I'm here!

Okay, so I meant to write another entry before I left, you know, my thoughts and reflections on my impending departure and what I would miss about England, but I just didn't get time! So retrospectively I can tell you that the final days before leaving were spent relaxing and seeing family and friends, my flat was left in an exemplary state, my rucksack was expertly packed; there was plenty of opportunity for quiet contemplation about my impending adventure. The airport farewell was sad, but I coped well.... What do you mean you dont believe me?!...

OK, ok so the truth...I gave a coop of headless chickens a run for their money, I was stressed out and exhausted and took it all out on my ever-patient family. Packing up the flat suddenly became a mammoth task (how on earth does so much stuff fit in a one bedroom flat!) and I left behind me a long list of unfinished tasks. Packing my bag was actually not too bad, but there were several last-minute panics involving my mobile phone and a tricky padlock situation (don't ask!). I did manage to enjoy a great birthday meal with my family though, as well as opening all your lovely cards and pressies. However, I bawled like a baby at the airport and all the way through security, and in the departure lounge was hit with a sickening feeling of 'Oh God, what have I DONE!? So yes, truth be told, it wasn't a perfect picture or anything like I thought it would be, but then these big life events never are, I find.

But then there is Mumbai and **** what a place this is! It is true that nothing can prepare you; it is true that it is mad, chaotic, completely overwhelming; that the colours and sights and sounds are amazing. And it is definitely true what they say about the traffic - IT IS CRAZY! Cars, taxis, buses, rickshaws, bikes, bull and carts all jostle for their space, and loudly make sure you know they are there! And the roads belong not just to cars in India, no there are women in delicate saris nonchantly strolling out in front of the cars, joggers over-taking people selling their wares, and more poignantly, children begging at the windows of passing cars - all in the road itself. And they drive so close together; 'close shave' doesn't begin to describe it, you'd be hard pushed to get a bit of dental floss between them. I swear the hospitals here must deal with a lot of broken toes; mine have nearly fallen victim to a passing taxi on at least two occasions.

So I think it is going to take a while to settle in. I'ts a bit like being a child again really, having to re-learn everything. It took me the best part of five minutes to cross the road this morning! I have to be shown by my lovely seventeen-year-old tour guide (part of a great project to help young people) how to eat my food, catch a train and sort out internet access. It is weird feeling helpless and incapable, and tiring work constantly assimilating new information and figuring out how to go about the most basic tasks. But it is also exciting and amazing how quickly you adapt; by this evening I was crossing roads with aplomb, eating with my hands and I even managed a tiny bit of bartering (got a notebook down from 25 rupees to 20! - those of you in the know, i.e. Karen, Surinder, others? will probably be aghast at what a rip off it was, but to me it is an achievement and these early days, I am fast learning, are all about small steps and trying to be easy on myself.

Are you still with me? I know that was a bit of a long entry, but there is just so much to say and that isn't even a tenth of what I'd love to tell you all (no surprises there, from motor mouth me). I hope you are all well. I am thinking of you all A LOT as I use the presents and gifts you gave me, as well making a considerable draw on all your lovely farewell good wishes to fend off the inevitable homesick / how on earth am I going to get through this moments! More soon and hopefully with photos, when I have figured out how!

P.S. This site obliges you to use photos to illustrate your blogs...as I havent uploaded my own yet, I have to choose from the site's limited choice, which explains the appearance of the Taj Mahal!