Namasté, Bombay!
Namasté !
I'm coming up on three weeks in Mumbai. Now I am fully settled into my apartment and my new rotation. This is when the adventure begins!
The past week has been full of saying "yes" for me. It can be nerve-wracking to make friends and try new things, especially on an entirely different continent. Rather than dwell on being away from my family and friends in the U.S., I decided to send out a note to some people in the office here to ask if anyone would like to go out to dinner over the weekend. After just a few minutes, an entire thread of emails had started with ideas for all the places and things that we could do during my time here. It was a wonderful relief to know that I have people who are excited to show me around!
Thursday evening after work I went to an area of Mumbai called "Lower Parel" with two coworkers, Rashmi and Pearl, for dinner. What I've learned about India so far is that dinner is not until at least 8:30pm. We arrived at The Barking Deer Brewpub at 10:00pm after an hour cab ride. It was the evening before Holi, so we saw many celebrations already beginning during our drive. The dinner and drinks were a wonderful way to get to know one another outside of work. It turns out that we have a lot in common (including our love of movies and shopping) and they invited me to Zumba classes in the office. More to come on that later.
Brewed here in Mumbai
Friday was "Holi" in India. If you aren't familiar with Holi, I highly recommend reading about it. It's a day of celebration and there are many festivities in the streets. One of the key components of Holi is colorful powder that is thrown all over. It makes for a beautiful sight!
Holi at my apartment
Saturday morning I took a solo yoga class at the apartment. I practice yoga in the U.S. and decided what better a place to take yoga than India? It was a very invigorating way to start my weekend. My goal is to try a few other yoga studios in the city before my rotation is up. I've learned that yoga, whether it's practiced in Los Angeles or Mumbai, cultivates the same sense of calm. After my class, I went to the local mall and grocery store where I picked up some Indian essentials for both fashion and cooking. I've started to make Indian food to bring for lunch myself, which I will share about in another post!
My friends from the office invited me to sign up for Zumba classes that Nielsen offers every Tuesday and Thursday after work. I eagerly accepted and enrolled. The first class was yesterday and even after a very long day, I could not stop smiling. It was so much fun to be hanging out with coworkers and getting some exercise! We used water bottles as weights and I am still sore, which made me wonder: why do we spend so much on exercise equipment in the U.S.? At the end of the class our instructor invited us all to his wedding in May. One item on my India bucket list is to be invited to a wedding, so I can check that off of my list! I am really looking forward to it.
Cheers,
B
Here are a few photos from the last week:
The weather app doesn't lie...Smoke!
Mini truck in Mumbai
Some chai in the office at my team meeting
Awkward kurti selfie