Deep Relaxation
I'm about to leave the Oberoi Tower Hotel and see some of the sites. I'm storing my luggage here until this evening because my program coordinator said my room wouldn't be ready for me until the evening at the University dorm. So, I will kill some time until the evening, then move my stuff over there. Our orientation is tomorrow at 11:00 am, then we start clinic on Monday. I'll get a cellphone at that meeting, so I'll post my number then - I get free incoming calls, so call me all you want, but you should use a calling card if you do because your home or cell phone company will charge A LOT of money to call India.
Thank you for all of your emails - I was so happy to get them today! I think this next 4 weeks will be a little lonely, so I appreciate the contact. Also, feel free to leave comments on here. Thanks for your comment, Woody!
Lets see - I'll go through what I've done so far in Mumbai - I feel like such a loser writing about this because I haven't really left the hotel much, but I figured I will be in Mumbai for 4 weeks, so I'll have plenty of sight-seeing time. Also, I will have a roommate and be staying at a place with no amenities, so I enjoyed that as much as possible.
When I got to my room that first morning/night, I unpacked my stuff, washed the clothes I had been wearing for over 48 hours which smelled like sweat and smoke (people do lots of smoking everywhere in Bahrain) in the sink, took a shower, then a bath, brushed my teeth with soap and hand sanitizer since I forgot toothpaste and I was too embarrassed about crying to call the front desk, took pictures of the room and the view, watched TV. Then, I considered going to sleep, but by then I was sooo hungry. I read through the room service menu and got even hungrier, so I ordered the Norwegian Salmon with a poached egg and asparagus over croute and a plain lassi - YUM! I put on my new dress over pants and started my day without sleeping.
I went for a walk on Marine Drive/Nariman Point across the street from the hotel, which is a road bordering the sea. I went to an ATM first and got cash, so I had 5000 rupees in my bag and I had my camera, so I could take pictures. I went around taking photos for a bit, then this little girl came up to me begging for money - I could give her any because all I had was the wad of cash and I was not about to pull out the whole wad there on the street for all to see. After the little girl came up, her mother joined her and they sandwiched me in between them tightly, flanking my sides. I was walking around in tight circles and weaving around trying to shake them off, but they wouldn't let up. Finally, I guess they realized I wasn't going to give them anything and they left.
The weather is very harsh right now. Heavy grey clouds, rain, major wind - I was almost blown away on that walk! Today I have my hair all pinned down, so it won't blow around so much.
Then, I got a one-hour massage in the hotel spa from a woman from Thailand who was trained in Thailand which I guess is known for good massage. It was great! After the massage, I enjoyed the steam room for awhile.
I showered and put some fancy clothes on and had a romantic candle-lit dinner for one at the hotel restaurant. I was planning on getting sushi because, well, I love sushi, but also I was trying to avoid spicy curry because of my ulcer. It turned out they didn't start serving sushi until later, so I had an amazingly delicious curry meal - morel mushrooms (which were imported from Kashmir according to the waiter) stuffed with farmer's cheese in a curry served with mixed veggies, yoghurt, daal, rice, papadam (sp?), and garlic nan. It was heavenly. The spices used in the curry were new to me and tasted so good. And the meal was only $20 and the giant bottle of Pelligrino was a third of that.
I went to sleep around 8:30 or 9:00 pm and woke up wide awake at midnight, but then went back to sleep soundly until 7:00am.
I got up and headed to the pool for a swim - it was comical because it was so windy, even though it was in a protected courtyard, that the pool water was like a raging river. I jumped in for a minute, but the water smacking me in the face was annoying, so I opted for the gym instead. I did 35 minutes on a cross-trainer and did my stretches, went in the steam room, then had the left-overs from last night for breakfast, drank tea and enjoyed the view.
Took a bubble bath, then a shower, then packed everything up and here I am in the business center writing this. I'm about to go experience more of Mumbai for the first time, so it should be interesting. I'm wearing one of those shoulder money belt things under my blouse, but I have my shoulder bag with my (actually, Josh's) camera in it, so I hope no one tries to rob me or anything. From what I heard, there are a lot of beggars in Colaba since it's the touristy area. I plan to go to Colaba, then to Fort - so it should be interesting and fun.
Oh, by the way, the service is excellent in this hotel - they felt so bad about me crying that they surprised me with this lovely truffle/chocolate platter in my room last night and a card apologizing. Everytime I see someone from the front desk, they ask if I'm happy with the room. I'm going to miss this place...
