Busy Busy Days!

Don affectionately referred to those who read my blog as my "fan club." I don't know if I would go that far, but I did figure my "followers" deserved an update. This first week has been super busy so don't expect all these updates once classes start on Monday, just so no one goes through withdrawals.
Yesterday we toured mainly around two different areas of Mumbai. We got to go over a bridge to go into town. First we went to the Mahalaxmi Race Course where there was not too much to see, because there were no races. We wandered around the track a little bit and took some pictures. Driving over to the track was a bit of an adventure, Sanjay drove Mike, Chelsea, Rajna, and I to the track. It wasn't nearly as crazy as riding in a taxi, but we did get lost and made several debatable U-turns.
After going to the race course, we went to the Mahalaxmi Temple, dedicated to the goddess of wealth. I was really excited because the top of the temple was painted pink, which as we all know, always puts me in a good mood. Before entering the temple, we had to take off our shoes and enter barefoot; Rajna also bought an offering to make at the altar. To go into the temple we climbed probably 50 stairs and had our bags checked twice as well as going through a metal detector. Then the girls and guys had to separate and go through seperate lines to make an offering. When Rajna gave her offering to the altar, a man gave her several things in return, including flowers and a coconut. She explained that she would take the offerings home place them at altar at home. As we exited the temple, a woman placed red powder dots on our forhead and gave us sugar candies. A man also gave us lotus flowers, which I think was mainly done because we were tourists. On the wall behind the altar, we could offer prayers and try and stick coins on the wall. If they stuck, our prayers would be answered.
On the drive home from the temple, we drove by Haji Ali, a Muslim Temple. We didn't go in though, since it is currently Ramadan. From the road though, we could see what looked like thousands of people going into the temple. Rajna and Sanjay also told us that there were many beggars around the area.

Today we got to see several different parts of Mumbai. We went to two different train stations, first we went to the Churchgate Train Station. It was super crowded and we had to go through several metal detectors as well. Then we went to the Victoria Terminus, we were there around 3:00 and there was 1.1 million people in the train station! Even to get in and out of the front entryway was a struggle. We didn't get to see all of the people, but I can imagine where everyone was.
In addition to seeing the two train stations, we got to see the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel, where the bombings took place last year. The Gateway was erected when King George V and Queen Mary from England came to Mumbai. The structure was huge and incredibly intricate. The Taj Hotel had two different parts, the Heritage and the Presidential Buildings. The Heritage building was the one that had been attaced, we could still see the where the bombs had happened and the holes in the building. Rajna very prodly noted that the hotel had surrived both of the World Wars and the bombings. The structure definitly reflected the British Colonial time period.
In between going to the train stations and the Gateway, we had lunch. Yesterday, we had gone to what us "Americans" thought was a really authentic Indian restaurant. Ishan, Sanjay, and Rajna felt differently, though so we went to a place that they liked. While there, an older gentlemen kept on challenging us to eat the chilli peppers on the table. After they left, Sanjay tried to get Mike to eat one. After much coaxing, Mike broke down and tried one and definitly felt its impact! Outside of the restaurant, some of us tried some sweet pann, which was made of a beedle leaf. It wasn't entirely bad, but it was not entirely great either. It was sort of like overly strong licorice. I had it for the experience and that was it!
We also went to Marine Drive, where at night, we can see the "Queens Necklace," several different buildings that look gorgeous. We were incredibly lucky because we got to see a Bollywood movie being filmed!
We've gotten to go on many adventures in the past few days! It has been great to see so much more of the city and it definitly enhances my excitement about this amazing city.
Peace, Love, Elephant Kisses- Emmy