Ups and Downs

Life went from being very predictable to very spontaneous in a matter of days. I haven’t written a blog in three weeks, mainly because of the predictability aspect of my life. I would wake up every day at 8, shower, get ready for work, take a rickshaw to the office for 8 rupees, have breakfast at the office, do a little work, have lunch at the office, do more work, then head to the gym, then my bosses house for dinner before returning home to shower and go to bed. My life went like this almost every day from Monday to Sunday. While there was the occasional adventure, they weren’t anything super exciting. As such, it didn’t seem interesting to read or write, a blog post about my groundhog day-esque life.

I am spending the fall semester abroad in Milan, Italy. As such, I had to get my Italian visa while I was in Mumbai. I dropped my passport off during my first week in India, and it was supposed to be a three-week process, meaning I would get my passport back at the beginning of August. Based on this timeline, I decided to go visit my friend Nadia, who is studying in Sydney, at the end of August. I bought my tickets and then began to plan travel beforehand to the Golden Triangle (Jaipur, Agra and New Delhi) as well as Chennai, India. As time passed, there was still no word on my passport. I would contact the consulate and I wouldn’t get a response. They were unable to be called and hadn’t contacted me to check for any problems. I was confused, worried and frustrated.

I had planned to set off for the golden triangle on Sunday, August 12^th. That day came and passed, with no passport in hand. I cancelled my hotels and all of my plans, with the hope that I would get my passport during the following week and I could fly to Chennai, India on Sunday, August 19^th. This day also came and passed. It was beginning to look very unlikely that I would make it to Sydney. Then, after some pressure that my boss and his colleagues applied, my passport was done, with a visa, on Tuesday, August 21^st. I went and picked it up immediately and then caught a flight that afternoon to Chennai.

The cousin of one of my best friends at GW was getting married in Chennai, and I was invited down for the ceremony. I landed in Chennai at 8 PM on Tuesday night, and got to meet her whole family. Everyone in India is super friendly and welcoming, and I instantly felt comfortable. We hung out for the night and I got to meet more of her maternal relatives in one night than I have total relatives.

The next day, I got up and attended an engagement ceremony in the morning. This is simply done based on precedence. The engagement has already occurred, but it is traditional to do this again before the wedding. That night, I got to wear a Kurti and attend the reception. This happens before the actual marriage ceremony. All few hundred of the guests in attendance got to meet and congratulate the couple and enjoy a dinner. The actual wedding was the next day, but unfortunately because of a communications error, I bought my flight from Chennai a day earlier than I should have. As such, I headed to the airport at about 10 PM that night. I had a 1:00 AM flight to Singapore.

I got about 2 hours’ worth of sleep and then landed in Singapore at 8 AM. I had an 18-hour layover there and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to explore the city/country. I started by taking the metro to Tiong Bahru, a historic neighborhood with art-deco architecture. I walked around for a little while and found an awesome bakery. I never thought I would be so happy to have an almond croissant and a cappuccino. I then walked around for a few hours before going to Gardens by the Bay to explore the elevated walkway through the artificial tree forest. It was super neat, despite the blazing sun.

I then went up to Ce La Vi, a bar on top of Marina Bay Sands, to grab a drink. From the outside deck, you could see for miles (I think I even spotted Malaysia). The drink was fine, but the view made it all worth it.

 

           

Following this, I grabbed some bubble tea and Char Sui (Roast pork with rice). The food was delicious and reminded me of my time in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

After lunch, I went to the National Museum of Singapore to learn about the country’s history from tribal land to a British colony to a Japanese held territory to its current state as an independent, culturally rich, economically booming country. It was very fascinating, and they even gave me a student discount, despite the fact that I don’t attend school in Singapore (Score!!).

Later that night, I met up with a friend from GW who is working for a real estate development company in Singapore. We went to a restaurant called Red House to get some Singaporean specialties. We had chili crab along with prawns, pepper beef, tofu, and crispy chicken. It was so much food but it helped Singapore live up to its reputation as being one of the best food cities in the world.

 

I headed back to the airport at 10 and showered before heading down to the gate. On my way, I found a store selling Reese’s peanut butter cups, which is something I have been looking for for months with no luck. I bought 6 packs and boarded my flight happier than could be at 3:00 AM.

I got about 4 hours of sleep on the plane before landing in Sydney at 12:00 PM. My friend Nadia picked me up from the aiport and we went to get burgers for lunch. Beef is banned in India, and so I had been craving a real burger for months. We then explore the area around the opera house and the harbor bridge before going out to a bar for one of her friends’ birthdays.

