Who do you know?

My dad always said "its not what you know but who you know"...and Rajiv knows some wonderful people! Our first day in India was greater than we could expect. Waking up to warm chai was only the start; we quickly headed into Mumbai to meet the store designer and owner of Ethnicity, a store that features Indian designs from around 80 villages. It was amazing! The designs in the store were awesome-i got the cutest pillow.
This was followed by an amazing experience from Deepa Ganpule who showed us how the company she works for contracts with huge European labels to do their embroidery and beadwork. We saw every part from start to finish, and it was literally mind blowing the way they hand stitched every detail perfectly. A few of the labels we saw in process were Valentino, Gucci,& Armani...so beautiful!
We capped off our night having a dinner out with the generous Somans. Rajiv's sis-in-law entertained us girls all night long with her wonderful stories of her business & personal past, present, and future. I loved her philosophy of life saying, if you want something bad enough, you will get it! I think I can speak for all of us when I say it was lovely conversation. Mrs. Soman is such a wise and wonderful person and I'm awaiting her book,that I requested she write;]
So my question to you is...who has made the biggest influence on who you are as a person?!
-Haley

I feel like I have seen, heard, smelled and tasted so much of India today! I saw three cows on the street, slums and high rises, the Arabian Sea, bustling people everywhereee, an amazing and welcoming family (The Somans), talented artists creating intricate embroideries, and a little kid happily squating and poopin on the side of the highway....not in Cincinnati anymore! I heard car horns all day... people show no mercy on these roads! I smelled chai tea when I woke up! spicy Indian food at Dinner, a little BO at the mall, and hot rain water as it poured this evening! I just tasted rice, chicken, saucy and spicy veggies, ice cream that looked like turkey (but was actually delicious) Clearly, I don't know the proper names for anything I tried tonight, but hopefully I will learn and eventually know exactly what to order at Ambar when I get home! :)
It was an incredible first day. I am so tired so I gotta get some sleep for tomorrow! We are taking a train overnight tomorrow. We will be going to Bardoa, Dahod, Baruch and New Delhi. may not have internet for a few days :( 
Love, Pegs
p.s. kate, tell Ellie I am sorry but I will not be touching any dogs on this trip, let alone bringing one home...and an elephant is a wholeeee other story! haha I don't think so! It is 1: 55am in Mumbai. goodnight.

Wow! What a day!! I think Haley and Peggy covered most of what we did today...but I'd have to say I was most impressed by the embellishments we saw! At the ethnicity store, we saw where a man does custom embellishments...you can bring in any embellishment design and he can finish one that's about 5x5 inches or bigger in about an hour! It was phenomenal! They let us keep a sample swatch of some he had done and I couldn't stop staring at how sparkly and beautiful it was! We also got to see Shevi Exports and the embellishments done by Deepa Ganpule's team. It was AMAZING! I kept thinking back to my first two weeks at White House Black Market when I was sorting bins upon bins of trims, beadwork, and embellishment samples...completely in awe of how intricate each design was. When I was sorting through all of them, I was trying to imagine what kind of machines could do this type of beadwork....and now I know! NO MACHINES! We went into a little room where there were about 20 men sitting on the floor in front of these large wooden frames that had fabric stretched on them. Some designs were large with about 4 men working on the same beaded and sequined designs while others were on small pieces of chiffon that were sewn onto a larger canvas to hold them in place. They were so fast!! We also saw two other rooms where they sew embellishments onto the fabric pattern pieces, adjust paper patterns, do quality control checks of all of the work, and package and send the trims and embellishments to the design houses. The men who worked in these rooms had to have at least 10 years of experience and go through a 2-3 day "interview process" where they show the quality of their work. Even though the embellishments are done in India, all of the pattern pieces are sewn together at the design houses and therefore "Made in Italy" or "Made in France". I feel like those tags should say, "Made in Italy...and India". haha....well since that probably won't happen, just think about that the next time you see something with intricate beadwork or embellishment...chances are, it was done in India by some very talented people!
~~~Christine

This is the embroidery sample we were allowed to keep! Imagine doing this in an hour! uh-- whoa!

It is hard to believe it has only been one day- it has felt like we've experienced an entire week! I am so excited to meet the other girls and see India through their eyes. Since I've been here nearly three months, a lot of the way of life has become so normal to me that I don't notice the cows or honking anymore. Watching them soak it in has allowed me to remind myself, "Hey, you are in India!" Regardless, I am going through a bit of a culture shock. The India I have known and loved over the past weeks was rural India where the food was fresh, the roads were dirt, and the lifestyle was slow. Now that I am in Mumbai, the malls look as though they have been directly transported out of the U.S.  I never expected myself to need to adjust to things so mundane as AC and toilet paper, but now I find myself walking around the flat making sure all unneccessary lights are out, I feel uncomfortable when I see women wearing revealing outfits, and I prefer to use my hands to eat. Hopefully this trip will prepare me for my arrival back in the states and I'll continue to learn a lot each day. Already, it's been one of the the most inspiring experiences!
 -Your CV,
   Lauren (culturevagabond.blogspot.com)