t. Now we have half a ruler in our car door.

I will try to zip through the next few days because some people feel the blog is too long. I arranged volunteer work for myself at a NGO designed to uplift street children through sport and education, so I will probably start that pretty soon. There was a big Rotary meeting with the District Governor and I was to go there. I was out much of the day then I took a train to the closest station and proceeded to walk in the complete opposite direction of where I was supposed to be going. I ended up walking about 20 or more minutes in the wrong way and was just in the process of asking a cab driver where to go when the President’s wife pulled up in a cab and took me with her. It worked out well but I was still late. It is weird normally I would be worried about that stuff in Canada but here it is not that big of a deal. I know I will show up and guaranteed, even if you are an hour late, you won’t be the last one there. There was a birthday party for one of the exchange students I went to on the Saturday night. It was really fun. Next day I got up and did some volunteer work with a Rotaract club which entailed taking old people out who are in a Salvation Army old age home. So we gave them basics like toothpaste and soap then took them in a bus to a couple nice locations like a garden and a beach. It was weird because they all had western names like George and some had tattoos on their arms of crosses. I wanted to know their past but was unsure if they wanted to tell it because they may have been forced to change religions or names due to the Portuguese or British. It was good to see old people happy though. I played soccer the other day in the dirt. The next day I went to the planetarium and some art exhibits. In the last few days I also worked on Hindi, went to a travel museum, and went to a German movie (Sophie Scholl (spelling?)) with the Germans about some girl who was spreading information against Hitler and when she was caught and punished. It was in German with English sub titles but it was still powerful. Just a couple days ago I went to Bandra (nice shopping area). I didn’t buy anything but I had a memorable moment for the wrong reasons. I was in a Rickshaw and a eunuch came up and was asking for money then he/she saw us and was really weird. Of course I was closest to him/her so he/she was like I love you and touching my leg and stuff. It was terrible but where else could that happen other than Thailand I guess. Just a hint for the eunuch next time: if you want to be a girl try not to have facial hair. My host mom told me that if you are mean to them they may spit on you so I didn’t do anything but Jens was pretty angry at it. Also my host mom said that if you see a dead eunuch it is good luck. What is also weird is it is good luck to have a bird poop on your head. I find this funny what is good luck here would suck in Canada. Also in India you see people walking through the streets with a dead body sometimes (I’ve only seen 3) they are on a stretcher decorated with flowers and stuff, but if a eunuch dies then people just drag the eunuch standing up to their resting place. Like if you are helping someone off the sports field who just had a serious leg injury in both legs. I haven’t seen that and don’t think I will, the chances are low.

That is pretty much it for what I’ve been up to. The next post I will answer questions that people have posted in the comments section so if you want to ask a question you can this post.
Also I would like to wish my dad a Happy Birthday! Just so you know this is your gift, a blog entry.

Still loving every moment,
-Allen

Thank you for the comments

Just a little treat for everybody as I am happy that you commented.
If you didn't read the most recent entry scroll down.
The pictures on the last post were: a sunset on Marine Drive over the Arabian Sea, Chhatripati Shivaji Terminus (CST) a railway station on the central line, and Mahmadali road where we ate late at night where lots of Muslims go to break their fast after the sun sets.

No Time No desire but here it is

I keep procrastinating about blogging and not enough people are commenting but I have put it off too long.
This one will just be about what I have been up to lately.

This blog will date all the way back to September 20th when an exchange student from the USA left. It was his own wish to leave and I never figured out why but that is always a bad moment for any exchange student when another leaves. He was one of the only guys I could use my Canadian slang with and was a very likeable person.

On September 22nd I went to a birthday party of a girl who is in Roteract, which is like a Rotary for youth and they participate or arrange events that foster development mostly on a local level. So we went to Shivaji Park which is like a big open dirt field with some restaurants and such around it. She took us out for Frankie’s which are amazing, like the mix between a tortilla, a burrito, and a shwarma with great masala (spices). I actually figured out the other day that I gained some weight which isn’t great news because it is not muscle weight. Most of the weight I have gained is now hanging out in my belly, although I have only gained 2-3 Kg I feel very fat and should start exercising. I keep pulling my shirt up and looking at my belly and pulling at it. As you can imagine the party was not what you would happen at a 22 year olds party in Canada, we had Frankie’s then sat at Shivaji Park being pestered by beggars for about 10 minutes and were home by 10pm.

