Just back this morning from Delhi, which I found rather unforgettable and lacking character. I said so to people at work with the disclaimer that I wasn't really there long enough to make a judgment and they immediately disagreed--with the fact that I shouldn't judge Delhi. They seem to second my assessment a great deal.
But Agra and the Taj were worth it. It was surreal being there, actually. And here's proof that I was.
If I did one trip to play tourist, I'm glad this was it.
I had a lovely chat the whole train trip back with this British (by way of New Zealand) woman who met her son and son's girlfriend who have spent the last year cycling from Singapore. I love meeting people traveling--we talked non-stop for two hours, but I don't even know her name and will probably never see her again in my life. There's something sort of comforting about that level of transience and acquaintance.
I leave tomorrow night, which is hard to believe. I haven't quite made sense of this whole experience, but I suppose I have 24 hours of travel ahead that will be a great time to do so.
But Agra and the Taj were worth it. It was surreal being there, actually. And here's proof that I was.

If I did one trip to play tourist, I'm glad this was it.
I had a lovely chat the whole train trip back with this British (by way of New Zealand) woman who met her son and son's girlfriend who have spent the last year cycling from Singapore. I love meeting people traveling--we talked non-stop for two hours, but I don't even know her name and will probably never see her again in my life. There's something sort of comforting about that level of transience and acquaintance.
I leave tomorrow night, which is hard to believe. I haven't quite made sense of this whole experience, but I suppose I have 24 hours of travel ahead that will be a great time to do so.
Labels: india, taj mahal, transportation
I am SO going to this.
I went to the Gay Bombay party tonight. There was Bollywood music in one room and Reggaeton in the other and darker skinned men; otherwise, it was mostly like any other club I've ever been to. I had fun, although I forget how shy I get in those sort of situations. I got hit on by a japanese guy in a blonde wig who was mediating for his American friend. I think that's sort of sums it up.
Off to Delhi in the morning, and then to Agra for the Taj on Monday, back to Bombay on Tuesday morning. I'm going to train one of the people here to finish the data entry I started (we wrote an abstract of it for a big conference) and finish up the needs assessment that I have been doing. And then back to the US Wednesday night/Thursday morning. T-minus four days. Time flies...
Off to Delhi in the morning, and then to Agra for the Taj on Monday, back to Bombay on Tuesday morning. I'm going to train one of the people here to finish the data entry I started (we wrote an abstract of it for a big conference) and finish up the needs assessment that I have been doing. And then back to the US Wednesday night/Thursday morning. T-minus four days. Time flies...
If a picture's worth 1,000 words, then a video of me at the drag show held in our honor is worth 1 lakh (the Indian numbering for 100,000). We were all pulled up by the dancers at some point or another. Unfortunately, I can't seem to upload the video, so a few pictures will have to do in the meantime.

I'm going here for dinner. It sort of reminds me of going here in Nairobi.
There's something really strangely fascinating about going to these colonial hold overs.
This has been a sort of up and down week, but I'm on the upswing for sure. I worked from home today, have two days in the office which should good (working on the analysis of the data I've been working on, maybe for a conference submission), and then off to Delhi for the weekend. Looking forward to it all.
There's something really strangely fascinating about going to these colonial hold overs.
This has been a sort of up and down week, but I'm on the upswing for sure. I worked from home today, have two days in the office which should good (working on the analysis of the data I've been working on, maybe for a conference submission), and then off to Delhi for the weekend. Looking forward to it all.
I'm at work, the Boston people and senior people from the India group are all here having a big introductory meeting. I'm not sure that I'm needed/welcome or that it's a good use of my time to get the reintroduction. So I'm doing other things. Fine. Point is: there are a lot of important people here.
Perfect time for me to need to use the bathroom and for the toilet not to flush enough. I was in there for like 20 minutes trying before I finally asked the research manager here if there was a trick. It wasn't so much that water wasn't going in as it was that there was no suction mechanism to move things through (ifyouknowwhatImean). Embarrassed to be the one who broke the toilet, I ask her discretely, she comes and "fixes" it, which doesn't fix anything. I'm back at square one. All I want is a goddamned plunger and there's none in sight. Or at least the dual handle on the toilet at home--one for small flush, one for big flush.
Then I have an idea: I notice the big bucket of water for washing your hands once you're through and a light bulb appears over my head. If I pour all that water, maybe it'll clear everything out--it'll be just like pouring mop water down the toilet, a trick my mother once told me. Success. So bad plumbing is solved by another cultural mechanism (the bucket of water), and half an hour later, I'm back at my desk.
Thanks, Mom.
Perfect time for me to need to use the bathroom and for the toilet not to flush enough. I was in there for like 20 minutes trying before I finally asked the research manager here if there was a trick. It wasn't so much that water wasn't going in as it was that there was no suction mechanism to move things through (ifyouknowwhatImean). Embarrassed to be the one who broke the toilet, I ask her discretely, she comes and "fixes" it, which doesn't fix anything. I'm back at square one. All I want is a goddamned plunger and there's none in sight. Or at least the dual handle on the toilet at home--one for small flush, one for big flush.
Then I have an idea: I notice the big bucket of water for washing your hands once you're through and a light bulb appears over my head. If I pour all that water, maybe it'll clear everything out--it'll be just like pouring mop water down the toilet, a trick my mother once told me. Success. So bad plumbing is solved by another cultural mechanism (the bucket of water), and half an hour later, I'm back at my desk.
Thanks, Mom.
Two firsts before 10:00 am:
1. I rode the train hanging out the side. Welcome to rush hour.
2. I saw someone get dragged on the platform by the train. I'm not sure how or why he got stuck, but he did. Someone basically tackled him to get him free. Pretty odd and disconcerting.
1. I rode the train hanging out the side. Welcome to rush hour.
2. I saw someone get dragged on the platform by the train. I'm not sure how or why he got stuck, but he did. Someone basically tackled him to get him free. Pretty odd and disconcerting.
