Vamos a la playa

One of my favorite things to do so far since reaching Mumbai is go to the beach.

Now this is not the "go to the beach" in the traditional sense. Here, it's winter, just like back home, so people are not sunbathing on the beach; rather they are engaging in one of many activities. I myself usually go in the mornings each day for a run. I thought I would have pangs of longing for my dear Denver City Park back home; but jogging along the Arabian Sea is a more than adequate substitute. During the weekdays, I am accompanied by hundreds of others, mostly walking, who are out putting in time for their daily exercise.

Often in the morning there will be several sets of young men playing cricket on the beach, or football (soccer). So far I've only had to dodge 2 footballs and 3 cricket balls; then again, maybe those numbers are higher than they should be!

Occasionally I have made the trek along the beach at night. This is a completely different crowd. Men selling balloons, vendors selling food, and families having a picnic are just a few of the sights. My favorite thus far was when I wandered up to a crowd of a few hundred people, surrounding about 10 men, some with shirts on, some off. The men were chasing each around and trying to tackle each other. I thought maybe this was an Indian version of Lucha Libre wrestling, but later I found out it is a popular game played in India (I'll look up the name later). On the same stroll I saw the Tourism Police (seriously what they are called) chuck a few maybe 16 year old boys in the back of their yellow police vehicle. I'm not sure what they did, but again, a huge crowd surrounded them.

Another morning there was a small TV crew interviewing a man who could have been a movie star for all I know; but my best guess was that he was a famous runner who was planning to participate in the Mumbai Marathon that was held on Sunday.

Speaking of Sunday, that is THE day to go to the beach. Many more beachgoers all day and night. The number of cricketers exponentially increases, the volleyball net is full of young men slinging the ball about, and at night to be at Juhu Beach is the Thing to do. Completely entertaining at any rate, and beautiful. The picture I took is of a woman at sunset on the beach last week.

Once my stomach is stronger, I am totally hitting up the Hot Corn they sell on the beach! Hmmm, tasty.

$400 and a DS Lite, a good day

Saturday turned out to be a great day.

But perhaps a bit of back story, first.

On Thursday, as I drove home from the gym I called my friend Todd and found out his team needed extra players for volleyball right then. So instead of driving home, I drove to Wash Park across town and played a delightful few hours of volleyball, which I hadn't done since last June.

After the game, I was asked to play in a volleyball tournament that Saturday. It turned into an all-day volleyball extravaganza, with our team snagging the championship, and a $400 gift card to some local establishments.

On top of that, an hour and a half later I went to a Nintendo Party for only women , from which I left with a brand new Nintendo DS lite, in exchange for me playing four different games for 2 hours, including Mario Kart and Guitar Hero. Not-to-mention, they had free food, wine and lollipops.

To top if off, yesterday, I watched the rest of Season 3 of Weeds, a fabulously clever show on Showtime, went to brunch at Annie's Cafe since it just moved a block from my house, and rounded out the day listening to jazz in the park.

It's been a great past few days, to say the least. And I love summer!