INDIA!

Holy cow... I've arrived in India. I flew into Mumbai yesterday morning. The first thing I saw when I got out of the terminal was a TV playing the news, a bomb had blown up in Delhi on Monday... greaaaaatttt. It was tarrgeted at a diplomats wife. I'm not going to Delhi but still, not the first thing I wanted to see.
I took a cab to the Dadar train station which was pretty fun. They all drive smart car sized cars- my bag and me barely fit in the back seat. There was a seat belt but I couldn't find the thing you click it into so I just held in across me. Driving in India is pretty funny... everyone just weaves in and out and honks their horns. I think one beep means "I'm going to run you over" and two beeps means "I'm going to run this red light." There are traffic lights but we didn't stop at any of them from the airport to the train station. Not sure how that works.
I had almost 6 hours at Dadar train station to wait for my train which was by far the worst part of my day. The first thing I noticed when I got there was that there are people laying and sitting EVERYWHERE. In the middle of the floor, in all the corners, on the sidewalk. So I figured that it'd be cool if I posted up in a corner to wait for my train. I think that maybe only poor people sprawl out on the floor because I got a lot of weird looks (although perhaps that's just because I'm white?). One guy came over and told me that where I was sitting was very dirty and that I should sit somewhere else.. I picked the spot I thought looked the cleanest and I was sitting on a sheet so I just said thanks I was ok. And then another group of guys came over and asked why I was sitting on the ground, I just told them I was waiting for a train. I put my headphones in but wasn't even listening to music and I had my hat on so it was pretty easy to avoid eye contact. If I did look around though 1/2 the people were staring at me. I dont think the hat helped.. no one in India wears hats.
My train finally came and it was a lot easier to find than I had expected. There were signs that directed me to my platform and coach and the train was right on time. I'm hoping that every train station is set up like that. Knowing where to get off is for sure the most challenging, although I lucked out because the people sitting beside me were getting off at the same stop. I sat with some nice older husband and wife couples. There were interested in my trip and I tried to talk with them as best as I could. Everyone speaks English but I hardly understand it. I just do a lot of nodding and smiling.
The train ride wasn't bad, I was exhausttteed- didn't sleep much on the airplane so I'd pretty much been up for 2 days. I got to Pune and found a hotel right across the road from the train station. The location is amazing, it's really cute looking but the rooms are foul. I did not let anything touch the bed sheets (I rolled out my yoga mat and got out my sheet). It was really cheap (650 rupees, which is like 12 CAD) and it had power and running water so it was fine with me. And the door locked and it had a pretty sweet private court yard, I even had a little porch. I felt safe which is the biggest thing.
I walked around Pune, bought an amazing pair of harem pants and got a really delicious vegetarian Indian thali for dinner. I hadn't eaten all day so the spicyness kind of hurt my stomach but it didn't last long. I was in bed by 8pm, exhausted from all the traveling. Had a pretty good sleep and now here I am. There's an internet cafe above the train station. I'm going to get some breakfast and snacks for my 14 hours of trains I have today. By the end of today I hope to be in Hospet. And then tomorrow I'll take a quick bus to Hampi!! I'm hoping that I'll meet other travelers there because so far I haven't met anyone (a nice English girl chatted to me for a minute before she got off the train yesterday). I'm also hoping once I get to Hampi where I'm staying for a week, I'll feel more comfortable- instead of having to navigate trains all day.
Yesterday definetly began terribly... but ended really well! I dont plan on having any more 6 hour waits in train statins so hopefully will not have to experience that again.
I miss everyone, I wish you guys could be here with me.
Love you all <3