Mumbai Madness

So I didn't realize I hadn't updated my blog in over a week. I don't feel busy...but clearly I am neglectful nevertheless. So what has happened in the last 10 or so days...in Mumbai worlds have been created and destroyed somewhere in this giant city. My world is far less dramatic.

School started. I can't remember if I said that in a previous post, and I am too lazy to go back and check LOL. So this is my first year teaching elementary to of course I was terrified! Why? I actually am not sure, I have been teaching for 5 years, but something about teaching small lil' ones, made me nervous. I have a demeanor that can be described as brash and off-putting, the last thing I want to do is say something sarcastic that my middle schoolers totally understand and make one of these little kids cry!!! Thankfully, I haven't and and currently still employed YAY Also, little kids like hugs and all that, and as my previous students can ALL tell you, I'd prefer a good fist bump to a hug. But again, I am adjusting, besides little kids enjoy fist bumps, crisis over! Adjusting to a new curriculum, faculty, team, grade level, student body, culture all of it has been hard. These last two weeks have taken to ALL the way to a place called THERE. There were some days all I had the energy to do was walk home and lay on my couch. I'm getting there. Hopefully in a month or so I will have far less questions and feel more settled.

I have been learning the city more. I actually bought BACON last week!!!! REAL BACON...FROM A PIG!!!! Yeah yeah I know for my readers...you are unimpressed. Well let me tell you, after seeing lamb bacon and chicken ham, and turkey salami....finding real bacon was like finding gold. I ate it in two days LOL LOL, I haven't had time to go back to the meat store and get more. Finding food and knowing what I can and cannot eat is a real process. I have to wash all of my fruits and veggies before consumption with filtered water and a special wash, but I am forbidden from eating lettuce ANYWHERE. I think it boils down to having more places for the bacteria to hide...yeah gross I know. I've been cooking more this week. I made some banging pasta this week. It's weird because every time I bring my leftovers to work people ask if my housekeeper cooked it. In America NO ONE would assume anyone was cooking for me. Then when I say no I made it, they look at me as if I have two heads!!! I may not wash the dishes I cooked my meal with...but I am perfectly capable of cooking said meal! LOL LOL

I will have to do a post about transportation here in Mumbai soon...may take more than one post bc y'all won't believe some of the stuff that goes on when I am in public transportation. I don't think I have ever prayed so much...nothing like being afraid for your life and everyone else's on the road to make you turn to the Lord! LOL I may have to record a video because SERIOUSLY...it's unreal.

I may be hiring a driver this week...the struggle is real LOL LOL I should start apologizing in advance for how straight up uppity I may be when I come for a visit in December LOL...I'm sorry

QUIET....where does one find it

So...Mumbai is a loud place. Everywhere is loud...for no reason "some" may say. I may be "some". I have been here almost 3 weeks and am trying to cope with the endless noise. Here are some examples.  My apartment faces a mosque, more to the point...my bedroom does. So I have to pleasure of hearing the call to prayer blasted on loud speakers everyday at 5am. I am actually getting used to it, and by that I mean that I am starting to get better at being startled awake and then being able to tune it out and go back to sleep. Before I came I bought two types of ear plugs...the call of prayer is louder than both sets are reported to block, but I digress. So I am getting used to the 5am CTP, it kind of lets me know, oh you have to get up in an hour...except on weekends. Depending on the way the wind is blowing, forgive me my ignorance, there may be more CTP's and they may be louder and they may last longer. Again, I am getting used to them, but the inconsistency makes it hard to predict when one is and how long it may last. Let me not call it inconsistency, I'm sure THEY know it's coming LOL. I read in the paper that it's illegal to have the loud speakers on the mosques that are close to hospitals. Out of the same window that I see the mosque, I see the hospital. Apparently no one has reported this particular offense.

As I am writing this a cat is in what sounds like a cage match outside in the courtyard, some nights it's a literal dog fight. As the dogs run wild...this is a normal occurrence. This weekend is India's independence day weekend, so there were ceremony's, speeches, parties, kids running and yelling all through the building. But let me be clear...even without it, the noise would still be there, the holiday just makes it justifiable. The sheer number of people makes it impossible for the city to EVER be quiet. Oh wait the neighbors just slammed their door and there is a young child shouting in the hallway. Pigeons are roosting above the air-conditioners in the spare bedrooms, they got in a fight earlier today...that was interesting,  and from my bathroom I can hear the hospital guard coughing. 

Mumbai is a place where the noise never stops...I suppose I have to find a way to at least tune some of it out. 

Weekend in a nutshell

FRIDAY:

The school scheduled a scavenger hunt for us....no one wanted to do it. We all complained about how much extra time this would take, and how it was taking us away from our classrooms. We DID NOT want to go...well we were wrong. I think so anyway.

