rained out & abandoned on a bridge.

Woke up extremely early today with severe neck pain. I cant move to the right! With all of the meds that I've taken in the past month, I'm a bit paranoid that somethings going to go wrong with my body and i'm going leave india with a life changing physical problem. The overdose on malaria meds and quick trip to the ER didnt help my mental state either (i'll have to explain this some other time). So I wasnt sure if I should goto work but after a quick chat (and words of encouragement) from my dad, I gathered up the strength and energy to trek through the daily downpour. Joanna had the day off and wanted to buy some clothes so we walked over to Gandhi Market. Unfortunately the market was closed, so I ended up at work an hour early. Sat on the steps again. Two hours into the work day, Dr. Athar came over to me and advised that I head home because it was raining. So I'm thinking "whats a little rain to get all shaken up about?" The recent floods (which they refer to as 26/7 - like 9/11 but the month and date are reversed here) have everyone in a state of panic whenever it rains (which is at least 3 times a day!). Well anyway, happy to head home early on a friday, I pulled out my umbrella and started searching for my ride home. It didnt take long before I was sitting on a bridge in broken down taxi. The driver decided to pull the taxi to the side of the road and then to let the car roll wherever it felt like in neutral. I thought we were going to hit the median! Then, he motioned for me to get out the cab because he didnt feel like taking a chance in his broken down taxi anymore. Lovely! So there I was, standing with my umbrella, which was practically useless because I was completely drenched. I walked around in knee deep water, going from cab to cab, until on my ninth try, the guy decided to risk the rain and take me. Meanwhile, the associate director from AVSAR called and told me to head home because of the uncertainty of the rainfall. Its really nice to have people looking out for us here, we all feel very supported and taken care of!

Since I've been here for almost a week now, I know my way around (well generally), so when he took an unnecessary turn, I realized that I was being taken for a ride. But at times like that, there's really nothing that I can do because the taxi driver knows that I dont have the skills to argue with him. !! I got dropped off way before my apt complex and had to walk through a nasty, muddy mess. By the time I got home, I was ready to fly back to America. Everyday is a challenge in India. Each day is a combination of a million little miracles.

We're planning to go out in South Mumbai tonight despite the recommendation from our associate director to stay in...