Lately we have been doing some touristy stuff as it is exam time and I don’t have to write the exams, so we have bought some tourist books and have seen some touristy things. The city doesn’t have all that much for tourists actually, it is more a city you have to experience rather than see. Some of the restaurants are the best in India and I feel the city is the most contradictory place ever as there is so much wealth but there is also so much poverty. You can see a beggar beside a Bentley (fancy car). The one museum we went to was not very good, some of the statues and such are decent, and the Chhatripati Shivaji Terminus (CST) has an amazing building but other than that we often times just sit on Marine Drive and watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea. Other things that we plan to do are go to the Planetarium, to a big mall, to a hill where you can see lots of Bombay, and to a water park. One thing that we did do that qualifies as a tourist attraction was go to this massive and famous market in south Bombay called Crawford Market. It was very crazy it was a vegetable and fruit market but also had many other types of food, clothes, electronics, bags, hookahs, and shoes in the surrounding area. It was kind of weird but amazing at the same time the there were also some weird things for sale like baby kittens in a box. I will go with an Indian guy next time so I can buy things without having a gypsy take advantage of me.

Speaking of parks last Friday 10 of the exchange students went to an amusement park, that is supposedly high tech but if that is high tech I would be very scared to go to the low tech park. The park had rides that you would expect at the Calgary Stampede fair grounds but it was still fun and great times. The security was not really an issue for me but this kind of park would never pass in Canada. For one there was a water ride that gave you these two loops of seatbelt material that you would just slide your respective arms through and it really didn’t restrain you in any way. There was nothing that clicked to guarantee your safety and you could easily slip out during the ride. As stated before the park was not extreme by any means but there were a few good rides (mostly the ones that got you dizzy) and it was fun. On the way to the park we had an adventure too the people we were supposed to be meeting were at the same station but a different part and we couldn’t find each other for a good 20 minutes. Then we were 6 and usually we have to take 2 Rickshaws (3 wheeled taxi) but the Rickshaw driver wanted extra money so all 6 of us piled into a rickshaw, which was an adventure. Obviously the rickshaw driver wanted way more than we ended up giving to him but we still ended up paying too much I think.

After our trip to Essel world I went to a 5 star hotel near the Airport with my host dad where the company my host uncle works for was signing an agreement to work together with a company from the UK. It was Ok but I felt really out of place with all the business men but what can you do. I was standing there in my sneakers and a short sleeved button up and men in suits were all around me. The food there was good too, as you would expect and there was an open bar.

Also in the past two weeks my host family took me to the road known as Mahmadali Road which was crazy. It is a food that has tons of restaurants and roadside joints that you can eat at and is typically where many Muslims go to break their fast in the evening as it was Ramadan so the Muslims can not eat during the daylight hours. The food was really good and we had some pretty weird things. Firstly we had amazing tandoori chicken, followed by excellent mutton in sauce, then liver, followed by goat brain. The brain was ok but it was really hard to get my head around what I was eating. For dessert we had a rice pudding and some really good really oily thing that was like a pancake deep fried but not crispy. As you can imagine (like anywhere else in Bombay) this place was packed it was on a road but no car even tried to go down the road as not even the people could walk comfortably. The food was amazing, the atmosphere electric and the experience was priceless, what more could I ask.

There are five German exchange students in Bombay and it was their national day on October 3rd so the German Consulate invited all the Germans registered including the exchange students to the most expensive hotel in Bombay and presumably the most expensive in India too. It is called the Taj Hotel and Palace and is where all the famous people who come here stay, John Lennon, the Queen etc... They got to eat German food and drink German beer which made me wish that Canada day could be changed to when I am still living here rather than July 1st.

