First Mosquito Encounter

So I have to admit that I was much more frightened of bugs than I needed to be prior to my arrival. I had it in my mind that every night would be a bug-war. Me putting on Deet, climbing under my mosquito net, swatting till I was sore and wishing I had a penny for every bite. I have not been bitten, even once. Our room is bug free and we are not using our nets and very minimal spray.

However, yesterday Jeni and I fell into deep sleep around 4 in the afternoon due to heat, beer at lunch and the fact that it was 3 am west coast, 6 am east coast. We slept hard until 2 am India time. We have been wide awake since, listening and dancing on our beds to Indian MTV (go MC Hammer), eating snacks (thanks Mom!), reading (yawn), checking out the first monsoon and waiting impatiently until we can go get some real grub. At around 5 am Jeni spotted a flying bug. After Rambo style stalking, I discovered it was in fact a nasty mosquito. I know I promised Kelly no "Warrior Princess," but this was a challenge I could not resist… I was about to resort to throwing my teddy bear hard against the very high ceiling where he was taunting me when I ended up nailing the sucker with my book, mid air. I then had to hunker around the room like a proud warrior!

To answer some of my Mom's questions, not a single cow has showed its face. "Yes" there is McDonalds and you can have it delivered on the back of a motor scooter, like Chinese take-out (but we refuse!).

Today the agenda is as follows, we will take a ferry to Elephant Island to go cave exploring and tonight we are going to brave the Mumbai night life.

Sending my Love, Jeeni

We Made It!!!

Greetings from Mumbai!

After a very, very long journey through a string of Asian airports (luckily there was a Starbucks in Kuala Lumpur), we arrived late last night in the country that will be our home for the next two months. India is more intense that I had even imagined. As the plane touched down, all you could see for miles and miles were the tiny flickering lights from the shanty towns that comprise the largest slum in all of South Asia. After a (gasp) suspenseful encounter with the baggage carousel, we were on our way to Colaba (the neighborhood where our hotel is located) via an hour-long taxi ride. The air is thick and hot and the smells are so varied as we walk down the streets. A hot messy blend of stale urine and sandalwood. To say that we experienced sensory overload is an understatement. Karen, Nepal is like a tiny baby version of this place look out!

So after having a quiet breakfast of fried eggs, toast with marmalade, and a mango lassi, we are about head out to The Gateway of India to see some snake charmers (fingers are crossed!) and to book our ferry for tomorrows day trip to Elephanta Island, to explore some caves.

And tonight, well, let's just hope that this town can keep up with us.

xo,
Jeni

Yes, I agree with Jeni, sensory overload. I practically gave myself whiplash on the car ride from the airport attempting to take in every possible element of India as we zoomed in our taxi with an interior design that Cheech and Chong would envy. This place is not like anything I have ever seen, even on TV. There is simply no comparisson to give you folks at home a starting point. I drank up two story shacks, people living their lives on the sidewalk, even on bridges. We saw everything; dancing, laughing, sleeping, animals, praying, cooking over open fires, bathing, children playing, Bollywood advertisements, every building looks as if it may crumble (definitely no building codes in India), hardly any stop lights, even at intersections, lines on the road are mere suggestions, motorcycle drivers avoid collisions by putting out their hands and touching your racing vehicle. I teased Jeni that we should play slug-bug only instead of Volkswagons we would point out peeing men. We decided not to play so our arms would not be sore.

Jeni and I stayed in when we reached our hotel. We didn't dare brave this new world for the first time at night, no "Warrior Princess" for me! Today is off to an interesting start. As we began this post in our second story internet cafe the size of a handicapped restroom, a woman came in and mopped the floor around our feet by hand. Wowzers.

Jeeni

Layover in Malaysia

We are mostly through our 30 hour flight. We just got off our second plane, we are in Malaysia! They have a free internet terminals in the middle of the lobby. Our fist flight was 14 hours and Jeni and I both slep the first nine hours. We have been passing time reading, playing cards, listening to our iPods and we had a bit of fun exploring the deserted airport in Taiwan in the wee hours of the morn. My only purchase on the trip so far was a cup of regular coffee for three bucks. It will probably be my most inflated purchase the entire summer. I should go as there is a line of travelers also waiting to jump online (everyone in Asia looks like they just came from a fashion show, the guys all wearing pink and the girls in trendy 80's rock outfits). It's only the beginning.

Love Jeeni

Giddyup! Jeni and Jeeni ready for night on the town, DC 

Jeeni and Jeni at Tavern on the Green, NY 

Jeeni and Jeni Sailing in Santa Barbara, CA

There She Goes, There She Goes Again...

Ok folks, the day of departure is almost upon us. I have just started my initial round of goodbye calls and I'm scurrying to tie up loose ends stateside. After a run through of the project this morning, it looks like we will be visiting a host of different organizations once we arrive in Kashmir -- Leh seems to have a particularly large NGO community.

Now that my DC stuff is done for now (for me but not the project, thank you Dahvi!!!) and the wedding is over (congrats again, Kerstin & Nathan!), I can actually start to get into the idea that we will be in Bombay within a matter of hours!!!

Gotta get back to work,
Jeni