India!  More like: Mumbai!   I have been waiting for this for over a year since Micah first mentioned to me that his company will be sending him there.  For the past 2 or 3 months, every twentieth sentence included the word India.  Come to the past 2 weeks and that was reduced to every third sentence.

This is my first international trip.  Unlike what Nordstrom Visa thinks, Puerto Rico does not count.  (They attempted to charge me fees while I was there, the nerve!)  Many people were impressed that the first overseas trip that I am taking is to Mumbai.  I have never even been to Canada or Mexico!  However, I have lived in major cities like Boston and New York City.  Not the suburbs mind you, in the city proper, including Manhattan.  That is an important distinction which I will get to later.

The longest flight I have ever been on was a 12 hour flight to Hawaii from NYC with a stop-over in Dallas.  The first leg was not bad but the second leg was horrible.  The seats were so uncomfortable that I wanted a back and bum transplant straight away!

The Mumbai flight started at 7:30 pm (EST) on October 31, 2014 at Newark Airport and ended at 23:14 (IST: Indian Standard Time for those who are familiar) on November 1, 2014.  It was probably a total of 20 hours with a two and a half hour layover in Brussels.

On arrival to Newark, we were treated like rock stars by Jet Airways.  My husband was flying Premiere Class and I was in Economy.  (His company paid for his ticket.)  They gave me upgrades immediately including: Priority Boarding, Priority Security Check-in, Priority Luggage Pick-up in Mumbai, and access to the Virgin Club Lounge.  Nice!

We hung out in the lounge until we had to board the flight.  Boarding was smooth.  No Southwest cattle-style drives here.  My seat partner was absolutely lovely!  She was born and raised in Mumbai and was telling me a little about the customs.  She thought my project was needed which was nice.  She was also helping me with my Hindi.  I learned the customary phrases (with hand movements) and then tested myself on the Berlitz program on the back of the plane seat in front of me.  Yes, they had Berlitz!  I was so excited!

My seat mate’s experience in the US was interesting.  She stayed in NYC and Minneapolis and said that Minneapolis was very jarring.  She could not believe how slow the pace was and that people actually knew how to drive.  NYC, she said, is a lot like Mumbai.  I will have to see for myself.

The movie I watched was a Bollywood film called the “3 Idiots.”  I highly recommend it (especially for you education and engineering folk) and will be on the lookout for it in Bombay.  (Yes, many people still call Mumbai Bombay.)  It is a comedy and the main characters kissed at the end.  (It is unusual to see any sexual contact on a Bollywood film.  Normally, the characters will get to that point and then break into song and dance.)  It was made in 2009 and was very popular in India.

Not much English was spoken on the plane.  I was immersed in 4 dominant languages: Hindi, French, Dutch, and German.  You would have never known that children were on the flight.  They were quiet and busy with their projects at their seats.  Yes, we were the minority on this flight.  Instructions were give in three languages.  The crew were all multi-lingual which made me feel real inadequate.

The plane quickly landed in Brussels.  All of the blonds passed through immigration and only the brunettes were left in the terminal side of security to wait for the plane to be cleaned so that we could continue on our journey to Mumbai.  I was so excited.  I remember applying for a job as a school teacher there in 2007 in an international school.  I got a phone interview but nothing more.  Terminal B is nothing to write home about but I will describe it to you in a few sentences anyway.

Boring!  I was expecting lavish shops and better chocolates to be sold in the Duty Free store.  I could get all of this in NYC.  Security was also high.  Micah’s bag set off the store detector and it took a 5 minute search to see that there was nothing in it from the store.  The nice thing was that most of the stores took USD and they did not charge you an extra fee for the exchange rate.  We got back EUR from USD purchases.  Another disappointing thing was that the only large coffee shop was a Starbucks!  Starbucks?  I wanted out of America not back in it!  Boy it was full too.  Oh well.  Thanks for contributing to the US economy folks.

The next leg was a seat change for me because I wanted an aisle seat.  Insert much needed but not received bum and back transplants.  To distract myself, I played “Ticket to Ride” on my iPad and “Bejeweled 2” on the back of the seat.  “Bejeweled 2” does not float my boat.

My seat mate was also Indian but was male.  There was not much verbal exchange because he was middle aged.  According to my Indian customs book, Indian men tend not to interact with women they do not know or are not in business with and I was not offended.

