D101 -- My face is Indian

Mumbai was only a stopover for us on the way to Delhi. We were exhausted from Vietnam so we basically hid out in hotel room until it was time to head back to the airport. We watched TV, worked on the blog, and ordered room service. Good stuff.

I sat next to a very talkative business man on the flight to Delhi. When I told him I was from the US he said, “but your face is Indian.” Cool! Earlier in the day I was wondering aloud to Thomas if I could “pass” here. Perhaps I can! I explained that I look this way because I'm Mexican American, and he tried speaking to me in Spanish. I couldn't understand a word he was saying because of his thick Indian accent but finally figured out he was saying “Buenos días, senora.” He also asked me what my parents did for a living, how much money our trip was costing us, how much we spent on the hotel last night, etc. According to my trusty Lonely Planet book these kinds of questions are not considered rude in India. So I asked him how much he paid for a house he bought as an investment. ($50k)

We had a driver from the hotel pick us up, but this time there wasn't much to see along the way. Just a bunch of embassies and hotels. We finally pulled in to where we're staying. I thought it looked like an apartment building. Thomas had neglected to tell me that it was not a hotel per se. We went up to the second floor in a rickety elevator that didn't stop even with the floor and went into a corridor that had closed accountants' offices and came to a door called Bonsai or something. We rang the bell and were admitted to a living room area and shown to our room by two men. It was spacious, but the only window faced a wall and the bed was like cement. No exaggeration. There were so many light switches it took a few minutes to figure out how to turn lights on and off. They like a lot of switches here in India.

We hadn't eaten in about 9 hours and I was feeling faint, so we high-tailed it to the closest restaurant we could find...McDonald's. We had wondered what items they'd have on the menu since most Indians are Hindu and hold cows sacred. The answer.... chicken burgers, veggie burgers, fish burgers, pizza wraps, and a Mexican wrap with chicken or paneer (a type of cheese). Thomas had the chicken one and I had the veggie one. I was expecting a Boca Burger type thing but it was a patty made of veggies – whole peas, diced bell peppers, green beans, rice, and spices. Not bad!

-Elva