Labels: mumbai, transportation
I know I've gotten acclimated when you intuitively look to the right first when crossing the street rather than the left.
just back from a big dinner with the gays (the others from Boston just got in, so it was a big thing for all of them). i didn't realize it was going to be so big; i was going to bail, thinking it was just dinner with them or something, but am now very glad i went. the mother hen of gay india was there. so was an indian prince whose coming out was a huge deal; he was on oprah for it. i'd never met royalty before. go figure.
also, why do dinners everywhere else in the world mean sit an chat for 3 hours and not actually eat until 11?
just back from a big dinner with the gays (the others from Boston just got in, so it was a big thing for all of them). i didn't realize it was going to be so big; i was going to bail, thinking it was just dinner with them or something, but am now very glad i went. the mother hen of gay india was there. so was an indian prince whose coming out was a huge deal; he was on oprah for it. i'd never met royalty before. go figure.
also, why do dinners everywhere else in the world mean sit an chat for 3 hours and not actually eat until 11?
I took the train to South Mumbai yesterday and went around Colaba, which is the trendy shopping and nightlife sort of area by the water. There are a lot of street vendors and things (I got lots of presents for people), in addition to Bennetton. It was crowded, and tourist ridden. Seriously, they/we were everywhere. I think it's where a lot of the budget accommodations are, not to mention that a lot of people were carrying the same Lonely Planet guide I had in my bag. It is funny how much I'm isolated from all of that, which I'm now really glad about. I think the distinction helps make it clear that I'm living here for three weeks rather than visiting. That I'm in an apartment does a lot for my sanity that a hotel or something could never do.
Most of the stuff was your predictable street sales, but there were some oddities (the guy hawking these huge balloons, the guys with the hand drums--what I would do with either was entirely unclear).
By about four o'clock, I realized I had been at it for about two hours and hadn't eaten anything all day. Bad sign. So I ducked into this movie theater to get away from everyone wanting to be my friend or sell me things, found a restaurant in the guide and went. Generally, I would have just gone somewhere in sight and not been so tied to where Lonely Planet thinks I should eat, but there were no places around without going back in the other direction. Plus, I didn't want to deal with trying to assess the cleanliness of the place; I just wanted to eat. So I found this place, which was this trendy spin off of a fancier place nearby and it showed in the clientele--all english speaking, rich Indians. And a bunch of white backpackers, Lonely Planet in hand. Very strange combination. I had a nice salad and a mediocre pizza, opted for no dessert, although the idea of it was appealing (I've been buying bars of Cadburry on the way home to calm my sweeth tooth and have been having Ben & Jerrys dreams).
Nearby was the Gateway to India monument, which signifies the British landing here. The British presence here is sort of odd--it's easy to imagine this as a British colony, but besides english spoken and the prevalence of tea and biscuits (even though the tea is Indian and not British), there's not much I can tell are hold overs. I suppose you can say the same of other former colonies I've been. The sign outside the major museum indicating that the XX Museum (Formerly the Prince of Wales Museum) made me think about it for a second.
It was good to be out of my routine for a while and cover some of the requisite sites. It's a really beautiful city, at least in terms of architecture.
Getting on at the first stop of the train got me a seat, which was wonderful, considering it's a 45 minute trip on the fast train. I have been having the worst trouble getting a rikshaw from the train station to take me home, though. I've walked more times than I'd like to count. It's not really that far, but I'm usually exhausted by the end of the day and I'd much rather pay $.25 than walk. I think my pronunciation of the area we live is just so poor that they don't understand me. And I've practiced. I've spend like 20 minutes with two roommates to teach me how to say it. Still, no one understands me. I can even direct them from the main road, but trying to convey that it is even harder. So last night, I got really excited because someone understood me and I got a ride. There was this terrible traffic and for no apparent reason, so the road was just a sea of rikshaws and scooters. After a while, I lost track of where we were but didn't make much of it, until I realized that we'd gone too far. I asked the guy where we were going and he repeated what sounded like my neighborhood's name. I said that I think we went too far; he insisted, I relented, and we went ahead.
Until we were about to get on the expressway for the airport--I knew that was wrong. There was no u-turn ahead, so I told him to pull over before he got on that road to nowhere. He pulled over this guy who asked me where I wanted to go; I said it, he repeated it. And he said, "yes, this is the way," pointing to where the driver was going. I said "No, it's not. Here's your money, I'll get off here." They were very nice and even asked me to write down where I was trying to go; once I did, they realized that we were talking about different places and started to give me directions back to it. I was tired, and in a bad mood, frustrated that I can't communicate with anyone these two words that get me home, and just sort of took off. There was no way for the guy to turn around and take me there even if either of us wanted that. So, I walked home (it was like a 5 minute walk behind us), and at least got the frustration out of my system (although not the fatigue) by the time I got home. I guess it's all part of the fun.
Most of the stuff was your predictable street sales, but there were some oddities (the guy hawking these huge balloons, the guys with the hand drums--what I would do with either was entirely unclear).
By about four o'clock, I realized I had been at it for about two hours and hadn't eaten anything all day. Bad sign. So I ducked into this movie theater to get away from everyone wanting to be my friend or sell me things, found a restaurant in the guide and went. Generally, I would have just gone somewhere in sight and not been so tied to where Lonely Planet thinks I should eat, but there were no places around without going back in the other direction. Plus, I didn't want to deal with trying to assess the cleanliness of the place; I just wanted to eat. So I found this place, which was this trendy spin off of a fancier place nearby and it showed in the clientele--all english speaking, rich Indians. And a bunch of white backpackers, Lonely Planet in hand. Very strange combination. I had a nice salad and a mediocre pizza, opted for no dessert, although the idea of it was appealing (I've been buying bars of Cadburry on the way home to calm my sweeth tooth and have been having Ben & Jerrys dreams).
It was good to be out of my routine for a while and cover some of the requisite sites. It's a really beautiful city, at least in terms of architecture.
Getting on at the first stop of the train got me a seat, which was wonderful, considering it's a 45 minute trip on the fast train. I have been having the worst trouble getting a rikshaw from the train station to take me home, though. I've walked more times than I'd like to count. It's not really that far, but I'm usually exhausted by the end of the day and I'd much rather pay $.25 than walk. I think my pronunciation of the area we live is just so poor that they don't understand me. And I've practiced. I've spend like 20 minutes with two roommates to teach me how to say it. Still, no one understands me. I can even direct them from the main road, but trying to convey that it is even harder. So last night, I got really excited because someone understood me and I got a ride. There was this terrible traffic and for no apparent reason, so the road was just a sea of rikshaws and scooters. After a while, I lost track of where we were but didn't make much of it, until I realized that we'd gone too far. I asked the guy where we were going and he repeated what sounded like my neighborhood's name. I said that I think we went too far; he insisted, I relented, and we went ahead.