Oh yeah, I saw on the news this morning that some men shot about 5 people at a Jewish Center in Seattle - so terrible. Seattle has had more than it's share of violence this year.
Thank you for all of your emails - I was so happy to get them today! I think this next 4 weeks will be a little lonely, so I appreciate the contact. Also, feel free to leave comments on here. Thanks for your comment, Woody!
Lets see - I'll go through what I've done so far in Mumbai - I feel like such a loser writing about this because I haven't really left the hotel much, but I figured I will be in Mumbai for 4 weeks, so I'll have plenty of sight-seeing time. Also, I will have a roommate and be staying at a place with no amenities, so I enjoyed that as much as possible.
When I got to my room that first morning/night, I unpacked my stuff, washed the clothes I had been wearing for over 48 hours which smelled like sweat and smoke (people do lots of smoking everywhere in Bahrain) in the sink, took a shower, then a bath, brushed my teeth with soap and hand sanitizer since I forgot toothpaste and I was too embarrassed about crying to call the front desk, took pictures of the room and the view, watched TV. Then, I considered going to sleep, but by then I was sooo hungry. I read through the room service menu and got even hungrier, so I ordered the Norwegian Salmon with a poached egg and asparagus over croute and a plain lassi - YUM! I put on my new dress over pants and started my day without sleeping.
I went for a walk on Marine Drive/Nariman Point across the street from the hotel, which is a road bordering the sea. I went to an ATM first and got cash, so I had 5000 rupees in my bag and I had my camera, so I could take pictures. I went around taking photos for a bit, then this little girl came up to me begging for money - I could give her any because all I had was the wad of cash and I was not about to pull out the whole wad there on the street for all to see. After the little girl came up, her mother joined her and they sandwiched me in between them tightly, flanking my sides. I was walking around in tight circles and weaving around trying to shake them off, but they wouldn't let up. Finally, I guess they realized I wasn't going to give them anything and they left.
The weather is very harsh right now. Heavy grey clouds, rain, major wind - I was almost blown away on that walk! Today I have my hair all pinned down, so it won't blow around so much.
Then, I got a one-hour massage in the hotel spa from a woman from Thailand who was trained in Thailand which I guess is known for good massage. It was great! After the massage, I enjoyed the steam room for awhile.
I showered and put some fancy clothes on and had a romantic candle-lit dinner for one at the hotel restaurant. I was planning on getting sushi because, well, I love sushi, but also I was trying to avoid spicy curry because of my ulcer. It turned out they didn't start serving sushi until later, so I had an amazingly delicious curry meal - morel mushrooms (which were imported from Kashmir according to the waiter) stuffed with farmer's cheese in a curry served with mixed veggies, yoghurt, daal, rice, papadam (sp?), and garlic nan. It was heavenly. The spices used in the curry were new to me and tasted so good. And the meal was only $20 and the giant bottle of Pelligrino was a third of that.
I went to sleep around 8:30 or 9:00 pm and woke up wide awake at midnight, but then went back to sleep soundly until 7:00am.
I got up and headed to the pool for a swim - it was comical because it was so windy, even though it was in a protected courtyard, that the pool water was like a raging river. I jumped in for a minute, but the water smacking me in the face was annoying, so I opted for the gym instead. I did 35 minutes on a cross-trainer and did my stretches, went in the steam room, then had the left-overs from last night for breakfast, drank tea and enjoyed the view.
Took a bubble bath, then a shower, then packed everything up and here I am in the business center writing this. I'm about to go experience more of Mumbai for the first time, so it should be interesting. I'm wearing one of those shoulder money belt things under my blouse, but I have my shoulder bag with my (actually, Josh's) camera in it, so I hope no one tries to rob me or anything. From what I heard, there are a lot of beggars in Colaba since it's the touristy area. I plan to go to Colaba, then to Fort - so it should be interesting and fun.
Oh, by the way, the service is excellent in this hotel - they felt so bad about me crying that they surprised me with this lovely truffle/chocolate platter in my room last night and a card apologizing. Everytime I see someone from the front desk, they ask if I'm happy with the room. I'm going to miss this place...
Oh yeah, I saw on the news this morning that some men shot about 5 people at a Jewish Center in Seattle - so terrible. Seattle has had more than it's share of violence this year.
posted by mavis | 4:11 PM
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