I left home around midday for the airport after zipping up my last bag that morning. I took my first malaria pill the night before I left, because I thought it would be easier to remember to take them after work each morning once I arrived in Mumbai. I waited at the airport for a couple of hours eating and reading before boarding the plane. I didn't realize until I was sitting comfortably on the plane in my window seat looking back at the wing that I'd forgotten my adaptors to plug my electronics. I guess that's what happens when you procrastinate. I watched "The King's Speech" on the flight to Newark and was very pleased. As the plane started to descend, I looked across the river to my favorite city basking in the beautiful sunset. I saw the tip of the Empire State Building and knew immediately that it would be green as soon as the sun went down for St. Patrick's Day. I went to a shop at Newark airport once we landed to find adaptors, and I saw a pack that seemed to cover the entire earth and was pretty expensive at $45. I decided to just wait until Mumbai to buy them.
The nearly 16-hour flight to Mumbai was pretty smooth. I watched "Black Swan", which probably raised a few eyebrows around me, as well as a few episodes of "The Tudors". I slept for about 5 hours in the relatively comfortable, self-contained, flat bed seats. They are made in a way that the person in front or behind you never intrudes on your space. I wish I could fly in those seats all the time. Once we landed and went through customs, it seemed to take an hour for my bags to come out. I walked out of the airport that night and saw a dramatic difference from my last trip. There were still lots of people waiting outside, but they were now on a sidewalk instead of a dirt road. I saw the hotel driver almost immediately. The ride to the hotel brought back many memories of rickshaws, loud noise, good and bad smells, and traffic.
I was very pleased with the hotel and my room. After showering, I ordered room service and began unpacking. I stayed up for several hours and finally went to sleep around 2am IST. I was awakened around 7am by a phone call. I got out of bed, ate breakfast, walked around the hotel, and went back to my room. I decided to take a short nap, but I ended up sleeping until about 6pm when another call awakened me. I met my co-workers for dinner at a restaurant in the hotel. I was so hungry, because I'd slept all day and hadn't eaten lunch. We made plans to go out the next day to tour the city and forego the Holi festivities at the hotel.
Kids playing Holi
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