Until we were about to get on the expressway for the airport--I knew that was wrong. There was no u-turn ahead, so I told him to pull over before he got on that road to nowhere. He pulled over this guy who asked me where I wanted to go; I said it, he repeated it. And he said, "yes, this is the way," pointing to where the driver was going. I said "No, it's not. Here's your money, I'll get off here." They were very nice and even asked me to write down where I was trying to go; once I did, they realized that we were talking about different places and started to give me directions back to it. I was tired, and in a bad mood, frustrated that I can't communicate with anyone these two words that get me home, and just sort of took off. There was no way for the guy to turn around and take me there even if either of us wanted that. So, I walked home (it was like a 5 minute walk behind us), and at least got the frustration out of my system (although not the fatigue) by the time I got home. I guess it's all part of the fun.
I learned last night that the neighborhood I'm living in used to be a landfill and has a drainage system that causes it to smell the way it does. Bad. Especially in the morning. I thought it might just be sulfur in the water, and that a lot of water gets used in the morning from bathing, etc., which causes the smell. That may still be true, but a flatmate told me yesterday that it's the sewage that's smelling. Whether that's true or not, it's undeniable that this place smells. I don't mean that in a bad way necessarily (although some of the smells are quite putrid), but just that there are a lot of scents happening. There's the smoke, the car exhaust, the street food cooking, the sewage; at different places there's trash, or fresh fruit; on the train, there's always someone whose body odor is noticeable.
I was on a particularly crowded train one night, and this guy who was about my age said, "you must be very frustrated [by how crowded it is]."
In a moment of uncharacteristic calm, I said, "not really; there's nothing I can do about it except be glad I'm not in second class."
He laughed and said, "yes, because at least it doesn't smell here."
I just meant that it is less crowded in first (although I'm starting to wonder if that's even true), but I suppose he's right.
There's just a lot going on in this country, for all the senses.
I was on a particularly crowded train one night, and this guy who was about my age said, "you must be very frustrated [by how crowded it is]."
In a moment of uncharacteristic calm, I said, "not really; there's nothing I can do about it except be glad I'm not in second class."
He laughed and said, "yes, because at least it doesn't smell here."
I just meant that it is less crowded in first (although I'm starting to wonder if that's even true), but I suppose he's right.
There's just a lot going on in this country, for all the senses.
I got a new camera the other day and am determined to put it to good use. The problem is that it's rare to be able to take a picture discretely--I stick out enough, let alone with camera in hand. In any event, here are a few to start.
The apartment building (you can see my blue towel), my bedroom, and the view from the balcony.



The train station in the morning on the way in, Santa Cruz station, which is where work is (if you look closely, you can see the people hanging out the side of the train), the full view of the station, and the bridge above it (there are generally a bunch of vendor stalls on it but they were closed for some reason).




To give a sense of what streets look like, including the lines for gas, and a sense of how crowded the roads are.



The apartment building (you can see my blue towel), my bedroom, and the view from the balcony.



The train station in the morning on the way in, Santa Cruz station, which is where work is (if you look closely, you can see the people hanging out the side of the train), the full view of the station, and the bridge above it (there are generally a bunch of vendor stalls on it but they were closed for some reason).




To give a sense of what streets look like, including the lines for gas, and a sense of how crowded the roads are.



I just ordered my standard Chinese food order (veg spring roll, chicken & black bean sauce) to be delivered to the office. It's making me really happy for some reason. I'm going to go with it.
There's a subtlety and nuance about doing contract work when the two parties are working closely together on the project. Especially when you're the contractor and you want the project to get done. It's easy to grab the reins and keep things moving because you know each other well, but is that necessarily the best way? In the short run, maybe, but I think it does a disservice in the long run.
Right now I'm developing a data entry system and codebook for this project that is running here. Boston's coming Sunday and wants to see the data--do they want to see the data out of curiousity or purely to check up on the system here, whether things are being entered, done cleanly, etc.? I think this is one of those classic moments of doing international work that could be an important capacity building point (sorry for the buzzword), but it gets lost because people want to get things done. There are a few NIH grants in review or development to get run through here, and while there's some serious effort to expand research capacity here, if almost 1/4th of the surveys are collected and haven't been entered, something's wrong. And when I asked the research manager here about what sort of systems they use, there didn't appear to be any standard or precedent for using one program versus another. Which is not to say that they haven't done data collection and entry before; they certainly have, just not systematically. There's also a clear human resources issue here--this place needs a really competent data manager if they're going to do more research work to oversee this sort of stuff. Beyond all of that, this is probably something that is in the contract for India to do. I asked in an email to Boston whether it makes sense for me to do all of this or if I should push back on India (diplomatically) to have them do it? A quick response said "yes, you do it...things fall behind there."
I'm not here to teach someone how to do this sort of stuff either. Or am I? Isn't part of working with partner organizations about transfer of knowledge and learning from each other? Not to get too blown out of proportion, but isn't this a question about one's fundamental approach to working with partner organizations? And when Boston keeps coming to save the day, what good does that do? It keeps up a power dynamic with Boston in charge and India as slow and incapable and not much else. I think the best I can do is: keep going at this speed to have it done by next week, and meet with the research manager to make sure India is clear on what I'm doing and throughly explain why. This is where the control freak and cerebral introvert really want to come out to play, too: just let me figure it all out, decide how it should be done, and then tell you how to do it. I need to check that by talking it out. I'm not fooling myself as some sort of savior here either--I'm sure (well, I hope) Boston would do the same once they got here, I just beat them here. I'm just saying all of this because it's one of those rubber meets the road things after going through a whole class on planning and evaluation where community involvement was key. This is where I get to decide how I want to work with other groups, what my way is, especially when there are these resource and power differences looming.
Which is another good point: I am SO glad I'm not at school right now. I don't just mean not in Boston (although, smoke aside, the weather's much better here), but specifically that I'm somewhere where I can apply some of this stuff. It gets the juices flowing again, makes me remember why I care(d) in the first place. That place can be so stifling, and I forget how much I learn by doing and applying, not just absorbing and thinking. Not to mention getting wrapped up in grades (esp at the expense of real learning), which I only remember is pointless when I get this far away. I also think that some of what I was doing at the school has been boring me for longer than I've known, and that is a key factor that will change in the spring. But in general, it's still a lot of vacuum learning, which doesn't really suit me very well. So it's good to remember that I'm quite happy out here in the real world if that's how my application March Madness shakes out.
