Hello Amma,
Hello Appa.
Here I am in
Bengalooru.
Life is very
entertaining.
And they say we’ll have some fun if it stops raining…
J: Well, it finally stopped raining about a month ago! I actually kind of miss it now, except for walking in puddles. I know our lawn misses it; I never had to think about watering the grass before. Oddly, mosquitoes are more prevalent now than they were during the rains; this sounds backwards to me, but I guess is how it works.
I apologize for not writing very often. I’m starting to lose track of what kinds of things to write about. The things that seemed so strange to me at first are becoming completely normal. I’m glad I took some notes early on, so I have some “writing prompts” to refer back to. Frustratingly, even with all we have learned, there are still aspects of the culture that remain a mystery, and probably will for a long while. I asked B, mostly joking, if I should write about this feeling of being semi-acclimated, since I couldn’t think of anything else to write? “Yes!” was his answer. “It is an important stage of the experience,” and something about ethnographers… I also realized that daily life, while now pretty routine for me, is probably still interesting to others.
So, here we are. Life is good. I do some cooking and either laundry or other cleaning almost every day. I’ve found that I actually like cooking. Surprise! Since we don’t have a car, we get our groceries in small trips instead of large ones, about every 2 to 3 days. I’ve found a place that has an online ordering system, so sometimes I have groceries delivered. ( www.ecityindia.com ) That’s a nice convenience that I never took advantage of in the US, but may want to in the future! I don’t overuse it, because they don’t carry fresh produce or refrigerated or frozen goods, and their minimum order for delivery is slightly more than I usually need to spend in one trip. But I like to use it to stock up on non-perishables, especially those that are heavy to carry!
I cook mostly Indian food, for many reasons–we like it, it incorporates the locally available ingredients, and well-rounded vegetarian meals are easy! I have been nearly-vegetarian since about September, and I couldn’t be happier. Dairy and eggs are still included, and that doesn’t need to change. I’ve nibbled some chicken or shrimp at restaurants occasionally, but not often. “Veg,” as it’s called here, is so much more common than in the US. Restaurant menus (for those restaurants that aren’t exclusively veg, which might be about half) are divided into sections labeled “Veg” and “Non-veg,” and it’s clear that veg is the default option! There is never ever any ambiguity about which you’re ordering, and you never have to guess, or wonder if there might really be some chicken stock in the soup. Of course, the wait staff sometimes assumes that as westerners, we will prefer non-veg, and seem pleasantly surprised when we insist otherwise.
My aloo gobi
I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season, and wish you all the best in the New Year!
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