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| Around the world in 20 years or so . . . |
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| May 1, 2006, 10:25pm������� |
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| What a grand and glorious day I had yesterday.� I had my first day really off in weeks.� I had no one to see and nothing to take care of.� Mary Lou said she did not want to take me to Mass with her because of this intense heat wave (she may have been frightened that she would have to pick me up off of the floor after last week.) |
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| I talked to a friend in Prague, I talked to my husband and one of my sons, I watched an episode of Quantum Leap and I finished a book I was reading.� About 3:30 or 4 in the afternoon, it had cooled outside and I took my book out to the patio to read.� I sat there until dusk (when the mosquitoes found me) and read my book.� It sounded like I was in the bird exhibit at the zoo.� The foliage here is very pretty.� Many of the trees even have flowers in them.� Although it is very hot, the humidity keeps things so much more lush than in Phoenix. |
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| Work is a challenge.� I really enjoy my job, even today when I had to work several hours in a room without air conditioning and last week when I had to unpack dirty bags from the bottom of an airplane.� There are everyday duties but every day I also learn something new and different.� My boss is a very nice guy and he is doing a good job helping me get up to speed.� He likes things done a particular way and I think at first he was worried that I would charge head-long into doing things without asking or changing procedures.� The advantage of starting as a new hire at my age is that I know the value of experience and would rather learn from his experience than make mistakes that I could avoid by listening to him.� All in all, no one thing is all that difficult but there are sure a lot of things to know and remember in order to do the job at least competently if not well. |
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| Today I was so hot and tired, I could barely eat before I needed to lie down and take a nap.� It is sure nice not to cook.� The potatoes that Gopal, the cook, made were some of the best I have had anywhere and he made something that I think he called a Scottish Meat Pie.� I looked like a free-form meatloaf but tasted great.� (Oh, and meatloaf, like onion, is another thing that I thought I did not like and have never liked in any incarnation until Gopal cooked it.)� He is talking about making Ravioli if I can find mozzarella cheese.� A co-worker gave me a loaf of banana nut bread today too.� It has that unusual taste of either pineapple or lemon that the local bananas have.� Boy was it good.� Well, it is either power or internet because the cords are not long enough to do both so I had better upload this for now. |
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| May 4, 2006, 7:01 a.m.������ |
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| I am so excited.� Bill will be here in just under 17 hours!� After the 5 months apart during training, any separation is hard, even the last 15 days.� I have been fortunate to be busy because it has lessened the loneliness but at home, alone at night, I still dream of him.� It will be so wonderful to wake up next to him tomorrow morning! |
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| Gopal had suggested chicken in creamed mushrooms for his first dinner here.� I nixed that since he is not fond of creamed anything and really does not like mushrooms either!� Of course, I told him to make it for me tonight since I love creamed mushroom anything.� |
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| I am really enjoying most of my job.� I was well prepared by motherhood and running a small business.� There are always 40 different things to do, mostly at the same time with projects going on as well.� I continue to marvel at how nice everyone is at post.� Yesterday Marsha invited me to go with her and Shrividia, Ramesh and RJ to the local hotel for lunch. In India, when you refer to a hotel, it a place to eat although they call places to lodge hotels too.� They had three areas in the hotel:� self service, outside eating and an air conditioned eating area.� Fortunately we got the A/C area.� I basically picked from the plates of others trying to see what I liked.� There was a very nice mushroom fried rice and there was a dosa that was good.� A dosa reminds me of a crepe except it is made of rice flower and dhal and one side is well browned.� It was quite tasty.� It came with three sauces which I was cautioned to avoid because of the heat, although RJ, the 4 year old was eating them with gusto.� Marsha, Shirvidia & Ramesh are getting used to this weird idea that there are people who do not like spicy food.� |
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| RJ is Shrividia & Ramesh's son.� He is a cute little fellow.� He just turned 4 about 10 days ago and is as solid as a rock.� He is bashful and I do not think he speaks much English so I played with him a bit rather than talking to him.� I suspect someone will be going to work soon who can give me a ride so I will close for now. |
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| May 10, 2006 6:50 a.m.������� |
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| I can see how that I might be able to slip into the habit of not writing very easily.� Now that Bill is here, I am not as lonely or as housebound.� Bill is still working on getting used to the time zone.� I think he might take the full 2 weeks that it usually takes people from the states to get used to the new time zone.� I feel pretty lucky that it only took me a few days. |
