Israel to Mumbai

After leaving Israel we crossed into Jordon to fly from Amman. Crossing the border we had the special (and surprise) opportunity to meet with the tourism police because our group facilitator had her Hebrew prayer book out in the immigration building. Sitting with 6 men smoking tobacco and drinking tea was a bit intimidating for a few moments, but after copying our passport information and asking a few questions we were quickly on our way again.

We headed to the Israeli embassy to meet with Merav Horsandi the head of political and press affairs.  There we were able to understand a little bit more about our run-in with the police. The police and security forces in Jordan have been trained to try to keep peaceful relations between Jordanians, Israelis and Palestinians but not all citizens feel this way. They were afraid that if we were in another part of Jordan and a citizen saw the Hebrew prayer book may cause harm to us. So it was merely a meeting for our own protection and the protection of Israel Jordan relations.

The meeting was very informative; I realized I know very little about Jordan. Out of the six million population about 1.5 million are foreigners, 60% of which are Palestinians. During the conflicts in 1948 and 1967 many Palestinians came to Jordan. In '48 many were granted citizenship, while in '67 many moved into refugee camps but not all were granted citizenship which still remains a problem today. Many Jordanians are afraid that Jordan will be considered a Palestinian country and are reluctant to grant citizenship to all. There are efforts between Israeli, Jordan and Palestine authorities to build a peace park on the border which is something I am interested in learning more about. In more recent and known news, Merav shared that though it was part of world news that Jordan dissolved their entire cabinet it was a very common practice which shocked few in Jordan. After the embassy we headed to the airport to fly to India! All in all it was a very short, yet interesting, visit to Jordan leaving me wanting to explore the country much more!

We arrived in Mumbai at 5am exhausted and with nowhere to go. Guesthouses don't generally accept new guests until at least 10am and we had no reservations, which usually are not possible to make or not reliable. Luckily we are Jewish and headed to the Mumbai Chabad house! They kindly accepted us at the early hour and we quickly feel asleep. Unfortunately we were not yet accustomed to 'India time,' how everything takes much longer than planned due to many unforeseeable circumstances along the way and the general laid back attitude and indifference of time by Indians. We did find a guest house and move our things in but we were one hour late for our appointment with the Israeli consulate general.  Because of our timing judgment we could only meet with Orna Sagiv for about 30 minutes for she was flying to Goa for a much deserved vacation with her family.

Orna is a very inspiring women. She deals mostly with trading, economic affairs and lifestyle and tourism. In 1992 when diplomatic relations between Israel and India began the balance of trade was 2 million, now it stands at around 4.8 billion and growing rapidly. There are about 5,000 Jews in India, half of which live in Mumbai and many many Israeli tourists. She was interested in traveling to the South where we were headed to volunteer to film Israeli volunteers. In most cases she tries not to bring any attention to projects initiated or funded by Israel as it will create much less of a chance they will be accepted. But she was interested in creating a better face for Israeli backpackers by showing that not all of them just do lots of drugs and haggle excessively over 50 Rupees ( a little over a dollar). Since there was only one Israeli in our group she didn’t come, but I'm sure she will have another chance.

Though it was a long and exhausting day I was so thankful to have the opportunity to meet with Orna. Our excitement of finally being in India triumphed over our lack of sleep and after the meeting we explored the streets of Mumbai, ending in Colobra the southern district where our guest house was. We had time for a quick rest and shower before heading out again to meet Sharon and Sharona. Sharon and Sharona, and there three beautiful daughters, are members of the Bene Israel Jewish community in Mumbai. I was especially excited to meet them as I had recently read about them in the memoir A Girl From Foreign by Sadia Shepard.  They were just as incredible, kind and smart as Sadia described in her book. In addition to a delicious meal, they shared with us a new documentary about their lives titled "Next Year in Bombay." We learned in more detail about the Jewish communities in India, and their hardships in teaching and learning Hebrew and Judaism. Many Indian Jews are not accepted by Israel is 'real Jews' and are not able to make Aliyah.  The Jewish population in India is not large, yet it is rich in history. And yet many, like Sharon and Sharona, dream of making a life in Israel. Though part of me understands why everyone is longing to live in 'their peoples land', part of me feels it is important for the culture and customs to remain in India.

Friday we continued to explore the city, mostly through finding the best and cheapest local foods. We explored some markets and stopped by the Gateway to India. Saul went to the Chabad house for a free Shabbat meal while the girls found more amazing Indian food. Afterwards we all met up with some of Sauls newly formed Jew friends, many part of JWS (Jewish World Service) and AJWS (American Jewish World Service). We were invited to a small post-meal party and were able to hear about some other amazing projects going on our India.

Saturday, after delicious Indian food of course, we decided to head to the big market place which in Delhi is called the bazaar. That is not the case in Mumbai and after 45 minute taxi ride we found ourselves at the Big Bazaar high end shopping mall. We quickly hoped on a bus and made up for our mistake by finding some green space in the city. We headed to the Hanging Gardens and had a great hill top view of the city and the Arabian Sea. Afterwards we wandered the streets trying to find the Ghandi Museum. It is important when asking directions in India to ask frequently and many different people. Also never ask "is the Ghandi museum this direction?", for they will usually just say yes. Indians do not want to disappoint and will always try to help, even if that means just pointing you in whatever direction they feel. We did find the museum which is the home from 1917 to 1934. It was so inspiring to be in the place that such an incredible unbelievable person once lived.

That evening was spent dancing the night away in Mumbai, which was really fun, but one of the last things I imagined doing my first weekend in India. We were able to get a feel for the upper class Mumbai lifestyle. Luckily I am a lady and was exempt from all cover charges which were way more than I would ever pay back in the USA. After the Blue Hawaiian bar closed one of our friends Saul met at Shabbat dinner had his driver take us the Hyde Hotel for the exclusive after hours party. I somehow forgot my mini skirt and heels and felt extremely under dressed at probably one of the nicest clubs I have ever been to, but loved every minute of it and had an amazing night just dancing the night away. Knowing that I was having just as much fun, probably more, being dressed in whatever I had thrown in my bag for backpacking India than the girls that spent hundreds on their almost nonexistent outfits make me quite happy actually.  

The following morning we headed to the JWS building to be with the 5-10 year old Hebrew Sunday school.  It was great to review some letters of the alphabet, as well as the pesach story. In the afternoon we walked among the many stands in the Dadar market and big surprise… had some more great Indian food! We headed back to the JWS building, which is located on a collage campus and spent the afternoon playing Frisbee and doing gymnastics and yoga- much needed before our 24 hour train ride to Chennai. Though we were just relaxing all day, with a little bit of miscommunication we still managed to almost miss our train. We arrived nice and sweaty 3 minutes before departure. Thankful to be on the train we soon discovered that there had been some sort of mix up in our tickets and instead of each of us having a sleeper bed, we each needed to share a bed. To say the least it was a restless and long night but there was plenty more time to sleep during the day in the many unoccupied top beds. 

All in all we learned a lot about getting around in India in the first few days. We started to get used to India time and always give ourselves more than enough time to get somewhere, and the be ready for the unexpected and except it for what it is. Because after all, we were in India and that alone is amazing.