Category Archives: moving to Mumbai

I Have Arrived

Posted on July 9, 2010 | 6 Comments

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.

Arnab told me I’d be able to smell the humidity as soon as I got off the plane in Mumbai. After an 8.5-hour flight that stretched to 10.5 hours and an arrival time pushed to 1 a.m. from 11 p.m., I was so happy to be off the plane that almost any smell would have been fine by me.

But I did detect a distinct smell. I don’t know if it was the humidity, but it definitely let me know I had arrived.

Customs was easy, my luggage came out quickly and undamaged, and I managed to manuever my three bags through the X-ray machines. As I headed over to the exit, a man in a white uniform asked me to open my bags.

I grabbed my medium size suitcase and heaved it up onto the platform. As he rummaged through my DVDs, reading the titles aloud, he asked:

“Are you going to Goa?”

I’ve seen enough Bollywood movies to know what he was insinuating with that question. In one of the movies, a girl refers to an affair as her “vacation in Goa.” It’s a gorgeous vacation spot notorious for heavy drinking, partying and promiscuity. India’s version of Ibiza in Spain. At least, this is what my limited knowledge has led me to believe. I told him, “No, I’m staying in Mumbai.”

After looking through my DVD collection, he approved of Juno, and asking how many of the 1,000 places listed in my “1,000 Places to Visit Before You Die” book I had been to, he let me go.

By the time I met Arnab and got into a taxi to go to his cousin’s place, it was just after 2 a.m., and the streets of Mumbai were deserted, something I’ll probably never see again. Stores were closed, cars were parked and only a few dogs roamed the sidewalks. It was an interesting first look at the usually hectic metropolis I plan on calling home for the next two years.

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Posted in moving to Mumbai, travel

Home Sweet Home

Posted on July 2, 2010 | 4 Comments

The approximate location of our place in Mumbai.

Arnab found us an apartment! It took quite a bit of searching, mostly because I was dead set on living in Bandra, but we officially have a home in Mumbai.

It’s a furnished, one-bedroom apartment on the third floor of a four-floor building with a terrace on the roof. There’s a cold storage, where they sell meat, around the corner—we lucked out, and they sell chicken, pork and beef!

According to Google Maps, it’s about a mile away from the Bandra West station and a mile away from Jogger’s Park, which I’m excited about.

Arnab told me it’s in the Mount Mary area of Bandra West, which is a mainly Catholic area. That would explain the meat store. The Catholic church pictured below is located in the neighborhood, and what I’m pretty sure it’s named after.

Mount Mary church in Bandra

Unfortunately, no pictures yet, but I’ll post some as soon as I get them. Apparently, the bedroom is purple and the living room is a “gross” yellow. I’m just excited there is separate living room. When we started looking into apartments, we figured we’d end up living in a 350-square-foot studio, which my mother so aptly realized was half the size of my aunt and uncle’s pool over Memorial day Weekend.

The one downside is that there isn’t a shower in the bathroom yet. But there will be, eventually. So there might be an upcoming post titled “How to Take a Bucket Shower.”

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Posted in apartment, moving to Mumbai

I Was Never Good At Math

Posted on July 1, 2010 | 5 Comments

Malarone tablets

Here’s a word problem for you:

The travel clinic where I got my vaccinations didn’t recommend antimalarial medication for Mumbai. But in case Arnab and I travel to a location where it is recommended, we decided that I would bring some antimalarials, specifically Malarone, with me. The nurse at the travel clinic told me they generally cost $1-2 per pill. I asked for 70 days worth, or five weeks for each of us.

So, how much should I owe at the pharmacy? I thought between $70 and 140. If you couldn’t guess from the title of this post, I was wrong. I went to pick up my prescription at Walgreens yesterday and balked when the pharmacy tech rang up the pills. The total was $590. Hold on.

What I didn’t realize at that point, or until much later that day, is that one dose of the drug is four pills a day. So my 70 day prescription was actually for 280 pills. At $2 a pop, that’s $560.

Well, that makes more sense. We’ll be finding antimalarial meds in India—if and when we need them.

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Posted in health, moving to Mumbai

Waterproofing My Life

Posted on June 30, 2010 | 4 Comments

Rainy commute in Mumbai. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Shreyans Bhansali.

I’ve been told that everyone in Mumbai loves monsoon season because it provides some relief from the heat. Unfortunately, I’ll just be thrown right into the middle of it. I wasn’t there for the early summer heat, just the rain. So, I set to preparing to be deluged with rain for my first few weeks in India.

I decided to start wearing my hair wavy. I bought what I hope to be a monsoon-proof raincoat. I found a purse that won’t let water in. Sounds good.

I forgot shoes.

Both flip flops and jellies had been recommended, and I wasn’t thrilled about either. I haven’t really worn flips flops since before I went to Spain and traded them in for gladiator sandals and ballet flats to avoid looking too American. And jellies… well, I’ve just never worn them.

Malindi by Crocs

My mom suggested Crocs. You know, the Mario Batali style, bright orange clunkers. No thanks. A visit to the website revealed that Crocs actually makes shoes that weren’t ugly. I bought a pair of black ballet flats. Same waterproof material. No ugly.

Bring it on monsoon! My feet are ready.

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Posted in fashion, moving to Mumbai

Adventures in Outsourcing

Posted on June 30, 2010 | Leave a comment

My employment visa was accepted in an amazing time of just under nine hours.

Last Tuesday, I had all of my employment visa documents printed out and organized in a nice pile on the dining room table. I had filled out the visa application online the night before, and the boyfriend had checked the whole thing. The only thing left to do was get the money order from the Post Office. I wanted to double check the amount, so I called Travisa—the outsourcing company India uses to process its visas.

“Hi, I wanted to make sure that the amount for a 6-month employment visa is $133.”

“No, that’s for Travisa Outsourcing; this is Travisa Visa Service.”

“Oh, there’s two different Travisas?”

“Yes.”

Crap. Apparently, there are two outsourcing services with very similar names. They both process Indian visas. And they are both located on State Street in Chicago. One at 17 North and the other at 120 South.

He continued, “The consulate charges $138, and we charge a $50 servicing fee. So that’s $188.”

Interesting. I looked on the Indian Consulate page, and the only authorized service is Travisa Outsourcing, not Visa Service, located at 17 North, not 120 South. The second service isn’t authorized by the consulate and wants me to give them more money? I don’t think so.

I arrived at 17 North State the next morning where I submitted my application. The woman in charge of my application took a deep breath when she realized I was right and that I did, in fact, need an employment visa and not a business visa.

“The reason I ask,” she says, “is that a business visa is much easier than an employment visa, and 90 percent of the people who come in don’t have the right documents.”

Luckily, that didn’t describe me, but it did describe the poor guy next to me who, afterwards, wanted to commiserate in the elevator. Better luck next time. At 5:26 that evening, less than nine hours after I applied, Travisa sent me a text message saying my visa was ready for pick-up. Done and done.

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Posted in moving to Mumbai, paperwork

Am I Crazy?

Posted on June 28, 2010 | 9 Comments

Am I crazy to move to a country where I've never been and where my daily commute might look like this?

In nine days, I am moving to India. I have never set foot on the subcontinent. Am I crazy?

It’s a valid question that escapes an easy answer.

After my graduation from Mizzou last May, I expected to get a job, maybe not right away, and settle down somewhere. I had moved around quite a bit—my last apartment was the 9th place I had lived in four years. That was the expected path: college>graduation>full-time job. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. I finished a great internship with Smithsonian magazine and stubbornly hung around D.C. paying the rent by walking dogs and waiting tables. In the meantime, my boyfriend’s “expected path” of college graduation>graduate school wasn’t looking like the best plan anymore. After he accepted a two-year fellowship with Teach for India last November, my subcontinental job search began.

When we first talked about moving to India together, I thought of all the reasons why maybe I shouldn’t move: it was far away; I don’t speak the language; finding a job might be hard; my parents would be less than thrilled; I’ve never been there; etc, etc. But, I couldn’t think of a single reason why I couldn’t move to India. For the first time, I had no obligations. No four years of college to finish. No job. No lease. I could literally do whatever I wanted. There were plenty of reasons to move to India: love, the prospect of writing about things that really mattered and an incredible adventure. So, it was decided.

It’s been a few months, but I have a temporary position at a great company, an employment visa and  a one-way ticket to Mumbai via Virgin Atlantic. My boyfriend will be finding us a place to live shortly. Cross your fingers.

I don’t expect this to be an easy two years. I don’t even expect to enjoy it at times. In fact, I’m sure there will be days that I want to cry and book the first flight back to Chicago. Of course, I’m way too stubborn to do that. And, like they say, ‘nothing worth doing is ever easy.”

I’ve been told that Mumbai is an amazing city if you’re open to it. So, that’s what I’m going to try and do. Be open to the good, the bad, the ugly, the smelly, etc. You get the point. A professor of mine once signed an email to me with this phrase: “Stay open. Stay humble. Stay bold.” I think it’s fitting.

So, am I crazy? I don’t know. I’ll get back to you.

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Posted in introduction, moving to Mumbai