July 31st - I'm a Celebrity, now get these ants out of here

Today was my final day at Stella and it was quite an interesting one at that. I arrived at work at 2 PM because I was staying for the closing of the restaurant and wouldn’t be leaving the Hotel until at least 12:30 AM.

Once I arrived, I had to be fitted for my chef uniform for next week! This made me become really excited to start learning more and more about Indian cooking. Lunch was ok, paneer (which is never a favorite of mine) and yummy Indian breads. I was feeling really tired, so I made sure to grab a few cup of coffee. In India, not only do they serve coffee in smaller mugs, but also they only fill the mugs halfway! So a few cups of coffee really equals about one medium Dunkin Donuts.

After my lunch and coffee, I toured the storing facilities of the Hotel (mostly taking count of the wines and beer – it was actually really fun). Once I went back to the kitchen of Stella, the head Chef Marco (from Italy) was having a huge fight with the restaurant manager Shashwati. Chef Marco was screaming in Italian while Shashwati was screaming in Hindi. I had no idea what was going on between them, and I am pretty sure neither of them knew either. Chef Marco was so upset he left for the day before the day even started.

This event actually turned into not only a great learning experience for me, but also a great tasting experience. Chef Marco is extremely concerned about food cost, so much so that he won’t allow anyone to taste anything! His sous chef (Chef Lopes – who is actually a better chef, but because Chef Marco is Italian and Chef Lopes is Indian, Chef Marco is the Head Chef) wanted to make sure I tried the restaurant before leaving! He made me a wonderful selection of crab, mushroom ravioli with a red wine reduction, and the restaurants trademark dessert: white chocolate soufflé with a hot raspberry and licorice sauce. It was so delicious (I am not sure if this was my actually palate talking or American palate finally happy to taste something that is similar to home). Either way it was delicious and I was so happy.

When I finally arrived home I found out our apartment has been raided by ANTS – ew. The ants are everywhere and I found out that it has been the ants that have been biting me while I sleep. We are getting rid of them tomorrow, just not too sure how I am going to sleep tonight. I have finally adjusted to the living conditions here and now the Gods added another element to my challenge – well, I say bring it on, but please next time not so many of them.

I have found that since my arrival in India, it is a cut throat country. I know it is bad to generalize, but I really do believe that the majority of people here live that way: survival of the fittest. People will literally not survive if they don’t put the needs of themselves in front of others, or manners for that matter. When I first arrived, I tried to be as accepting and open as possible and allowed others to kind of push me around (I really had no other choice). But now people think that is the way I am, like making me do a simple task that they should be doing. For example, one of the guys I work with in the training department asked me to pick up our chef uniforms. I was doing some other work for Stella but started to get up. My friend, Sundari, quickly corrected me by saying, “Julia, you are not working class. You (speaking to the guy) go get the uniforms.” Wow. I have never heard the term working class directed to anyone before.

I was again called a Barbie Doll today. I really cannot believe that Indians think I look like Barbie. People have become so obsessed with my skin at work I am basically a celebrity. I found out that the day I went to the Gateway of India and the crowd swarmed towards be with cameras was because they believed I was a celebrity. HA. People not only think I am a Barbie Doll, but they also think I am a celebrity. If I am a celebrity, then get me into a hotel room! But seriously, people here sometimes think that I am famous. I think the Indians believe this because I am here alone and because of my height. I have yet to meet a woman who is taller than me and I am taller than 90% of men. Also, I am much skinny than most Indians (other than the ones who are SUPER skinny and not by choice). They somewhat compliment me, but at the same time are really trying to fatten me up (it has yet to work). I cannot tell you how many times I have been asked if I model in the US. I somewhat chuckle and explain that noooo I am a student and have no plans on modeling.

