Entries finally....

I've been so lazy about the blog entries and getting worse so I'm taking a shortcut and copying emails I sent to family to start the blog.  I guess lazy isn't so much the problem is that the first time I wrote a blog I was at an internet shop where you sit at a desk and pay by the minute.  After spending a long time writing a blog the connection went down and I lost it all so it made me pretty complacent about trying it again but I want to upload photos so I'm giving it another go.

Dec 7, 2011

I made it here safe and sound last night around 2:30 am.  It's 12 1/2 hours ahead of CA here in India and 9 1/2 from the east coast of the U.S.  I had 23 hours to tour London which was a fun excursion (and cold) and now it's warm and humid here in Mumbai but bearable - about 90.  I'm exhausted from the flights and jet lag (19 hours in the air and a 23 hour layover with various time changes) so I just had some lunch and am going to buy an electricity converter and then head back to my room to wait for Mei to arrive around 6 pm (4 hours from now).

We'll be here for about 4 days (should be plenty - it's smoggy and hectic and pretty much how I expected it).  People are nice though and helpful for the most part.  Then we'll catch the train for the beaches of Goa for Christmas and New Years.

I'll have a phone number soon.  You can Skype to India pretty cheap.  Get on Skype if you're not there so we can talk cheap and maybe video if we're lucky.

Dec. 11, 2011

I'm leaving Mumbai tonight for the beaches of Goa and the hippie parties.  It's a former Portugese stronghold so there are lots of Catholic churches.  Big Christmas celebrations so it should be fun.  Will travel from midnight until 2:30 the next day.  Supposed to be some of the best scenery in all of India on the train ride down there so looking forward to when the sun rises.

5 days in Mumbai is 2 too many but today was the best day by far.  Stumbled onto a political rally with Anna Hazari.  Look him up on google.  He is on a hunger strike to oppose corruption in India government.  He's responsible for the jailing of many high-ranking officials on corruption charges.  Folks were dancing in the streets, chanting political slogans, drum circles, Anna Hazari masks - the whole deal.  The group calls themselves India Against Corruption.  The TV stations were there and I'm a curiosity because I'm white even in a cosmopolitan city like Mumbai.  Lots of people were photographing me participating in the rally.  It was bizarre.    OCCUPY BOMBAY!!

My blog is www.charlenesbigadventure.blogspot.com.  My India cell phone for now is 091-987-355-0995.  Get on skype - you can call India for 9.9 cents per minute.

Next post - Christmas!