Brief Check In

Hi Everyone!!

It's been a long time since I've posted a blog (Internet access has been really limited) so here's a very brief update until I can access internet (fingers crossed tomorrow we'll get access at home...):

I'm now writing you from Hyderabad, India!!!  After 5 days in Mumbai and a 14 hour bus ride (fully equipped with Bollywood films blasting on full volume throughout the first half of the ride... wow... oh wow...) we arrived this morning and have had the afternoon to get settled in our apartment.  I can't even begin to tell you how nice it is to now have a bed I can call my own and to not have to live out of a bag anymore!!  Ahh!!  I'm rooming with Rachel which is fabulous and totally makes up for the fact that we got the shafted room.  At the moment, the shower doesn't work, the toilet constantly drips, and there's no AC, but I'm pretty confident that either our concerns will be addressed by the landlord or we'll be able to make due just fine.  Part of the joy of this crazy experience... :)

Mumbai was AMAZING!  India has so far infinitely passed all my expectations. NYC crowds have absolutely NOTHING on Mumbai... I just don't even have the words to describe it... Traffic is really interesting too... there are few stoplights, there are no lanes, and crossing the street continues to be one of the biggest adrenaline rushes I've experienced to date. It's actually so crowded on the streets that the majority of cars don't even have those side mirrors (are they rearview mirrors?) because they take up too much space. Really.

Being White around here has been interesting as well.  It's allowed me to make some friends rather easily (sketchy ones and otherwise) and it looks as though I've made it into some random photo albums of natives and other non-White tourists.  Sweeet! It's been kind of fun at times to feel a bit like a celebrity around here but I can start to see how it might get a little old pretty soon... we shall see... people constantly stare everywhere we go and get a little too excited... sometimes entertaining but I'm sure you can imagine how sometimes (especially as a woman) it gets to be a little much...

Alright so this brief update has turned into one that's not so brief - I'm just so exciting about everything going on here I wish I had more time to write and keep you all posted!!  We should be getting internet in our aparmtment tomorrow so I think I should have more time to post more updates as well as some pretty amazing pix and videos.

So so so so much love to you all!!  Your emails keep me energized and I LOVE hearing how you're all doing at home.

More to come soon...

Namaste,
Abby