It is 3am and my body thinks it is time to rise and shine, but how can I complain when this morning make three times I have woken up in Mumbai, India. Not many people get this gift, so my goal is to push through the jet lag and honor the experience. It still seems unreal and unimaginable, even as I write this post. I have been debating on what to share with all of you about my trip so far since so much has happened in the two days we have been here....but I will do my best to make it detailed and not boring. However, this one may be longer than I had hoped.
My worries of the plane ride were valid! It was long flight from New Jersey to Mumbai and ironically we got here an hour early! I sat by the window and this made it hard to get up and move. Lesson learned! However, on the flight I was able to sit by a professor from South Carolina who gave me some pointers on cultural expectations and I loved having the information. I also overheard her talking to another young female from Mumbai who had traveled to the US to see her husband. He was living and working in New Jersey. They talked to one another about language, food, families, and marriage. I learned a lot about arranged marriage vs. love marriage. The lingo alone has already been beneficial in the classroom setting. I also contemplated the lingo of marriage in our own country and thought how beneficial it would be to add the description of love in front of the word marriage, every time we used it to describe a lifetime commitment to a partner. After all that is what brings us together. That lovely young lady provided me my first Indian cultural experience and we never even spoke a word to one another. After landing, our first mission was to get luggage and exchange money. I think that alone could have been its own reality show. We are still working on figuring out the math from dollars to rupees and social workers are not known for their math skills.
When we drove into Mumbai it was dark. It was almost 1am by the time we got into cars and headed to the University. The first thing we noticed was driving in Mumbai was loud! The drivers honk constantly and to be honest I haven't totally figured out the purpose. It doesn't seem aggressive so maybe its just a way of making others aware of your presences on the road? I am also still working on what the rules are for driving, because we seemed to continually be in two lanes the entire time and turn signals seemed optional at best. However, I was in the front seat and felt safe during the experience. Maybe I just knew the driver had to understand the things I could not, so I let him handle it. Instead I tried to grab glimpse of the environment in the dark, although I have wondered if I wasn't so full of dramamine if I would have barfed!
The thing that stood out most on this drive was the people sleeping in the median. Imagine if you will, driving on a road or highway and seeing covered bodies among the trees and shrubs within a median. Apparently, these street dwellers find where ever they can to sleep and there were many on laying among the chaos of traffic. I just couldn't imagine sleeping in the midst of all that chaos. I also noticed that many of the windows had christmas lights. I wasn't sure the purpose of the lights, but I loved that one of the first things that I noticed with light among the darkness.
After a brief night of sleep, we awoke to day of sight seeing in Mumbai. Our professor wanted us to see many aspects in India before entering the classroom setting, in hopes of providing context to our lectures. First stop, the Gateway to India. If you don't know what this is...google it. It was beautiful. The biggest issue this entire day was street vendors, as they tend to grab you as a way to get you to pay attention to their products and unfortunately for some reason we were told not to purchase anything from them, which is an issue because we hoped to buy souvenirs and this piece added some difficulty to the day. Begging (as it is referred to in India) was also very much a part of this experience and the amount of young kids (like 5 or younger) on the street needing resources to survive was heart breaking. This was also my first experience with international human trafficking. I learned that day that many of the woman are told to hold their children and beg for money, but then a handler ends up benefiting from their work by taking the money from them. My soul was branded by these visions and I will forever see their faces in my memories of Mumbai.
We were able to visit a temple that day as well. ,The celebration through dancing and prayer was AMAZING. I loved being able to learn about other spiritual traditions and this was probably my favorite thing all day. It was chaotic and loud and we walked bare foot....but it was a time of joy for those who worship there. I did have deep concerns about people wanting to take photos in this location or many of the locations we were that day. I kept thinking how offended I would be if someone popped into my place of worship and took photos of me while sang or prayed, especially knowing it was in hopes of obtaining some Facebook likes. My other thought was what if someone took pics of the street kids I know and love for the same reason? So because of this, my hope is not to exploit the people, you will not see photos from me of Indian people, but instead I will photograph the land and the experiences with my classmates.
The day ended with the Gandhi museum, who is one of my heroes. One of my mantras is to be the change I want to see in the world....and he provided me those words. I was in awe of every detail about his journey.
Day 2
Day two was a classroom day. We were able to hear from Indian professors and the talked about Health Care and Mental Health Care in India. Some differences are the Indian government takes care of the poor and offers free coverage. However, the travel to get to the locations were clinics are is difficult and costly so often families in rural areas do not go to the doctor. Mumbai is also known as a medical tourism location for Americans because the medical care is inexpensive but they have some of the best doctors in the world.
The second lecture was about the history of social work in India....for most of you that would be a yawn fest but for me it was fascinating.
Finally the food! It is spicy and lovely. For those of you who like Indian food you will be happy to know in America we come close, but its not totally the same. I am in heaven and I hope by the end of the trip I still feel the same. The one thing this girl is missing is her COFFEE, but its the price I pay for being able to do this.
I hope to be able to write most mornings....here which I think is night there. To be honest, I am not even sure what day it is! If I can the entries will daily and less extensive.