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| On the other hand, I was not so lucky in other things.� Last Tuesday I ate out, on Wednesday I got sick.� During classes, Mark said that I would probably get sick in the first two weeks and I reassured him that I am usually very healthy and would not.� Ok, so it was 15 days before it hit; he was pretty close in his prediction.� I tried to ignore it but after not being able to keep much more than water in for days, on Monday I saw the doctor on post and he diagnosed giardia (sp?).� Anyway, it's a nasty business but I did not allow it to keep me out of work and now I have drugs to help.� Doc says I should be better by Thursday and after eight days of this, I am ready to be better! |
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| I got an e-mail from Roscoe yesterday and Tim a few days ago.� It is hard to find time to respond during work hours and when I get home, I am too tired.� Last weekend Bill and I started taking some walks.� I think I will bring the camera next weekend and then see if I can upload them to the site when Bill gets our high-speed arranged.� You would not believe some of the things that we saw including people napping on piles of rocks, dogs sleeping in heavy traffic and not being hit and so many ox carts on the road!� Maybe I will even try my hand at a photo essay. . . |
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| Gopal has turned out to be a treasure.� I like what he cooks and I do not have to wash dishes or clothes with him here.� The other day he made some sort of spinach crepe dish in a white sauce.� My stomach was no good but I really enjoyed them. �Bill and I bought a ramen noodle this weekend to eat.� I tried the chicken flavor - that could not be hot, I figured.� I figured WRONG.� Even chicken is hot and the masala is hot even for Bill!� Again, I am glad we have Gopal to cook non-spicy foods. |
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| May 15, 2006 6:08 a.m.������� |
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| Five days of not writing. . .� I am definitely a lot less lonely with Bill here.� The only thing left is for the kids to arrive!� On Saturday some of the ladies from the consulate got together for breakfast and a shopping trip.� A couple of the ladies are leaving soon and wanted to pass on the good shopping places before they left.� We had a list of about 15 places to see but only made it to about 10 of them.� The local people are very nice for the most part and everyone is so helpful.� In many of the stores we visited, there is someone who follows you around to hold your purchases until you are done shopping and often another person that helps you find things.� The idea of the day was to window shop and learn where they were and that worked well until Fabindia.� At Fabindia they sell clothing, primarily Salwar sets, that is the most common dress for women that I have seen.� Surprisingly the salwar sets are more common than saris in this area.� Salwar sets consist of a drawstring pant that goes to the ankles, a top that goes to just below the knee, and, usually a . . . (Oh, darn, I can't remember what it is called) long scarf-like piece of fabric that is worn at the neckline for modesty and decoration.� The scarf is worn over both shoulders with the ends at the back instead of at the front like Americans would typically wear.� The pant and top are made of thin cotton which will be a lot more comfortable than the micro fiber that I brought with me. |
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| Anyhow, once we started buying, we only got to one more store before the day was done and everyone needed to go home.� I was happy to have a fashion committee to help me choose three tops and three pants.� Better yet, I was told that it should be fine to wear them to work!� AAAHHHH, cool cotton clothing for work.� I might just be in heaven!� |
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| Friday was a tough day.� The boss was out sick and the place was all mine.� I did OK but had to look up several things in books.� I sure hope that I get faster with the routine things as I take on more responsibility.� |
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| I spent Sunday with Bill.� We had planned on going to the beach but he was a little under the weather and we decided that it was not a good idea that day.� We did walk to the fruit and vegetable market for a few things.� I read in the Economist that only one in 6 households have a refrigerator in India.� No wonder there are so many food vendors along the sides of the streets.� Things would spoil if you only shopped once per week and did not have a fridge.� In the afternoon we watched a borrowed movie:� The Relic.� It had two thumbs up.� After watching it, I am not sure why.� It was not a total waste of time, but close. |
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| Oh, and cooking tip of the week.� For background, we share the kitchen with ants.� Tons of little black ants.� Well, the ants found the bag of rice that I had opened to use and by the next morning the bag that I thought was re-sealed was swarming with ants.� Getting to a store is difficult until we had a driver and I did not want to throw away the rice but I'll be doggone if I will eat ants.� I threw the rice into a dish and placed it in the deep freezer.� All of the ants died but I still had little ant carcasses throughout.� I tried sifting and that did not work because the rice was cold and the humidity that collected on the rice as soon as I took it out of the freezer made it kind of wet and sticky.� Next try.� It turns out that ant bodies float!� Who knew?� I put the rice in another bowl with distilled water and stirred and the little cadavers just rose to the surface and I could skim them.� Cool trick! |