Right now I'm developing a data entry system and codebook for this project that is running here. Boston's coming Sunday and wants to see the data--do they want to see the data out of curiousity or purely to check up on the system here, whether things are being entered, done cleanly, etc.? I think this is one of those classic moments of doing international work that could be an important capacity building point (sorry for the buzzword), but it gets lost because people want to get things done. There are a few NIH grants in review or development to get run through here, and while there's some serious effort to expand research capacity here, if almost 1/4th of the surveys are collected and haven't been entered, something's wrong. And when I asked the research manager here about what sort of systems they use, there didn't appear to be any standard or precedent for using one program versus another. Which is not to say that they haven't done data collection and entry before; they certainly have, just not systematically. There's also a clear human resources issue here--this place needs a really competent data manager if they're going to do more research work to oversee this sort of stuff. Beyond all of that, this is probably something that is in the contract for India to do. I asked in an email to Boston whether it makes sense for me to do all of this or if I should push back on India (diplomatically) to have them do it? A quick response said "yes, you do it...things fall behind there."
I'm not here to teach someone how to do this sort of stuff either. Or am I? Isn't part of working with partner organizations about transfer of knowledge and learning from each other? Not to get too blown out of proportion, but isn't this a question about one's fundamental approach to working with partner organizations? And when Boston keeps coming to save the day, what good does that do? It keeps up a power dynamic with Boston in charge and India as slow and incapable and not much else. I think the best I can do is: keep going at this speed to have it done by next week, and meet with the research manager to make sure India is clear on what I'm doing and throughly explain why. This is where the control freak and cerebral introvert really want to come out to play, too: just let me figure it all out, decide how it should be done, and then tell you how to do it. I need to check that by talking it out. I'm not fooling myself as some sort of savior here either--I'm sure (well, I hope) Boston would do the same once they got here, I just beat them here. I'm just saying all of this because it's one of those rubber meets the road things after going through a whole class on planning and evaluation where community involvement was key. This is where I get to decide how I want to work with other groups, what my way is, especially when there are these resource and power differences looming.
Which is another good point: I am SO glad I'm not at school right now. I don't just mean not in Boston (although, smoke aside, the weather's much better here), but specifically that I'm somewhere where I can apply some of this stuff. It gets the juices flowing again, makes me remember why I care(d) in the first place. That place can be so stifling, and I forget how much I learn by doing and applying, not just absorbing and thinking. Not to mention getting wrapped up in grades (esp at the expense of real learning), which I only remember is pointless when I get this far away. I also think that some of what I was doing at the school has been boring me for longer than I've known, and that is a key factor that will change in the spring. But in general, it's still a lot of vacuum learning, which doesn't really suit me very well. So it's good to remember that I'm quite happy out here in the real world if that's how my application March Madness shakes out.
Labels: mumbai, professional ramblings, school
I hope I'm not jinxing things by saying so, but I actually feel okay today. For the first time in the week (!) that I've been here. I went to the doc at the clinic yesterday, which was a funny experience unto itself. I said that I was having a bag cough, it was in my chest, etc., and had been running a fever. Once I mentioned the fever, he put his hand on my forearm and nodded. He then started digging in the cabinet next to him and pulled out three pills. He didn't say what they were, just to take them once a day on an empty stomach. I noticed that they were erothromycin, an antibiotic, which I was on for a long while--and am probably immune to--but I'll try it and go for something else if need be. He then asked if I'd mind taking cough syrup, I said no. He start fishing under his desk for something and came back with a bottle he'd poured (about the size of a vanilla extract bottle) of the stuff under his desk. I mentioned that I'd been taking ibuprofin for the fever and he said that I should take something else (what it is, I don't know). He took a handful from the same cabinet and put them into a small ziploc bag. Then he asked my name, age, and where I was from. I must have had a look on my face (when don't I?); he mentioned that he needed to write that in his log book. And then I left. In total, probably about 5 minutes. No exam or temperature taking. No pharmacist or perscription. Certainly no copay (I don't think care is free here, but I think they're giving it to me gratis because I'm working there).
Now that i'm feeling better, I'm hoping to explore a bit more. I've been pretty much in a rut of going to work and then straight home, which is getting a little old. Last night I went to the big mall by the flat to pick up a few things at the supermarket and also just to have a change of pace. Even sitting in the food court for a while was nice. I think I've come to rely on public places to sit and just be for a while, particularly since I've been in school; I don't know that there are any here. There's a chain of coffee shops, but I don't think it's quite the same as grabbing a chair at Starbucks. When I start to feel like this, I pull White Traveller and go to a nice hotel and sit in the restaurant or bar area. No one will give you weird looks for being on your computer, people will leave you alone, etc.
I'm also working from another office, which is good. It's on the other side of the train station (everything here is East or West of the train station, so I live in Malad(W)), much quieter, and I have my own space/room. It was really hard to work at the clinic building--15 outreach workers running around, carrying on (which is fine, and sort of fun, but only from a distance). This place will get taken over by a bunch of people from Boston next week, but I think I can stay in here no problem. I'm sort of liking my groove here and hope their trip won't interrupt that, but we'll cross that when it happens. They're also coming in on Sunday, so I think there's going to be a dinner that night. It's weird since I used to work with them, don't anymore, but am working on one of their projects here, even though I'm here independently with my own funding and mandate...so it's this weird thing where I don't totally know what my relationship is with them.
Either way, with them in on Sunday, no going away this weekend. I'll have to start planning for next. I sort of feel like if I go anywhere, I have to go to Agra for the Taj Mahal, so I may fly to Delhi for a day, Agra for the day, then back. Otherwise, it's doing more local travel, or going south to a beach in Goa. Any thoughts or suggestions are more than welcomed.
Now that i'm feeling better, I'm hoping to explore a bit more. I've been pretty much in a rut of going to work and then straight home, which is getting a little old. Last night I went to the big mall by the flat to pick up a few things at the supermarket and also just to have a change of pace. Even sitting in the food court for a while was nice. I think I've come to rely on public places to sit and just be for a while, particularly since I've been in school; I don't know that there are any here. There's a chain of coffee shops, but I don't think it's quite the same as grabbing a chair at Starbucks. When I start to feel like this, I pull White Traveller and go to a nice hotel and sit in the restaurant or bar area. No one will give you weird looks for being on your computer, people will leave you alone, etc.
