Monsooner or later?

Southern India has two main climates: hot or hot and wet. When we arrived in Mumbai at the end of steamy May, Mumbaikkers were already eager for their shirts to be soaked with rain instead of sweat. The local people told us the monsoon season would begin by June 6th. (The monsoon is a big conversation topic around here.) But June 6th came and went without a drop from the sky. The newspapers reported a one week delay. Then a two week delay. Three days ago, the Times of India said the monsoon would start today, almost for sure, and though the air is heavy with moisture and it is breezier than normal, I haven't popped open my umbrella or ducked for cover yet.

Until it pours down steadily every day, I've been retreating to the pool. On Saturday, new friend Dawn (also American) and her cute daughter, Ena (Indian American), joined me and Isabel for a loungy day of chitchat and sunshine.

Isabel is new to swimming. She doesn't laugh or smile more than usual when she's in the water, but I think it's a good way for her to cool off when it's 95 degrees. Three-year old Ena jumped right in and went to town with watering flowers, pouring water on my head, playing with plastic toys.

The babies splish splashed, and the grown-ups got to know each other over diet cokes and lime sodas. It's great to meet people in similar situations when you are living abroad, and it is extra nice for me when they happen to be American. :)

Here are some pictures Dawn took:

On Bread Alone

Whenever you want to go somewhere in Mumbai, you're bound to spend a lot of time in the car. Today I clocked in 2.5 hours in traffic just to cover a combined distance of about 25 kilometres. An entire day is easily consumed with one short trip to Shopper's Stop! To pass the time, I made a little small talk with our driver while we were stuck in a horrendous traffic jam:

"So, what is your favorite Indian food?" I asked.

"My favorite food?"

"Yea, like your number one, all-time favorite thing to eat."

"Ok, it is a roti- you know, the bread?"

"Yea, yea, I've had roti." I said, leaning in and wondering what would go with the roti.

"You take a roti and put butter on it..."

"Ahuh..." Now what sort of stuff will he add, I wondered? Onions, potato, maybe some kind of chutney?

"Then you roll it up...."

Roll it up already? Maybe he's gonna dip it some sort of curry. I waited for him to finish, but he had stopped talking.

"And?" I asked, still waiting.

"And?...And you can have it with tea. If you want."

That's it?! There are only a million amazing Indian spices and vegetable purees and paneer and yummy fruits in India, and his all time favorite thing to eat is buttered bread?? Lame! That's like someone asking me what my favorite American food is, and instead of replying with an enthusiastic "Apple pie!" or "Mac 'n cheese!" answering with a flat "Toast. Toast and maybe some tea."

B-O-R-I-N-G.

He's going to bring me some from home so I can try it out. That roti and butter had better be heavenly!

Hello, Dolly

Just about every day, I've been taking Isabel to the day care room in the club next to our hotel. It gives me a little break from being a mommy, and there are lots of toys for Isabel to enjoy. (A Spiderman bouncy ball, in particular.)

A couple days ago, I brought Isabel to the day care in her stroller for the first time. That day an inspector who came to examine the room asked if she was real. And not believing the response of "Yes, of course! He asked again, "Really?" Then a little while later, a woman looked in and saw the nanny talking with Isabel. She asked her, "Why are you talking to the doll?" :)

Home Sweet Home

Thirty-eight apartment viewings later, we finally have a place to call home. Yesterday, one of our real estate agents, a kind Indian man with a puffy pompadour, came to our hotel so we could sign a rental agreement. We will be living in a brand new apartment building in Bandra. (Insert big smiley grin here)

The location is perfect- very close to shops and restaurants, not too far from Martin's work, and there is a large playground area which will be wonderful for Isabel once she starts walking. I am excited about decorating. I've been daydreaming about intricate Indian statues and colorful satin pillows. The flat isn't entirely done yet, but there are only a few small things which need work, like the kitchen cabinets. No one else has lived in the apartment before; it's always nice to be the first ones. Everything will be spic 'n span.