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| I am frustrated though that I lost a piece of chocolate to them though.� It was one of those little Ghirardelli squares of dark chocolate with the raspberry filling.� I only had a couple and decided to eat the last one yesterday.� I opened the sealed package to find that it was not as sealed as I thought and hundreds came pouring out.� As much as I love chocolate, I could not find a way to rescue the chocolate and I still refuse to eat ants, even if they are chocolate coated. |
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| I need to decide on sending a letter to the editor of a journal for work.� A guest editorial laments how the new people coming on staff are poorly trained.� The author used his experience from nearly two years ago to judge what is happening now.� I am sure things have changed because the training he talked about in the article bears no resemblance to what I went through in the last 9 months.� I hate to see the people who trained me unjustly slandered but I am kind of concerned that if I write, it might be a problem for me with others that agree with the author.� I guess it is one of those things that I will have to do if I want to look at myself in the mirror every morning.� I guess the right things are not always the easy ones.� Back to India and living here. . . |
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| I do feel like I am settling in some.� I still cannot believe as I do down the street that I am half of the way around the world from my country.� Last weekend, I noticed how many people slept on the streets.� Once fellow was even sleeping on a pile of rocks.� I am thinking that I want to take some pictures to post soon.� Bill should have the high speed internet for us soon and then it will be easier to post.� When walking down the street there are children begging for money.� We were cautioned not to give them money or anything since it encourages that behavior and their parents see it as a way to earn money for the family.� I am thinking that if I take some sweets for the children to eat and give it to them in exchange for photos then it would not be charity so much as an exchange of value:� their image for my sweets.� Still need to think about it.� Well, it is nearly 7 am and I need to brush my teeth and go outside to see who is going so that I can bum a ride to work.� I will try to post this before I leave though since Janie chided me yesterday for having nothing new.� Janie, this one is for you.� Happy Mother's day to everyone who is celebrating in the USA! |
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| May 16, 2006 5:55 a.m.������� |
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| Dupida.� That was the name of the scarf thing around your neck that goes with the Salwar sets.� I am up to a few words in Tamil.� Shrividia has taught me to say dog, puppy, please and thank you. |
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| I tried to post the journal yesterday but had difficulty and then had to leave to work so I will probably write less and try sooner this morning.� I sure wish I could get a hold of my Goddaughter.� She will be 4 soon and I wanted to send her something from India but I have not seen her in 10 months and do not know how big she is. |
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| May 21, 2006 6:00 a.m.����� |
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| It looks like morning will be my writing time.� The house is quiet except for the cat complaining that I have not escorted him to breakfast.� Everyone is finally here other than Robert.� It sure would be nice to have the whole family together but I am not sure how often that will happen as the boys grow up.� I cannot even remember when my whole birth family was in the same room and I think the last time all of Bill's siblings were together was at Harry's funeral and then we were missing one of the grandkids. |
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| We went to a mall yesterday.� For those from Phoenix, it had about the same area as the old Christown mall used to have before it had Wal-Mart and Costco.� It had at least 4 times the number of shops as Arrowhead mall (both inside and outside.)� A typical shop was the size of a bedroom in the US - I would guess about 150 square feet or so..� Every store we passed had someone in the front saying "Come in.� Just look at our ____.� You do not have to buy, just look."� I was wearing one of the new Salwar set that I purchased last weekend but I canNOT get that dupida thing to work so I did not wear one and every shop had one that they thought I needed.� If we would look and not purchase the store clerk would say that he could "make a better price."� It was hard to explain that we were just looking and not sure when we were going to buy. |
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| It was really quite a lot of fun but a long day.� Since the mall is 6 or 7 kilometers from the house, we decided that we would take a cab.� The first one we passed said that they wanted 300 rupees. �Ridiculous, 70 - 80 would have been a fair price for an auto-rickshaw and about 125 for a taxi.� He would not come below 250 so we walked on and an auto-rickshaw stopped and we negotiated 80 rupees.� There were three of us in the back and James in the front with the driver - can you say "crowded?"� When we got there he wanted 90 rupees so I gave him the extra 10.� I did not feel it was fair but also did not want to be the ugly American.� |
