Did anybody miss me?

When you're away from home from an absurdly long time, you often wonder: "Am I out of sight, and out of mind?" or "Did people actually miss me while I was gone?" These types of thoughts had been going through my mind lately as our return to the US drew closer. Then yesterday, I received an email from a friend about a girls weekend she had planned. In it she wrote: "When I figured out you would be back and could come, I nearly wet myself!!! P L E A S E come with us ... P L E A S E!!!!"

Questions answered. Thanks C!

A Thankful Countdown

Today, I've been inspired by friends' facebook statuses. Several of my friends (real friends, not just facebook people you know 'friends') are going to post one thing they are thankful for every day between now and Thanksgiving. I figured I should do that as well, but as a blog entry, because it lasts longer than a status update. So I'll start a running list:

Wednesday, November 11: I'm thankful we have money in the bank. A good chunk of my morning was wasted at the bank today due to incompetence and lies on the part of one bank employee. The upside of course, is that we have money to actually do banking with.

Thursday, November 12: I'm thankful for the safe arrival of babies being born to my friends and family. Just in the past few weeks my cousin Carla had a little boy, friends Tony & Liz had boy/girl twins and so did friends Rob & Alejandra! And there are more babies on the way!

Friday, November 13: I'm thankful that Bill arrived home safely from Paris.

Saturday, November 14: I'm thankful for the opportunity to meet new people, share stories, laugh, eat, drink, and be merry and to have a great driver to bring me home.

Sunday, November 15: I'm thankful that my girls are such good company and usually well behaved while eating in restaurants.

Monday, November 16: I'm thankful that some of the most wonderful people in the world are members of my family.

Tuesday, November 17: I'm thankful that my kids are healthy and happy

Wednesday, November 18th: I'm thankful that in the US, tap water is clean and safe to drink.

Thursday, November 19th: I'm thankful for our expat community, which is full of fun, happy, interesting people from all over the world, and who are quick to become friends.

Friday, November 20th: I'm thankful that I speak another language. It really can enhance your life and expand your circle of friends.

Saturday, November 21st: I'm thankful for the warm winter weather in India, where we can swim outdoors at Thanksgiving time.

Sunday, November 22nd: I'm thankful for a roof over my head and food in my tummy. There are so many people here in India that can't even imagine the things I take for granted.

Monday, November 23rd: I'm thankful for family days when the four of us spend time together.

Tuesday, November 24th: I'm thankful for the times when you laugh so hard that you cry.

Wednesday, November 25th: I'm thankful for my best friend in the whole world, who I'm lucky enough to be married to.

Thursday, November 26th: I'm thankful for my family and friends both new and old. Every one of them has helped to shape the person I am today (wackiness and all)

Cool as a....what? A chili pepper?

I think we all must have visions of how we'd expect ourselves to act in different situations. For example, in an emergency we'd like to picture ourselves like the doctors on ER taking control of the situation, calling for the necessary tests, procedures, and instruments to control whatever trauma has come through the doors. Unfortunately, the reality of my levelheadedness under unexpected situations is less like ER and more like America's Funniest Home Videos, where freak-outs and screaming are the norm.

My first glimpse into the reality of my less than stellar reaction was in college when a fellow student had a seizure during a quiz. No sooner had the professor left the room (honor system here folks) than a guy sitting right near me started to moan, shake and convulse. Other classmates jumped into action. One grabbed his pencil from him so he wouldn't hurt himself, another ran down the hall to call the University EMS, and I, who always assumed I'd be the one jumping to action, froze. Completely.

So I really shouldn't have been surprised by my reaction when the unexpected came flying through the girls room as I was reading a bedtime story. I looked up, initially thought it was a moth, but in one flap of wings my brain registered: BAT!!! AAACKKKK!!! Now you need to use your imagination and picture me trying to grab sheets to cover my head while screaming hysterically at top volume "BABE THERE'S A BAT IN HERE! AHHHHH!" Keep in mind that the girls were still in the room with me and weren't freaking out. Then the bat dive bombed me and landed right between Sammy's pillow and the wall, which was about 3 feet from where I was sitting. Bill, by that time, had come into the room to see what was happening thinking that one of the girls was gravely maimed or injured, based on the intensity of my screams. With the bat so close to me, I took off running (screaming all the way) into our bedroom. Bill had seen the bat fly up over my shoulder as I flew past him, realized what the heck I was screaming about, and was sensible enough to scurry the girls out of the room. I however, was in "Save Yourselves!" mode. The girls and I hid in our bedroom, Bill in the guest room. The two of us guarded our doors while peeking out as the bat did laps around our apartment, and you better believe that we closed our doors as it approached.

