I can't believed that we have been in India for a week already. It's been a big adjusting period for me due to both jet lag and monsoon season. If you have never experiences Monsoon season, like me, then it can be quite frustrating. Why you might ask? Well it's simple, you might leave your house and it can be sunny and 2 minutes later the rain comes. And it is not the drizzle rain that we might get in the states before a huge storm, no, it just starts pouring down and in the next 2 minutes it can stop and start again.
This is one of the reasons I haven't gone out and explore, but also, here there are no street signs nor sidewalks, so I am a little apprehensive about going out and about. I think that once we get a driver, I would feel comfortable going out in the neighborhood by myself.
Rest assure that we haven't spent all our time inside, we have been invited to going away parties, dinners, brunch and sight seeing and we have done all of those.
If you did not know, there are a lot of things to do and places to eat around here. So this is what we did the last week:
Monday: We went to the Consulate where we met a lot of James' co-workers and some of my future co-workers. That night we went to a going away party for an officer that was leaving post that week. Here we met more FSO's and their spouses and everyone was very welcoming and great and gave us some suggestions on places to visits, shop, etc!
Tuesday: We were suppose to meet friends down south at Chowpatty Beach and Marine Drive but James wasn't feeling well so we had to turn around and we actually spend the afternoon at home and getting some grocery shopping done.
Wednesday: I stayed home and cooked us a delicious dinner.
Thursday: Our UAB or Unaccompanied Baggaged arrived so I stayed home an unpacked and once James got home we went a farewell dinner nearby at Pizza Metro Pizza, which is an thematic italian pizza place in which their pizza is really good.
Friday: We got cable and our phones installed and then we met some of our friends at Sancho's, another thematic restaurant, this time Mexican, which we know we are going back to because the food was delicious and the atmosphere was great, not to mention that they played salsa and merengue the entire time we were there!
Saturday: We actually made it down south to Chowpatty Beach and we went to the High End Mall called the Phoenix Hotel and Mall for some shopping. After that, our driver for day took us around South Mumbai where we saw the Gateway to India, Taj Majal Hotel, the Train Station, a Mosque in the middle of the bay and some other beautiful monumets. We wanted to walk to all the different places, but, once again, the monsoon took over our plans. After that we went shopping at the "Walmart" of India called Reliance. Now, this store was great, because it has all the basic things you need plus food! It felt as if we were home, except, we are in India...
Sunday: This was James' and I's 1st year anniversary and we spent most of the day apart. Yes, apart... I was invited by some of James's co-workers to go and explore some of Mumbai's cool stores and then go to Brunch. This was great, because we went around some cool home stores with someone who has been here for a while. We all wanted to buy everything but decided against it until we get our Household Effects later on in the month so we have an idea of what we really need.
After some shopping we visited SmokeHouse Deli for some brunch American/English style. It is an amazing little restaurant near our house with both Indian and Continental Cuisine. I ordered the Banana Bacon Pancakes with a side of bacon and it was delish, while another one of us ordered Eggs Florentine, another ordered Rissotto and Fish and the other ordered a lamb burger. All of these looked fantastic and we all left satisfied and full.
Later on that night James and I set off to dinner at the fantastic and luxurious Taj Hotel Lands End which is located about 10 minute drive from our house. We dined at Vista, which is a lounge on the 2nd floor of the hotel which overlooks the water. The food was really good but the company was better.
As we closed on the 1st full week in Mumbai, I can honestly say that this place is growing on me and I like it! I can't wait to see what other things this city and country have to offer.
Nats
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