Fresh Fruit - Colorful Fruit

There is nothing better than fresh fruit for breakfast or a fresh fruit juice after a morning run. There is a wide variety to choose from and they are very colorfully displayed on the road. It reminds me of the fruit stands on the way to the beach in Ecuador.

Little bananas have become Linnea's favorite and I couldn't ask for a healthier snack.

Coconut water seems to help with things such as acne, liver, intestinal problems, pregnancy and is suppose to good for the skin. I'll be drinking some from around the corner everyday! Will I live to be 100....?

Sacred Cow- Sacré vache :)

"Chillin' at home" "Don't honk, just wait until I move"
"Just waiting for the fruit stand to open"

80% of the population here is vegeterian. Cows are sacred to them and therefore they run freely around Mumbai. Here are some pictures of cows we've found. Our driver will not honk at them, but will patiently wait for them to move so we can continue our way. You will find them in houses, gardens, on the road, basically anywhere.

A story of a little princess…

Linnea’s dream of being a little princess has come true in this country. Already at the check-in counter in Newark, she was called a princess when given her boarding pass. Linnea’s face light up! As we boarded the plane, all the staff said hi to her and tried to play with her. As we waited to take-off, we asked a stewardess if we could have some water in her water bottle. They immediately took the water bottle and brought it back full on a nice serving tray! This was only to prepare her for what she was going to get in India.

As we walk through the streets, it is very unusual to go one block without having someone stop to look and wave at Linnea. At the mall a group of teenage girls raced to take her picture with her phone camera. Yesterday as we sat to eat a crepe, a teenage boy asked if he could take a picture of her. The waiters at the restaurant try to get her attention and play with her. At the Grand Hyatt, Linnea was given her corn by the chef himself. She then fell asleep in my arms during dinner and the waiters built a bed out of chairs and brought a shawl to cover her up. Linnea gets shy and is still trying to figure out why she’s getting all this attention !

The story of the little princess is one of the signs of how people are so kind in Mumbai. They are always ready to please you and try to help in any way. The school has treated us like kings and queens as well. They have taken us out to eat 3 times already and it seems like tomorrow night there are another dinner planned, all drinks and food paid by ASB.

Cheap or Expensive?

Mumbai is overcrowded with a population between 18-20 million people. The city is aware of it and is trying to take some measures. Our school has recently reached their maximum capacity of students. They are looking into expanding mentioning how businesses pay for air space as well as land space. Apparently the school has already reached its maximum height for its structure. There is a 1.5 acre land in front of us, the only problem…. It is worth 125 million dollars!! According to someone, to build a school in Mumbai costs more than building a business in Tribeca, NY.

Talk is our school pays $3000 monthly for our rent. Our apartment is nice, but you could definitely get a better place in Ecuador or even Switzerland for that price! It's a good thing the school pays for our expensive costs while we pay for the cheap way of living :)

Pampering

I went to have my eyebrows done for a dollar! Tomorrow I’m going to get my hair done, with a treatment, a head massage, they will also layer my hair and then relax the top front half so that I don’t have to blow dry it everyday, all for $40. There is a foot massage spa 5 min walking from home, so I’ll be going there sometime this week. I just had a massage from a lady who comes to the house for a mere $8. Nails and facials are also inexpensive and one can be pampered at all times. I had two men working on me at the Nail Bar and it was sooo relaxing.

Once you get to know what is around, you concentrate less on the pollution of the streets and enjoy what Mumbai has to offer. We still have so much more to discover…

Rickshaw's

One of Linnea’s favorite entertainment is a Rickshaw ride. She wants to go on one everyday and merely calls it “a bumpy ride”. Little does she realize that her mom is grabbing on really tight as the driver swerves between traffic barely missing people and cars on the streets, as he overtakes cars, turns without indication, breaks last minute, goes on the wrong side of the road to cut corners etc.
It is definitely very easy and convenient to take one of these rides, but you need to learn to TRUST the driver. They get as close as possible to any car, people or animal on the street, but do manage not to hit them. The “Keep your distance” sign is written on the back of most Rickshaw’s, but most Rickshaw drivers can’t read English!! Still, I’ve haven’t yet seen one Rickshaw accident during my month here!