After months of anticipation, yesterday I finally landed in Mumbai!

A new friend of mine picked me up from the airport and we took a taxi to my hotel. Sounds easy right? Well, street addresses are not always helpful and many taxi drivers utilize landmarks to get to specific places – landmarks I know nothing of. Long story short – I was very happy I had help getting to my place.

After I dropped my bag off, we stepped out for a bite to eat. Careful not to have any tap water, ice, water-washed lettuce (getting the picture yet?), I navigated the menu and got quesadillas. Indian-inspired, of course.

**The first meal at an outdoor cafe in Bandra, Mumbai**

After our meal, we headed to the famous Cafe Leopold in the South of Mumbai. On the way there, our cab got a flat tire! There we were on the new Sealink bridge, waiting for the cab driver to change the tire. It was a great time to take in this view.

**The taxi's flat tire on the Sealink Bridge**

Cafe Leopold is a well-known restaurant and bar that has been operating since 1871 on the Colaba Causeway in the Fort area of Mumbai. A popular spot for both Indians and expatriots, this was sadly one of the locations targetted in the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai.

When we sat down, I was not yet aware of this violent history. My hosts quickly pointed out the bullet holes all over the restaurant: a few in the ceilings and walls, as well as the one shown below in the mirror. This bullet hole was actually preserved by placing clear glass over the broken mirror. In spite of the attack last year, Cafe Leopold was as crowded as could be and it was initially hard for us to get a table.

After a long first day, I headed back to my hotel in a cab and slept like a baby. This week I will take a tour of Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. It is there that I hope to begin my quest for recycling solutions and how to make worth of the waste in our world.

Touch down, India