Our moving date is July 1st. I will feel more like a resident and less like a tourist once we are moved in, and I'm looking forward to it very much. Pictures to come, of course. I will document setting up the place from start to finish so you can follow along.

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Gumshoe Hotel

When I was a little girl I loved Nancy Drew. In fact, I wished I was strawberry blond, just like Nancy, and I wished I had friends named Bess and George, just like Nancy. Most of all, I thought it would be fantastically glamorous to crack cases and save people from crime. This afternoon, I had a taste of Nancy Drew style sleuthing right here in my hotel.

I've been staying in the same hotel suite for the past two weeks. By now, I have a pretty good idea of who works here as I frequently chat with the friendly, helpful staff. So last night when a young Indian fellow offered to help me- I was toting a laptop in one arm and a baby in the other- it wasn't totally strange except that the fellow's face was not familiar. And I wasn't sure if he was a guest or a new staff member- his outfit could pass for a uniform, just not the kind they wear in the hotel. Needing the help, at any rate, I accepted his offer and he made small talk about Isabel as we walked down the long corridor to my room.

He left the laptop on a table in the living room. I said thank you, expecting him to leave, and went about getting Isabel ready to go in the car. He lingered though, looking around in the room. So I said thank you again, louder, and that my husband was coming. He didn't seem to take the hint. Finally he was backing out of the room as Martin was coming in, and the stranger mentioned something about the monsoon to Martin. Being his cheery self, Martin smiled and laughed, the strange guy left, and soon we were out to look at another apartment.

In the car, I thought about how the guy seemed a bit odd to me and explained to Martin how he was hanging around in our room. We decided he was another curious person, perhaps just interested in practicing English with the foreigners.

This afternoon, I was sitting in my room, attending to some emails. The service here is really great, but sometimes they offer too many services, so I had the "Shhhh!" sign up on my door while I typed. Sometime around noon, I heard a quiet rapping on the front door. I got up and peeped through the peep hole to see who it was. No one was there. I opened the door and looked down the corridor to the right, and suddenly stranger's face appeared. He looked a bit surprised as he said, "Did you call me?" "No," I said, very flatly. "Oh, someone called me and....ok." Then he walked away. Now, why would I call someone who I don't know and whose number I don't know, particularly when I am not sure if the person is a guest or staff? One thing was different about him today- he had on a name tag. And he had on the same clothes as yesterday- not the same uniform as everyone else.

I was suspicious. What was this guy doing gently knocking on my door? I locked the door from the inside and went back to the bedroom. Feeling too nervous to leave the room, I called room service and ordered lunch. A green, smooshy, spinach dish and naan was delivered to my door by a staff member who I recognized and like. I felt a bit better as stranger was no where in sight.

After lunch, which wasn't good- I won't get the spinach goo again- I opened the front door to leave my tray outside. I heard familiar tap-tap footsteps in the hallway. It was stranger! I didn't want to face him again so I stood very still just inside the room, pressed against the wall. I heard him coming closer to the door, then walking away. Coming closer...Then he stuck his head into the room from the side and jumped a bit when he saw me. "Need any help?" he said. "No." I waited for him to go away before walking out with my tray.

I had enough. There was no reason for me to find him snooping around my room twice within two hours. I called the manager on duty and asked if they had hired any new staff. She said, "No, well, we always have some new recruits. Why?" Then I explained to her what had happened, that this young man I don't recognize seems to be loitering outside my room, that one day he acts like a helpful guest, and the next day he acts like staff complete with a name tag. "N" something was his name. (It wasn't Nancy.) The manager, sounding concerned, said she would phone security.

A couple of minutes later, I was repeating my story to the manager and the head of security in my room. I stopped when I heard those tap-tap footsteps in the hall and stuck my eye against the peephole. There he was! He had come down the corridor, which is very long and twisty, took a glance at my door, the only one you can see from his standpoint, then turned on his heel and walked back to where he had come from. "There he is!" I shouted, and the manager and the security guy ran down the hall to catch him.

