Mumbai, India–First Impressions

Pani puri and dahi puri from Soam. These deserve a post of their own, once I figure out what exactly they were…

Move over, India, we have arrived. But, actually no one is going to move unless you honk at them. I think that is my first impression of India–if you are not proficient in the language of honking, do not even attempt to drive here. Seriously, there is a language, lonnnng honks, short beep beeps–their nuanced meanings currently remain a mystery to me…to be continued.

We have been here one week and I already feel like I have experienced so, so much. Some of the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten, trying to cook my first meal resulting in food poisoning, buying my own vaccines at a pharmacy and taking them on ice to the hospital to have them injected–every day is full of new sights and tbh embarrassing blunders as I try to get my head around how things work here.

Our apartment–I mean flat, because that’s what we say in India–is cozy by India standards, but nearly 4 times the size of our old Japanese digs. The novelty of being able to run in the house has still not worn off for my sidekick. Unfortunately, she also hasn’t gotten used to slippery marble floors and glass tables (our furniture all came with the flat).

We have a driver, the lovely Dilip, who ferries us off every morning. I am so grateful for him because I’m not really sure what I would have done alone, with a two year old, in the downpours (monsoon season), while completely and totally lost. Thanking the stars that none of that is a problem.

We also have a helper, Geeta. If she were not here I would be lost in my own house. Seriously. She showed me how to open doors. She showed me how to work the fans and turn on the hot water in the shower (after a bit of a massacre, because shaving with goosebumps is really no fun). It really reminds me of first moving to Japan and being completely helpless. Tangent time–I never figured out how to work the remote for the air conditioner in my first apartment in Kobe and went 3 years with no heat in the winter thinking that it only worked as a cooler. My successor eventually revealed that, in fact, it was also a fabulous heater. Faaaaaail.

Our days currently consist of: waking up, getting ready, driving 30ish minutes in the car to various shopping markets including Big Bazaar, Sahakari Bhandar, Nature’s Basket, Matunga Market, and the Phoneix Mall. I’ll do a review of them once I get up the courage to start taking pictures when I go places. Then eat lunch out. Come home exhausted. Order delivery food/make PB&J and pass out.

Oh, and, yeah, it’s nice to have family time that includes hubs/daddy again. ❤ I’m just trying to do my best not to rely too much on him as he’s pretty swamped with work. And with that, my long, rambling first post about India is finished. Check back again for posts on going to the hospital and the foreign registration office!