I'm also working from another office, which is good. It's on the other side of the train station (everything here is East or West of the train station, so I live in Malad(W)), much quieter, and I have my own space/room. It was really hard to work at the clinic building--15 outreach workers running around, carrying on (which is fine, and sort of fun, but only from a distance). This place will get taken over by a bunch of people from Boston next week, but I think I can stay in here no problem. I'm sort of liking my groove here and hope their trip won't interrupt that, but we'll cross that when it happens. They're also coming in on Sunday, so I think there's going to be a dinner that night. It's weird since I used to work with them, don't anymore, but am working on one of their projects here, even though I'm here independently with my own funding and mandate...so it's this weird thing where I don't totally know what my relationship is with them.
Either way, with them in on Sunday, no going away this weekend. I'll have to start planning for next. I sort of feel like if I go anywhere, I have to go to Agra for the Taj Mahal, so I may fly to Delhi for a day, Agra for the day, then back. Otherwise, it's doing more local travel, or going south to a beach in Goa. Any thoughts or suggestions are more than welcomed.
I saw my first white person yesterday. He was walking down the street nearby work. I almost said hello, but that seemed weird. And if we'd been in the US, the way I looked at him probably would have been taken as checking him out, but it was more just of surprise than anything. It just occurred to me that there's a big yoga institute nearby...I wonder if he was coming/going from there. It's not that I don't otherwise know I'm not from here--I'm constantly coming to impasses with language, culture, etc. But it's odd that I don't really recognize that I'm white until I see another white person.
I'm sick again, this time with a slight fever (~100) I've been running since yesterday afternoon. and what appears to be a decently strong chest cold. Not to be too graphic (again), but the color of what's coming up makes me think the air quality here couldn't possibly be worse.
I felt pretty low energy yesterday because of it, tired from a bad night's sleep and increasingly overwhelmed by the amount of people everywhere. I couldn't seem to get a rikshaw home from the train station, so I walked; I'm becoming more adept at human frogger style street crossing more each day. But once I got home, I literally fell asleep the minute I laid down on the bed.
I was going to go to the beach today with some guy from work but think I may bail, go to the store for the Indian equivalent of Sudafed, some Gatorate and camp out in bed some more.
I felt pretty low energy yesterday because of it, tired from a bad night's sleep and increasingly overwhelmed by the amount of people everywhere. I couldn't seem to get a rikshaw home from the train station, so I walked; I'm becoming more adept at human frogger style street crossing more each day. But once I got home, I literally fell asleep the minute I laid down on the bed.
I was going to go to the beach today with some guy from work but think I may bail, go to the store for the Indian equivalent of Sudafed, some Gatorate and camp out in bed some more.
Not sick anymore. Not 100%, but close. Woke in the middle of the night with fever and chills, which either meant whatever I had was breaking or that I had malaria. bad thoughts at 3:00 am.
Went to the office today. Intense doesn't even begin to describe it. There's so much gay in that place, I don't really know what to do. The day ended with this party at the drop in center where people had to write their "new year's dreams" for the organization, for MSM (men who have sex with men), transgender persons, and themselves. I sat in the back through the rest of the event, which was basically a two hour dance off of 6 men (3 in drag, 3 not). I basically kept to myself, although at one point some guy hit on me, first by talking and then by showing me a shirtless picture of himself he'd taken with his phone. I think my response to the picture was, "I don't know." I sort of wish that moment could be included in the gay version of Lost in Translation. Then, I got called to the front to award the prize for the best new year's dream (so not expecting that). It quickly turned into a larger dance party with a lot of Bollywood posing/voguing. It was apparently novel to dance with me so I had to oblige even though I was feeling rather out of my element. Someone with long hair kept waving their tongue and spinning around me. I'll have to reenact in person. But once Shakira comes on, it's pretty universal and all bets are off.
There's also lots of really great work going on, and I think I'm actually going to be able to stick to my original plan for what I'll be doing here, which is nice. They're totally on board with it and encouraging about it before I even brought it up. I now have a bit of a mandate from others to deal with some other stuff before they get here next week, but I should be able to do that on the side. There was a woman from the states there today, which was sort of nice. She's originally from MD/DC and interned there in 2001. So we had a good chat and she was helpful to explain some stuff. Back there tomorrow at noon for preliminary meetings about this needs assessment. Should be very interesting.
I also took the train there and back today. I went in the middle of the day, which wasn't so bad, but coming back, even around 9:00pm was pretty intense. All I had in my head was that song, "you can do it, put your back into it!" and just shoved my way in with the bet of them.
I was also warned by a roommate that eating indian food will make me gain weight because it's so carb heavy. Seriously, Atkins has ruined everything.
Went to the office today. Intense doesn't even begin to describe it. There's so much gay in that place, I don't really know what to do. The day ended with this party at the drop in center where people had to write their "new year's dreams" for the organization, for MSM (men who have sex with men), transgender persons, and themselves. I sat in the back through the rest of the event, which was basically a two hour dance off of 6 men (3 in drag, 3 not). I basically kept to myself, although at one point some guy hit on me, first by talking and then by showing me a shirtless picture of himself he'd taken with his phone. I think my response to the picture was, "I don't know." I sort of wish that moment could be included in the gay version of Lost in Translation. Then, I got called to the front to award the prize for the best new year's dream (so not expecting that). It quickly turned into a larger dance party with a lot of Bollywood posing/voguing. It was apparently novel to dance with me so I had to oblige even though I was feeling rather out of my element. Someone with long hair kept waving their tongue and spinning around me. I'll have to reenact in person. But once Shakira comes on, it's pretty universal and all bets are off.
There's also lots of really great work going on, and I think I'm actually going to be able to stick to my original plan for what I'll be doing here, which is nice. They're totally on board with it and encouraging about it before I even brought it up. I now have a bit of a mandate from others to deal with some other stuff before they get here next week, but I should be able to do that on the side. There was a woman from the states there today, which was sort of nice. She's originally from MD/DC and interned there in 2001. So we had a good chat and she was helpful to explain some stuff. Back there tomorrow at noon for preliminary meetings about this needs assessment. Should be very interesting.
I also took the train there and back today. I went in the middle of the day, which wasn't so bad, but coming back, even around 9:00pm was pretty intense. All I had in my head was that song, "you can do it, put your back into it!" and just shoved my way in with the bet of them.
I was also warned by a roommate that eating indian food will make me gain weight because it's so carb heavy. Seriously, Atkins has ruined everything.
