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.