In Goa

Mumbai was overwhelming. We were lucky to have a hotel so centrally located because it became necessary to go back to the rooms for naps a few times a day. I'm not sure what made it so exhausting. Partly the crowded streets, maybe the heat, the people grabbing our arms and yelling at us to come into their shops and buy. I guess we were still just adjusting to the new culture and atmosphere.

Nearly everyone I've spoken to has described India as "confronting." I think they mean in terms of the poverty, as if seeing all the beggars makes travellers feel guilty about living in developed countries. I have realized I have very little sympathy for beggars on the streets. I find them rude and annoying. I gave a little girl a piece of candy and she threw id down and pointed at a bag a chips that she wanted instead. I gave a little boy with contorted legs 5 rupees and he said he wanted 10 rupees. I feel bad there there is so much poverty and a cast system in place that grantees the poor stay poor, but I think the beggars that stalk around the tourist haunts are so over the top that they're insincere. I don't know if this makes me a bad person, but I have a feeling it might.

One thing we did in Mumbai that was actually confronting was taking a tour of the Mumbai slums. This wasn't as depressing as it sounds though. In fact by the end of the tour I had a strong scenes of hopefulness and community. The slums were divided into a working area, and a residential area. The work area contained metal, plastic, and cardboard recycling, a bakery, a fabric and material making shop. Recycling seemed to be the main business. There were piles upon piles of plastic bottle and aluminum cans waiting to be melted down and reshaped.
The residential areas were packed! Everything was so crowded! Overall it wasn't as dirty as I thought it would be, given the circumstances. It certainly wasn't hygienic, but things seemed to be organized and tidy. I wish I could have gone twice on the tour because I spent so much time watching the ground to make sure I didn't step in cow dung I didn't get a good chance to take it all in. In fact that's a recurring problem everywhere in India, I can't take it all in at once.
The most "confronting" part of this tour was the bathrooms. There were only six bathroom stales to be shared by the millions of people living in the slums. At my house there a 4 toilets for five people. How unfair is that? Apparently though the most common bathroom in the slums though is the train tracks that run through the middle of it.
I plan to not give money to beggars, but instead donate a sum at the end of the trip to Reality Tours, the group that took us through the slums. 80% of their received donations go toward funding the recycling factories and schools and worthy causes like that.

On our last day in Mumbai Poppy and I were stopped on the side walk and asked if we wanted to work for Bollywood tomorrow. We both shrieked YES! but then realized we were already booked to go on the overnight train to Goa that night and wouldn't be in town. Our chance at Stardom shattered!
We did manage to see a Bollywood film while we were there. It was all in Hindi, but overacted enough that it was easy to understand what was going on. Except for all the random song and dance sense, those seemed to come out of no where but were always a hit with the clapping Indian audience around us.

We're now in Goa, on a beach called Paloma. The overnight train down was pleasant. We met a lovely young Russian man who had been double booked. The ticket tackers threatened to put in in the third class standing only car for the 14 hour trip, so we pulled him into our carriage. Poppy and Carmen, both quite small shared a bunk so he could have a safe and sound sleep. He got off at a different stop then us, but we're planning on meeting up here in Paloma in a few days.