Mumbai, Goa and (a lack of) Yoga

Hello! I'm in Goa now, after about four days in Mumbai. It was CRAZY, but I think I was getting used to it by the fourth day. India is pretty amazing, but a lot harder to cope with than Thailand. The people are not friendly like in Thailand, though you do get the occasional REALLY helpful person, and those are who I try to focus on. So many people, though, get so angry about nothing. Men, mostly. And some are gross. Today I was on a bus and it was super crowded. I was sitting down and there were tons of people standing up in the center aisle (about a foot wide), and this guy literally had his crotch pressed up against my shoulder. I mean, yeah, it was crowded, but he could have twisted his body so that anything different was touching me. His butt would even have been better. When I tried to lean away from him he just kept at it. Eventually I flung myself forward in the seat and gave him a mean look, and he stopped. Don't let that upset you - that was the grossest thing to happen to me so far.

So. Mumbai. Like I said, it was crazy, but I really wanted to give it a chance because of Bangkok. I think after just four days in Bangkok I did not love the city, and I wanted to love Mumbai. It is an amazing city. One night my traveling partner (a friend of a friend, Viviana) and I went to this uppity music venue and listened to the most gorgeous Israeli singer (her voice being the gorgeous part). I bought her cd. The venue was super swanky and we were surrounded by rich Indians and Europeans. Then the very next day I visited Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. It was INCREDIBLE. Over one million people live in this slum, which is actually just a term for housing built illegally on government property. Not everyone in the slum is poor; in fact, many work outside the slum but choose to stay because it's this crazy community. We saw everything from the different businesses (recycling plastic, making leather, putting together GUCCI purses - later sold at about 1000x the price) to the houses to the schools. The schools were absurdly cute - all the students in uniform repeating English phrases. They LOVED us, just kept saying, "Hi! Hi! Hi!" I'm sure their teachers were annoyed. Other than that, we saw a lot of sights, like the Gateway of India (built for one of the British kings back in the day) and other sights, like these caves carved with gods like Vishnu and Ganesha.

I decided to go to stay with Viviana and travel with her to Goa because she is only here until Thursday, and I figured I might as well have company until then. Then the best thing happened, and we met these two amazing British girls. They are Indian by decent but were born in the UK, and they are totally on my wavelength. They have been here for a couple of weeks and plan to stay until the 25th, so I may just tag along with them until then. They are really calm and really, really nice, and one of them is even doing Teach First in the UK. It's the British equivalent of Teach For America. The hotels we have stayed at have not been conducive to meeting other people, but I feel very lucky in having met them.

Goa is okay. It is a super beautiful beach state, and after Mumbai I feel like I am breathing a breath of fresh air, with the lack of pollution and lack of people, but it has been a little strange. For one, it is the off season, so TONS of things are closed, including a hostel I was soooo looking forward to staying at, where you do yoga on the roof. Oh well. Been here two days and have spent my time on the beach, wandering the towns (they are all close together) and today visiting Old Goa, where I saw the most miraculous cathedrals I have ever seen. (The whole area was conquered by the Portuguese so everyone here is Christian! Weird.)

Last, I have been doing a cleansing of sorts. No caffeine, no alcohol, and no meat! It has been super easy, since Hindus are supposed to be vegetarian. Most restaurants are vegetarian, but if they aren't then there is a whole section of the menu devoted to it. I was going to try to do yoga every day, but you would never guess! It's impossible in India!! I swear. In Mumbai I tried to go to this yoga center but they said I had to get checked up by a doctor and pay a membership fee for the whole month and pay for the individual class on top of that, AND I would have to commit to a specific time for every day, like, always come at 3:30. Weird. Then here, I found this place on a recommendation, and it's really too weird to explain, but these two Western girls basically came to the door of their house where we were separated by bars, did not attempt to open the door, and interrogated me about my yoga experience. They seemed utterly confused about why I was there, and wouldn't take me on becuase I don't know Ashtanga. The thing is, I HAVE practiced Ashtanga yoga before (it's a type... they're all similar), and I tried to tell them that but they kept saying, "Do you know the 8 poses?" I was like, "I know a lot of poses in yoga. What is one of the 8?" And the girl got EXTREMELY flustered and basically yelled at me that she didn't have time to walk me through the poses. It was super weird. All poses in yoga have names, and I think I would have recognized them if they had dared tell me. So I am giving up on searching for yoga - I will let it find me.

I haven't been so lonely, only for minutes at a time, not for the whole day or anything. There was one afternoon in Mumbai when I was really overwhelmed and bummed out, but I just said to myself, "Take it one day at a time," so that's what I'll do.