Nothing is staying down. Not even water. Hasn't since yesterday. Getting a little worried about staying hydrated.
[Note: this may be a little graphic (or at least TMI), and I suppose is more for my memory of this whole thing than to be sure you understand the details of my digestive functioning, ...]
I went out yesterday to the mall, which also has a grocery store, to get some things; tried to get a SIM card to no avail...you have to have some sort of proof of Indian residency, I think; and came home probably around 5:00. I started to read the paper and promptly fell asleep. I woke up a few times in the night, but just went back to sleep.
When I did get up around 7:00, I was hungry from skipping dinner, so I ate the small Snickers bar I had, guzzled down some water (I bought and drank a Gatorade at the store, but otherwise hadn't had any fluids since I arrived), and sort of went back to sleep. I started feeling a little nasty, to the point that I grabbed one of the plastic shopping bags to keep nearby just in case. I've needed it (and the toilet paper) ever since.
Granted, I'm being a little whiny and usually do anytime I get sick, mostly because it's so rare. But I've also never really been this sick in another country and I'm just a little anxious about it. If I were at home, I wouldn't have done anything differently than I have here, but I would at least know where the doctor, pharmacy, etc. was. Fortunately, when I called my work contact here, he reminded me that there's a clinic with good doctors that's part of this organization. Thank god.
I keep racking my brain to think about what it is that made me sick. The best I can come up with is the vegetables I had yesterday at lunch (cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots; only the tomatoes hadn't been peeled).
And just when I was starting to feel better, it started all over again...
I also am a bit bummed that I haven't started any work; I've only left the flat once. However, I've caught up on sleep (if I needed to in the first place) and gotten to know MTV India fairly well (ps: it's hilarious).
So I'm going to go tomorrow to work, and at the very least get a doc to take a look and prescribe me something.
And I can say that I have experienced India's infamous GI issues. Nothing I wanted, but bragging rights are the only upside i'm seeing here...
[Note: this may be a little graphic (or at least TMI), and I suppose is more for my memory of this whole thing than to be sure you understand the details of my digestive functioning, ...]
I went out yesterday to the mall, which also has a grocery store, to get some things; tried to get a SIM card to no avail...you have to have some sort of proof of Indian residency, I think; and came home probably around 5:00. I started to read the paper and promptly fell asleep. I woke up a few times in the night, but just went back to sleep.
When I did get up around 7:00, I was hungry from skipping dinner, so I ate the small Snickers bar I had, guzzled down some water (I bought and drank a Gatorade at the store, but otherwise hadn't had any fluids since I arrived), and sort of went back to sleep. I started feeling a little nasty, to the point that I grabbed one of the plastic shopping bags to keep nearby just in case. I've needed it (and the toilet paper) ever since.
Granted, I'm being a little whiny and usually do anytime I get sick, mostly because it's so rare. But I've also never really been this sick in another country and I'm just a little anxious about it. If I were at home, I wouldn't have done anything differently than I have here, but I would at least know where the doctor, pharmacy, etc. was. Fortunately, when I called my work contact here, he reminded me that there's a clinic with good doctors that's part of this organization. Thank god.
I keep racking my brain to think about what it is that made me sick. The best I can come up with is the vegetables I had yesterday at lunch (cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots; only the tomatoes hadn't been peeled).
And just when I was starting to feel better, it started all over again...
I also am a bit bummed that I haven't started any work; I've only left the flat once. However, I've caught up on sleep (if I needed to in the first place) and gotten to know MTV India fairly well (ps: it's hilarious).
So I'm going to go tomorrow to work, and at the very least get a doc to take a look and prescribe me something.
And I can say that I have experienced India's infamous GI issues. Nothing I wanted, but bragging rights are the only upside i'm seeing here...
I got here fine. The flight from Vienna was super easy: very empty (so I was able to stretch out), decent movies (Nanny Diaries, Bourne Ultimatum, and then this awesome Bollywood movie about the India National Women's Field Hockey Team...it totally fed my love for teen sports/competition movies), and good food (including good, strong coffee).
I went through immigration etc with no problem, my bag arrived (miraculously), some security guard said I could bypass this entire security/x-ray checkpoint (I was doubting whether he was for real, I understood him correctly, or both...but did it anyway), changed some money, and walked out. Then I panicked. I hate walking through that last step before you hit the masses. I feel protected until then and immediately overwhelmed after. Plus I sort of forgot that I was the white, foreign guy whom everyone wants to "help". I got really anxious and wanted to barrel through (to what, I'm not sure), but fortunately had someone tell me how to get a taxi. I meant to ask at the change forex but forgot, so now I'm relying on someone who may or may not be scamming me. Feeling that skeptical about other people's motives is really uncomfortable, and I'm never really sure if I'm rightly protecting myself or overreacting unnecessarily in those situations. Anyway, there was a taxi stand that is pre-paid, by distance, clearly marked, and ultimately cheap enough that I didn't care (like $8 for a half hour ride). But it was this weird system where the woman who takes your money at the stand assigns you a cab (air conditioned ones are more expensive, for one); you take that receipt with the cab number to stand number two, who gets the driver for you. I skipped stand number two by mistake and just found some dude who found the cab, put my stuff in, and then ran off (with my receipt...see paranoid skepticism above) to find that cab's driver. He was over at some restaurant (don't you love it?) so we drove there and guy #1 ran in to get him. Then we finally got going.
I think I'd psyched myself out about this a little, mostly because it wasn't Africa. If I were going to Nigeria, I think I would have been a little less freaked (at least that's what I tell myself). But for some reason, the true foreign=ness of this place to me was freaking me out. In a lot of ways, I'm that arrogant American coming in with little knowledge of the culture, language, etc; I'm slowly getting better at either not doing that as much or being more okay with it, I'm not sure which (or which is better/worse). Combined with all the talk of how many people there are here, how crowded everything is, etc., I was letting myself get a little wrapped up in it before it had even started. Then in the cab I saw all the people walking along the streets, the commercial stalls that are sort of falling in, the misspelled, hand-painted signs, and I felt okay. It was quite odd, actually, but I didn't really question it. I just sort of had a feeling that it was going to be okay. Something felt recognizable, some analogy to someplace else I'd been, and I calmed down a little bit.
