Welcome to India!

We have arrived safely in Mumbai. It was a relief to see a sign at the airport that said "Bentley's Hotel. Miss Carmen Chan" and have a trustworthy driver from the hotel there to greet us.

The drive to Bentley's was terrifying. All rules on Mumbai streets seems to be settled over who can honk the most/loudest. In fact honking replaces all other car signals, and allowes the honker to go through red lights, cut people off and double the speed limit. It's very exciting. I sang the 50 states in rhyme in my head to calm myself down. I chose that because I know it pretty well, but not perfectly, so it forces me to think of something besides the ride

India already seems a lot dirtier and dingier than Thailand. It was only a few minuets into the drive before I saw my first herd of cows in the road. We went past miles and miles of slums on the ride. According to Lonely Planet, (LP) %55 of Mumbai lives in poverty stricken slums where the buildings look to be made up unsymmetrical, crumbling cement blocks as much as they are made up of billboards and corrugated tin. I treid to catch glimpses through the bared windows as we whizzed past. All I could really see of living conditions was that everything was very VERY crowded.

Poppy and Carmen seem to be a little shell-shocked, a little distressed. Carmen was saying this morning how glad she was she wasn't on her own, with a tone of "What the hell have I gotten myself into?" I'm secretly already in love with the place. Being here, somewhere I've never been before finally feels like a real adventure.

Thanks for checking in on me!!