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| On the way home we opted for the auto-rickshaw again.� At first they wanted 120 rupees for two cabs and I told them we only needed one and were charged 80 rupees to get here.� They said that they could not take 4 riders because more than 4 people including the driver could cost him a 100 rupee fine.� We acquiesced and agreed to 100 rupees each for two auto-rickshaws.� As soon as we got in the auto-rickshaws the driver asked where we were from.� When I told him that we were from the USA he wanted to change the deal.� He would drop the price to 80 rupees if we were to look at his friend's shop that was on the way home anyway.� I had read that this is a common thing for shops to give cab and auto-rickshaw drivers some sort of a commission if they bring by rich tourists.� (By Indian standards, that includes us.)� We saw the first shop and then a second and then insisted on going home.� |
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| We probably would have not gone to the second shop except that the first one had such beautiful things.� The second shop was even better.� James saw some beautiful chess sets and Bill found a picture of an elephant that was a beautiful hand-carved inlay.� We need to check and make sure that there are no import restrictions on any of the woods in the inlay but if there are not, we will probably return to purchase the picture.� There was also some beautiful amethyst jewelry.� I liked the piece there almost as well as the one I saw last weekend.� I think I will probably end up with a few pieces of jewelry here.� I just wish that I knew how to tell which stones are real.� I suspect that I will need to just pay what ever I think is fair even if the stones are not real.� If they are real, they are definitely inexpensive and if they are costume, the price is still very fair compared to what we have previously priced in Las Vegas on vacation. |
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| I am happy to see that both David and James seem to be enjoying themselves.� David obviously misses Heather but he has a journal of his own to write in and he is taking pictures for her.� Both of the boys seem to have made the time shift pretty well.� James looks completely recovered and David should be by today.� David wants to leave in the middle of July so that he can see Heather but I think he should stay at least until the end of July.� I will need to tread lightly on this one.� Hopefully we can get Heather out here next summer so we will not need to worry about David leaving so soon.� He really seems to be in love with her.� We are lucky that she is such a nice girl too.� I think she is a good match for David. |
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| David's birthday was yesterday.� No card for him because they are not something that I have seen yet in India and his present will be to have a suit tailored for him.� There is a gentleman at work that has beautiful suits and a good tailor that will help us with that project.� Today we will get him a birthday cake and maybe make some ice cream now that our HHE (household effects) have arrived with the ice cream maker.� |
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| Did I say that place was a mess?� We had 5 shipping crates delivered on Friday and have a lot of stuff to put away and organize.� Supposedly I should get a day or two off to deal with the shipped stuff but I just cannot see how I can make time for that with all I need to learn.� I was able to work solo again Friday and I think it is a good thing, albeit difficult still.� When Jim comes back, I do have a list of questions for him.� This might actually be one of the best ways to make sure I am ready is to handle things myself one day per week and ask questions when he comes back.� I am afraid that I will not get a lot of the general stuff done that needs to be done though.� I will be able to keep things running but there will not be enough hours in the day to handle the bells and whistles projects too.� Fortunately we have an awesome staff to handle several of the things that I will be responsible to do. |
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| Well, I want to get a few things cleaned up and put away for when Bill & the kids wake up so I had better close for today. |
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| May 24, 2006, 6:40 a.m. |
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| Ok.� I thought I would never in my life say that there was a place that a baby should not nurse.� Last night I saw one.� A babe of seven to ten months perhaps, nursing as Daddy drove the motorcycle and Mommy sat sidesaddle behind him feeding Junior.� Well, I guess my objection is not actually to feeding Junior on the motorcycle but having Junior in arms on the motorcycle.� I still marvel at seeing a family of four on a motorcycle and I have heard colleagues say that they have seen as many as five on a scooter. |
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Last night I was at the airport again for work-stuff.� Things I learned:�
1.� Mosquito repellent is your friend.� This was much better than last time I had to wait on the tarmac and the mosquitoes thought I was the entr�e and everyone was starving!
