my first days in mumbai

so far everything about this place is pretty baffling...i am struggling with +9.5 hours of jetlag, trying to deal with seeing abject poverty every time i go out on the street, manage the buckets of rain falling from the sky, trying to deal with the mumbaikars viewing me as a rich foreigner, trying to have faith in why i came here after so many friends, family and acquaintences have asked me, "Why the hell would you go There?" (this i will cover in a future blog.)

i'll manage. like a friend said, "if you can handle jakarta for six months, you can def handle mumbai." just need to meet a friend of mine tomorrow to pick up my malaria pills.,then i'll feel 100% more comfortable. i've already got about 10 bites on my calves, shins and feet. the swedish nurses told me not to bother with the malaria pills, but my american nurse said that i must be crazy to even think about taking that risk. malaria pills: ordered.

right now i'm getting absolutely inundated with info at work ...have about four huge manuals to read about curriculum implementation and general org protocol. then i'm trying to learn the basic streets/areas of south mumbai, plus memorize the names of my students and colleagues. i was at the office from 9.30 to 16.30, then at the centre with the students from 1700 to 19ish doing some peer editing and grammar on some papers with them. after seeing their work, i can see that this school year (which started in june) is def going to be a challenge!

on top of everything, i am uber homesick for sweden and even caught myself logging in at gp.se today to check the weather and front page news. i cannot believe i am going to miss two of my favorite things: the surströmming (herring) with schnapps as well as the august crawfish festival. the thing i miss the most though was my breakfast: caviar from a tube on toast with cheese. i wonder if i will learn to love something that much here?