press and getting around

Today we went to the offices of Asha Handicrafts (the organization in India that Villages purchases products from), met the staff and received a tour of the facility and orientation to the program. We also went to their first retail outlet, a brand new store in a new mall somewhere in Mumbai (I've no idea, I was so lost from the minute we started driving). It's a beautiful store with great style, design and branding. We were all very impressed at what an excellent job they've done of their first ever retail outlet.
Asha had also organized a press conference regarding the marathon and what a press conference it was! The whole thing took around 3 hours and I counted approximately 25 reporters and photographers. None of us were really prepared for such a major press conference. Karen did a great job of delivering an off-the-cuff statement to the press and then they randomly interviewed the rest of us. There were also significant speeches by Asha staff and four rounds of "running" while the photographers snapped pictures of us! Bizarre we could actually end up with our pictures in major Mumbai newspapers and interviews on the radio. 15 weeks ago I couldn't run 3KM's and now Mumbai journalists are asking me if I've been a life long runner and how many events I've competed in! Life has some strange twists.
We drove and drove and drove through Mumbai today and it was endlessly fascinating. A river teaming with life passes the car window. Look to one side and there is a family of five on a motorcycle smaller than my old '78 Honda CB400. Look to the other side and there's a fellow, more like a human OX, pulling an old old trailer loaded with possibly 1,000 lbs of building materials. And I'm coming from a media interview for getting off the couch and running a few miles... I'm starting to understand how India takes one's heart.