The City

"India is quite different from what I was expecting. I think I was expecting it to be similar to Spain. No way. This is a third world country where not every bathroom has toilet paper. I have to buy it and then carry it around with me. There is plenty of homelessness with lots of people sleeping on the streets. The streets are very congested. Drivers drive on the left side using there horn a lot."

Randy's mode of transportation:

"Restaurants are quite different. Each one has two levels. The first level has no AC and the upper stairs has AC. The ceilings in the restaurant are low. I have to lean down to move around. People are typically shorter than Americans, obesity is not common like America. I am in the very center of the city. Since the airport, I have not seen another American. I get the feeling most people in the inner city don't see a lot of foreigners as I get long stares from everyone. I have not witnessed any crime. I feel safe. "

"People are very modest. Even very poor men wear buttoned shirts—although they are very dirty. Women dress in brightly colored robes with the only skin showing is their heads, hands, and feet. There is a population of dogs that look exactly like Santa’s Little Helper from the Simpsons. There is an ugly rooster the size of ostrich outside. He crows are very loud. Usually someone at night is loudly playing drums on the street. Bringing earplugs was a great decision. The sounds are drowned away while I sleep. The people are very reserved. During teaching sessions, residents don’t ask questions like students at the U. There is strangely a large proportion of jewelry stores with guards surrounding them in a city of poverty."


"Yesterday, I watched part of a cricket match with two residents. They tried to explain cricket to me with their heavy accent. I understand 25% of the English they speak. They in turn have a difficult time understanding me. I understand Dr. RR completely. He must have been trained in another part of the world. I understand the English that was spoken with the cricket match and the commercials on TV. I quickly found out that my knowledge of baseball only helped so much to understand this game. As I walked home I observed possibly 100 undergraduates surrounding 1 TV watching the same match. Maybe I can convince the residents to play a game before I leave."

"It is currently raining. It can rain for hours—quite different from Utah and Spain . While on my travels, I walked past a tent. Inside was the first thing I have seen of religion since I arrived. In the center at the back of the tent was a ceramic statue of person with an elephant head and six arms. Candles lined the perimeter inside the tent. I observed people bowing, saying something, and placing money inside a box. These were Hindus worshipping one of their many gods. I suppose every organized religion on earth requires financial donations to support them."

Randy was there during the Ganesh Festival, so it was a big party on the streets of Mumbai: