"How Much?!"

So two days left! I'm all packed (can't believe I was able to cram everything in my suitcases!!!) to head to Delhi tomorrow morning. We're spending the day in Agra at the Taj Mahal and spending the night there. We ship out for the US at 10 pm on Tuesday. I was really hesitant to leave Madrid when I studied abroad there but this time I can say with certainty that I'm ready to leave and glad to be coming home. It's been an experience... a CrAzY experience, but I felt an amazing sense of home in Spain that I think is very lacking here. I could go for some real 'home', so it's back to good 'ol Holland MA for me. I also feel like I need a vacation from this vacation, hahaha!

Another story: I was walking around on Colaba Causeway (a shopping area in South Bombay) to pick up last minute gifts and Madeline and I saw a tiny little stray kitten on the street corner. It was sooo little and cute, and everyone knows I'm a sucker for tiny adorable things, so we stopped to take some pictures of it. Immediately a man saddles up to us and says proudly "that's my pet", and we're thinking "...u-huh...". Then as we start walking away he starts yelling "how much!!? Very good price!!". That about sums up Bombay, someone will try to sell you a stray cat on a street corner if it means they can make a couple rupees.

I don't think I'll have a chance to blog while I'm in Delhi because it'll be a whirlwind of traveling so this might be my last one for this trip. Thanks to everyone who's been tuning in to here my about my latest adventure. I've been feeling very isolated from the US and everyone I love for a month, so getting comments and knowing that my family and friends have been reading my blog has really helped. I love you guys soooo much, thanks = )

until my next adventure,
over and out!

More of a favor than a blog

Hey everyone, could someone do me a really big favor? I doubt my mom checks her email very often but I wanted to double check and make sure someone would actually be picking me up at the airport on Wednesday.... so could sarah/jj/ern/anyone who knows my mom's number just call her to double check and then have her post something to the blog or email me? It's June 17th at 4:35 in the morning, lucky you whoever gets the pleasure of snatching me from the airport at an ungodly hour ; )

Thanks!

Did that monkey just fall out of a tree?

Today we took a trip over to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. We did a lion and tiger safari, sounds much cooler than it was actually. I'm sure it's a good day - bad day kindof thing but on this particular day we were able to view: one tiger head sticking up in a pool of water, two sleeping tigers barely visible behind three layers of cages, and a lump of two snugly lions. It was not a very adventurous safari and we probably would have seen more at a zoo but at least I can casually drop into conversations that 'oh yeah... I went on a tiger safari in India..."

We took a car over to the other side of the park (for which we were incredibly ripped off..) and spent an hour climbing ruins of ancient caves. It was amazing and the view over the entire park was really beautiful. It's on my top three favorite places in India list.

While at the caves I took a few pictures with people. Funny story, some Indians are so sheltered that when they see a white person they want their picture taken with you. We're often captured in the "you stand over there so I can pretend like I'm taking a picture of you but turn it at the last second and get them" pictures but sometimes people will just come up to you and excitedly brandish a camera in your face. After the photo shoot I met a very nice old Indian man named... Richard?

When we were climbing down from the caves we saw a monkey! Just chilling out on the stairs. Many pictures were taken, everyone was excited. Then we saw a couple more further down... then more.... then suddenly we were surrounded by a hoard of howling monkeys fifty strong. They were leaping around on the trees above us and one landed on a faulty branch. The branch, and they monkey, actually fell out of the tree and landed behind Nya.. who starts screaming, thus making two other girls scream, plus the howling of the monkeys, and the monkey who was rolling down a hill after falling fifty feet out of a tree. It was a sight to behold.

(don't worry, the monkey was fine)

Let's see, what else. I learned some naughty words in Hindi, I won't repeat them but suffice it to say I can now curse someone out in three languages. My internship actually ended up falling through. We were able to spend one day at a tv set and three days at a film set but that's four days out of thirty and none of them were spent at the movie we were supposed to be interning for. Bummer. Also bummer for Peter Gaya Kaam Se because they've pushed back their beach shoot so much that it's likely not going to get finished... unless they want to shoot it during monsoon season. I finally got real Mendhi! It should last for at least a couple weeks so everyone at home will be able to see it. I've finally picked a Bollywood film star to have a crush on. The lucky winner: John Abraham.

