Day 1: Arrival and Adjustment (Cindy)

So far, this trip has been full of pleasant surprises. After our VERY lengthy trip getting here, we arrived at the Mumbai airport and quickly found Yogesh, our ISAC liaison. His young, friendly face was just outside the glass doors of the airport in a tent-like area, filled with people waiting to be picked up by their rides. He arranged a taxi for us, a cute little car that only fit one of our suitcases (sorry Jessica! Hers had to be strapped to the roof). And I was proud of how lightly I packed too—it’s just that their trunks are really small, I swear! Riding through the streets of Mumbai at close to 1 a.m. proved to be interesting. Before we even drove off, children came up to us to beg for money. I’ve seen it before in other developing countries, but it breaks my heart every time. There was still a lot going on for so late on a Sunday night, with honking cars, people walking the streets and other nightlife. Some were walking around barefoot, others were sleeping on what look like tables on the side of the road, in their clothes and without blankets or pillows. Instead of paying attention to lanes—there often aren’t any to begin with—drivers honk to let others know they’re coming close. It sounds like it would make for a lot of mayhem, but strangely, it seems to work

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We arrived at ISAC’s Mumbai guesthouse at around 1:45 a.m., and woke up a fellow student who is doing a medical internship through ISAC in Mumbai. We chatted for a few minutes, quickly got ready for bed and crashed until 7:30 a.m., when we were up and at ‘em again. The guesthouse cook made us eggs and (white!) bread, and we were on our way to the outskirts of the city, a town called Lonavala, for our traditional medicine rotation. Before we left, the cook offered to fill up my water bottle with filtered water they use—but not before washing it out with the regular tap water from the sink. I’ve been sharing Jessica’s water bottle since.

We had another really cool drive through Mumbai and toward Lonavala—in Mumbai, we saw some juxtapositions between wealth—what look like slums and TONS of trash on the streets—and metropolitan, luxurious buildings. Men herding sheep—yes, sheep!—cows, colorful trucks (that often say “Honk Yes Please”), rickshaws, bicycles, women walking barefoot, lots of English—this is all Mumbai. Yogesh’s friend from Lonavala picked us up and drove us through the countryside today, and he had a dance mix playing that I bet could rival Opera’s late-night playlist. Between songs, a mix of Bollywood, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Usher and more, we were talking U.S. vs. Indian music and Mumbai on the way to the village. Mostly though, we were just soaking it all in.

Once the chaos of the city parted and we started to notice signs for luxury villas and second homes, we knew we were on our way to the countryside, toward Pune. The mountains (or “hills” as Yogesh told me they were after I asked what mountains they were) looked slightly majestic, and at one point we pulled over so the boys could have a smoke and we could take a picture of a village nestled in the “hills.” After a couple of hours, we pulled up to an Ashram-like compound called Kaivalyadhama, a yogic hospital and healthcare center. This is where our biggest pleasant surprise of the day came in. We knew we’d be studying ayurveda in the countryside, but we had no idea how extensive or structured the place would be. It’s a 75-year-old ashram, complete with yoga, naturopathy, ayurveda, lectures and treatments. Our schedule seemed to have jumped off the pages of “Eat Pray Love”—herbal tea and neti treatments, yoga and lectures in the morning, and ayurvedic cooking, yoga, pranayama (breathing) and more lectures in the evening. Some of the time we’re with other guests, some of the time it’s just us. Speaking of other guests, most are Indian, and the ones who aren’t seem to be from Europe. We haven’t met too many yet though, particularly because meals, natural get-to-know-each other times—are encouraged to be eaten in silence. Two Indian women did tell us that this is a popular place and a destination among Indians to learn about their ancient system of healing.

After checking in and eating a vegetarian lunch (more on that later), we met Prachi in the kitchen to discuss traditional Indian spices like cumin, coriander powder, mustard seeds, turmeric, cinnamon leaf, cloves and a mysterious white powder we think comes from a stone??.

She told us lassis are sweet, but the same type of drink, a bit more watery, is called chass when it’s savory. We tried it with cumin and salt, then with a little added sugar, for electrolyte balance. I think I’d still take a mango lassi! We also met with an ayurvedic doctor, Dr. Paudst, who schooled us on the basics of the feng shui of ayurveda. Did you know you should never sleep with your head facing north, or that your kitchen should face southeast to correspond to the energy of the rising sun? She told us ayurveda does not look at how much fat, protein and carbs are in food, but how that food reacts with your dosha (body constitution). Next, it was time for a gentle yoga class, just what we needed after sitting on the plane for 18 hours! After a 10-minute nap, we had a private, detoxifying pranayama session, where we were led through five deep-breathing sequences. After another 20-minute nap (we were trying to sneak in some shut-eye, since we were going all day after being jet lagged), we went to dinner. We ate in silence, and followed Dr. Paudst’s advice to eat a few bites of ginger and salt before dinner to help with digestion, and to chew each bite of food at least 16 times.

The meals are all vegetarian, and so far have consisted of rice, some sort of lentil/spice soup, a vegetable and roti (flatbread). The water here is filtered, and we’ve been drinking it. We’ll keep you posted on the digestion situation—wish us luck! It’s almost 10 p.m., and we are hitting the hay for some much-needed rest. More to come!