India Itinerary

Dec. 19- Arrive in Bombay
Dec. 20- Fly to Nagpur
Dec. 22-29 - Tour of Agra and Rajasthan
Jan. 3- Fly to Bombay
Jan. 7- Depart for the U.S.

Link to India Pictures...

http://ssharif.shutterfly.com

(there are two albums)

Final Post

So I just got back to LA after three days in Bombay and nearly three weeks total in India for the first time in 16 years. I had such an AMAZING time. I loved the food, the culture, the people, the history, the place-- all of it.

Bombay was a good time. We were really just there to shop, and Bombay is definitely the best place for that. And thanks to the rich family, we had our own personal driver for the whole time. But the city is SO crowded. There are people everywhere. And in such a small area. They haven't mastered the use of taller buildings or underground parking. I don't think I could live there, mainly because of all of the congestion. There's definitely an effort to improve roads and infrastructure, but a lot of roads just don't seem like they can get any wider. And the number of people with cars keeps going up...

Something that I thought about a bit during my trip was my identity as an Indian American. My younger cousins kept telling me not to even try talking in Hindi because I just sounded funny. And when I called myself an "Indian girl" to the German, my older cousin said that I wasn't Indian, I was American! But in America, I don't really feel like an American-- people always ask me "what" I am and I always check off "Indian" or "Asian" on forms. My cousin told me that I was "ABCD"-- an "American-Born Confused Desi." (Desi is another word for an Indian.) I'd never really thought about this before, but now that I have, I am definitely confused...

That's it for me... Thanks for reading!

New Year's Eve!

My cousin took my sister, the German, and me to a "CP Club" party. The CP Club is a really exclusive club in Nagpur that you need a membership for and this was supposed to be the best party in Nagpur. It turned out to be a rather fun night, especially because my cousin had given me such low expectations. There were definitely some families there, which is a new thing. And the whole thing was outdoors, which was pretty nice. It was a much more wholesome party than the ones we're used to. Girls were much more covered and dancing was way more tame. And families actually danced together. There was a severe shortage of girls, which my cousin attributed to the fact that girls aren't usually allowed to go out at night. I asked him where guys and girls meet up, and apparently, there are afternoon parties in India that the girls come to. They close the curtains so it seems dark and dance away... interesting phenomenon...
In any case, HAPPY NEW YEAR!