Another random train of thought (sorry this is a long one, I have too much time on my hands tonight..) I feel so... served? all the time and it drives me nuts. Let me explain that. If you go to a restaurant the waiters bring a bowl of food and then serve it to you. Then they come back every 5 - 10 minutes (depending on how expensive the restaurant is) and serve you more. If you try to put more food on your own plate they actually run and grab the bowl away from you. I got so frustrated with it that I actually freaked out the other day and refused to hand over my bowl of rice. People are so pampered here. I saw a mother hand feeding rice to her ten year old son this week (like no spoon... hand in mouth and then let him lick all five of her fingers... another handful). Women don't carry purses, so they can't have money/ID/phones because I know they're not stashing them in their saris.... I guess women just depend on their husbands for those things? They also hand feed their husbands.. just found that out. Agh! I'm too independent for this country. F.Y.I if anyone thinks it's funny and tries to feed me because of this blog you're getting bit.

Feelin' hot hot hot

So there's one thing (maybe not just one actually...) that I really don't get about India. It's the hottest place I've ever been, you'd think people would want to cool down? Instead of light clothes, skirts, etc. people wear long sleeves and pants or wrap themselves in heavy fabric. Instead of eating a refreshing cold soup or drinking a lemonade there is only hot spicy food and chai tea for breakfast lunch and dinner. For a country which is in need of A.C. most, one out of ten places has air conditioning and two out of three air conditioners are broken. I know it's hot and sweaty here and no one can help that but why, why?!, would you make it worse with hot clothes and hot food. I also understand that it's cultural and that saris and spices are traditional. I just don't understand why that would be the tradition in 115 degree weather? Maybe I'm culturally ignorant, maybe I'm just complaining, but I don't get it. And, further in my defense, a blog is a space for thoughts so I'm just letting them come out.

Also worth mentioning. The movie shoot that I was supposed to be at two weeks ago for my internship has been postponed.. again. Instead we're shuffling around and taking whatever we can find. We were on set at that TV show and now we're on set of a movie called Chillar Express. It's about ten children and their quest to gain a collar and a life for one dog. "Chillar" means 'loose change' in Hindi, so something that makes a lot of noise but isn't worth much. The title is basically saying that no one takes the kids seriously. The actors are ADORABLE, they range from four year olds to eleven year olds. Everyone adores them and it's the best atmosphere I've ever encountered on a set, like a big family. It's pretty awesome. We've gone there for the past two days and we'll be going tomorrow but then they take a break from shooting so hopefully (everyone cross your fingers... now! ... I'm serious) Peter Gaya Kaam Se will begin shooting on Wednesday so we can get one good week of production experience in before we head home.

Final thought: I contemplated naming this blog "Wait till you see my rick" (we were thinking of all kinds of phrases that 'rick'... slang for rickshaw... could be inserted into, it rhymes with a surprising amount of dirty words) but Madeline thought of it first and I thought this one might be more appropriate.

Please lose the weight madame, PLEASE!

Alright, so, a sometimes annoying little quirk about Bombay is that when you are stopped at a red light or a traffic jam you are often bombarded by beggars, merchants, and the all famous hijras (hermaphrodites, mostly men dressed like women who saddle right up to the side of your cab and threaten to curse/flash you if immediate cash is not received). The trick is not to look them in the eye, once you've done this you may be followed up to three blocks. You get tapped on the shoulder or on your leg and if your window is down you get books, flowers, mangos, anything thrust into your face. We were just recently hissed at by a particularly insane looking old woman. This process is made even worse by the fact that we are foreigners; and unfortunately, no matter how many kurtas, bindis, or bangles we put on we can't pass for remotely Indian. Foreigners have money and thus are bum rushed everywhere. I once saw a beggar woman point at us from a block down the street and then she and her four children ran through the crowds to surround us. They followed us for a good block until we went into a store. It's horrible but there's really nothing you can do. If you give money you become surrounded by every beggar in the area and I've heard stories about it causing riots. So, you just have to look straight ahead and say "nay".

The people selling things are even worse. Every time you pass someone selling something it's "please madame, please" as they point to their stock and try to trap you into walking into their tent.

Despite how annoying it is having someone rub a blow-up punching bag in your face for ten minutes while you're stuck in traffic, something pretty funny happened yesterday. We were stopped at a red light and someone came up to our taxi selling books. We heard the 'please madame' and we looked away but then he started trying to sell us one particular book: the top seller "Lose the Weight". He looked at Liz and desperately said "Madame please lose the weight, please!" We burst out laughing which must have encouraged him because he started frantically trying to sell us this one book. He kept on with it: "please madame, you're beautiful, you must lose the weight, madame please, lose the weight, pleeease PLEASE!!" We just couldn't stop laughing. Liz is a pretty skinny girl, it was too funny. We kept saying no and trying to dissuade him but he just wouldn't quit. We drove off ten minutes later to cries of "PLEASE MADAME, JUST LOSE THE WEIGHT, PLEEEEASE........"

