"What I did on my summer vacation, er, uh, day off."

Batch Five here in Mumbai was Friday through Sunday, from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. All the students did very well; their questions and participation showed they were following (and absorbing) the material quite well, and their high test scores proved it!

Brian and I came home via tuk-tuk, an autorickshaw. It is a LOT cheaper than the hotel car (only 75 rupees versus 1600 rupees) and a lot more exciting than the boring air conditioned hotel car. This is a picture of one parked alongside of the road as we zipped by.

I crashed into bed, because today was A DAY OFF! WOO-HOO!!

Woke up early this morning at 7:00 a.m. but, what with all the schedule changes, I am not sure any more if that is early, or late, or right on time!

Downstairs for a delicious breakfast buffet: fried potato wedges, a mini-quiche, bacon, camembaert cheese, french bread, orange juice, mango juice, apple juice, scrambled eggs with chicken/cheese/olives. I also had a chocolate milkshake, but remember that (just like in France) a "milkshake" is just that: shaken up milk! No ice cream...

Upstairs to brush my teeth and grab my supplies for the day: bottle of water, camera with fresh battery, sunglasses, credit card, and room key... and then downstairs again to meet our guide.

Turns out she is a pretty young lady who did a commerce degree and works in a tourism office, and who gives these tours when asked. Actually the tour (set up by the hotel) is free, sponsored by a handcrafts store. You see the city and at the end you visit the store and they hope you will buy something.

Our driver didn't speak much English at all but he was very safe (again, no seat belts in the back) so that was OK. Bremela made up for him, as she knew everything about Mumbai and could answer all my questions.

We saw the outdoor laundry pits where washermen from all over the city come seven days a week to do laundry... for the whole neighborhood!

We visited a large Jain temple, a branch of Hinduism. Jains do not wear leather, are total vegetarian, and do not even eat root vegetables, only those that grow above ground. The temple was interesting, all in marble and silver, full of idols, with people praying and chanting, and workmen painting. You cannot wear shoes inside, so we had to leave our shoes (and socks) outside with the guard. I'm thinking, "Those $80 shoes (that I got on sale for $40) had BETTER be there when I got back!" But that is what the guard is for, and that is what the tip for the guard is for. It felt strangly unhygienic to be walking around barefooted where hundreds of other people had walked, but the marble floor was certainly cool under your feet.

We visited the Gateway to India, built in 1911 to mark the visit of King George and Queen Victoria to Bombay.

We drove past the museum house where Mohandas K. Gandhi spent several years of his life, the High Court, the University of Mumbai, and Victoria Terminus railway station. Colonial British architecture is just incredible, and reminds you of how, at the the time, India was an outpost of British civilization. For more pictures, please see http://photos.yahoo.com/RogerAgness .

And just like the United States, every tour ends at the gift shop. The (free!) tour was sponsored by a large shop which sold intricate silk and wool carpets and also exquisite jewelry and handicrafts. Everything was simply beautiful but way out of my price range. I'll have to come back when I am married so I can be talked into it.

:)

Back at the hotel around three o'clock Brian and I had lunch, or was it dinner? The buffet was closing in just fifteen minutes, but I told the waitress I could do a lot of damage in fifteen minutes. I loaded up a plate with chicken curry, lamb curry, more camembaert cheese, pasta with chicken and cheese, apple crumble, and brownie.

And in fact I DID do some damage. As I slid the tongs under a slice of chocolate cake, it was more attached to the plate than one would think it would be and I slid the glass plate right off its stand and it shattered into a million pieces on the marble table top! You could hear the clutter all over the restaurant and I felt like a million eyes were looking at me, and especially the eyes of all the servers and wait staff. They assured me that it was not a problem and not to worry, but I am going to look at this week's hotel bill carefully, just in case.

:(