Introduction to the Third World

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I was in Bombay India (Or Mumbai, as it is now known) over the weekend. "What kind of idiot flies 9 hours to see a country for only 3 days?" you might ask. 'Tis I, the non-eco-friendly gal!
What an experience it was too...well worth the carbon emissions.
When Orest told me 6 weeks ago that he was going there on a business conference, I knew I had to take my chance and start tagging along to see the world. (I'd passed up several other fine opportunities that I'm kicking myself over now.)
With my shopping excursions laid out for me by my trustworthy advisor Lisa (she'd been there before) and other sound advice, I was still somewhat overwhelmed when we landed in this unreal cacophony of sights and smells.
The hour drive to our hotel gave us plenty of opportunities to see poverty at its lowest level, filth at its most exposed and rudimentary building materials (bamboo support structures and burlap used to keep cement wet) like they used 1000 years ago.
We were staying at the Taj Palace and Tower Hotel - the best Mumbai has to offer(see this link to view what I was lead to expect - http://www.tajhotels.com/Palace/THE%20TAJ%20MAHAL%20PALACE%20&%20TOWER,MUMBAI/Pdf/The-Taj-Mahal-Palace-&-Tower-Mumbai.pdf ), but even that was a letdown on first glance. The lobby, with its low ceiling and somewhat outdated style, reminded me of some of the communist attempt at interior decoration in some of the Warsaw hotels. Our room had a permanent musty smell to it that could only be eradicated by blowing up the entire 30-year old tower and starting over again.
It took the rest of the afternoon sitting by the pool to regain my confidence that I had not made a big mistake in coming to India. Looking back, I realize now that I had passed my comfort level - or even more sad - my comfort level has become narrower from my days of backpacking and youth hostels.
And confidence was definitely needed when Orest and I ventured out in the early evening to find a tailor 7 blocks from the hotel. The moment we stepped outside the hotel, we were targeted by beggars- women carrying babies, little barefoot children, crippled men on carts. At first, I was very nervous, having lived with the Gypsy beggars of Eastern Europe who would rob you blind if you let them. But I have to admit that these were the most polite beggars I'd ever encountered. After a quick no to their request for money, they would thank you and excuse themselves for bothering you. The sidewalk sellers were a little bit more aggressive, but having Orest around was an obstacle many of them couldn't surmount.
The other thing I noticed was the amount of stray dogs laying about in the street. And these weren't the feral strays that you'd encounter in Romania or Ukraina, where the threat of attack was always a possibility. These ones all seemed to be lethargically sprawled all over the sidewalk, with nary a care for the multitudes of people stepping over or around them. I almost felt like stepping on them to see if they would react - but luckily I'm not 6 years old anymore...

More to come in the next blog.