From Dubai to Mumbai

Oh India, where do I begin. I arrived in India and had by far the biggest culture shock of my life, plain and simple. I landed in Mumbai and immediately got hustled for money when a gentlemen started filling out my immigration forms for me and asked for a tip (this was BEFORE the passport control!). I actually didn’t have a single bill to give the guy so I got them filled out for free, but still.. I had to wait a bit for my couchsurfing host, Vikash, to wake up and direct me to his place from the airport since I arrived at 4:00 in the morning. I really wanted to couchsurf in Mumbai for my first stop in India, mainly for a proper introduction to the culture here and also because I knew I would have a million questions about how everything worked. So I was really happy to have Vikash host me during my time in Mumbai.

When it was time for me to leave the airport and head towards his place, I hopped in a cab and everything hit me. The sights and sounds were all new. First off, I didn’t realize India drove on the left side of the road, so there’s that. Second, rickshaws (or tuk tuks or autos) as they’re called. These little things are EVERYWHERE, and act as mini cabs but are much cheaper. They’re basically tricycles with roofs and motors and they’re very useful and cheap when trying to get around a city of over 20 million people. After that cab from the airport I’ve stuck to rickshaws. They’re fun and it’s a good experience. Also people are EVERYWHERE. Mumbai is the biggest city I’ve ever been to and there’s people all over the place. Driving in the street is absolute chaos that somehow ends up working out. Horns honk everywhere all the time. It’s rude not to honk your horn. There has never been a time where no one is honking their horn… ever.

Vikash was an amazing host. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better introduction to Mumbai. We went out the first night I arrived and I met all his friends and we had an amazing time. He lived about an hour away from the central part of the city (the city is so big that just about everything is an hour away) so I had to take a local train into the city center. I will never learn how the train system works, but somehow it does and there’s no doors so you can just hop on and hang out the doorway while you cruise through the railways of Mumbai and catch some breeze. It’s not safe but it’s really fun. I sat in the ladies compartment the first time I took the train which was embarrassing and really funny.

People stare at me like I’m an alien because I look a little different from your typical Indian. India is where I’ve stood out the most on my trip so it’s somewhat new for people to just stare at me wherever I go. It’s sort of cool though because I also get kids and people that just want to say hello to me and I’ve had a few take a picture with me just because I’m different. I feel like a celebrity sometimes, so I know what that feels like now.

My new Indian friend, who wanted to take a picture with me on the train

On maybe the second day in India I was walking around listening to music when an Indian guy approached me and asked if I was German. I told him that I’m American and he began talking to me, asking me questions about my trip and how long I was in Mumbai for, etc. He told me he worked with a school that had international branches in other countries and he’s really interested in just interacting with a foreign person. I didn’t have time at that moment to hang out but we exchanged numbers and he wanted to arrange to meet up the next day. I was definitely a little hesitant to meet up since he approached me out of the blue and this was my second day in India, so I really didn’t know what to expect. I texted him my concern and made him add me on Facebook which created a hilarious reaction from him. But he turned out to be a real person and when we met up he told me all of the cool sites to see in Mumbai and even drove me around on his scooter to see some of the sites. He took me to get some of the local food in town and we had a great interaction. Akshay helped me out a lot with getting familiar with the city and he gave me a rough itinerary for the rest of my time in India as well. He even helped me book a train to my next city. He took me to the train station and everything. This was an amazing introduction to the Indian hospitality, and between Akshay and Vikash I had a great experience with the Indian people so far.

People had told me that for the first two weeks I would hate India because it takes some time to adjust to the culture shock here, and after that I would begin to love it. But to be honest I don’t think I’ve needed two weeks to adjust. Mumbai proved to be a solid first step in my adjustment to the India way of life, and this was only the beginning.