2.� No matter how tired one gets, it is a BAD idea to drink a quart of tea with the hopes that the caffeine will keep you awake if you are on the tarmac with no toilets and in a truck with no shocks and have a very full bladder.
3.� Never consider hijacking an Indian airplane.� They may not have as many screeners as we do in the US but, the ones they have carry very large guns and look like they are willing to use them. |
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| Interestingly, in Indian airports men and women have different screening lines.� When we went out to the tarmac I was going to follow our expediter and the head military guy was wildly gesturing me to go somewhere else until I figured out that the men would not screen a woman and I needed to go to the women's line. |
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| I think I am falling in love with India.� The longer I am here, the more I like it.� The people are wonderful and I really like my job.� Of course I do like some things better than others like any job but I feel really blessed that in my whole life, I have been able to do very rewarding, fulfilling work.� We do have glitches but if we did not, I would not be needed (and the job would probably be very boring!) |
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| There are still things that I miss from the US.� Big cities are relatively quiet in the US as compared with Chennai.� Here there are horns honking all of the time.� Now the Indians only see the horns as necessary and helpful.� They are not blown in anger here like they are in the US.� Here horns are a method of communication and used as often as turn indicators in the US.� The other thing that I am starting to miss is how clean American cities are by comparison.� Most of Chennai is dirty with trash strewn everywhere.� It must be hard with this much poverty and I am sure that cleanliness is something that you can worry about only if your children are fed and clothed and you have a place to sleep at night other than on a sidewalk but I still do miss the clean. |
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| Speaking of sleeping on the sidewalks, I must have seen 200 people between the airport last night and home asleep on the sidewalks.� Many had their bike carts (I promise to get pics when I can upload quickly enough) next to them.� It looks like the bike cart might have been their only possession and they just lived where ever they happened to be at night.� It is surprising as well that it seems that people can leave bicycles and motorcycles and other possessions just laying around and no one takes them from what I can see.� Also there are the street vendors.� At night they put a tarp over the shop and sleep under the tables.� Americans sure have it easy in comparison. |
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| Oh, Shrividia taught me a new word yesterday:� elai.� It means "I have nothing more to give you."� On Sunday when we were walking we were mobbed by some beggar children and one followed us for maybe a half mile asking for handouts.� The local street merchants took pity on us and eventually chased the kids off. |
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| Almost time for the van to be here to pick me up for another airport run so I will close for today and try to post this tonight or tomorrow.� Hope everyone is well at home. |
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| Sunday, September 17, 2006 |
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| My, oh my, where did the time go?� It has been nearly 4 months since the last time I wrote in the journal.� I really should have kept up because I am sure that I will miss a lot of details. |
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| At the end of May we took a trip to a city south of Chennai called Mamaliapuram.� The spelling is probably wrong on that.� It is a temple and resort town.� We saw several of the temples and stayed at a place called TempleBay.� The view from the balcony of our room looked like a post card for an exotic beach vacation.� Green grass, white sand, blue ocean and palm trees over all.� We stayed a couple of days there. |
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| June was when things started to get crazy.� My boss left at the end of June so by the second week of June he had me running the whole show and he was there for support only as he prepared to leave post.� Since we function under New Delhi, I went to the embassy to meet with the people up there that I will need for support until we get a new IPO at post.� The last week of June saw the beginning of the 20 - 30 hours per week of overtime (and the reason that I stopped writing.) |
