When we went out into the kitchen, Radhika was there and so was some short, older guy who made us omelets. They were actually pretty kick-ass... normal eggs with a bunch of vegetables. And normal toast.
We were supposed to fly out of Mumbai to Hubli at 11:00 AM, but our flight was delayed until 1:00 so we wandered around Mumbai with Ajay and Radhika. Mumbai is like Times Square on crack!! The driving is insane - there don't seem to be any logical rules. Everyone is honking their horns all the time, passing on the right and left... there are no lanes or traffic lights. And pedestrians just kind of walk everywhere! Like, in the middle of the road. I won't describe it as "bad" though. More like... "alive!"
We walked to a temple. There were people selling floral garlands and offerings all along the street leading up to the temple. The people looked to be in pretty bad shape. Half-dressed, dirty kids started following us and asking us for money. And there are wild "street dogs" everywhere. They don't seem to bother anyone, but they are covered in mange and all look pretty skinny.
The weird thing is, even though these poor people look like they're in hell, they smile! They look like they are happy just to be.
We made our way to the temple and Radhika gave us each a flower to give as an offering to the deity. We took our shoes off outside and had to walk through security stalls - one for men, one for women. When we got inside, we literally had to push our way through this massive crowd to get to leave our offering. I don't remember ever being in such a tight crowd!
After the temple, we walked back to the flat to leave for the airport. On the way, our driver was pulled over for making an illegal turn -- to avoid a cow!! (I am so not making this up!!) He ended up bribing the cop 250 Rs. to get out of the ticket. Radhika told us that Mumbai is known for having one of the most corrupt police departments in India, but also one of the most efficient.
Our plane didn't end up leaving until 3:00. We had lunch at a buffet in the airport and my journey as a vegetarian began. The plane turned out to be a little puddle-jumper, and I slept the entire hour-long flight to Hubli,
When we landed, we were greeted by about 30 people who gave us flowers, waved oil around us, and gave us each a little dot on our forehead with this red powder. We took about a million photographs and were united with our respective hosts, who loaded our luggage in their cars and took us "home."
My family lives in the next town over from Hubli called Dharwad and they are super-nice. The Rotarian's name is Nagraj Tigidi, and he's a civil engineer (architect). He lives with his wife, Neeta, and their two daughters: Rachana (15) and Krutika (7). We shared photo albums and went up to their rooftop to look at stars and talk. We had potato pakoras and some Kingfisher beer on the roof, and Rachana tried teaching me to speak some Kannada.
I learned that there are 27 states in India and each state has its own language. Dharwad is in the state of Karnataka, so they speak Kannada. They also speak the mother tongue: Hindi, and most people speak English. So kids leave grade 10 speaking at least three languages fluently. Amazing.
We went downstairs around 10 PM and Neeta had made dinner. Stupid me! I thought the potato pakoras were dinner so I was pretty full. But I tried a little of what she'd made: some sort of tomato curry, rice and chappati (kind of like a delicious, homemade, whole wheat wrap.) Everything was great and is sitting very well. I'm glad my nausea went away!
Neeta and Krutika
I can't believe that was all in just one day! India is amazing... I can't believe I am here!! More tomorrow -- must sleep.
Namaste.