I had a blast. I got to see parts of Mumbai that I haven't had the chance to see so far. I also got to experience Mumbai in a new way. I may have lost a few hours in my room, but it was time well spent.

SATURDAY

Well...the school is done providing transportation for us, that's a bummer. The good news is that I found a cab company that lets you rent by the hour. So myself and a coworker went off to the mall...my favorite type of outing to do some shopping. There is nothing like a mall, even in a foreign country to really make you feel normal. Although people stare at you, you still feel almost like you are at home. We went to several home stores to try and find more knick knacks to fill our apartments. Our visions for our apartment differed though. My co-worker says hat she wants her apartment to have an Indian flair. I do not have the same sentiment. I want my apartment to feel like home. I want it to feel familiar to me, and that means not conforming my style to fit the country that I am in. So with that in mind here are some items I got. 

Looking a little more like home!

How my housekeeper made me realize I am a lazy lazy person

So as I said...I hired a housekeeper. I hired this person to do what I am perfectly capable of doing...because I, in a week, have convinced myself that it is my civic and expat duty, to hire someone to take care of my home. I have some guilt associated with decision, I mean, who at 29 with a fully functioning body, no kids, no real responsibilities NEEDS a housekeeper!?!?! But I digress. I gave in and got one and I will have this guilt to process later. Let's talk about the new guilt. This guilt I discovered today comes from the fact that I may LIKE having a housekeeper!!! So today was Maggie's first day.

I left Maggie this note:

So let me preface the remainder of this story with this tidbit of information. Maggie only works for me 3 hours a day. She gets in at 10 and leaves at 1 to go to a co-workers apartment. In leaving the note, I imagined that Maggie would come, take the money that I left, go shopping, drop off her products and go. I said, don't worry about cleaning right!?!? I mean, I have been here a week and haven't even unpacked any bags!!!! It's raining, she doesn't know my neighborhood, I NEVER THOUGHT Maggie would do any work today.

I came home and simultaneously wanted to give Maggie a raise and examine what kind of person am I that in 3 hours, this lady managed to do what I hadn't even begun to do.
When I walked in, I noticed my dining room table was cleaned off. I said, "oh, she didn't need to do that but she probably did it before she left." I noticed my shoes by the door were organized...the couch cleaned off. As I went through my apartment...I became more shocked...and ashamed LOL

Maggie went to the store, in the monsoon rains, in a new neighborhood she doesn't know. Maggie brought me back my change and her products with a receipt...which is hard to come by in certain stores here in India. She cleaned the living room and dining room. She washed my dishes, organized the crap I left on the counter. She UNPACKED AND ORGANIZED 4 out of 5 of my suitcases!!! SHE FOLDED MY CLOTHES, ORGANIZED MY CLOSET!!! YA'LL SHE PUT CLEAN SHEETS ON MY BED AND MY NEW DUVET COVER. In 3 SMALL hours this lady has done more than I even pretended to do. I was so overjoyed...I went and laid down on my clean bed and took a 6 hour nap...I'm a work in progress...don't judge me! LOL

A little quiet would be nice

Mumbai has a tendency to overwhelm. There are people everywhere, there are cars everywhere, there are bugs, animals, smells, noises...EVERYWHERE!!!! Most times it's hard to hear yourself think. As helpful as everyone is, sometimes I just need to unplug and be alone. I realized yesterday that I haven't had time to just relax since I arrived on Tuesday. I am either on my way somewhere, completing a task, going to an office, filling out a form...there hasn't been the opportunity to just stop and be in Mumbai. I know I will have plenty of time to get to know the city and all it has to offer over the course of these two years, and from what I have seen so far, there will be plenty of great things to experience.

Here are a few pictures of the parts of Mumbai I was able to capture today

Today my friend and I are interviewing for a housekeeper. HOUSEKEEPER!!! When everyone talked about getting one before I got here, I said to myself, it seems pointless and lazy. I have lived as an adult now for over 8 years and never needed a housekeeper. I have managed to keep myself alive without the need for another adult to call me ma'am and pick up after me...but I seem to have given in. One main reason I have allowed myself to do this is the food. Apparently if I don't properly clean my food, I end up with relentless diarrhea :/ of ALL of the things that I want to experience in India...the Bombay Belly, as inevitable as it will be, is on the bottom of the list. So if I can get someone who can do some basic quick food prep a few times a week so I can avoid the "death" I'll do it LOL. Plus I hate doing laundry and ironing...soooo she can do that too. Never fear, I haven't become uppity enough to justify getting a driver....yet :)