Yesterday, Sarika and Vinu picked me up from the hotel before work. We went to a small dosa restaurant that makes around 100 different types of dosas. After eating dosas, we climbed a mountain in the middle of the city. Vinu drove up and stopped at different points for me to take “snaps”. The city looked so serene from up there. We passed a lot of couples on the way up taking advantage of the scenery and the privacy. There was also a small village near the top of the mountain. We descended the mountain and drove through the city. Vinu was really good at slowing down for me to take pictures of the various sites. He was a great tour guide. We also stopped for coconut water. I wasn’t expecting to actually drink coconut water from a coconut. I assumed coconut water was a special drink concoction. In reality, the top of the coconut is cut off, a straw is inserted, and you have coconut water. It was good, but it wasn’t as sweet as I thought it would be. They told me the coconuts get sweeter as it gets hotter. Coconut water is fairly common in beach areas like Miami, Jamaica, etc.

It was nearing time to go to work, but we had to make another stop on the way. We went to the top of a hill where there was a church and several temples on the same street. The church was Catholic and they were having mass. Next to the church was a Hindu temple (for North Indians). We had to take our shoes off before going inside. I took some beautiful pictures of the sunset off the balcony of that temple. There was another North Indian temple next to it, and a South Indian temple was at the end of the road. I learned that the primary way to distinguish gods from the north and south was the color. The gods of the south are all black. They are black for the same reason that the Evans (Good Times) had a picture of black “Jesus”. People want to worship a god that looks like them.

When I went to work last night, everyone was making plans to take me out on Sunday. They asked me where I wanted to go in Mumbai, and I gave them a list. Before the end of the night, they had mapped out a route that would allow me to see the most places in the shortest amount of time and they told me to be prepared to walk a lot. There will be a group of ten of us going out on Sunday.

Today, I went to “the parlor” with Moumita and her friend. I had my eyebrows threaded along with a pedicure for less than $6. That was my first time ever using thread and it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. I think the lady was a little frustrated with me because I didn’t understand what she was telling me to do. Thankfully, Moumita was there and she translated for me. She wanted me to hold my eye taut. The pedicure was basically the same as one I would get in the US, except for one thing. The first thing the lady did was pour a powder into a bowl and mixed it with water. She applied the paste on my feet with a brush. At the time she was applying this paste, Moumita’s friend asked me if the pedicures were different in the US. I told her I’d never seen this white paste before. She told me it was bleach to lighten my feet. I wanted to jump out of the chair when she told me that. There is a great fascination with bleaching skin here that I find very disturbing. After leaving the parlor, we walked around for a bit. I saw an elephant walking down the street while waiting. The man riding him was asking people for money.

We waited for Anita to come get me. I’ve known Anita for two and a half years. She’s traveled to the US twice and we’ve developed a great friendship. She and her husband took me out to dinner. We had a good time at a place called Indulge that’s not too far from my hotel. They cleared up a couple of mysteries for me. 1) Everyone stares at me when I go out because of my hair. 2) After using the hose, you’re supposed to drip dry.