It seemed to me like he was checking out the status on my door, which can be only one of three things: Shhhh!, Tidy Up, or nothing. I had left the Shhhh! sign up all day. Maybe stranger was waiting for it to switch to Tidy Up, so he could enter after the housekeeping guy came in and do whatever it was he wanted to do.

A few moments later, manager, security guy, and stranger were all at my door. I opened up and looked stranger right in the eye, just like Nancy would, and said, "Yes, that's him."

By this point, my stomach was all in knots because I'm not used to sleuthing. I wished Martin was home. I feel much safer when he is with me. So I held onto Isabel for comfort and paced the room while I waited to hear back from management.

It turns out that this guy, "N" something, was not supposed to be wandering around on my floor, let alone hanging out around my door. He was a new recruit, but there was absolutely no reason for him to be near the guest rooms. He was recently hired to start training for the reservations department, not to be interacting with the current guests in the hotel.

Another couple of managers came to my room to apologize. They told me stranger was confronted and then escorted off of the hotel premises.

"So, I will never see that guy again, right?" I asked, feeling equally like the detective and the victim. "No, ma'am, you won't," said the lady manager. A different manager smiled at me and said, "And thank you for reporting him or else we might never have found out."

And there it was. My Nancy Drew moment.

Horn OK Please

An accurate portrayl of the life of a taxi driver in Mumbai:

Apartments and Rickshaws

Apartment hunting in Mumbai is not an easy task. The asking price does not necessarily correlate with the quality of the flat, which is why we have viewed almost forty apartments already. (My theory on this is the real estate agents are trying to sell the crappy places at a high price so they show us them first, assuming we have no expectations because we are Mumbai newbies.) It is tiring, especially with a baby. If it were just me and Martin, then no problem. But it's hotter than Hades (it is Summer in India) and the constant in and out of the car with a baby and then carrying her around is exhausting. So we are very much looking forward to making a final decision.

We saw two beautiful, new apartments on Saturday and have made bids for both. They are in Bandra, which is a happening neighborhood in Mumbai with a lot of shops and restaurants. Like most places we've seen, they have cool marble floors and a lot of windows. The living room is in the center, and the bedrooms and bathrooms are in the wings. That's a very common layout. Usually there is a toilet and shower for each bedroom, something I think is unecessary. I would rather have the extra space because there's no need for 3 or 4 showers when you are only two adults and a little girl.

On Sunday, we toured an older place in Juhu- a beachy location dotted with the bungalows of Bollywood stars. It had an amazing view of the sea, which is a rare and luxurious plus, but the apartment itself wasn't exactly our taste. We will see how it goes. The real estate agent should get back to us shortly. Our next hurdle will be working out advance payment. The apartment owners often ask for 1 to 2years of rent up front. Absolutely ridiculous. We might as well buy an apartment!

Yesterday we also did a little bit of shopping in downtown Bandra. I probably had at least two heart attacks and sprouted half a dozen ulcers after that experience. If you've ever seen throngs of people in downtown Tokyo, imagine all those people transformed into rickshaws and then imagine them coming at you and your baby willy-nilly in 35 C heat. That is what it was like. We had just purchased a little pink stroller for Isabel (she gets too hot and heavy in the Baby Bjorn), and for the first time ever pushed her around on wheels in the middle of Mumbai traffic. I really do mean "in the middle" because there are no safe places to walk. You see, the sidewalks ain't made for walking. Bathing, sleeping, hair cutting, sugar cane juice pressing, selling stuff- sure! But going for a leisurely stroll is impossible. That explains why everyone was staring at us- no one else in Mumbai pushes their babies around in Barbie pink strollers. It's just too difficult. You have to shoo away people peddling trinkets and grow eyes on all sides of your head to avoid being run over. Try to envision all that if you can. Sweltering heat, people staring at you as though you're from Pluto, a billion unpredicatble vehicles honking their way at you, steering around the people living their lives on the sidewalk, turning away from people trying to sell you crap, while frantically worrying about the saftey of your infant whose little toes are centimeters away from cars and trucks and tuk-tuks. Heart attack city for a mother.

I also had my first ever tuk-tuk experience on Sunday. It was more like a game of Mario Kart than real life. I still haven't had the opportunity to take photos, so here is a picture from Wikipedia if you aren't sure what an auto rickshaw looks like. Indian rickshaws have no doors and no seatbelts; you have to hang onto a thin metal bar in front of you and pray you don't lurch forward and crack a tooth. There's probably a trillion of those little rickshaws in Mumbai. Three wheeled, rumbling, black and yellow beetle-like things. The drivers fit a standard profile- somwhere around 25-45 years old, thick black mustache, khaki shirt and pants, and either barefoot or wearing chappals (flip-flops). Like all Mumbai drivers, they only look directly in front of them, so they make turns and change lanes (if there are designated lanes) without glancing first at who might be in the rear or on the sides. Honking the horn is the only kind of precaution they take before squeezing into whatever narrow space is available or making a sharp turn. Needless to say, riding in a rickshaw with Isabel on my lap gave me another couple of ulcers. But a rickshaw ride is preferable to navigating the chaotic mess on foot, and it hardly costs anything- if you come out of it alive.

Before I forget, here are some pictures Martin took while out apartment hunting. Gives you an idea of what a typical expat flat and its envrions look like:

Some of those crazy life threatening rickshaws!!

So, what's it like?

The first thing an expat or traveler does when they arrive in a new country is compare and contrast, compare and contrast. They make comments like, "Wow, it's a lot cheaper here than in Denmark!" or "Oh, the bread is MUCH better in Italy. And the women are hotter, too." or "Everyone seems so much smaller in Japan than in Sweden!" These sometimes sweeping remarks are often partially true. So I decided to jot down a few of my own observations, drawing on my experiences from living abroad and from traveling. Of course keep in mind that I have been in Mumbai for 10 days, which is only 240 hours or just long enough to start gathering my thoughts about this city. Here it goes:

1) Indian food is much more flavorful and spicy than any cuisine I have sampled.

2) Parts of Mumabai are like downtown Miami (if the people in Miami gave up building repair and maintenace for, say, 15 or 20 years.)

3) The heat and humidity in Mumbai is comparable to the heat and humidity in Singapore or Costa Rica.

4) Japanese people wait patiently until the crosswalk signal tells them to walk, even if no cars are in sight. Indian people risk their lives crossing the street wherever and whenever, directly in front of vehicles.

5) Cloudiness is to London as sunshine is to Mumbai. (^_^)

6) According to the news and the people, Indians smoke a lot. But I don't think they can be anywhere near as bad as the Greek.

7) Rotterdam has a lot of concrete. So does Mumbai, but at least they have some trees to cover it up.

8) In France they drink wine. In India they drink moonshine.

9) I wear a t-shirt and pants on most days. Indian women wear pretty, brightly colored saris or salwar kameez and lots of jewlery. (I've never felt so plain before!)

10) When it comes to famous, silver-haired actors of the silver screen, Hollywood has Harrison Ford. Bollywood has Amitabh Bachchan.

11) Water from the Danish countryside is pure, clean, and natural. The water in Mumbai is anything but.

12) In America and Europe, trendy people tan their skin for a sun-kissed look. In India, the naturally tan people use creams to whiten up.

13) England has a lot of double decker busses, America has a lot of SUVs, Holland has a lot of bikes, and India has a lot of rickshaws.

14) Us Americans, we order Big Macs and Biggie Fries. Cow-hugging Indians order a McVeggie or a McAlooTikki.

This list has much to be added once I really begin digging my heels into this new land. Up until now, most of my Mumbai time has been spent in traffic, shopping, and looking at apartments. There is so much to see and experience still. I wonder what it is like in an Indian home, what an Indian wedding is like, what the monsoon will be like, what the festivals (there are many!) are like. I have that "night before the first day of school" kind of feeling. Anxious, nervous, excited, hopeful. A wonderful mix.