Last Sunday I was taken out to the Cricket Club of India (CCI) by my second host parents (Jens’ host parents) where we played badminton, swam and had brunch it was a great time. It is here where I figured out I had gained weight. Something else about the club was how great the shower in the locker room was, some showers in India you don’t really know if water is falling on you or not because the water pressure isn’t great and most showers have a large bucket filled with water and a smaller bucket in it so you can pour water over your head, if that was not the case I would always have shampoo in my hair. The showers at houses are different than Canadian showers, you don’t really have a specific area for showering there is just a shower head sticking out of the middle of a wall in the bathroom and you just stand in the bathroom while everything around you gets soaked, it’s ok though because the bathroom is all tile and the is nothing that could really succumb to water damage. It is a little different though imagine just standing beside your toilet taking a shower. Back on topic, the shower at the CCI was amazing it was one of those ones that is directly above your head and the water pressure and temperature was perfection. I think Jens must have spent at least ½ an hour in the shower and I kinda wish I had too because the next day I was disappointed in the shower at my house.

After the CCI club was great because our (mine and Jens’) counselor took us our for a street food tour of Bombay. He really knows his food. First we went up to Juhu Beach and had Gola which is like ice shavings with really concentrated juice that you dip it in. We then hung out at Juhu a little and saw the weird things on the beach. I can’t believe what people are doing these days for money. There were these stalls that made you put on headphones then it told you your future and also like really cheap flying glowing discs. Also one of the funniest most bizarre things I’ve seen is when some boy was walking a monkey trying to sell “Monkey Dance” (I have no idea what this is) and the monkey he had on a leash snuck up a stole the ice cream a little girl (maybe 2 years old) was eating. The little girl was so surprised and her dad was very calm about the matter, usually when the monkey does something the person who owns it gets beaten up I’ve been told. But the monkey just sat there eating the ice cream like a human acting like he did nothing wrong. I was trying, unsuccessfully, to contain my laughter as this is so different but extraordinary at the same time. I guess I am amused easily if a monkey stealing ice cream makes my day but what ever. Oh ya the shower made my day too, I guess this was a pretty good day. After Juhu we went to Bandra (still north of where I live) and had tandoori fish and tandoori prawns, they were amazing and cheap. I am really grateful to have such a good counselor and host family that care for me. After that we went to a true roadside restaurant for more food, now this was an experience. When I say roadside I mean it, we were actually sitting on the road on stools with a metal table and newspaper as table cloth. The owner had to kick a stray dog so he could set the table down on the road, and if you think I’m kidding I’m not. We had some sausages of some sort, some butter chicken and liver. All these dishes were in great sauces, spiced well, and we ate them with bread. It was good and cheap and I would defiantly go back there just for the experience. As cheap I mean 5 cokes and 3 big dishes cost us $8.20 Canadian dollars or 340.00 Indian rupees. After that we got dessert at a bakery (cheese cake for me) and called it a night. It was really a very great day and I would love to do it again.

That is pretty much some of what I’ve been up to but I will inform you of a few other things too. I got my haircut on Wednesday that was pretty cool too, my choices of haircut were: short, medium or long, I went with the short. It wasn’t that bad of a haircut actually but the guy cut my prize winning sideburns without asking. The shape of the cut was pretty nice though and I can work with it a little. He also asked if I wanted a shave (straight razor of course) and a head massage but I declined. I now wish I had done both the shave and the head massage. I saw the guy ahead of me get a head massage and it looked cool but I had no idea of the price and may have been gyped. For the head massage the guy took a vibrating machine and put it on the back of his hand while he rubbed the head. I will definitely do that next time.

I also attended a Rotary function where we acknowledged senior citizens, and there was one guy who was 100 years old. It was interesting and the tea was good but I was kinda really bored so Anil and I left.

I think that is most of what I’ve been up to, I am trying to start drum classes soon and do some volunteer work but I have been saying that for the past month so I may actually show some initiative this week.

Always remember to comment because it really helps me out.

-Allen