Mumbai (formally known as Bombay) - February 18, 2011

Hello Readers!

So I am extremely late in posting this blog, but better late than never. :)  During the weekend of February 12th Chloe and I traveled to Mumbai.  Mumbai is the most populated city in India and the second most populated city in the world! Whew.  Although Mumbai is “Bollywood Capital” (Bollywood is like the Hollywood of India), it is also home to the largest slum in India.  

Sky line of Mumbai from a tour bus.

 In Mumbai, Chloe and I stayed wih a lovely couple.  They were extremely generous towards us.  (Chloe knew them through a connect that she has in Ireland.)  The couple, and a friend that was also living with them for a few weeks, were  very loving and welcoming.  I thoroughly enjoyed staying there for the weekend.

Chloe and I with the lovely couple we stayed with and their friend.

Mumbai reminds me a lot of Delhi because of the amount of people, traffic, and everyone is constantly on the go.   I had to constantly make sure I looked both ways 500 times before crossing the street!

A typical road in Mumbai.  Crazy!

In Mumbai, we went to an Arts Festival.  That was a lot of fun. Local artists from across the city displayed their prized works of art.  The art was very interesting.

At the arts festival.

Arts festival.  It was hot so we had to sit and relax for a bit.

A work of art.

A work of art.

Along with the Arts Festival, we also did a bit of traveling around Mumbai a bit to see all of the historical sites.  

The Gateway of India.

The Taj Hotel is in the background.  President Obama stayed there while he was in Mumbai!

Relaxing at the Taj Hotel.

Overall, our weekend trip was great. 

Peace and love.

Ps.  While in Mumbai I found out that my favorite type of "ice cream" brand is a Gelato. YUM!

YUM!

Beautiful Goa - February 15, 2011

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

 

I know it's one day past Valentine's Day, but hey, we should love one another every day! Right? :) This past week I attended a conference that HRLN organized. The conference was held in Punaji, Goa.  Goa is the smallest state in India (with a length of 60 miles). It is located on the Arabian Sea. Before I get into the details of the conference, I must mention that the weather in Goa was absolutely beautiful.  Temperatures averaged a bit above 80 degrees, and it was sunny throughout the duration of the conference and my stay in Goa. Apparently, Goa does not have a winter, persay.

A group of people from the HRLN Delhi office traveled to Goa via train.  It took about 28 hours to get there. If you remember from last weeks blog, I traveled, by train, a total of 90 or so hours to and from Assam for the Sexual and Reproductive Rights workshop.  Needless to say, by this point, I was extremely tired of traveling by train. :/

Neha, Chesapi, and I on the train from Delhi to Punaji.

The view of the country side from the train. Beautiful

There were more than 100 participants from around the world that attended the conference. The speakers discussed a variety of topics. Some of which included: industrial pollution, nuclear power plants, and mining. The conference was very busy.  At the conference, Chesapi, Chloe and I mainly helped to set things up: we organized the folders, hung posters in the room, and took minutes throughout the sessions.

Sanjai closing the conference.

Participants at the conference.

  

While in Panjim we had a bit of time to walk around and see the scenery and different sites.  The first night, Neha (Journalist for HRLN), Chloe, Chesapi and I went on a 1 hour boat cruise. It was very festive. There were cultural dancers and a lot of entertainment.

Dancers on the boat cruise.

One of the Portuguese inspired towns in Panjim.

Looking at the sunset over the Arabian Sea in Panjim.

Because the train ride back to Delhi would take 2 or so days, Chloe and I decided to stay in Goa because we were going to Bombay to visit the weekend of Friday the 12^th (tune in to next weeks blog for the Bombay stories and pictures).  Since we were staying in Goa, we decided to go north to Candolim beach, and subsequently move our way south to Palolem beach.  These few days in Goa were so relaxing.  The scenery was beautiful, and the beach amazing. 

On Candolim Beach in North Goa. :)

Artistic? lol. On Palolem Beach in South Goa.

While in Candolim and Palolem, Chloe and I did a variety of things. Some of which included: shopping at the famous Wednesday Anjuna market, hanging out at the different beaches, working on assignments for the office, and attempting to learn how to drive a scooter (I know. Random. :).

Relaxing on Palolem Beach

Beautiful Palolem Beach.

Sunset on Palolem Beach.

A taxi driver teaching Chloe how to drive a scooter.

Although we were very relaxed while traveling through the different beaches in Goa, it was definitely not a full blown vacation.  While on Palolem Beach, Sukti e-mailed me the topic of the next petition I was assigned  to write: access to medical treatment for women in prisons.  I have already started researching this topic and it is very interesting.  Although the ratio of women in prison is significantly less than men, imprisoned women still deserve access to health care services while serving their sentence in a male dominated and male structured facility. No woman, whether imprisoned or not, deserves to be shackled during delivery, not given the proper nutritional services during and post delivery, etc.  This is a very interesting topic that I actually am enjoying the research of.

Reading some of my research on the beach.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Goa. As I think about my time here in India as a whole, I've realized I only have 1 week left! :( - Saturday the 19th will be my last day at the HRLN office in Delhi, then I head home to Georgia on the 24th, and back to Boston on March 1rst. Time flies!
 

On a random side note: Congrats to Caitlin Chan (my fellow classmate, friend, and law office member :). She received the honor of becoming PHRGE’s HRLN summer fellow. If you would like more information on the PHRGE fellowship, please visit: http://www.northeastern.eduphrge/resources/phrgefellowship.html

Until next time, peace and love. <3