EBEW: Too School For Cool

I wasn't sure what to do about this month's challenge.  I'm fairly certain I was uncool in high school.  I was definitely painfully self conscious and desperately wanted to fit in.  Didn't everyone.  Though I didn't know it at the time, the lessons I learned then lead me down the path I'm on now, where I proudly let me freak flag fly.  It taught me that fitting in is often overrated.

I was aiming for a preppy look that I never would have dared in high school (red pants!) combined with accessory relics from my past with a dash of my recent trip to India.  Even in high school I appreciated the value of thrifting.  One of my prom dresses came from Goodwill.

 

Button down shirt, ALC Stretch, thrifted; camisole, thrifted; red pants, J Crew, thrifted; scarf, purchased in India; shoes, American Eagle, Payless Shoes; earrings, gifted (thanks Mom!); lizard pendant, I don't remember; thumb and middle finger rings, handmade by me in high school jewelry class; ring finger ring, purchased in high school.

The side profile of this ring looks
like a face.

I was in high school eleven years ago today when the world as we knew it changed.  I was in my first period geography class when the World Trade Center was attacked.  It was shocking, frightening, and so senseless.  Looking back, we developed a new language to deal with our national grief.  Words like "ground zero" and the date "September 11" developed weighty meaning.  Today I take a brief break from my self-centered blogging to remember those who lost their lives eleven years ago today and those who love them.  

Reunited and It's Bittersweet

I've said it before, I'll say it again.  I am so incredibly blessed to have the friends I have in my life.  Some of my friends are so close they feel like sisters.  Angie is definitely a spirit sister.  We used to live near each other, and I saw her weekly if not more often.  Now we live a thousand miles apart and seeing her is always joyous tinged with the sadness of our visits' infrequency.

Angie is an amazing friend, a brilliant woman, and one of my role models.  I'll be lucky if I can be as wonderful as she is when I grow up.

This wavy couch was too cool not to get a photo.

She is one of the friends with whom I can always pick up where we left off, and seeing her in India was no different.  Angie's husband (also a wonderful friend) made a trip to India at the same time Stephen did, so this time Angie and I reunited 8,000+ miles from either of our homes.  We spent the rest of the week eating, drinking, laughing, learning, and shopping.

I can't wait to see Angie again when we both visit the Dominican Republic in a couple months.
.

Why?  This is a level of intimacy I don't necessarily want
to add to my marriage.

Once again our hotel in Pune had a glass wall between the glass room and bedroom.  Once again I took an awkward photo to document this weirdness.

After the three-hour drive from Mumbai to Pune, we relaxed, got settled in our room, and prepared for the whirlwind of the rest of our trip.

The dress and wrap I wore this day are both self made.  This dress was my most-worn item in India because it was so incredibly comfortable.  I am already planning to make another copy or two.

But Where are the Elephants?

We had one day and two nights in Mumbai, which allowed us time to do the top three things most travel sites recommended.  We visited Elephanta Island, saw the Gateway of India, and got out of Mumbai.  Actually, the number one thing a number of sites recommended tourists do in Mumbai is leave.

Elephanta Island was more or less our first stop, even though we had to go past the Gateway of India to get to our boat to the island.  The island is in Mumbai Harbor and has a series of cave temples.  The carvings in the caves date from the 5th to 8th century AD and depict Hindu deities.  It is called Elephanta Island because there was a giant statue of an elephant there when the Portuguese first landed there.  Unfortunately they took the statue and there were no other elephants to be found.  The Portuguese also used the carved deities as target practice, so many are missing parts.  We took a frighteningly rickety boat to get to the island.  

Not our boat, but just as rickety.

I hope the random strangers enjoy their
photos of me.

Unfortunately most of my photos in the caves didn't turn out very well.  I didn't take the time to adjust for the lighting and the photo quality reflects that.

This photo of me with a stone lion turned out well.  What you can't see in the photo is that there were a couple people behind Stephen who were also taking photos of me.  Every time we stopped to take a photo in Mumbai, strangers took photos of us.  Some asked if they could, but even more did it without asking.  I gained a better understanding of why celebrities complain about paparazzi.  

Elephanta Island caves

After we explored the caves for a couple hours we took another hour boat ride back to the city and the Gateway of India.  

The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Tower and the Gateway of India.

Next to the Gateway of India is the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, which was one of the sites that was attacked by terrorists in 2008.  

When those attacks happened the seemed (and were) half a wolrd away.  One of the things I like about traveling is that it connects me to people, places, and history.  I don't think you can travel with your eyes open and not be changed by it.

The Gateway of India.

The Gateway of India was another opportunity for random strangers to take photos of me.  It was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1911.

Mumbai was the only city we traveled to where I felt fairly unsafe.  People photographed me a lot, followed us down the street (not begging, just following), and were generally more aggressive than other cities we visited.  




The most shocking thing about India was the level of poverty in which many people live.  Of course I knew what to expect on an intellectual level, but I could not have been prepared on a visceral level.  

This collection of tarp-roofed houses was shocking to me on the first day.
It was luxury compared to some residences we saw.

Shanty towns and tent cities are cheek to jowl with fancy new high rise apartment buildings.  Tents and shacks cling to every overpass and wall.  

We only spent one day in Mumbai before we moved on to Pune.  I was glad for the things we saw in Mumbai, but very ready to leave the city after one day.

First Night, First Impressions

Our first day in India started at one in the morning.  We landed in Mumbai and took the shuttle a few blocks to the hotel.  From the moment we stepped out of the airport, India was a study in contrasts.

The hotel shuttle was a giant BMW sedan, while motorized rickshaws buzzed around us.  Even in the middle of the night, the city was busy and the streets were crowded, but the hotel was spacious and calm.  The hotel was clean and luxurious with sprawling, manicured gardens, while the surrounding streets were littered with makeshift shacks and piles of debris.

Every hotel we visited in India had a glass wall between the living/sleeping area and the bathroom.  I found it disconcerting, so I took photos.

As a bonus, you can see what I wore for travel.  I forgot to take outfit pics before we got on the first plane, so this is 30 hours in.  I wore a white button-down shirt, red camisole, and jeans.

Kingfisher and chocolates.  Good night.

I didn't manage to drink my last Kingfisher beer on the flight, so Stephen and I split it before we went to sleep.  After the long flights, we fell asleep with little trouble and woke up ready to explore.  On our agenda: the Gateway of India and Elephanta Island.