animals and food

there really are animals everywhere here. i have seen elephants, numerous cows, cats and dogs today. nevermind the rats, which are too many to count. the cows in particular march down the street unhindered by the motorcycles and cars. now one goes near them. the dogs sleep in potholes along the side of the road or in ditches. they look hot and uncomfortable. the cas slink around hunting the rats, as cats do everywhere. the elephants are just wierd.
then there are the people. they occupy every space of mumbai. they sleep on sidewalks, in ditches, under pieces of cardboard. millions live in slums, which are highly organised an mafia controlled for the most part. one hut in a slum costs around 2,000 euros. the stench near the slum latrines is incredible, it stays in your nostrils after you have left. but then, these are hardly proper latrines, people just shit in the open in a designated area.
yesterday we went to what we were told was "laundry washing slum", which turned out to be exactly that: a huge slum where people did laundry. there were people beating clothes in cubes of water and on rocks as far as the eye could see. once this was done, the clean clothes were hung out to dry in the breeze on strings hung high up above the slum. i was amazed, there was so much visually to take in that i didnt fell i was seeing more than a small portion.
in addition to the slums, there are massive houses where the wealthy live. there are millionaires business men here, like in russia, who live like terrestrial gods. we saw some eating brunch at the taj. when they walked in, several people from the restraunt came to bow and greet them. one accidentally dropped his fork and a whole team of waiters came running (literally) to pick it up and give the man a new one. aaron , max and i got completely ignored for the hour or so the millionaires were there, the whole staff focussed on them exclusively. then there are the bollywood stars, who also live on another planet. they live in wealthy suburbs and drive around in chauffer-driven cars. aaron says one of them recently got drunk and killed 6 slum dwellers when his car went onto the pavement. the verdict? the people shouldnt have been on the pavement when such a god was passing!
meanwhile, the food is consistantly good. i havent yet found anything that tasted bad, although the food at the taj tasted by far best of all....and the drinks at the dome were in a league of their own.
in preparation for india i went to boots on oxford street and bought tons of stomach medicine: i have had stomach problems since i was an infant, i have a genetic disorder that causes endless grief. but then it was always a family joke that i had a third world stomach. i would get ill in toronto and then be fine in mexico. the same seems to hold here, i havent had one moment of quesiness, i am eatnig everything and am perfectly fine, which is fortunate, as it would be torture to be here and to not be able to enjoy the food.