Hahaha... what's the joke?

Today we went on set of a TV show called Palampur Express. It's in Hindi so we were a little lost on the dialogue but from what the AD told me it's about two rival school's sports teams. One is the rich snobbish mean crowd and the other is the slightly underprivileged nice guy group who want to beat them in sports. Soo, we've heard the story before but never in Hindi. It was an outdoor shoot so it was pretty hot and a little miserable at times but we got to speak to the director, line producer, ADs, and some actors. We hung out behind the moniter so we could watch the taping and we were allowed to wander around and ask questions. It was pretty cool.

Also, here's the really awesome part, we were cast! Haha, about 15 min after we got on set someone came and asked if they could put us in the TV show. We thought we were just going to be extras in the background but I guess they were excited about having Americans on the show so they spent an hour dollying into our faces and marching us around to get different shots. I also have a speaking line, it is: Sanju! We're impatient tourists sitting at a cafe and I'm calling to waiters name to get him to come serve us. We were brilliant. I'm a little sad because the show won't be online and it's airing two days after we leave Bombay so we won't be able to see it = (. Oh well, I'm just going to pretend that I've become a Bollywood star... ahem tv serial actress... ahem extra...

So as I'm waiting for my delivery of falafel and hummus I'll tell one more story explaining the title of the blog. So 'yes' in Hindi is 'ha' and when people want to say something like "yeah,yeah,yeah,ok" they say "hahahaha...etc". It's said more in a flat, monotone kind of way which almost sounds like a really sarcastic laugh. Took me a while to figure out that I wasn't missing the joke, haha (that was a laugh).

So this is just going to be a random blog of things I haven't mentioned yet. First, I got my hair cut!It was just way to hot and I had to chop it all off. It's so light and fun to shake around, I love it.

Some not so fun stuff, our power has started to go out in increasing intervals. We lost it all morning today and then for another couple hours after it had come back on. This wouldn't be such a big deal if we weren't on the 20th floor and if the A.C. didn't go out when we lost power. These two things make it a pretty horrible affair.

Last week we met Rishi Kapoor. He's a HUGEly popular actor in Bollywood cinema and his family is like an acting dynasty. Huge is also a pun, poor guy put on a lot of weight since he was in his prime and he gets teased pretty bad for it. He came to Whistling Woods and did a Q&A session with the students in which he kindof commented about us like we were ignorant American students who didn't understand how important he was. He addressed us as his "American friends" and then would 'enlighten' us about his career and the industry, all things we know already. I thought it was really interesting to meet someone so important to the film industry in India but I also thought he was a little stuck up. He didn't really answer any of the students questions and was outright rude to some of them. One student in my group asked what is thoughts were on Hollywood becoming more interested in India and, since the two industries are starting to mesh, if that would change cinema in India. His response was outright denial that anything of the sort is happening and then almost accusing the student of making it up "Where did you hear that? What exactly are you talking about". I should have grabbed the mike and told him about UTV's new deals with Disney and Fox Searchlight. I didn't though, instead I've begun calling him Rishi Kapoop in my own head. Makes me laugh every time = )

Also, it's been really great getting comments and feedback on my blog. I miss everyone and I love hearing from all of you so keep 'em coming = )

Riches and Roaches

Sooo, we've got some pets.... The girls in the apartment across from me found close to ten cockroaches in the last couple days, along with the ants and the lizards = ). We've deemed one of the girls the slayer, she's ruthless with a frying pan. Just so you know what we're dealing with here, these aren't your USA-ant size roaches, they're beasts. This one was about the size of my thumb:Lucien and I lucked out and we haven't found any in our apartment yet but everyone else has. They're fast resilient little buggers.. big buggers, that never die and always bring friends.

By the way, I did manage to sort out my region DVD problem (VLC player fixes everything) and now I can watch the Jungle Book, Peter Pan, and Hercules on my computer whenever I like, woot! By the way, all three of those movies along with the Blue Planet series and two Hindi movies were purchases for a whopping 50$. I should come here just to shop, I'd probably pay for the plane ticket with the money I save by shopping in rupees. Almost everything is under ten dollars, cab rides are usually under two dollars and split between three people, a gourmet meal is about 8 bucks, designer clothes are like 20$ (we're talking Gucci).

We're living like kings off of the conversion rate but we can't forget that we're doing it in a third world country. I'm learning what the words 'poverty' and 'grateful' really mean, and I'm learning how to kill a cockroach with a frying pan. It's a mixed bag here so I guess all there is to do is take the good and the bad, the riches and the roaches, and to learn a little on the way.

