I'm at the slowest connection cafe in Mumbai right now so I can't respond to any emails today. The zoo in Singapore was great! I hate to say this to my San Diego friends, but it was better than the San Diego Zoo! The animals all have open pens instead of cages and at the night safari we had the antelope and deer and TAPIRS walking around the trolly. The guide nicely asked us NOT to touch the tapirs as they can "become quite aggressive very quickly." No kidding, I was glad no one tested this theory. I made Alison walk through the fruit bat enclosure and she had enough after the first one nearly decapitated her as he flew by. I hadn't realized they are so large! I joined up with the Lion City Singapore hash our last night in Singapore and met up with Anna, a Stockholm hasher I met back in June. She was there on business. What a small world! Alison joined me for the run, but then took off for a Cantanese opera. One of us had to make an effort to be cultural!
Now we're in India and it's been surprisingly very pleasant. The locals are friendly and helpful and are so pleased to see us there. They obviously have suffered from the lack of tourism lately. Right away we ran into several hashers we knew from our travels so it feels like we're all hanging out with family. Mumbai is not as bad as Cairo, but I will be glad to get down to Goa in the next few days. The traffic and pollution wear me out. The most interesting things we've seen so far have been the Tower of Silence, where the Parisis leave their dead to be eaten by the vultures. They believe soil, fire, and water are too sacred to use to bury the dead. We also see cows along side the road, just like you would imagine. They are incredibly healthy looking and I wonder who is responsible for their care.
Tonight Alison and I are going to WORK! We're going to Bollywood to be extras in a movie. They are going to feed us and pay us 700 rupies which covers 2 nights at our hostel and a few meals. Then movie industry is mostly funded by "alternative sources" ie the Mob, so I imagine the money we make is probably laundered.
Don't know when I'll log on again, but Mom, Dad, and Andy, please don't worry about me. India is wonderful!
Love, Carla
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