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| On the first of July we got our car and a driver.� The driver, Rajan, was interesting.� He worked for the neighbors above us until they left on June 30.� We negotiated with him a monthly salary that is higher than usual because I knew there could be overtime and we did not want to deal with little bits here and there, we figured that we would pay him enough to cover overtime whether or not he worked it.� He and his family lived on premises so that he would be available if I were called in.� By the end of the first week, he was asking for overtime.� We should have not paid it, but we did and set a bad precedent.� After 3 weeks we got tired of his sheets and reminded him of our original agreement.� He was not happy.� Near the end of the month, James and I took a day trip to Pondicherry.� When we returned, he asked Bill for 600 rupees extra for "going out of station."� Bill just about blew a gasket.� Next we found out that he had been stealing from us.� He would tell us that half of a tank of gas was 1500 rupees and we found out a full thank was only 1700.� The weekend was the end of the month and on Saturday we fired him.� Rajan's English is pretty good until he is stressed and then he has trouble understanding.� We tried "things are not working out" several times but he did not understand that at all.� Finally he got it when I said, "you are sacked."� He asked if there was any way that he could keep the job and the quarters in the back.� We told him that he would need to abide by the original terms of our agreement.� He agreed and we kept him. |
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| The next couple of weeks he had a chip on his shoulder.� When we did the math, he got nearly 50% more than the agreed wages in July.� In August, that did not happen and things went smoothly until Sunday, a week ago.� We got a call from another family saying that Rajan had called them and was talking about him and the entire family committing suicide.� That was scary.� To make it worse, Indian suicide is usually with kerosene and flame.� The next morning we talked to the Security Officer at work.� His people escorted Rajan and his family off of the premises and told him that he needed to contact us at the consulate to get his wages.� He was not to come back here. |
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| He came in and got his final pay wheedling an extra 1000 rupees out of Bill.� Bill is happy to be done with him at any price.� The next week of getting to work was more difficult but we interviewed 4 drivers yesterday and we have hired one on a trial basis that starts today.� His name is Rajan too.� I hope that is not a bad sign.� This time we are putting a work agreement in writing before we hire him. |
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| The rest of the domestic scene has been quieter.� Gopal quit his job here as cook.� It seems that he is not interested in working for a family, only a single or couple.� We hired a new housekeeper who could cook a little and the boys taught him to cook quite a bit more while they were here.� It is a lot more work to train a new cook but it will serve him well when we leave.� In Indian society the lowest on the rung is the gardener followed by the housekeeper followed by the cook who is at the top of the chain.� Further, working for ex-pats pays about 2 - 4 times the wages of working for an Indian family.� The difference is that ex-pats leave after 2 - 4 years and Indian families hire for life.. |
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| We traded our gardener for the neighbor's gardener.� We are both happier.� We both find that the other gardener does the job better.� A true case of the grass was greener on the other side of the fence! |
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| Let me see, what else happened? There were a lot of work things that happened but I cannot give details, only that I ended up with 20 - 30 hours per week of overtime and I am very happy to have cut back to about half of that in the last three weeks or so. |
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| Outside of the office I went to my first 4th of July shindig.� I am always overwhelmed in crowds and get nervous trying to make small talk.� Sometimes I wonder if others think I am unfriendly.� I just really never know what to say.� I am really happy that the 4th celebration here is smaller than most celebrations at other diplomatic posts.� A bigger one would be truly terrifying for me.� Not going is not an option without a note from your mortician! |
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| In mid-July David left.� I was really sad to see him go.� I miss him.� I was even sadder when James left a few weeks later and I have none of my boys with me at all.� I guess this summer's memories will have to hold me until next summer when I can see them again.� I am looking forward to it already.� Perhaps, Robert will be able to get some time off to visit us here too.� While he was here, David did a power point presentation of his time in India.� It was really nice but, unfortunately too big to post on the website.� (I need to get some pictures up, don't I?) |
