Bombay

Everywhere you look, everywhere you go, there are tons and tons of people. People walking, selling, smoking, eating, begging, sleeping, yelling, driving - these streets are alive 24 hours a day.

I've settled in quite nicely, living at The Salvation Army right downtown. I pay 150 Rupees a night, and I get a free breakfast in the mornings.

My volunteer work is actually something quite special, and I'm glad that I decided to do it.
I'm working for an NGO, akanksha.org, who help empower slum children across India by teaching them English, mathematics, life skills, arts and crafts and the such. Bombay alone has 33 centres. I'm at two of them, one in the mornings, and another one during the afternoon. The first day they were all shy of me, but after a simple magic trick, they all wanted to sit beside me, hold my hands, or just be up against me. It's something quite special, and I really feel for them as I know that where they come from and what they go home to each night is terrible. This week I am hopefully going into one of the slums where some are from and just see how they live. This should be an eye opener. I will put picks up too once I find a freaking computer that can handle a simple upload.

Anyways, yesterday was as a bizarre day if there ever was one. I was an extra on a Bollywood set! I got to dress up as a security guard, and then play a pilot walking out of an airport terminal. The shoot took 12 hours or so - lots of waiting around, but I didn't mind, I was always watching everything, and snooping around. I got paid 500 Rupees and got free food all day long. After the shoot, myself and two of the other white extras that were there went straight to a bar and got thoroughly drunk on our hard earned cash. We then al came back to The Salvation Army where we smoked a few of Northern India's finest until we all passed out.