Welcome to my blog!

The purpose of this blog is to share with you my upcoming internship in Mumbai (Bombay), India and the journey in preparation for it. It has so far been an interesting experience and I have not even started my trip yet.

Why the name? I will be in Mumbai during June and July, the beginning of the Monsoon season. Learning to wade through flooded streets and work with this natural phenonema is to me very similar to the learning experience I have had so far and am sure to face in India. Most of India's water supply falls during the Monsoon season. It is kind of a feast or famine on water. I found this analegous to India itself, a nation of extremes and it will be my challenge to learn to work with and within it. From what I have understood of India, this amazing nation will both pull on me like the raging flood waters and at the same time fascinate me like the tranquility of a steady stream.

I have the priviledge to travel with another student who has now also become a friend. She is as talented as she is kind and fun. Together we will set out to work with an inspirational company that is dedicated to empower women in deplorable situations, often in the slums of Bombay, to better their lives. The company works with small textiles producers and our task is to develop a plan to standardize the production process so they can deliver a more uniform end result.

Before I continue with this blog I want to take a moment and thank my family, friends and college. They have been very instrumental in making this trip possible and encouraging me as I am learning to have the two most important things in this journey: patience and endurance.

I hope my blog will entice you to consider traveling to India and help you with your preparations.

Let's start swimming!!

Sunday, June 20, 2010

What a weekend!

I love India!!!! They put mayonaise on their french fries!!!!:-)

So, yesterday I had a wonderful day going out to Elephanta Island and today Hetal, our supervisor, and her sister Dolly took us shopping in Mumbai. We met at the train station and then took a cab to the shopping districts.

As true women, we had to first have a little snack to strengthen us before venturing out on our hunt. I had asked Hetal if we maybe could taste some more of the tradional cuisine and she treated us to a delicacy from a street vendor called Meetha Paan. It was delicious!! It basically consists of a Betel leaf rolled up with coconut, rose petal preserve (gulkand), something that tasted like ground nuts, but not sure. Since I didn't have my camera, I found this picture on-line and it looks just like it! It was soooo good and we were now ready to shop.

If you ever want the cutest necklaces and beads, head to Colaba. There you will find street vendor after street vendor with the most beautiful beads and necklaces. Granted, like any other place in India, you need to be a little bargain savvy or have someone along who is, but then it is pretty reasonable.

After some severe "window shopping", we went to Leopold's. This is a wonderful cafe with the best ambiance and food. But, it is also a cafe with a history. It is there the horrible attack a few years ago started and one of Hetal's friends lost their life there that day. The cafe has left the bullet holes in the pillars and mirrors as a reminder of the horrible actions that day. I unfortunately did not bring my camera today, but Hanna let me have copies of her pictures so I can post them here. Thanks Hanna!

At Leopolds, you not only enjoy a wonderful crowd, fantastic atmosphere but also great food. I did not wear my contacts so I told Hetal to order something for me. She picked the most delicious chicken pieces and.....french fries with mayonaise!!!

The four of us sat there, just enjoying the fun company and great food and laughed. I feel so refreshed after seeing Mumbai from such a different angle and ready to go visit our first producer tomorrow morning.

God is truly good to me!
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