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| Speaking of pictures, we took a lot of pictures at a wedding we attended near the end of August.� It was the first Hindi wedding I have ever gone to.� Very interesting and very different from a Christian wedding.� The most striking difference was the whole attitude about the ceremony.� It was held in a hall rather than a temple or church.� The ceremony itself was at one end of the building.� The invited people were having their own conversations and socializing during the ceremony.� Folks got up and walked around.� People came at the beginning, middle and end of the ceremony.� It was almost like the ceremony itself was an aside and the celebration was the gathering of the two families.� We ate both before and after.� The food was served on banana leaves and must be eaten with the right hand.� When done, you fold the banana leaf toward you.� If you fold it away, that means you are not friends and it is seen as an insult.� I was pretty hungry at the end of the meals because with the exception of the rice and the sweet, it was all VERY spicy.� I still have not been able to tolerate spicy food.� |
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| After the wedding, on the trip back (it was 4 or 5 hours each direction) we stopped to find something for me to eat.� We went to a nice hotel.� They were serving a buffet meal.� We ordered something to drink and then asked to see the menu.� They said that they only had the buffet.� The buffet was about 10 spicy dishes, desert and naan, a very tasty Indian bread.� We asked if we could order just the naan.� No.� Only the buffet was served at this time.� We finally gave up and left.� Later we found out there was another restaurant on premises that served from a menu.� GRRRR. |
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I guess the idea of making the customer happy is not an idea that has gone to India yet.� When James and I went to Pondicherry we went to a small "French" restaurant.� It had a very large and interesting menu.� When trying to order from the menu though, about half of the time the response was "we are out of that."� We finally ordered but then listened to another group try to order.� One guy wanted pasta with chicken on it.�
The fellow orders pasta from the menu and asks for chicken to be added on top.�
The waiter responds, "chicken does not come with the pasta."�
The diner asks, "do you serve chicken here"
The waiter responds, "Yes we have a chicken breast here on the menu."�
The diner asks "Can I order the chicken too and will you put it on top of the pasta.";
"No, sir, we do not serve the chicken on the pasta.";
Diner, "Can you serve the chicken on the side and I can put it on?"
"No, sir, we do not serve the chicken on the pasta."
Diner, "Ok then I will order a sandwich."� A few minutes later the waiter returns and explains that they do not have the ingredients for the sandwich that he ordered.� I think I remember he decided on a salad after that.� (Without chicken of course!) |
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Another "Welcome to India" moment! |
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| Eating is interesting here.� On my trip to New Delhi when I was flying back to Chennai the airline was serving dinner.� The stewardess serving the meals asks me "Veg or non-veg?"� I told her whichever was less spicy, veg or non-veg did not matter.� She says they are both about the same and asks if I want veg or non-veg again.� I said that usually one will be less spicy than the other and whichever that one is I will have.� She looks at me and says "Ma'am, all we have is Indian food!"� |
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| Boy I appreciate the cook we have at home, even if the menu is rather limited.� What I would not give for a green salad or sour cream for a potato though.� Furthermore, I am afraid we will run out of cheese soon.� Indian cheese is not very good.� When the kids came, we had them pack one suitcase with a couple of Costco size bricks of cheese.� That was a good move.� We missed bacon too but we have found an on-line source for shelf-stable bacon.� It is very salty but soaking takes out a lot of the salt.� Here the bacon tastes like shrimp.� I like shrimp but not with pancakes and eggs!� |
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| Well, I will close this for now.� I need to get ready for an art show this afternoon.� Another social event that I would not have considered before I worked for the consulate.� I will either learn to socialize more easily or die trying. |
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