I see TATAS everywhere!

I finally went to my internship!! I'll be interning on set of a UTV Spot Boy film called Peter Gaya Kaam Se, it's an action flick about a taxi bike rider from Goa. The title is a phrase in Hindi that means something to the effect of: Peter's in a LOT of trouble. I met the AD (assistant director for all you non-film folk) and the director (a British man named John Owen) today. I'd love to give more details about the story but I've been sworn to secrecy because the movie is still in production. I'm sooo excited about this and I think I'm going to end up learning a lot.

Another point to note about the locals here: yes always really means no. Do you know where this place is mr. rickshaw driver? yes, yes, yes....... um nope. Will this be done on time? absolutely..... not. I went to grab some movies from the mall today and, again for all you non-film folk, there are two things you need to look for when buying DVDs from other countries: the format (should be NTSC instead of PAL) and the region (where the DVD will play, the USA is region 1). I found an amazing stock of disney movies and I was absolutely ecstatic because you can't get these in the US due to Disney's commercially genius but HATED "vault", which basically means the original Disney movies are recirculated every few years in limited amounts to force people to buy them for escalated prices as soon as they go on the market. Soooo, they all said NTSC (check) but there was no region number. There was a small number in a globe that looked like it could be the region number but I wasn't sure. So, like we Americans do, I went to ask the staff. None of them knew what they were talking about, they didn't know what a region was, but every single one of them assured me that it would play in the US. Yes, yes, yes, yes...... aaaand NO. I kept the reciept so I'll return them, only one is opened, but it's pretty annoying. There are no straight answers and people are stubborn even when they know that they actually don't know what they're talking about. Welcome to India.

And, I know you're all wondering about the title of this blog ; ) .... well you all have dirty minds! There's a company out here that sells everything and it's TATA. It's posted on everything from electronics, to trucks, to billboard signs, to pencils. A couple days ago my friend Aamir blurted out "I see tatas everywhere", haha, we haven't stopped teasing him.

Simply Adjust

I'm allergic to India. I woke up a little congested and my nose started running, it hasn't stopped since. I've been sneezing, coughing, and snotty ALL day. The frosting on the cupcake: I managed to yank my nose piercing all the way out in the shower and I had to learn how to insert a nose screw into my stuffy, red, irritated nose. Yep.

Now for the more interesting stuff. We went on a 12 hr tour of Mumbai, first stop: the slums. It was very different than I thought it would be. It's divided into two parts, the industrial and residential sections. The people spend the day working in the industrial section and then live (obviously) in the residential. Where a "slum" in the US is a drug/crime area, a slum in India is completely safe and the people all have jobs. Most of the work done there was recycling but there were also soap makers, bakeries, and clothing workshops. The working and living conditions were hard to see but no one was looking for pity. I'm no expert but my impression was that all the slum is, is hardworking good people who were born into a less fortunate class. It was hard to see but it was a great experience.

Other fun things: I got stuck on the elevator this weekend (don't worry, it happens a lot). I went shopping and bought more things!! bangles, pillowcases, statues, sandals, all kinds of beautiful cheap wonderful things! I tried a dosa, google image it!

Horn OK Please!

This week we met Loveleen Tandan, co-director of Slumdog Millionaire!! She was an absolute inspiration to talk to and she's such a positive person with great energy. She made me that much more excited to get going with my life and my career. Here's a picture of us (we're buds!! It's documented!):I also took some pics of the school so you guys can see where we've been studying. It's really nice, very pretty! Here's a model of it, pic of the courtyard, and a view of the center hall (round part):

Also, we went to the beach yesterday and I got Mehndi (henna). It's not real henna, they just did a cheap stamp application for 10 rupees (20 cents), but it was fun. I'm planning on getting the real thing done before I go back to the US. I'm also posting a couple more pictures upon request of a Mr. Ahern.


The title of the blog "Horn OK Please!" refers to the traffic in Mumbai. It's so ridiculous and the cars have so little visibility that honking is the only way to prevent someone from crashing into you. It's not an angry road-rage thing it's a way of life. You honk to let someone know you're behind them, you want to pass, or that they're running you off the road/across the divider into oncoming traffic. Our rickshaw driver last night was just honking for the hell of it. There was no traffic on the backroads but I guess he was so used to it that he'd just rail on the horn every couple minutes... maybe he just liked the sound of it.... "Horn OK Please" is written on all the trucks and some cars.

Hollywood East.... Far East...

