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| Celebrating Holi with ALL the colors! |
- Different does not mean better, it means different. It means unique, interesting and utterly awesome.
- I need to go back to Mumbai.
- I love Indian food.
For some reason, it seems that 'different' conotates negative feelings.
I have something to say, I like differences.
I like idiosyncrasies (in fact I really like that word) because they mean different views of the world and interesting people, places and things. As I have said multiple times to anyone and everyone that visits my apartment, I challenge you to find something in there that I cannot tell you a story about. First of all, this is impossible because I will simply make up a story / tell you my thoughts on said object. Second of all, I love collecting different and unique things because they represent a different way to experience the world other than my own, thus I will have a story to tell you about anything in my apartment. This week I experienced many 'differences' and could not help but be amazed and thrilled to experience a different culture other than my own.
This weekend we went to Mumbai and I cannot tell you how much I loved it. I loved all the crowds. I loved all the people. And yes, I even loved all of the sounds, smells, and the sticky weather,which actually was not that bad at all! It was actually quite nice!We started our journey through Mumbai bright and early at the airport and then proceeded to make our way to the Gateway of India, which I was really excited to see since, as many of you know, imperialism, and how it still affects us all, fascinates me.
The Gateway of India was built when Mumbai was still Bombay and it overlooks the Arabian Sea, and was built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary when they visited in 1911. This point served to allow entry and access to India.
While at the Gateway, I got my wish. My wish that is to get a bracelet in India! There were several priests walking around that would tie the bracelet around your wrist and put a dot of color on your forehead. To the best of my knowledge this means good luck and blessings of some sort.
We spent the rest of our day bouncing around the city and also visited the Taj Mahal Hotel which reminded me of Cesar's Palace in Vegas as it had many high-end shops inside. I could not help but be amazed by the grandeur of the building and subsequently, the architecture in Mumbai as a whole.
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| A staircase inside the Taj Mahal Hotel |
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| Some more beautiful architecture in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai and the High Court looked like Hogwarts! |
The next day we took a ferry to Elephanta Island where there were ancient caves that took over a thousand years to build! Many of the stone structures reminded me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. It was a nice respite to be able to go into the caves as it was very hot outside!
Walking through Elephanta Island, our tour guide walked us through one of the villages on the island and I was reminded of Mykonos, where the buildings are built so close together and with so many colors.
(This photo is not the best example of this...)
Oh yes, I almost forgot, there were so many monkeys on the island, but they were not the friendly monkeys you see in the movies. These monkeys growled and you were a very stupid person indeed if you carried food out in the open.
No trip to India would be complete without a stop at a bazaar and a spice stand. I did not want my trip to India to be incomplete, so I smelled many spices and settled with buying some Darjeeling tea as well as Indian chai and masala. I know, I know, I am a tea freak... Also, Dad, you would be very proud of me, I haggled down the price of the teas from 1700 to 1000 rupees. Yes, that might have been too much, but I was happy to pay a little extra for Indian tea. :) I will be sure to get some more spices before I go.
Leaving Mumbai was very bittersweet as I missed Hyderabad and the Lemon Tree Hotel, but I would miss Mumbai and its certain 'je ne sais quoi' as well.
This week we celebrated Holi in the office and I got to wear my saree that I purchased for the Indian wedding I will be going to in May. And let me tell you, it takes practice to wear a saree without tripping over it or letting it fall loose. It is basically a long length of fabric and it took two people to help me put it on in 20 minutes, but it was well worth it.
On the actual day of Holi I took a short break from work to join in the festivities and throw colors at the hotel staff and my fellow analysts. We had a ton of fun getting colors smeared into our hair and clothes. I think this is a holiday that I should bring back to the States with me and celebrate next year :)
Also, I think that this needs to be noted. I had THE BEST crab ever in Mumbai. I was searching all around me to see if there were any little bits of crab meat left over. I can assure you that there were none. They were smothered in this delicious buttery garlic yumminess and I think they deserve a shout out. hank you Mahesh Lunch House for the best crab in the entire world!
Thank you for reading my blog this week. I challenge you to find the awesomeness in idiosyncrasies before I write again next Thursday!
