Off to Mumbai...

I'm actually in Mumbai now, but I'll revisit the last 24 hours as quickly as possible. Maybe with photos since I wrote the last couple of entries on the plane and spent quite a bit of time editing and organizing.

One thing I just remembered: India and poverty. There are still poor people in India. Really poor sometimes. But during the time I was in Kolkata this time around, I was not approached one time by a poor person for money. Maybe they have honed their marketing strategy with all the non-Indians around. I'm overlooked due to my ability to blend in almost seamlessly. This used to happen a lot, especially if you were in a car and the car stopped at an intersection. The car was a sign of wealth. Now that there are cars everywhere, it's hard to tell if this even happens anymore. But it finally happened, at a traffic light near the airport. My mom did her usual and handed over a little bit of money. My mother has a soft heart.

We finally headed away from the traffic light and into the airport area. Kolkata airport is incredible. This airport used to be a small building with a single security point. In fact, a previous blog post has a photo and sort of funny description of the old airport (clearly indicating the need for a new one). I flew in and out of Kolkata in 2010.  If they could build this airport in 9 years, I'm pretty sure they can build some amazing roadway infrastructure. Go India!

A couple of observations and experiences at the airport and the hotel before I forget. First of all, I was stopped in security because they insisted that I had a battery in my backpack. It turned out to be my jump rope (hey, I can at least try and exercise a little while I'm away missing my HIIT classes...sad face). The reason I'm bringing this up is that I had to handle that entire interaction speaking not in Bengali or English, but Hindi. There is a lot of value in knowing basic conversational skills in other languages. I mean, it is so cool that I can do that now. Thank you to anyone who ever had the patience to sit through me learning some Hindi. Mostly my mother in law, who was, fortunately, a Hindi teacher. LOL.

Along these same lines, while we were in the hotel, there was a front desk guy helping a customer with a phone call. The front desk guy first started speaking in English, then Bengali, and the customer asked him to speak in Hindi, which he was able to do. I mean cool. The average person in India can probably handle at least two languages with ease. It's always been inspiring to me.

The ceiling of the airport, artsy like Bengalis are

Where I'm headed

The new terminal

Into Mumbai

There was a 30 minute delay getting into Mumbai due to air traffic congestion. I finally got out to meet my in-laws, who live here. I will hang out with them for a few days before the final leg of this crazy trip. Next update: a trip to the mall in suburban Mumbai...surprises everywhere.