bollywood anyone?...a day with a crazy twist...

After spending the past few days trying to get my NGO's attention, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make the most of my last couple of days here. So, today I went over to South Bombay to Sherry's NGO Akansha. She spends the mornings and afternoons at schools where she does check-ups on the children. Jo and I decided to go to the afternoon session so that Jo could go to work for at least half of the day. We planned to meet Sherry for lunch at McDonalds and ended up getting there a little earlier than expected - so we went shopping! The area that we were in is full of tourists, actually its almost all tourists, so everything is marked up about 600%. I asked one of the shopkeepers how much a pillow cover was and he said 150 rupees each. Then he said he'd cut me a deal - 2 for 225. I had Sherry buy them for me later at 2 for 175 rupees. We did a bit of shopping and I left Jo for a bit to go look at some earrings. When I came back, she was chatting it up with an indian woman who was telling her about a Bollywood movie that was being filmed that evening and asked if she would be interested in being an extra. We had heard about this sort of thing before so we weren't that phased by the offer - one of Miriam's friends was an extra in a Amitabh and Abhishek Bachan movie (they are father and son, the father is one of the best known actors in Indian film history). The woman agreed to let me tag along as well, and of course Miriam without question since they were filming a scene in 'Amsterdam.' We agreed to meet the woman at 630 pm and the whole ordeal would end at 3 am.

After lunch, we headed over to Sherry's work and watched as she examined child after child. They were all so cute and smart too! The children are all brought over from the slum communities for school and the NGO (that Sherry works for) does free health check-ups for them. After a few hours, Jo and I took a bus back to the area where we supposed to meet the woman for the Bollywood movie. We indulged in some cafe mochas and sweets. While waiting for Miriam, we received a call from AVSAR's program director, we excitedly told her about the Bollywood extravaganza and she asked a few questions. We really didnt have much info at all so we called the woman and she was a bit shady. After standing on the corner of the street for thrity minutes, we all decided that it was better to be safe than sorry - we decided not to go. So there ends my short-lived dream of being in a Bollywood movie. Maybe next time that I'm in India!

Dinner on Marine Drive at an awesome pizza place. Tonight was the first time I had pineapple on my pizza, it was delicious! I am always excited to have american food whenever I can get my hands on it. I needed to pick up the sari and other indian outfit that I bought from my friends mom house. The tailor had dropped off the finished pieces there after making my blouses for me. We took a quick cab ride over since we were close by and that was when the night took a turn for the worse for me...I reached into my purse to pay Auntie for the clothes when I realized that I didnt have my wallet. Where was it? I dumped out my purse in the middle of our attempt not to have chai at their place because it was already 930 pm and we all wanted to head home. I completely freaked out my friends parents because I got up and announced that we had to head back to the restaurant immediately (it was the last place that I remember seeing my wallet). We rushed out, and I made my roomies walk over to the bridge where we were dropped off to see if it was on the ground. No luck. Cabbed it back to Marine Drive. In the meantime, I'm beginning to mentally freak out - my license, my credit card, ATM card, my insurance card, some receipts, some money and five peoples business cards are in my wallet. I was cursing at myself for walking around India with my NJ drivers license, what had I been thinking? My roomies spent the cab ride trying to comfort me but I dont think I was paying much attention. I had already started thinking about how I was going to manage to get a new license when I was only going to be in NJ for 15 hours. I lost my wallet with only two days left in India? I was trying not to think bad thoughts though I wasnt having much luck. The restaurant didnt have my wallet. Sherry left her number because I was too much in shock to do it myself. We walked down the street towards the train station and decided to stop to do one more thorough check of my bag. Again, no luck. I called my dad and left a message on his cell phone, my voice was cracking the whole time. I spent the next two hours trying to hold it together and think of everything that I needed to do. My roommates are awesome. I was telling them how I think we've all gone through such a range of emotions together. These people might know me a little better than some of my friends at home just because of the closeness that we've developed through all of the ups and downs of the past few weeks. So they handed me some money, I got the number for my credit card company, and I sat in a STD booth for about 35 minutes. I cancelled my cards and talked to my dad. The internet was down at our apartment so I couldnt so anything at that point. I had my dad write some emails for me and help me to assess the situation. How am I going to get a new NJ license? I decided to ask my manager (who I havent met yet) to take yet another day off. So embarassing. So now, I'm planning to go to Indiana on Monday night after getting my license during the day. The only issue is that I might not have enough ID to pull this off. I can pass the 6 point test because I have my license, a bank statement, and my high school diploma but most of my important documentation is currently sitting in packed boxes in my living room in Indiana. I have no proof of social security. I'm going to have to figure something out.

I'm trying hard to let go of those "why me?" thoughts. It's just my license. I can take care of it. Unfortunately, I need to go to the police station tomorrow to report it lost and get a police report for home. I'm not looking forward to that. The police station here is infamous for bad behavior, and I dont speak the language.