Now that I think of it, why don’t I just move to India and start living large as a former American celebrity/model? JUST KIDDING believe me, I am dying to kiss the ground of JFK right now! It is not that I am not enjoying India (because the past week has turned my experience around – literally I am having so much fun) but I love America and miss it more than I thought. I don’t think it is necessarily America that I miss, it is the company of others (friends and family) that add stability and normal elements into my life that I miss. The fact that I am the only Western here has made my experience what it is: a great one. But it has also made it extremely difficult. I have no one to talk to about the extreme difference, poverty, filth, and suffering around me. I have my blog (which has been a wonderful outlet for me) but being home and talking face-to-face with others will really make a difference for me….and maybe a bacon burger would be nice as well.

July 30th - I'm a Barbie Girl, In an Indian World

I literally have never felt so different in my life. Today, the staff at Stella (the fine dining Italian restaurant) told me a look just like a Barbie! That is definitely the first time (and probably last) time I have ever heard that! They continued to say that because of my skin, height, and body I look just like a doll. I never would have thought to compare myself to Barbie, but since arriving in India and today being called Barbie I have found many parallels between me and good old Barbie.

Speaking of Barbie, she needs a Ken right? Which leads me to my next topic: since arriving in India I have a boyfriend! Now, this wasn’t really my choice. When I would start a conversation with someone, they would just ask, “so where does your boyfriend live?” like there wasn’t even a question as to if I have a boyfriend. I fought it at first and always laughed it off, but I have found it easier for two reasons: I don’t need to explain why I don’t have a boyfriend and I don’t need to deal with Indian men. Explaining to Indians why I don’t have a boyfriend is so annoying, they truly don’t understand why I haven’t chosen the man I want to marry yet. Also, by saying I have a boyfriend, men leave me alone – which I LOVE. When I say I’m taken, the men are still friendly, but not creepy like they once were.

Also, nobody ever thought Barbie was a teenager right? No way! Well, neither am I….in India at least. When I first arrived and told people I was only 19 they were not only shocked beyond belief, but also gave me less creditability and responsibility. So, I have decided to take the birthday of Julia Murphy from Colorado Spring, Colorado – October 28^th, 1988 (21 years old). I figure it isn’t that much of a difference and really makes people give me more to do around the hotel. Plus, even when I tell people I am “21,” they all are shocked saying they would have guessed at least 24…I’m not sure if that is a compliment or an insult.

If you ran into Barbie on the street, would you talk to her? I don’t know if I would, I would be too intimidated! Well, that is what the Indian people have felt since I have arrived. People literally have been AFRAID to speak to me! The staff at the Leela are not sure if they are allowed to talk to me. I started chatting with a Management Intern named Sundari (who is so much fun and my new favorite Indian friend). Once Sundari and I finished our coffees we separated to go back to our different departments. The other Management Interns starting asking their supervisor why Sundari was allowed to talk to me and they couldn’t! Sundari texted me this story and I literally started to laugh. The next coffee/tea break, I went up to them and introduced myself and asked them to please view me as a friend. The first three weeks of my internship no one spoke to me not because they didn’t want to, it was because they didn’t think they could! So I was not only lonely, but everyone around we was dying of curiosity! Luckily I have solved that problem!

Indians have many preconceived notions of the United States. One being that all black people are gangster. The “n word” also isn’t viewed as a bad word over hear. I was flabbergasted the first time I heard a manager use the word in casual conversation and corrected him saying that offended me. He apologized and said that he never realized that word was harmful. Later, other employees used the word and everyone here literally refers to those people that way – I am still not used to it and cringe when I hear it.

Secondly, the Indians do not know much about American history. Not that I am saying they should, but they don’t even know that the British once ruled the US! Every time I explain the American history (which is actually quite a bit since I have arrived, luckily my father burned those facts into my brain) they are shocked to hear that the United States had a war against Britain. My Indian friends are also shocked to hear that I do not have “American blood.” I am not sure if they picture me being a 5^th generation American, but when I explain that my mother’s family is German and my father’s family is Irish, they just cannot believe it. So then I have to continue on and explain how American is really just one big melting pot, your looks do not set you apart, once you start speaking with an accent then Americans can tell you are a foreigner.