So I finally found out where I'll be working, kindof. UTV's Spot Boy Productions is currently making a film and I'll be interning on set for two and a half weeks. I still don't know which movie they're filming, who's directing/acting/etc, or where it's being shot. I also don't know what kinds of jobs I'll be doing, but from what I can gather it's a take initiative sort of thing so unless I go ask people for work I'd just be standing around. Not many people will speak english so I'll have to do some gesturing. Time to grow a pair....

Many of the films shot in Mumbai are done in Film City, which is kindof like a small town with lots and sets. It's almost like the Hollywood backlots but Indian style (95 degrees, saris, small dogs and goats roaming around, trash everywhere... etc). They also shoot a bunch of tv shows here, the Indian version of "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader" and many soap series'. Our apartment building and the school we're studying at (Whistling Woods) is located in Film City. The school is directly across from the sets and the apartment building is a rickshaw ride up the hill.

We've been taking classes at Whistling Woods all week and we start our internships on Monday. This week is kindof our orientation, a little bit of this and that, some music classes, film theory classes, classes on writing/directing/set design, and (of course) the hip-hop choreography class. We'll also be using Whistling Woods as a base for meals and computer labs. We have a meal plan that came out of our program fee which allows us to eat a decent breakfast/lunch/dinner in the cafeteria whenever we want. Not to shabby = )

If anyone hears about a current UTV Spot Boy production let me know, I couldn't find anything on the web and I'm soooo curious!

Surprise!! You're in a hip-hop choreography class!

We had our first “Acting Video Workshop” yesterday. We packed up for a full day of school and hurried off to Whistling Woods in our jeans and kurtas. After a relaxing breakfast we were rushed off to the music room for our workshop and some light acting fun. What we found was a room full of trained Indian dancers and the repeated blasting “Apple Bottomed Jeans” by T-Pain. We stared around at the workout clothes and streches that were going down on the other side of the room and we started to feel a little out of place. What exactly were we doing there and why was that guy doing the splits on the other side of the room? Aren’t we acting? Nope.

What followed was four hours of non-stop, butt-shaking, arm-popping hip hop in a 90 degree workout room. I wish I had the pictures, Lucien you’ve got some posting to do. We did pretty well I think, considering the circumstances. I’m proud of my contribution to that class and ability to keep myself from tripping over my feet. Sure, I got pretty lost in the (what seemed like) 100’s of steps (but that’s totally an exageration) we had to learn, but I had fun. Would I do it again? erm……..

Pictures!

So I finally got the data card to read on my laptop and I'm online! I took a few pictures of my apartment today so I could post them and prove to my mom that I'm not living in a shanty somewhere with no food or water. Let's go on a little virtual tour shall we? The kitchen is to your left.








To the right is the living room (sorry the picture's a little dark). There's a table and a big storage cabinet on the other side of the room where I was standing when I took the picture.








And this is the bedroom. I'm sharing with my friend Lucien, mine is the bed near the window. Each bedroom has its own bathroom but I'll spare the pictures of that because no one wants to see pics of a toilet.






It's a pretty nice place though and I like it a lot. I'll post some more pics later, for now I'm off to class again.

Here I Go Again

Hey Everyone!

I just arrived two days ago and I haven't had time to email many details of the trip so I'll just go right into it.  The flight was fifteen hours long but it was the most comfortable plane I've ever been on (go continental!).  Each seat had its own touch screen for movies/games/tv shows so that kept me pretty entertained throughout the trip.  We started in on the Indian food with our first meal on the plane.  I can't say I'm adjusted to it yet but it is delicious.  Wish you would have cooked us more spicy food mom, I'm sooo sensitive to it.  My professor claims that when you eat spicy food your taste buds die, so I'm hoping once I kill off a few more I'll be able to eat something without turning red....

India is... hmm... India is extreme in everything it does.  You can't just make a popular movie, there has to be singing, dancing, crying, laughing, suspense, jingling bracelets and it has to be at least three hours long.  The people either have servants or live in shanties made of garbage.  The color beige is unheard of, but then again why wear beige to work when you can wear hot pink?!  The temperature is either extremely hot and humid or there are monsoons.  There's no middle ground and there's definitely no boring.

There are nine other students with me on the trip and our professor.  We're staying in apartments at the Whistling Woods International film school, where we'll be taking classes this week.  Our internships start next week and, in true Indian fashion, we still have no clue what we'll be doing.  I'll start posting pictures once I get the internet up and running on my laptop.

I've already went on a massive shopping trip and bought some amazing clothes, pictures to be posted as well.  Alright, off to some more classes (thought I was done with those?) and more info to come.