India Day Two

Last night I went to the theater and bought a ticket for the only movie showing. I chatted with two french girls outside, and they gave me tips for India, as Im still badly in need of them!

An old English woman asked if she could sit with me, and I of course agreed. We chatted as the movie began, and after it had started we chatted about what we thought might be going on (It was in Hindi with no subtitles, except the scenes in English... but we didnt need subtitles for those.) After an hour and a half, I woke up and everyone was leaving the theater, I got up to go back to my dorm and sleep, then realized it was just intermission... Bollywood movies are LONG! I left anyway, and walked the mile or so back to my guesthouse. I have felt perfectly safe this entire trip, but having just woken up, not feeling great, and being on the street at 1130 – I felt unsafe. Strangely enough the Mumbai streets are quiet, peaceful and safe at 3am (as I learned the night before) but not at 11pm. I made it back in one piece, and sat down with a Slovakian guy. We chatted, then where joined by an Aussie, a Austrian and a girl from Kazakhstan. The Aussie produced a bottle of gin and a few bottles of tonic water, and we made G&T's and chatted the night away.

Through some strange series of events I still dont completely understand, he called a friend, and after another great night of sleep I was picked up this morning by a film rep. We met up with a few other westerners (English, the Austrian from the night before, a different Aussie, and two Israelis. We took a train to the north side of Mumbai, and proceeded to be extra's in a Vaseline Skin Whitening Cream commercial. We dressed in Australian crickit uniforms, ate a huge breakfast of dosa and naan and all things tasty. Then we waited. From 9:30am until 5:30pm I slept on a bench, talked with my new friends, slept on the ground, read, slept and then ate more food. At 5:30 they called us for our shot, which took about fifteen minutes to film, and then we where payed 500 rupees each, and given money for trains/taxi's back home.

We rode back to Colaba together, and then got Subway (Marvin the Austrian had never had it and always dreamed of it!) I was running late, so grabbed a Chicken Tamir footlong, and got a cab. I downed the whole sandwich on my way back to my massive dorm guesthouse, picked up my bag and took another cab to the Mumbai Central station. We pulled up and the driver said I owed him 200 rupees. I laghed and told him no. He insisted. I demanded the sheet that shows fairs (they try and hide it) and based on the meter I owed him 75. I payed and he was pissed that I knew this system. So thank you drunk tour guide from yesterday for teaching me!

I got on my train, met a Indian man who offered to give me a tour of Jadhpur, but he doesn't speak any English. I got on and we are currently flying towards Ahmedabad on the Gujarat Mail (I feel like Paul Theroux in the Railway Bazaar...)

Tomorrow I will wake up there! And I have no idea what to do. Wicked.