I was treated well on the plane getting additional food and treats from the staff.  I found out later that they thought I was an ex-Pat because I was wearing traditional Indian clothing.

The bathrooms on the plane were immaculate for the entire trip.  I guess I have a fascination because women’s bathrooms in the US tend to be disgusting in public places.

Micah’s plane experience was different than mine.  He was served first class food, could stretch out horizontally and sleep, and was given pajamas!  Jealous!  However, no one talked to each other.  I would gladly have the back pain for stimulating conversation with other people.  I wonder if this is a parallel to the social statuses in Mumbai.

Before you ask, why was I in Economy and Micah in Premiere, remember that Micah’s company paid for his trip.  We had to pay for my airline ticket.  Micah’s was $8000 roundtrip and mine was $1500 roundtrip.  We would get there at the same time and in a very slightly different manner (accommodation-wise only).  Hmmm.  You do the math.  Apparently, this arrangement is popular and was the reason why I received all of Micah’s perks.

We finally landed!  It was one LONG walk to immigration.  I live in Manhattan and love to walk so trust me when I say that it was LONG.  Micah and I were escorted on a golf cart.  The airport is gorgeous!  The public art along the walls is something to be mentioned.  I wish I would have had my camera out.  I will try to take pictures on my way back.  Some of it was politically charged as in the slum and pollution problems that Mumbai suffers from.  It was done in a tasteful and artistic fashion.

BTW…yes, I said slums.  I am not condemning.  The people of Mumbai call it that too.  Watch YouTube.

Immigration and customs were a breeze as was luggage collection.  Our driver was waiting for us.  We stepped outside the doors and smoke hit us in the face.  So the Weather Channel was not lying!  When it says 96 degrees Fahrenheit and Smoke for the forecast, they are not kidding.  So this is what pollution is like.  No, NYC is not polluted like this!  It was surreal.  The smell was not as bad as I was expecting.  I have a keen sense of smell too, like a Bloodhound.

It is about 00:01 at this point.  The light pollution was high but nothing to record on the camera.  There are plenty of YouTube videos that you can see about that.  I was not expecting the copious amount of palm trees lining the highway.  They soon gave way to a scene that looked like a cross between the Bronx and LA.  Old and new.  Shabby and wealthy.  The highway was almost pothole free, much better than the BQE where you can get whiplash.

We turned into the hotel and our car was searched via post-9/11 standards where the airports were doing this for a while .  They looked under the hood and in the trunk and scanned the van with a wand.  The security was hired by the hotel.  We passed through the gates and proceeded up a long, winding road to the Westin.  We were to do nothing.  Everything was handled by the staff.  We passed through a metal detector and checked in.

I did not eat since we left Belgium more than a half a day ago.  The food in the “luggage class” was horrible.  Even the native Indians did not eat it sending it back and calling it crap.  That made me feel better.  It was not me and my aversion to spicy food.  I also learned that Indians are very particular about their vegetarian diets and get a little spicy if served something non-vegetarian.

There was a 24 hour restaurant open in our hotel.  It is 3:00 at this point (I switched to non-US time just so you know).  I was surprised to see beef burger on the menu and had to order it!  Wow!  A beef product in Mumbai?  I questioned it and our server looked away bashfully.  It was OK.  Then I was worried that I was going to have a stomach issue for eating fried food so late before bed.  No.  It must be a NYC and Baltimore issue where they do not change the oil.  I have yet to have any indigestion problems so far knock on wood.  No Delhi Belly yet.

I fell asleep straight away having only taking a couple of naps on the plane.  I did not suffer from jet lag at all.  It also helps that I have loads of trouble sleeping anyway so I feel quite normal!

On Sunday, we had a wonderful brunch buffet and headed out to do a little sight-seeing and shopping with our hired driver.  He was excellent!

The shop keepers treated us well and the treatment that we received in Jackson Heights was identical in Bombay: first class all the way including food and drink offered on a tray as you shopped!  Is this normal?  I must ask.  I thought by dressing as an American tourist (shirt with sleeves, jeans, and shoes) that the store keepers would ignore us.  No sense in that!  We were wined, dined, and hounded.  No, I do not want the $2000 ring.  Yes, I know that you will not charge us taxes or fees on our credit card but I can get this type of ring in the US.

I guess it helped that I used all 20 Hindi words that I know.  I enjoyed listening to the workers speak in Hindi.  There are so many cognates thanks to the British occupation that I could understand tiny bits of their conversations.  The Latin in Spanish also helped since there are Portuguese words and influences from when they occupied Mumbai a few hundred years ago.  Reading Hindi script?  Probably not in this lifetime for me.  It is pretty to look at though.  The shop keepers also helped me with my Hindi while we waited for things to be brought to us.

(A side thought: for some reason, I keep translating everything I hear into Spanish and spoke in Spanish a couple of times.  What is wrong with me?  Wait, don’t answer that.)

The fashions are gorgeous!  The magpie in me was salivating but I kept it under control.  I am having a skirt and shirt made to me.  More in the Fashion section of India blog.

Of course, the bathroom photos that I posted on Facebook were taken in one of the shops.  What got me about the photos was not the actual toilet but the use of the words “Indian Restroom” and “Western Restroom.”  If perceived incorrectly and looked at very quickly from just the door signs, it could remind (especially) an American of “White Restroom” and “Colored Restroom.”  No, it was just the type of toilet system.  I am out to lunch on what I think of the “gravity toilet.”  No, I did not try it as the next available restroom was the “Western Restroom” and I did not “save any” for the “Indian Restroom.”  I did wait in line to take its picture.

Back at the hotel, I found out that there are no pharmaceutical products sold.  There is a short path to the mall.  Crossing the street is like playing Frogger.  Again, the heightened security through metal detectors to gain entrance.  We emerged from the hallways and entered the mall.  It was warm.  I looked to the left and found McDonald’s.  Yes, I had to have it.  Please see the attached picture.  The portion sizes are small.  There are no medium and large sizes.  I have been eating so much less and not missing it at all on this trip.  Of course, no beef or beef products are served.  The french fries were good but the chicken nuggets were soggy.  There was no sweet and sour sauce either as the guy looked at me like I was an alien for asking for it.  I tried three different sets of words but none were successful.  We shared the table with another couple.  Table sharing is the culture in this country.

Man was the mall crowded but well-managed with a rhythm that flowed.  The service was quick and accurate.  English was spoken with great clarity.  Security in the mall was also high.  I am wondering if this had anything to do with the Taj bombing a few years ago.

I was looking for better shampoo and conditioner which I found at the body shop.  Whoa!  High prices for that and wonderful quality to justify it.  It is much better than the hotel shampoo and conditioners.  I am not spending 22 days using that crap.

I went straight to work and made it my duty to start the blogs the next day.  I had loads of emails to write and phone calls to respond to.

I was excited when I got a text from the president of Mehli Mehta, one of the non-profit music organizations that I will be observing.  She wanted me to play the clarinet for a couple of minutes to help the kids take their nap.  Mozart Clarinet Concerto No. 2, second movement will be used for that task.  I wish, wish, wish I could record it but the permissions were not obtained.  I had to go easy on asking for permissions for recording.  I will be recording that organization next week and hopefully will be able to repeat it again.

Thanks to my husband’s wonderful co-workers, I was able to easily obtain a SIM card which makes calling in India so much easier and much cheaper.  I was also invited to dinner with one of them on Tuesday night at his house!  I am so excited!

In general, people are dressed in a conservative manner.  Please see my FashionBlog  section for more of this.

Did I mention how polite everyone is?  It is a little jarring.  I am used to the entitlement culture in the US.  Yes, it is that big of a difference and you need to visit Mumbai to see for yourself.  Everything is “Yes, Ma’am, no ma’am.  Please let me get that for you ma’am.”  Whoa!  I wonder after being in the US for so long, if I could actually get used to this.  However, if I did not seem to be a rich American, would I get this treatment?  I would tend to think yes but I am not sure.

British chick lit(erature) also helped me with my transition.  I use British idioms a lot in Mumbai. The way people say no and yes is completely different.  They mean what they mean but are used in a Indian-British way.  It is hard to describe.  I will refer to you my Indian culture book later.

I tend to do well with understanding non-American accents so that is not a problem for me.  I love the Mumbai accent.  It is a musical variation of the British accent.  Both are pleasing to the ear.

One last comment, even though security is high, it is not annoying like it is in places in the US where security is high.  They are efficient.  I cannot comment if it is more effective though.

I am getting errors for uploading photos.  When Micah comes back, they will be uploaded.

Off to my first preliminary interview/visitation.