This morning we went to the stand up sit down place around the corner from the stand up place by the temple on the main road. We had "big teas" with sugar, mine black, hers with milk. We had idli vada which is two steamed fermented rice and lentil batter (the same for dosas) patties a bit smaller than a biscuit. That's the idli part. The vada is the same batter shaped in a donut with other miscellaneous vegetables added (and coconut) and that's deep fried and delicious. We had them what I call "Indian style" which means you do like the locals do - the locals being about 20 or 30 Indian men because women cook for themselves don't they? Unless they work at the stand up sit down place because the entire staff is male. And unless they are us because we are fully prepared to let the men cook for us at the stand up sit down place.
So we have them Indian style which means that we take the sambar (a red vegetable soup that is spicy of course) and pour it over the idli vada. We add a little coconut chutney as needed - which is nothing like that jelly-like substance you get at North Indian restaurants and is also spicy - and with a spoon in each hand, eat. Two spooning it is what really seals the deal.
The teas come in metal cups nested in small metal bowls which appear to be saucers but they aren't. You're supposed to pour a bit of the tea into the bowl and drink that. "Bigger surface area" the waiter explained to my housemate the other day. It makes it drinkable. And so does serving it crazy hot because you have to have a death wish to drink the tap water.
Next came chanting class at the Shala followed by a short goodbye to my two students who are leaving. They had planned to stay a month. A week was enough.
To stay here we have to be willing to be okay with things. And it isn't just one thing here and there, it is everything all at once all the time. The jet lag, the culture, the food, the ATMs, the power outages, the third world, the finding housing, the everything. So we find small ways to cozy up like decent pizza, a good coffee, wifi, American movies, restaurants that don't make us sick, and nice people. You just can't look around too much because everything is just right there. Or you can, but you have to be willing to be okay with what you see which, again, will be everything. For better or for worse India is a karma accelerator.
So we have them Indian style which means that we take the sambar (a red vegetable soup that is spicy of course) and pour it over the idli vada. We add a little coconut chutney as needed - which is nothing like that jelly-like substance you get at North Indian restaurants and is also spicy - and with a spoon in each hand, eat. Two spooning it is what really seals the deal.
The teas come in metal cups nested in small metal bowls which appear to be saucers but they aren't. You're supposed to pour a bit of the tea into the bowl and drink that. "Bigger surface area" the waiter explained to my housemate the other day. It makes it drinkable. And so does serving it crazy hot because you have to have a death wish to drink the tap water.
Next came chanting class at the Shala followed by a short goodbye to my two students who are leaving. They had planned to stay a month. A week was enough.
To stay here we have to be willing to be okay with things. And it isn't just one thing here and there, it is everything all at once all the time. The jet lag, the culture, the food, the ATMs, the power outages, the third world, the finding housing, the everything. So we find small ways to cozy up like decent pizza, a good coffee, wifi, American movies, restaurants that don't make us sick, and nice people. You just can't look around too much because everything is just right there. Or you can, but you have to be willing to be okay with what you see which, again, will be everything. For better or for worse India is a karma accelerator.
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