My challenge to you (and you know I have to give you one) is honor the differences in one another. See the beauty in the things we call unseemly in our country. Life is full of unexpected gifts!
My worries of the plane ride were valid! It was long flight from New Jersey to Mumbai and ironically we got here an hour early! I sat by the window and this made it hard to get up and move. Lesson learned! However, on the flight I was able to sit by a professor from South Carolina who gave me some pointers on cultural expectations and I loved having the information. I also overheard her talking to another young female from Mumbai who had traveled to the US to see her husband. He was living and working in New Jersey. They talked to one another about language, food, families, and marriage. I learned a lot about arranged marriage vs. love marriage. The lingo alone has already been beneficial in the classroom setting. I also contemplated the lingo of marriage in our own country and thought how beneficial it would be to add the description of love in front of the word marriage, every time we used it to describe a lifetime commitment to a partner. After all that is what brings us together. That lovely young lady provided me my first Indian cultural experience and we never even spoke a word to one another. After landing, our first mission was to get luggage and exchange money. I think that alone could have been its own reality show. We are still working on figuring out the math from dollars to rupees and social workers are not known for their math skills.
When we drove into Mumbai it was dark. It was almost 1am by the time we got into cars and headed to the University. The first thing we noticed was driving in Mumbai was loud! The drivers honk constantly and to be honest I haven't totally figured out the purpose. It doesn't seem aggressive so maybe its just a way of making others aware of your presences on the road? I am also still working on what the rules are for driving, because we seemed to continually be in two lanes the entire time and turn signals seemed optional at best. However, I was in the front seat and felt safe during the experience. Maybe I just knew the driver had to understand the things I could not, so I let him handle it. Instead I tried to grab glimpse of the environment in the dark, although I have wondered if I wasn't so full of dramamine if I would have barfed!
The thing that stood out most on this drive was the people sleeping in the median. Imagine if you will, driving on a road or highway and seeing covered bodies among the trees and shrubs within a median. Apparently, these street dwellers find where ever they can to sleep and there were many on laying among the chaos of traffic. I just couldn't imagine sleeping in the midst of all that chaos. I also noticed that many of the windows had christmas lights. I wasn't sure the purpose of the lights, but I loved that one of the first things that I noticed with light among the darkness.
After a brief night of sleep, we awoke to day of sight seeing in Mumbai. Our professor wanted us to see many aspects in India before entering the classroom setting, in hopes of providing context to our lectures. First stop, the Gateway to India. If you don't know what this is...google it. It was beautiful. The biggest issue this entire day was street vendors, as they tend to grab you as a way to get you to pay attention to their products and unfortunately for some reason we were told not to purchase anything from them, which is an issue because we hoped to buy souvenirs and this piece added some difficulty to the day. Begging (as it is referred to in India) was also very much a part of this experience and the amount of young kids (like 5 or younger) on the street needing resources to survive was heart breaking. This was also my first experience with international human trafficking. I learned that day that many of the woman are told to hold their children and beg for money, but then a handler ends up benefiting from their work by taking the money from them. My soul was branded by these visions and I will forever see their faces in my memories of Mumbai.
We were able to visit a temple that day as well. ,The celebration through dancing and prayer was AMAZING. I loved being able to learn about other spiritual traditions and this was probably my favorite thing all day. It was chaotic and loud and we walked bare foot....but it was a time of joy for those who worship there. I did have deep concerns about people wanting to take photos in this location or many of the locations we were that day. I kept thinking how offended I would be if someone popped into my place of worship and took photos of me while sang or prayed, especially knowing it was in hopes of obtaining some Facebook likes. My other thought was what if someone took pics of the street kids I know and love for the same reason? So because of this, my hope is not to exploit the people, you will not see photos from me of Indian people, but instead I will photograph the land and the experiences with my classmates.
The day ended with the Gandhi museum, who is one of my heroes. One of my mantras is to be the change I want to see in the world....and he provided me those words. I was in awe of every detail about his journey.
Day 2
Day two was a classroom day. We were able to hear from Indian professors and the talked about Health Care and Mental Health Care in India. Some differences are the Indian government takes care of the poor and offers free coverage. However, the travel to get to the locations were clinics are is difficult and costly so often families in rural areas do not go to the doctor. Mumbai is also known as a medical tourism location for Americans because the medical care is inexpensive but they have some of the best doctors in the world.
The second lecture was about the history of social work in India....for most of you that would be a yawn fest but for me it was fascinating.
Finally the food! It is spicy and lovely. For those of you who like Indian food you will be happy to know in America we come close, but its not totally the same. I am in heaven and I hope by the end of the trip I still feel the same. The one thing this girl is missing is her COFFEE, but its the price I pay for being able to do this.
I hope to be able to write most mornings....here which I think is night there. To be honest, I am not even sure what day it is! If I can the entries will daily and less extensive.
My challenge to you (and you know I have to give you one) is honor the differences in one another. See the beauty in the things we call unseemly in our country. Life is full of unexpected gifts!
