In India, trains are FREE!

So I have learned from practical experience. I mean, it was to my advantage because I didn't have a ticket...

Pune-->Mumbai
Alright. Long story. Mumbai was a pretty fun, if chaotic way to spend the weekend. The train ride from Pune to Mumbai is somewhere between 3 and 4 hours, and the seats are not very comfortable. Even so, everything people say about sightseeing via train in India is true. You really get to see the country laid out in front of you-- slums, farms, mountains, cities, cows and all. The mountains were beautiful. There were tiny waterfalls cascading down the sides of the mountains opposite the train, which were the greenest places in India I've seen so far. You could see people working on their farms, their cows pulling plows... something I would not have seen otherwise.

Now the train travels very slowly up in the mountains for some strange reason (which may or may not have something to do with the fact that some passengers jump off at this point and walk to the nearby village...??). Anyways, while the train is moving slowly, people throw bananas out the windows and out of the jungle come MONKEYS. They looked like smaller versions of Japanese snow monkeys... light fur and big pink faces. Some of them had BABY MONKEYS clutching to their chests. It was so cute! I was glad I was in the train though... apparently monkeys that lose their fear of humans can become quite aggressive. My friend Katilyn here told us a story about monkeys in Africa-- in some of the unstable areas, monkeys have started making their own spears and organizing gangs to attack travelers. Monkey gangs. No joke.

The 4th-- Movie, Monsoon, & Veg Burgers
So other than the monkeys, train ride was uneventful. I met up with Reilly and Liz at their new apartment, which was actually very nice. Since it was raining and Reilly was getting over a sickness, we went to see Kumbakkt Ishq, a Hindi movie, downtown. The whole movie was a giant WTF. It was way overdone, even for Bollywood, but still funny to watch. Probably won't buy it, but it was good for one go. The best parts were probably the scene where Karina Kapoor gets attacked by a group of black gangsters with Canadian accents ("Get the ladies! Get the ladies!"), who are promptly fought off by none other than SYLVESTER STALLONE. He ripped a parking meter out of the ground and slammed a guy in the head, then pushed a car against a wall and pinned the other guy. We were laughing hysterically. If you haven't seen it, you probably don't want to unless it's for v. cheap. :P

On the way home from the movie, were were caught in the full-fledged monsoon. The roads were like rivers, it took us forever to find a rickshaw to take us home, I was so wet the colors from my shirt bled into everything (including my arms), and it took us an hour to get back to somewhere dry. But we did end up eating at this AWESOME Italian restaurant... it was so refreshing to have real (totally non-Indianized) Italian food, even if it was the 4th of July! The chocolate mousse for desert was also very legit (for Rs. 60= $.01!).

On Sunday Liz, Reilly and I went to Vie Lounge on Juhu Beach for the ex-pat 4th of July barbeque. Liz's friend Sheri had organized the party, so we got in for free. The lounge was one of the most post places I've been to in India-- mod design with windows opening right onto the beach below... very cool. We got unlimited burgers (veg, of course) from the grill and beer. I couldn't spend as much time at the party as I wanted because I had to catch a train ride home for class on Monday, but I did get to spend time with this v. friendly British guy while I was there. Sheri's boyfriend Hugo was having his birthday, so Hugo's family was visiting from the UK-- the guy I got to talk to was his younger brother, Theo. He did a great mock-up of all the UK accents, everything from Northern England to Southern Ireland (which he says the girls like best). Also called MJ a wanker... which sent me into fits of laughter. Brits use the strangest words for normal conversation.

A Series of Unfortunate Events-- but it all worked out :)
But the BEST part of the trip was yet to come! My cab to the train station got caught in traffic, so I missed my initial train. However, I remembered that they never checked my ticket on the first train, so I kind of looked for an empty car on the next train to Pune and hopped it! My stowaway journey was relatively uneventful (except for being crammed 5 to a bench with people sitting on the luggage racks above us). The college guys across from me asked why I wasn't in a better car... I told them I hadn't figured out how to buy good tickets yet. :P I got back to the train station way later than I intended, about 10pm, and it was v. sketchy. I only had Rs. 70 on me, and the rickshaw drivers wanted 150 to get home (which is way too much, it should only cost 50). My phone battery had died hours ago, so I was like... okay! and started walking down the street to find a driver on the road who would take me for less. Eventually, this older driver wearing a Muslim hat (I know there's a word for that) stopped and was like, "You need a ride," and I was like, "Yes."

He didn't even haggle over a price, just flipped the meter and got me home faster than I ever thought possible. The ride total was Rs. 50, and he asked for an extra 10 for driving far at night, and I was like, "Here, take it, you freaking saved my life." (I didn't actually say this, but my mind did.) Everyone at the hostel was freaked out because they couldn't contact me, and I'm going to get a lecture to the effect of "You tried to get yourself kidnapped" this morning and put in chains for every future weekend. I love that I've already been labeled the trouble kid. Really-- I would have PREFERRED to catch the right train, get home on time, and not have my phone die. Hopefully it won't go so bad. At least I'm home, right? Liz was trying to get me to stay Sunday night in Mumbai and just get home Monday (skipping class). At least I ATTEMPTED to get home, right?

Okay, so maybe I CONSIDERED staying in Mumbai... :P

Pictures soon!