Mumbai, India

Good lord. I don't even know how to begin to describe this place. Maybe I should start with my first impression upon arriving. It's dirty. There is garbage on the ground and just like dust and dirt all over the place. I guess what struck me most about this was that it is in no way confined to certain parts of town or limited to poor neighborhoods or anything like that. It's just a much dirtier, dustier landscape than I think I've experienced anywhere else in the world. Anyway, once I accepted this fact, I was able to see some more interesting things. Since I'm in an internet cafe, and the clock is ticking, I'll just list my main observations:

1. There aren't tons of non-Indian tourists. In fact, we went to Elephanta Island this morning, and I would say that roughly 95% of the visiting were Indian. The Indian government- and yes, Aditi, you warned me of this- has no qualms whatsoever about charging foreigners 250 Rupees for a visit to the Island, and only charging Indians 10. Whatever, I made up for it by taking copious amounts of monkey pictures.

2. The food is GREAT. LIKE GRRRRREAT. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I came here thinking that I didn't really like Indian food. In fact, the thought of eating only Indian food for a month was pretty unappealing. Well, let this be my official recanting. It's is sooo delicioius and the variety is incredible. The only thing more incredible is the price, which has yet to exceed $4 for a meal. We actually came across a Le Pain Quotidien today, and I'm happy to admit, I didn't want to eat there! Let me rephrase: I didn't want to eat there instead of eating Indian food (only in addition to).

gah! must go. more [interesting] observations to come. is anyone reading this? Bollywood movie tonight! Can't wait!