Pretending To Be Adults

 We were invited to join some friends at KidZania in Mumbai. It is a really cool company geared to allow children to learn different careers and have fun doing it. There are 25 KidZania locations and one of them is here in Mumbai! 

We went early in the morning to beat the crowds. I was not really expecting much and was just going to let the kids enjoy spending time together. However, I was surprised how cool the experience was. You buy your "tickets" and board a "plane" to fly to the KidZania. As we rounded the corner we were greeted with a city! It was HUGE. 

There were shops of all kinds, schools, banks, and all kinds of other jobs. The idea is that the kids go to each place and learn about the job you can do in their company. Then they go to work to earn money! Each stop has a sign outside that tells you if you earn money or need to spend money to do the activity. The more that you work, the more you earn, and the more activities you get to do. They get to learn about work and earning money to pay for the activities and eat delicious food!

Parents are not allowed in the "work place" so we would send them in to work while we waited out on the "street." They would be in each shop for 20-30 minutes learning about processes and working. They made mango juice for juice boxes in this factory. 

Look at those calves!!! She is my girl! 

They became DHL workers and had to pick up packages and deliver them all over the city. Their delivery had to include introducing themselves as a DHL delivery person then have them sign for their package. 

Next they went to the flight training to be pilots. They really thought that was fun. It was great to see them stressing out about paying for the training with their hard earned money. All of a sudden they were not so sure they wanted to spend the money for the experience! HAHA Welcome to the real world people! 

However, these Muggles were MORE than happy to spend money to make crepes with Nutella to eat. This time they are showing they are their mother's children! 

They were even Dhaba Walla--the food delivery people that were iconic in Mumbai pre-COVID. Post COVID they have not really come back. 

They worked so hard they went back for a second round of being Nutella crepe workers!

They then went to the pottery studio and made some bowls. 

They collected money and made deliveries for the Treasury. Lady Hiva told Koala Bear that she should take the gold bar and run. Koala Bear was SHOCKED at the suggestion! No good worker would steal from their job!! 

Next they were cashiers at the local grocery store. I had fund shopping for them to ring up my food. 

They went to the popsicle plant to make some popsicles. Seemed like lots of buttons to push., 

They became radio talk hosts. I had to laugh that instead of simple phrases to read, the guy had them reading page long words--some of which were all in Hindi! Not sure that was effective. HAHA

There was a fire station training program. Once you were trained you rode the fire truck around the city and put out a fire in a nearby hotel. 

We have been watching BeastMaster together and these two were so excited to scale the side of the building as fast as they could. In the show, any time an American was competing the crowd would chant "USA! USA!" So as they were climbing I was chanting "USA!" for them! I am sure I embarrassed them...but hey, it was fun! 

They made their own doughnuts! Apparently those were good too! 

They then went to become EMTs. Lucky Dragon volunteered to be the hurt patient and had to go sit in the city. The rest of the crew were EMTs and rode the ambulance to find him and treat him as they drove back to the hospital. 

They were construction workers and learned the correct ways to lay bricks for a brick wall. 

They waited all day to make their own Kinder Eggs. They had to learn from the process and then were able to take their own Kinder Egg home. 

It was such a good day. We had fun. We did not get to all the activities there. There were so many others--they could have become surgeons and do a transplant. They could have been a voice actor for cartoons. They could have been on TV or done a fashion show...and much more. I am thinking that this will be a place we come back. We are glad our friends invited us to come. 

Welcome to adulthood my Muggles!