On Saturday, we went to an outdoor market in the neighborhood of Gleeb. I got a leather bracelet and checked out an excessive amount of vintage clothing. We then grabbed some Asian food and boba before heading home to relax for a little. That night, we went to an Australian football game. It was the final match of the season and had over 50,000 people in attendance. Despite the name, the game is similar to rugby, and was very exciting. Unfortunately Sydney lost, but it was still an exciting time.

Sunday, was my birthday, and Nadia had planned a pretty exciting day. She invited a few people I knew from GW to have brunch with us (this was a surprise to me) and so we spent about two hours together, enjoying bottomless mimosas and belinis. After brunch, we took the bus to Manly beach. We grabbed some bread and cheese and then walked along the coast until we found some nice rocks to sit on and enjoy watching the surfers. After a few hours, we headed back to downtown Sydney via the ferry, which took us right past the Sydney Opera House. We then walked around for a little before having dinner at The Apollo, a delicious Greek restaurant - it was the best meal I have had in months.

I did not expect to get my passport back and make it to Australia, but in a matter of a week things changed drastically and I am now sitting in one of the coolest cities in the world. Sydney is incredibly laid back and perfectly blends Asian and western culture. I’m so glad I made it here and am very happy that I got to ring in 20 in such a neat place.

10 Observations of India

I have now been in India for a month. The time has really flown by despite working 8 ½ hour days, 6 days a week. I came in with very little expectations, and while I have struggled at times to find the positive, I am glad that I decided to come here. As such, I am going to share some of my thoughts and observations I have observed.

1.     Indian people are incredibly hospitable. If I want to go to downtown Mumbai, my office always insists on sending someone with me to help. If there is anything I need, someone will help me to get it, or find a way to satisfy my need. They always offer coffee or tea, all out of kindness.

2.     The architecture in Mumbai is incredible. From brand new buildings to historical remnants of British colonialism, the structures in Mumbai are gorgeous. Some incorporate traditional Indian architecture while others represent the modern world that India is very much a part of. Preservation efforts appear to be taking place to retain the beauty in some of the museums, train stations, and old police stations.

3.     Cows are sacred and will often be given nicer living conditions than some of the people living in Mumbai. On my morning walk to work from the train station, there is a cow that lives on the road, and people will pay her owner to pet her and feed her. It is said to bring you good luck.

4.     Religion is a major part of life. I have been in several countries where religion is very common, but none to the same extent as India. For example, my boss and his family make a pilgrimage to a temple in Northern India four times a year. It requires a four-hour flight and they spend 4 or 5 days there worshipping. Many people perform an hour-long ceremony every night before eating dinner. All rooms will have a picture of Ganesh or another god. All elements of life revolve around religion (mainly Hinduism).

5.     Timeliness does not exist. And it doesn’t need to. When someone says that they will meet with you in 10 minutes, that really means that they will see you in an hour. This is rather frustrating to me, but the whole society just functions around it.

6.     Rickshaws solve the last mile problem. While in cities like Shanghai, people rely heavily on bikes to get from the metro to their destination, in Mumbai, people take rickshaws. They will usually cost less than $1 to get you to your destinations and are able to go down alleyways that cars can not fit in, allowing them to be faster than a taxi.

7.     Walking is very difficult. While the physical act of doing it isn’t difficult, finding a place to do it is. Many of the sidewalks are full of construction or merchants attempting to sell fruit or vegetables. It isn’t realistic to expect to walk to your destination without having to spend part of your walk in the street or avoiding stepping on someone’s produce.

8.     The wealth gap in Mumbai is astonishing. There are slums in Mumbai with over a million residents that sit juxtaposed with the world’s most expensive house; a 27 story, 600,000 square foot, $1 billion skyscraper that houses 4 people and their staff of 300. Mumbai is one of the ten richest cities by GDP, yet this is very hard to tell.

9.    The train must be avoided during rush hour. Mumbai has the fourth busiest metro system in the world, and it transports over 7 million people each day. If you travel on it between 7:00 and 10:30 AM or 3:00 and 8:00 PM, expect to have a pretty uncomfortable experience. People push and shove to get a standing spot on the train. Yesterday I was standing on the train is a space that was no larger than 75 square feet, sharing that space with 48 other people. I found a bruise on my chest later that night from having the buckle on my backpack being pressed against my body for so long.

10.  Indians have stomachs of steel. I wake up every morning with a sharp pain in my stomach, inevitably caused by something that I ate. I avoid street food, drinking anything that doesn’t come from a bottle, and eating at restaurants that don’t seem very clean, yet I am always sick. Indians will drink tea that they get from a vendor on the side of the road and never have an issue. It’s pretty impressive.

While India is very different than anywhere I have been to in the last 5 years, it is a constant surprise. I never know what to expect with any given day. While that can be frustrating, it also fun as I am living in a constant adventure.