Today was really gun though. Remember how much I hated President Kaul of the Hotel because I thought he was mean to me? Well today I got a call from his assistant saying that I needed to report to his office asap to meet someone. I almost wanted to find an excuse not to go because the last time was so horrible – I ended up crying throughout the entire hotel. But when I arrived there was Mr. Kaul’s son, Aditja, who just graduated from the Hotel School at Cornell in the Winter! He was so nice and chill, we spoke for almost 1 ½ hours about Cornell, India vs US, professors, frats, and other stuff. He is currently working at the Four Seasons in Saudi Arabia and told me if next summer I wanted to move up in the world of hospitality to contact him about the Four Seasons (obviously not in Saudi Arabia, but maybe Jackson Hole?)!

Once I finished speaking to Aditja, I received my package from the US. Mom was wonderful and sent me candy, oatmeal, toilet paper, pajamas, and pictures. It truly made my day and made me feel like an American again. I then spent the rest of the day in Stella until midnight observing and working on the floor of the restaurant. I watched the chef have a major meltdown, how the restaurant manager fixed the problem, a guest complaint, a shortage of food, how to make a menu on a budget, and much much more. I really love the restaurant and food and beverage industry so much, I really have found my calling (maybe not in the Leela or in Hotels, but definitely with food).

Pomegranate pomegranate

1. Fruits for sale! Pomegranates sell for about .15 USD a piece over here, needless to say they have become my new favorite snack

2. Monsoon season does produce one good thing - delicious produce!

3. The weigh station

4. Paneer - Indian Cottage Cheese Curds, the bane of my existence here in India. Indians love it like Vermonters love Cheddar of the French love Bree. I happen to not like Paneer (a first: a cheese I have tasted and disliked) and is put on EVERYTHING. Here, you can buy it in bulk, or you can make it homemade.

5. Dessert!!!

1. Typical line for an Indian bus -- the buses do not normally stop. People jump on and off the bus while it is still moving and some even just hang on to the sides without fully being secure

2. Indian burger time! Vadapow is a pure veg burger that is spicy. The bun is wheat and the "burger" is a fried potato with some chutneys...the chutneys are the mixture of almost all the sour things(tamarind,chilli,etc) YUM with some fresh onion and green chillis this was the perfect dinner

3. Enjoying my first burger in weeks

4. The makings of a vadapow

5. yum yum yum

1. My neighborhood! Or at least the somewhat gated section

2. A few of the spices I picked up at the store, excited Dad?

3. Found my rickshaw soul-mate

4. The crowded streets of Mumbai

5. The outside of a rickshaw - small and open (two words I normally do not like to describe my daily transportation)

July 26th - Heer's Birthday Celebration

1. Roomies! Shiny, Heer, and myself at 12:00 AM on Heer's Birthday

2. Time to cut the surprise cake I bought Heer!

3. You can see how hot it is here without a/c and after eating too much yummy cake, I was a mess!

4. The birthday girl with her cake

July 27th - Finally, 5 Star

After all of my complaining, I finally saw results in my work today. My shift was switched from 9 AM – 6 PM to 1 PM – 10 PM. Now that I am completing the afternoon shift, I will be able to work with the 5-star restaurants in the Hotel: Stella (Italian) and Jamavar (Indian). In both of these restaurants, I will spend time in the kitchen and restaurant shadowing the manager and head chef. The managers will go over with the processes of the restaurant, daily routines, and what they did career-wise to get to this point. The head chefs will go over the entire menu selection with me and then personally teach me how to make certain dishes – this I am very excited about.

I started today in Stella. To be honest, I went into it pretty closed-minded because I did not come to India to learn about Italy. But really, I can learn a lot from this restaurant. I learned how you must tailor a cuisine to fit the nation’s palate and what you must do differently in India compared to the United States. I mostly shadowed Shashwati – the only female working in Stella who also happens to be the restaurant manager – and learned how she has to deal with the staff, chefs, customers, and deliveries.

Before the restaurant opened, Shashwati took me around and explained to me the processes of everything. But once the restaurant opened, I was in the kitchen – which couldn’t have been more fun. It was like being a camera man on the set of Hell’s Kitchen for 4 hours, I just watched the chefs freak out, the plates being set, the dishes being created, and the tantrums that happen almost every ten minutes.