Bella Isabel

One thing that amazes me about Indian people is how they are totally baby crazy. I read about a cultural love for little ones before I came here, but I wasn't prepared for the level of enthusiasm about my daughter in particular.

Whenever I am with Isabel, which is 99% of the time, she grabs the spotlight. I was shocked and amused when I went with Martin to his office last week. All the employees, all males mind you, whipped out their cell phones to snap photos of her before she was even out of her car seat. Then, while I was chatting with one of the guys about masala tea, the security guard who was holding Isabel waltzed away with her down the hall to show her off in the neighboring office. I went out to find Isabel chewing on some woman's dupatta, surrounded by a gaggle of starry-eyed women snapping and clucking at her.

The snapping, clucking, touching, and photographing have happened in the hospital (Isabel was sick a few days) and in shopping centers, too. The worst case was when we were getting into the car and were approached by an Indian mother with her young daughter. The mother commanded her daughter, who was a little reserved, to touch the baby. She explicitly told her to reach out and "Touch the baby! Touch the baby!" No, thank you! She was already sick and we were on our way to the hospital, for heaven's sake. Extra germs really weren't necessary. It is certainly nice to know that people think she's cute- how else to make a mother happy? but I can do without the paparazzi or at least without the touchy-feely stuff.

I realize Isabel gets special attention because she's a blond, blue eyed girl. Indian people may be somewhat accustomed to caucasian adults, but caucasian babies are a rarity. (After all, you must be out of your mind to move to India with an infant, right?) I wonder how raising Isabel in an environment where eveyone gushes about her cuteness will effect her later on. Her first two years of life will be in India. What will she think when we return to Europe or some other western country where fair features are the norm? Or in tanorexic countries, including Denmark and America, where fairness is considered plain, sad, and sickly? Unless we stay in Asia forever, she'll have to retire her princess tiara and celebrity shades one day.

What's in a name

Something lovely happened yesterday. An older Indian woman knocked on my door to replace the freshly cut flowers in our hotel room. She came in and snipped eleven cheerful blossoms from long, spring-green stems. As she arranged the flowers, I noticed the tag on her blouse. Her name was Hyacinth.

How to Eat a Mango

The first food I ate in India was a fresh, sliced mango. Sweet and tart, melt-in-your-mouth mango. With the first piece still on my tongue, I said to Martin, "These mangoes must be from heaven." The variety considered to be the best, a type of Alphonso mango, grows in the Maharastra region of India. I guess that makes India heaven.

Unfortunately, mango season is short lived in India. The delicious, expensive fruit is only available in the months of April and May, causing two months of mango mania. And, much to the delight of Indians and tourists alike, there are a million ways to enjoy a mango. The orange oval fruit is slurped up in smoothies and lassis, smashed into chutneys, beaten to a pulp and served with puris (bread), and manufactured into sodas and candies. But the most sensual, indulgent way to eat a mango is with your hands and teeth, raw and naked, straight from the skin.

This afternoon our driver, Mr. Shah, helped haggle the price for two boxes of Alphonso King mangoes on the streets of Andheri. We left with 2 boxes for 700 rupees (about $15.00). Even after expert bargaining the price was steep, but it's worth every rupee.

In my hotel room, twelve fragrant, shy mangoes hid under clumps of hay and newspaper. They were still warm from the sun and their smooth peels felt just like a baby's soft skin. I was surprised to find that I could undress a mango much like a banana- by piercing the top and slowly pulling down the skin off in sections. Then came the sinful part. With my fingers already orange and sticky, I pressed the fruit to my lips. Instant salivation- or should I say gratification? I used my top teeth to pull on the fibrous pulp, and I let the juice drip everywhere. It felt a little bit naughty. And I liked it.

I know of one young lady who feels slightly differently about the decadent mango. For your entertainment, here is a video clip of my daughter Isabel sampling some baby food mango last night: