Arrived in Mumbai

I don't know if any of you saw this coming, but I definitely finished out High School Musical 3 on ny second flight. Granted, I watched four other movies first and then tried to watch Memoirs of a Geisha when I ran out of things I actually wanted to see, but it had distinctly too many memoirs and way too much geisha to hold my interest. Three clicks over and I was starting to have Wildcat fever again. I don't have a lot of positive things to say about the movie other than you don't have to watch 1 and 2 to totally understand what's going on in 3.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, but quite pleasant overall. Our pilot, Col. Sanders, came to introduce himself to me before the flight, but refused to give up his recipe for fried chicken. I discovered the massage function on my chair, which was really more of a top-butt vibration feature, but was certainly better than not having a massage function. I also stuffed myself silly with delicious Indian food the whole flight, which kept me distracted from my irrational but ever-growing hatred of the only other passenger in first class, who I can only identify as the man with the black shoe (the black shoe being all I could see). I closed the doors to my little cabin and all was right with the world again.

We landed a bit late, having been delayed in Brussels for an hour for de-icing. Being escorted through customs and immigration was particularly awesome, as the whole process, including getting my luggage, took less than 10 minutes. Rachel and her driver were waiting outside to take us back to her place, which was good, because the airport is a total mob scene.

And that's when I saw my first monkey, on the drive from the airport, underneath a car, which had pulled over on the side of the road, I assume to see the monkey that was underneath it. Unfortunately, on doctor's orders, I was not allowed to get out and play with the monkey, but enjoyed it nevertheless from the glass prison that became Rachel and Wayne's car. One day, Monkey...

I've been playing with the baby all morning, who is super cute. Rachel and Wayne enjoyed the spindly little stuffed monkey I brought from Takashimaya, and Ben will learn to appreciate it when he reaches his Nightmare before Christmas stage. Currently, Ben just needs a lot of tending to in the form of noises and cuddling. I have come to the realization that, at this point in our relationship, a baby would divert way too much of William's attention. I'm learning so much already in this wondeful country!

Rachel and I are off to cruise around Mumbai to go to her tailor, and then off to a wedding reception this afternoon. Some sort of kite fair may be on the agenda for later this weekend. Very excited to be here. Hang in there Westerners; more to come soon.

Monkey sightings = 1 real, 1 stuffed, 1 Zack Efron.