The menu was great for an Indian Italian restaurant, Stella is actually the highest grossing Italian restaurant in India! The menu includes beef, seafood, vegetables, and chicken. I was actually quite impressed at the food they were pumping out – it also inspired my dinner at Citrus to be pizza (I just had to!! I did have an Indian appetizer though).

Once I got back to my living arrangements, Shiny and Heer gave me lessons in Indian cooking! We went through each spice and went over what dishes I could use them in and what health values they hold. I will post those on my next blog, but I left me notes at home today.

July 26th - Spice up your life

Holy Cow. That is what I have to say about today.

When I got home, my roommate Shiny asked me what I thought of love marriages vs arranged marriages. I started to laugh and told her that those don’t happen anymore. Shiny looked at me with such a sad face and told me that her parents called her today and told her she was going to have to travel to her home on August 19th to meet her future husband and on the 22nd they would be married. OMG – all I could do was stare. I cannot believe that arranged marriages still happen let alone to my friends here in India. Shiny hasn’t even met this gut – ever! We had to look him up on facebook to see if she like the way he looked, unfortunately he isn’t a looker. But hopefully he will be nice to her, that is all we can ask for.

I told Shiny how exciting this was, that a new stage in her life was beginning. I just tried to make as positive of a spin on this as I could. I am not sure if I did it well, but I tried!

Heer and Shiny took me to the spice store this morning – boy did I have a blast. I bought so many different and CHEAP spices here in India that we cannot really buy in the States (or at least for these prices). Shiny and Heer are going to teach me tonight dishes I can make with the spices so I can actually use what I have bought. It will be great. If you have had an impact on my foody attitude towards life, get ready! I have spices for you when I return. They are so beautiful as well, so many colors and flavors, India is great. The teas too! Yum yum yum

July 25th - Walking like a Real Indian

Lots of picture below! After reading about my adventures there are about three pages of uploaded photos!!

I started the day at 10 AM and had my driver for the day pick me up. In the United States this would be super expensive, but in India it was not so much. For an entire day of literally driving me and my friend around the entire city of Mumbai and stopping, waiting, pulling over, and getting lost it cost a total of $44 USD – with tip. That is pretty amazing and I was able to see everything I wanted to in such detail.

Once I was picked up from my apartment, I directed the driver over to Juhu to pick up Peggy, my new friend from HR who was going on the adventure with me! We had to wait a little while at Peggy’s home to wait until her servant finished cleaning.

Our first stop was the Iskcon Temple (Hindu). Once you walked inside there was an entryway where you had to leave you shoes because it is seen as unholy to wear soles. I was a little surprised and really happy to have Peggy there to show me what to do – goodness knows what would have happened if I walked in with my flip flops. Once inside, the security guards wouldn’t let me take photos, but it was beautiful. The ceiling was completed covered in molding that was painted with pastel covers, so cool. The gods that they pray to had shrines that you could leave offerings to. All of the offerings (mostly food or money) go towards the holy food that you are given one you leave the temple. The shrines were these HUGE statues that had so much detail and completely made out of gold.

To pray, or really meditate with the gods, you lay on the floor FLAT or in a ball and just chat. At first, it was a little freaky to see but I became used to it. Then for good luck and a good blessing, you touch the gods feet, hands, and head and kiss your hand and rub your head. The entire temple was made out of marble and was so beautiful.

Next, Peggy and I headed off to a Muslim Mosque that is in the middle of the sea – Haji Ali. It was high tide when we arrived so it was unsafe to walk the narrow pathway to get to the mosque, so Peggy and I turned to street food for entertainment! We had the Indian street corn. You have a pile of corn (like in a grocery store) and you must pick which one you want roasted. Then you have to peal it and give the vender 10 rupees. He then roasts it on charcoal and adds masala flavoring, salt, and butter. It was the best corn I have ever had and a really fun experience at that.

We then moved on to the Hanging gardens of Mumbai – ironically there was nothing hanging, but it was a beautiful local park with lots of flowers and bush sculptures. There was also an iconic symbol of the park which is a HUGE show sculpture that is actually a slide. It was created off of the “old woman who lived in a show” nursery rhyme.

