Divali

Divali is like indias equivilant to christmas( i think i said that before). Its a time where families get together and celebrate, theres flashing lights everywhere(becuase it is technically the festival of lights), people are freindly and always wishing you happy Divali and of course, children insist on blowing off fire works at 8 in the morning in the middle of busy streets and continue doing the same thing all day until the adults get involved (with there own bigger fireworks) at around sun down. Last time i updated this i was in mumbai trying to get out. It took me a few more days but im in Rajasthan now in the city of Udaipor. All the trains were booked so i ended up taking a 20 hour bus ride which was the craziest thing ever( i think ive said that before). The bus company that ran this particular vehichle, packed the bus full, then the driver took handouts for people to get on the bus and insisted that they sit on the floor or find there way into a compartment to sleep. To much detail to get into about what went on while on the bus, il just put it in terms of numbers. There were 16 sleeper compartments (10 single and 8 double) and 16 seats on this bus (meaning a maximum compacity of 42 people) and when we got out at the last stop i counted 84 people, il be it about 1/3 of them children, get off the bus. The worst part is that i had a sitting seat and not a sleeper compartment. Pretty much i hugged my bag for 20 hours and tried not to let the kids sleeping under my seat distract me to much by constantly looking and grabbing at my ipod or book or anything i had in my hand with the upmost curiosity. The more i told them no, the more they grabbed. They evidently thought that me telling them no(in a uptight voice) was funny, and the more they did it the more they laughed til the point i ended up laughing with them. There was one other tourist on the bus with me, a spaniard named David. He was smart and got a sleeper compartment and im sure his ass doesnt hurt 3 days later from being so squished in a seat you loose all circulation in your legs. When we got to Udaipor myself and him found a hotel and hung out til i passed out at 8.

Back to mumbai, the city was good to me this time around. The more you hangout in a place the better it gets and i saw and did some things that i really enjoyed and im hoping to go back there before i leave. I met up with Allen and he took me and showed me around a area of the city i hadnt been in with some of his exchange freinds (over a couple of days). After a few days of hanging out with Allens multi Euro crew of exchange students, one of his freinds family offered to take us (myself, Allen, and the Jens(the kids family)) to a firework celebration (for Divali of course) at the very, very posh Indian National Cricket Center (or something like that) which was like the glenora club on steriods but with a cricket feild. I was in shorts and a t shirt with my backpack haha. A little under-dressed you could say. The fireworks went well and Jens's(i think thats how you spell his name) family was really nice and way too hospitable. After they dropped allen and i off for dinner with Allens host family, and they took us to a really good restraunt with really spicy fish masala. Again very nice people and way to hospitable. After that Allens family dropped me off in Colaba again and i figured id walk across the street and down the block to a popular pub to end the night off. In the pub (called Cafe Mondegar) i ended up running into a couple that i talked to the night before when i had a question about the taxi services in mumbai. They considered themselfs new wave indians haha, meaning they were engaged(not arranged marriage), the guy Harun is muslim and his girlfreind Mila (or something like that) is catholic. They were in there late 20's and both were university grads with good jobs and Harun had lived in Toronto for a year going to school at UofT. They welcomed me over to there table and 2 hours later i was wasted. Indians don't let there guest pay for anything, and some how i was these peoples guests and they insisted on taking me down the road to a really really expensive night club for there freinds birthday party. Becuase i was there "guest" i coudnt turn them down and some how i got into a place where guys were wearing Italian suits, in my shorts, t shirt and back pack. haha. I dont no and i couldnt guess at all how this happenend. Indian night clubs, or atleast this one was wild (except i was the most non covered up person there) and the music was so bad i couldnt stop laughing. I think i ended up talking to one of Indias biggest Sikh Hip Hop stars Haha. I think one of Haruns freinds had his limo driver take me to my hotel, but yeah again i dont know at all how any of this happenend. totally a day to remmember. Im writing now from Udaipor, and this place is truly amazing. Il tell you about it next time and post some photos of the lake.