South Indian Food

I meant to take a picture of breakfast lunch and dinner on Sunday, but I forgot dinner so all I have is breakfast and lunch. Still it will give you all an idea of the food here since that's a question most people have.

 

Above is breakfast: Masala Dosa and coconut chutney. The dosa is basically a batter that's fried and on the inside there are potatoes that have been seasoned. So delicious. Also I am addicted to cocnut chutney.

This is lunch: 2 Chapati (think a thick, small wheat tortilla), curry with paneer (top right sauce) and seasoned rice.

Dinner on Sundays is vegetable manchurian which is noodles with some vegetables and a sweet and sour sauce and two fried balls of vegetables. Plus they give you a banana.

Sorry I forgot dinner but I hope this answers some of everyones questions. Also just a side note most of the plates and cups here are made of this metal.

Trips, Life and Everything Else

Well, since it has been about three weeks I guess it is time to update my blog.  After two weekends of travelling in India I’m content with hanging out in Pondy for a while and exploring what the surrounding areas have to offer.

From the 21-24 Jackie, Leala, Kara, Lauren and I headed to Mysore and Bangalore.  While we only spent a day in Bangalore, we had a good amount of time to explore Mysore. I loved it there. It was beautiful. I also liked it because there were Indian tourists there too- not just westerners. I feel like we made a good travel choice because of that- it shows that a place is so interesting or beautiful that people from that country go out of their way to see it. To be brief (because there is so much and I don’t want to type it all) we went to the Maharaja’s Palace, Chamundi Hill, and Sri Rangapattanam.  Leala and I went shopping and bought way too many silk scarves. One lady actually waved us down with a beautiful silk scarf… she literally waved it as we walked by to get our attention- like good tourists we went into the shop and bought lots of beautiful things (yes people, gifts- you will get something).

            The best experience while in Mysore was when Leala and I went on a tour of the “real Mysore.”  An auto-rickshaw driver said he would take us around for 30 rupees for about two hours… and it was great. We went to a workshop where they made beautiful art and furniture out of wood, a place where they make beedies (an Indian cigarette), an essential oils store, and a silk store.  The best part was the auto driver, his name was (I kid you not) Master Blaster. I’m sure he was just taking us to his friend’s stores, and I know he got a cut of whatever money we spent. But it was still great. We saw places we wouldn’t have otherwise and I got some good quality stuff, as well as having a great time.

            Coming home from the trip was good- as coming home usually is. For the past couple of days I have been relaxing: going to the beach, walking around Pondy, buying books and clothing.  Leala and I went to a restaurant in Auroville this past Saturday (so good we are going again tomorrow for breakfast with Chris… I’m hoping they have pancakes!) called Farm Fresh. We split a cheeseburger and a salad. It was HEAVEN. FRESH VEGETABLES WITH NO SAUCE AND BEEF?!?! That never happens in India. It was amazing. I enjoyed it a heck of a lot. There is also a store attached to it where they sell delicious items you can’t really get in Pondy (more European) like pesto, muffins, pastries, etc. I am trying not to get the latter two, because they won’t last long even if it’s just me eating them.

            So an update on school life: this past week I’ve had two tests. One was in Contemporary Indian Philosophy and the other in History of the Medieval World.  Indian students write more during exams than American students. For my history class I was expected to write a 1,000 essay and then two 500 essays… in an hour. Needless to say I did not write that much, but I wrote as much as I could. I think that the Indian professors realize that this is different for us.  In India it’s a lot more about quantity over quality, I think, whereas in the US it’s vice-versa.

            This weekend I’m not sure what I will do- we’re going to breakfast on Saturday, and maybe trying to find a pool as well. On Sunday I’ll probably just bum around and try to do some work. I have about 3 papers I need to write.  I am getting excited for next weekend though- my friend here who is from Canada, Shruti, and I are going to Chennai for the weekend on the 15^th.  It should be a blast since Chennai is only 3 hours away and very easy to get to by bus.  We’re not sure what we want to do while we’re there except we want to see a movie. An English movie… Sounds amazing.

            Wow I just realized that when I’m in Chennai I’ll only have two more months in India… strange.  I am planning a trip to Ooty as we speak and hopefully will make it to Darjeeling as well as the Gold Triangle (Delhi, Agra, Jaipur) before I head back to the states on May 14^th.

Let me know if you have any questions for me! I think for my next blog I’m going to talk about the food here, meaning I’ll take pictures of what I eat on a typical day and show you. Sunday is always a good food day at Madame Curie (my hostel), so that will be the day.

Just for fun here's a picture of me as I write this. I am pretty sure Mom will like that I put this on here, I only look a little weird.