Wrapping India Up

I’ve been out of India now for nearly 8 months and haven’t even touched Cambodia, so it doesn’t make sense for me to keep slipping back in time and neglect reportage of the NOW (my blog’s title ‘Today’s a Gift’ for crying out loud!). I’m going to wrap up my Indian adventure and catch everyone up to my more recent goings-on. However, I do want it to be noted that my speed-blog on Mumbai no way justifies my experience there.

After the wedding, Karin and I were handballed over to the in-laws. We couldn’t have been welcomed more warmly. Kiwi’s new mother-in-law threw her arms out and crushed me against her big bosom and cupped my cheeks so that my lips made a fish-kiss, and told me to call her Aunty (by that point I had already adopted 5). For the next week in their cosy apartment, she proceeded to feed us the freshest, most deliciously prepared Indian meals YET.

The In-Laws

During our time with the Babbu family:

• we were taken to the National Park within Mumbai where temples were carved out of the natural rock

• taken on the Mumbai Safari. (awesome laughs and memories. How else can you pray at a Holy House of Hinduism and then get shipped to an entertainment centre to watch a 4-D children’s film, get caught in a monsoon down-pour, get sprayed by a toilet flush button AND watch sea turtles scrape against the glass of their1x2 meter tanks that was their new habitat?)

• weaved through the roaming cows on the wild streets

• drank fruit beer (with 0% fruit)

• welcomed the new neighbor (they lived across a cemetery)

• found out the meaning of ‘choda’

On my last day (10 July), I was accompanied to the airport by Anku, Meenu and Karin. It was a nice way to say goodbye…if I’d actually left. I was 20 minutes late for check-in so I was locked out and stranded from my flight out. The airport staff weren’t helpful in the least, constantly pointing me in different directions and finally made a cross with their arms in my face so that’d I’d get the message that I was clearly NOT GETTING ON THAT PLANE. Thank goodness I was not the only one though. Another family was fighting to get onto the same flight, but to no avail. Thank even MORE goodness that the father was generous enough to help me find a solution. I had no phone, no number to call, no cash, NO IDEA. I had a flight booked from Kuala Lumpur to Siem Reap the next day. I couldn’t afford to miss another flight! I had another dousing of kindness that day though. The father, Amil, went out of his way and looked up flights for me online (he had his laptop with a Dongle), made calls with his phone, convinced the security guards to let me pass to get to the international ATM, waited for me for 45 minutes (!!!) to get my new tickets to KL and double and triple checked that I had the right flights at the right prices. I was NOTHING to this man but he was so chivalrous and made sure I had a way out of India. 12 hours later (and bored out of my MIND) I was on my way to KL to my connecting flight to my awaiting life in Siem Reap, Cambodia.