For lunch (the biggest meal of the day) we went to a Rajdhani style restaurant. Here, you pay one fee and are served one LARGE plate with around 10-12 mini dishes. You start by having hot water poured over you r hands to clean them (I still used some hand sanitizer just to be safe) Servers consistently come around trying to give you food (like dim-sum). If you said no or you were too full the servers actually got upset and still put it on your plate anyway. There were curries, chutneys, breads, custards, pickles, potatoes, spinach...all so good! It is also tradition to eat with your hands, so of course I did! Even the traditional Indian rice I ate with my hands, it was definitely an adventure. The desert was so good, it was light custard with fresh papaya and sweet bread filled with tamarind syrup YUM

Because the restaurant was on Crawford Market, one of the oldest and most popular markets in Mumbai, we explored it. There were tons of street food (that I couldn’t even really look at because I was so full). I did, however, have some fresh coconut water from a coconut, so yummy and notorious! There were so many beautiful spices and dried fruits, bangles, clothes, and household items.

We then traveled back to Haji Ali to walk the path to the Mosque. Luckily, at this time it was low tide and we were able to walk out without getting hit by water. Around the area, you could buy so many different fruits and offerings to give to the Mosque. There were so many goats living around the area. Also, beggers flock here because they believe people will pity them after attending Mosque. The beggers were the worst I have seen yet, very haunting images. The walk to the Mosque was SO CROWDED and people kept staring at me and literally pointing (you think I would be used to it by now, but I am still shook up by it). The mosque was beautiful, but Hindus and Catholics are not allowed inside.

What a great day, it was so nice to see some real Indian things and not just the main tourist attractions. This is something that I have wanted to do since arriving here, and finally I found Peggy who understood that. I was able to do things that many Indians take for granted as common but it quite uncommon for Americans. Like my former employer Racahel Ray always say: ask the locals! I will now always travel with a local wherever go, you not only get a real feel for the city, but you also get to eat the best food!

Haji Ali Mosque -- Video!

Just to get an idea of how crowded it is walking to the Mosque!!

Relaxing after a long day of adventures!!

Me and Peggy!

Haji Ali Mosque cont

Notice all the people staring at meand the beggers everywhere in the background

Haji Ali Mosque cont

As you can tell from my hair, it was very windy and crowded!!

Haji Ali Mosque

Haji Ali Mosque is a Mosque literally IN the sea off Mumbai. The narrow 500 meter long walk to the Mosque can be done by anyone, but only Muslims can go inside. I was literally the only Caucasian and was getting many stares. It was such a great experience and site to see. Truly amazing. SO many people walk everyday out to the Mosque. There are lots of store along the way, and so many beggers (mostly deformed ones of lonely children). It was sad, but truly amazing.

1. The Mosque, and the long, crowded walk ahead of us (p.s. notice the boat -- it is low tide. You cannot do the walk if it is high tide, too dangerous)

2. GOATS

3. Flowers! and other items for sale to give to the Gods once inside as an offering

4. Haji Ali behind me

5. Mumbai behind me

Crawford Market

Crawford Market

Crawford Market is one the busiest markets in Bombay! There were so many shops of clothes, food, spices, and bangles

1. Crawford Market!
2. Pretty building
3.Yummy coconut water, felt like I was in the Caribbean
4. Fresh Paan -- the bitter digestive leaf, but I think I'll skip the street one
5. Crawford Market and a Mosque

Rajdhani lunch

For lunch (the biggest meal of the day) we went to a Rajdhani style restaurant. Here, you pay one fee and are served one LARGE plate with around 10-12 mini dishes. Servers consistently come around trying to give you food (like dim-sum). There were curries, chutneys, breads, custards, pickles, potatoes, spinach...all so good!

It is also tradition to eat with your hands, so of course I did!

1. Washing my hands to get ready to eat

2. Being served

3. Full plate, ready to eat!

4. Clearly enjoying the traditional rice

5. I am a true Indian!