We finally made it to the apartment after a number of wrong turns and having to ask for directions a handful of times (that made me feel more comfortable, actually). I walked up the (unlit) stairs and found the place. I felt bad for ringing the doorbell so late, but it seemed like everyone was up once I walked in. There are six guys living here in three bedrooms (I'm sharing a room), so there's a lot going on just within the apartment already. One of the six is the main guy (I don't think he owns the place, but it's clearly his to be renting), who is very nice, self-employed (software developer or something?) and works from home. Another is the manager of a big department store (some UK chain I'd vaguely heard of) at this huge mall nearby. One guy works at JP Morgan, although I don't know doing what. One guy I don't know much about. The department store guy (my roommate) and JP Morgan wanted to talk, so we were up until 2 talking. They both wanted to know a lot about Harvard, which was fine to talk about. I'm avoiding being very specific about what I'm here to do because of its ties to the gay community (and who knows how that might go down...my sense is probably fine, but you never know), so I'm planning on not talking about my own work very much.
Last but not least is the full time servant, who is one of the six who lives here. I think that's more than standard, at least among all the other places I was looking to stay, but it's still so weird to me. He cooks all the meals, cleans, does the laundry, etc. Like, he brought me tea in bed (at my roommate's request, since I still have no idea what the hell's going on and I don't think Sanjay, the servant, speaks much English). I think I just equate this level of "help" as either extravagant and unnecessary or makes me think of slavery. Either way, it's weird.
The one thing that I can now smell and otherwise understand is what this weather.com forecast means. The general forecast is always "Sunny", but the actual details are:

Right.
So the goals for the day are to head out to the mall, get a SIM card, walk around the neighborhood a bit, call the people I'm working with to connect up with them, and just kick it. I also have to go to the supermarket for bottled water and toilet paper (I so forgot about that, and there's clearly none here).
I went through immigration etc with no problem, my bag arrived (miraculously), some security guard said I could bypass this entire security/x-ray checkpoint (I was doubting whether he was for real, I understood him correctly, or both...but did it anyway), changed some money, and walked out. Then I panicked. I hate walking through that last step before you hit the masses. I feel protected until then and immediately overwhelmed after. Plus I sort of forgot that I was the white, foreign guy whom everyone wants to "help". I got really anxious and wanted to barrel through (to what, I'm not sure), but fortunately had someone tell me how to get a taxi. I meant to ask at the change forex but forgot, so now I'm relying on someone who may or may not be scamming me. Feeling that skeptical about other people's motives is really uncomfortable, and I'm never really sure if I'm rightly protecting myself or overreacting unnecessarily in those situations. Anyway, there was a taxi stand that is pre-paid, by distance, clearly marked, and ultimately cheap enough that I didn't care (like $8 for a half hour ride). But it was this weird system where the woman who takes your money at the stand assigns you a cab (air conditioned ones are more expensive, for one); you take that receipt with the cab number to stand number two, who gets the driver for you. I skipped stand number two by mistake and just found some dude who found the cab, put my stuff in, and then ran off (with my receipt...see paranoid skepticism above) to find that cab's driver. He was over at some restaurant (don't you love it?) so we drove there and guy #1 ran in to get him. Then we finally got going.
I think I'd psyched myself out about this a little, mostly because it wasn't Africa. If I were going to Nigeria, I think I would have been a little less freaked (at least that's what I tell myself). But for some reason, the true foreign=ness of this place to me was freaking me out. In a lot of ways, I'm that arrogant American coming in with little knowledge of the culture, language, etc; I'm slowly getting better at either not doing that as much or being more okay with it, I'm not sure which (or which is better/worse). Combined with all the talk of how many people there are here, how crowded everything is, etc., I was letting myself get a little wrapped up in it before it had even started. Then in the cab I saw all the people walking along the streets, the commercial stalls that are sort of falling in, the misspelled, hand-painted signs, and I felt okay. It was quite odd, actually, but I didn't really question it. I just sort of had a feeling that it was going to be okay. Something felt recognizable, some analogy to someplace else I'd been, and I calmed down a little bit.
We finally made it to the apartment after a number of wrong turns and having to ask for directions a handful of times (that made me feel more comfortable, actually). I walked up the (unlit) stairs and found the place. I felt bad for ringing the doorbell so late, but it seemed like everyone was up once I walked in. There are six guys living here in three bedrooms (I'm sharing a room), so there's a lot going on just within the apartment already. One of the six is the main guy (I don't think he owns the place, but it's clearly his to be renting), who is very nice, self-employed (software developer or something?) and works from home. Another is the manager of a big department store (some UK chain I'd vaguely heard of) at this huge mall nearby. One guy works at JP Morgan, although I don't know doing what. One guy I don't know much about. The department store guy (my roommate) and JP Morgan wanted to talk, so we were up until 2 talking. They both wanted to know a lot about Harvard, which was fine to talk about. I'm avoiding being very specific about what I'm here to do because of its ties to the gay community (and who knows how that might go down...my sense is probably fine, but you never know), so I'm planning on not talking about my own work very much.
Last but not least is the full time servant, who is one of the six who lives here. I think that's more than standard, at least among all the other places I was looking to stay, but it's still so weird to me. He cooks all the meals, cleans, does the laundry, etc. Like, he brought me tea in bed (at my roommate's request, since I still have no idea what the hell's going on and I don't think Sanjay, the servant, speaks much English). I think I just equate this level of "help" as either extravagant and unnecessary or makes me think of slavery. Either way, it's weird.
The one thing that I can now smell and otherwise understand is what this weather.com forecast means. The general forecast is always "Sunny", but the actual details are:

Right.
So the goals for the day are to head out to the mall, get a SIM card, walk around the neighborhood a bit, call the people I'm working with to connect up with them, and just kick it. I also have to go to the supermarket for bottled water and toilet paper (I so forgot about that, and there's clearly none here).
Labels: airports, india, mumbai, transitions, transportation, travel
It's a resurrection.
I knew that school and life would be the downfall of this blog. It didn't have staying power and was likely doomed from the start. I couldn't get into writing much beyond a new status update on Facebook, let alone regular blog posts that take time, thought, and effort. I'm still unsure if I spent time, thought, and effort on all of my coursework last semester. In any event, I knew it would falter and that I would pick it up again when I travel.
I'm writing this from Vienna, on the way to Mumbai, which constitutes travel for sure.
I celebrated the new year somewhere over the Atlantic, likely watching a fragment of Knocked Up, The Simpsons Movie, or The Lookout (I couldn't seem to get on the movie schedule and caught each somewhere in the middle). Mumbai's 10.5 hours ahead of Eastern time; I couldn't really figure out what to do about sleeping, so I kept myself up until I couldn't anymore. I figure showing up tired is better than being stuck in another time zone and wanting to sleep all day and be awake all night. My flight gets in at 11:20pm tonight, so I'm going to get my bag, a taxi and go where I'm staying as fast as possible to get to bed.
I'm renting a room in an apartment in a nearby suburb called Malad. I'm going to be almost exclusively in the northern part of the city, which consists of the airports and much of the nicer parts of town (including expat neighborhoods and beaches). The southern part of the city where the accommodations were more of my budget was thought to be too far away, or too long of a commute. I may not have shortened that by much, but at least I'm not going to be living in a hotel for three weeks. The thought of doing so seemed dreadful.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do about getting downtown everyday--there's a rail system that will get me where I need to go, but to say that it's crowded during rush hour is a huge understatement. Anything that has something called Super-Dense Crush Load just isn't messing around. So I'm going to give myself the better part of the week to get oriented, try it out, and see how it goes. This whole trip should be flexible, so maybe I'll just rock an 11-6 sort of schedule. I doubt the roads are much better, but maybe I'll take an auto rikshaw. That's definitely a step up from the Mchinji bike taxi.
And speaking of work, that remains a bit up in the air. The long of the short of it is that I'm going to be working with a GLBT (more GBT to be accurate) health organization in some capacity, likely working on some data or something else in the background. The history of this trip is more or less the following:
1. The place I worked before going back to school does work with them.
2. I got reconnected with them through a circuitous route that involves a HMS professor who is on the board of the organization and also holds an appointment where I used to work.
3. He suggested this as a practicum for last summer; Malawi came up and I thought this might be a better Winter Session experience. January isn't monsoon season, for one.
4. I applied for some funding to do a needs assessment of HIV+ transgender persons whom this place serves. Got the funding.
5. Reconnected with folks I used to work with, four of whom are going to be in Mumbai for shorter periods of time to do some work there. It seems to make more sense to tag along with their programs, even if that means I don't know what exactly I'm going to be doing while I'm there. Like Tim says, we'll make it work.
I want to have something to show for three weeks somewhere (and have some ethical obligation to do so given that I'm traveling on someone else's dime), but I'm trying to go easy. I'm trying not to force anything, just show up and go with the flow. No expectations + lots of footwork = something good will happen.
In the meantime, I'm planning on chronicling here how it goes. I'll have internet at the apartment, so catch me on email, GChat or Skype. It might be the airport, but my phone doesn't seem able to get a signal here, so I'm not actually too hopeful that AT&T will pull through with their ridiculous ad campaign (think Washvienumbai) and get service in all those places. But let's see.
Sitting with a good cup of coffee, watching gentle snow fall (albeit on airport machinery), with free wireless in Austria isn't a bad way to kick off the new year.
I knew that school and life would be the downfall of this blog. It didn't have staying power and was likely doomed from the start. I couldn't get into writing much beyond a new status update on Facebook, let alone regular blog posts that take time, thought, and effort. I'm still unsure if I spent time, thought, and effort on all of my coursework last semester. In any event, I knew it would falter and that I would pick it up again when I travel.
I'm writing this from Vienna, on the way to Mumbai, which constitutes travel for sure.
I celebrated the new year somewhere over the Atlantic, likely watching a fragment of Knocked Up, The Simpsons Movie, or The Lookout (I couldn't seem to get on the movie schedule and caught each somewhere in the middle). Mumbai's 10.5 hours ahead of Eastern time; I couldn't really figure out what to do about sleeping, so I kept myself up until I couldn't anymore. I figure showing up tired is better than being stuck in another time zone and wanting to sleep all day and be awake all night. My flight gets in at 11:20pm tonight, so I'm going to get my bag, a taxi and go where I'm staying as fast as possible to get to bed.
I'm renting a room in an apartment in a nearby suburb called Malad. I'm going to be almost exclusively in the northern part of the city, which consists of the airports and much of the nicer parts of town (including expat neighborhoods and beaches). The southern part of the city where the accommodations were more of my budget was thought to be too far away, or too long of a commute. I may not have shortened that by much, but at least I'm not going to be living in a hotel for three weeks. The thought of doing so seemed dreadful.
I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do about getting downtown everyday--there's a rail system that will get me where I need to go, but to say that it's crowded during rush hour is a huge understatement. Anything that has something called Super-Dense Crush Load just isn't messing around. So I'm going to give myself the better part of the week to get oriented, try it out, and see how it goes. This whole trip should be flexible, so maybe I'll just rock an 11-6 sort of schedule. I doubt the roads are much better, but maybe I'll take an auto rikshaw. That's definitely a step up from the Mchinji bike taxi.
And speaking of work, that remains a bit up in the air. The long of the short of it is that I'm going to be working with a GLBT (more GBT to be accurate) health organization in some capacity, likely working on some data or something else in the background. The history of this trip is more or less the following:
1. The place I worked before going back to school does work with them.
2. I got reconnected with them through a circuitous route that involves a HMS professor who is on the board of the organization and also holds an appointment where I used to work.
3. He suggested this as a practicum for last summer; Malawi came up and I thought this might be a better Winter Session experience. January isn't monsoon season, for one.
4. I applied for some funding to do a needs assessment of HIV+ transgender persons whom this place serves. Got the funding.
5. Reconnected with folks I used to work with, four of whom are going to be in Mumbai for shorter periods of time to do some work there. It seems to make more sense to tag along with their programs, even if that means I don't know what exactly I'm going to be doing while I'm there. Like Tim says, we'll make it work.
I want to have something to show for three weeks somewhere (and have some ethical obligation to do so given that I'm traveling on someone else's dime), but I'm trying to go easy. I'm trying not to force anything, just show up and go with the flow. No expectations + lots of footwork = something good will happen.
In the meantime, I'm planning on chronicling here how it goes. I'll have internet at the apartment, so catch me on email, GChat or Skype. It might be the airport, but my phone doesn't seem able to get a signal here, so I'm not actually too hopeful that AT&T will pull through with their ridiculous ad campaign (think Washvienumbai) and get service in all those places. But let's see.
Sitting with a good cup of coffee, watching gentle snow fall (albeit on airport machinery), with free wireless in Austria isn't a bad way to kick off the new year.
Labels: airports, mumbai, transportation, travel