weekend update

very frustrating/exhausting weekend. we were supposed to go on set on saturday - but they never called or came to pick us up...and by the time we figured out it wasn't happening it was too late for us to go back to our original saturday plan - which was to go into calaba and shop etc. so we sat around. ALL DAY. i thought i was going to go insane. the downtime here is killing me. plus - i was on kind of a vonnegut kick (man without a country, slaughterhouse 5...) so i started to read breakfast of champions when i found it lying around the apartment (there's a very bizarre "library" of books here left by past students etc) and i started hating it but didn't want to abandon it so i didn't feel like reading so i really just did nothing all day. however, to compensate i made desiree and eric go out to dinner with me to this restaurant eric had heard of called "the rice boat" where i had shrimp in the BEST coconut curry i have ever imagined. absolutely incredible.

sunday desiree and i headed down to colaba - we took the train on the way there (an experience by itself - the trains are all ridiculously overcrowded and notoriously agressive - even in the women's only carraiges. the day after we arrived i read a story in the paper about a guy getting beat up and then smothered to death during rush hour on the train -- people's commentary were things like "he probably deserved it" and "the trains are aggressive - if you can't handle yourself you should find other transportation" -- very scary. we however went on the first class ( a few rupees more) women's carraige which was basically empty - plus it was the middle of the day - and had no problems)

we went shopping through the street shops (like market place shopping everywhere - same shit repeated every three booths or so, only here it's cool indian shit) and around various stores. you have to argue every price aggressively or they rip you off insanely. if they say 400rps to start, odds are you can walk away with whatever it was for 150rps or less. you just have to play the game of talking them down and then pretending to walk away and then coming back and then talking them down etc etc etc.

oh and the picture above is of the famous gate of india.

love,

- h