Bill: What do we do??
Me: (from behind my bedroom door) Open the doors!! (meaning for HIM to open the double doors that lead to our balcony and outside)

The man of action, quickly left the safety of the guest room to fling open the balcony doors and was back behind the guest room door before the bat could finish its lap.

Another lap.

And another!!

Me: Go outside you stupid thing!!!

Two more laps around and...stillness (!) except for the pounding of my yellow-belly chicken heart.

Potatoes, Spinach, Mustard Seeds...then Repeat

Now that we no longer have a cook & I'm back in the kitchen, I bought a cookbook entitled "Complete Indian Cooking". So far this cookbook has been fantastic. Without even looking at recipes, this book met my formatting criteria. There are photos of every recipe, logical ingredient lists, and even step by step directions with photos! It has the exact same format of my favorite French cookbook (no it's not Mastering the Art...but I do own a dogeared copy) "La Cuisine Francaise" which I purchased at La Librarie Gourmande in Paris. Being in India means that some of our 'normal' ingredients are not available, so when in Hyderabad...do as the Hyderbadis do-eat (and cook) Indian food!

I've been thumbing and skipping around my cookbook and while making dinner this evening, I discovered 2 IDENTICAL recipes (with the teeny tiny difference that one calls for 1 Tbsp vegetable oil and the other calls for 2 tsp vegetable oil. That's not really a difference, since no one measures the oil going into the pan anyway. Isn't that cheating??? Shouldn't the cover say "324 deliciously authentic receipes for the adventurous cook"??

Recipe #1 (page 318) is located in the Vegetarian Main Dishes chapter and is called "Spinach and Potato Curry". This one calls for the Tbsp of oil.

Recipe #2 (page 407) is located in the "Rice and Vegetable Side Dishes and Light Snacks" chapter and is called "Golden Chunky Potatoes with Spinach and Mustard Seeds". Maybe the 2 tsp of oil makes it a "light" recipe!

I will admit that the photos are different, and the directions are worded differently, but they are definitely the same recipe.

Once I finish making the Spinach and Potato Curry for dinner tonight, I'll let you know how both recipes turn out.

A Child's Insight into Driving in India

Traffic here is nuts. Plain and simple. That's why so many people (us included) have drivers. There are no rules, only suggestions, and smaller vehicles yield to larger ones,and everyone yields to cows. That's about it. I hadn't realized how much Cory had noticed about the crazy traffic until she said something that summarizes a lot: "Red means 'GO' too!" Yes, here it does mean go too.

How do you like those....um...apples?

The availability of fresh and exotic (to me) fruit has been an unexpected and incredible perk of living in India. We arrived during the extreme heat of summer, but also during peak mango season. (salivation in progress). Just the other day, I was introduced into a new and wonderful new fruit: the custard apple. This is not a shiny smooth apple like we would expect, in fact, it looks more like an artichoke without spiky leaves. It's no wonder I never paid attention to them in the shops until Prasad, our driver mentioned them to me.

You pull apart the green exterior to reveal a soft white interior made of small pods of flesh covering black smooth seeds. The taste is not easy to describe. When the first pod hit my tastebuds I immediately thought of summer. In particular, summers when I was about 8-10 years old and mom, brothers and I spent our days at a local swim club out in the rolling farmland of Central NY. One taste of the custard apple and I was 9 years old again. It was like a gorgeous summer day in your mouth with tastes/smells of: wildflowers, sunshine, clean air, and honey. Not quite what I expected from a lumpy, bumpy green fruit.

I mentioned the custard apple to some expat friends who were passing around a sweet lime, which, for the record tastes like a not so sour grapefruit. A Brit quickly replied "Oh yes, they're like apples in custard!" Not being a custard connoisseur, I really didn't know how to respond. Just the sound of the word custard really couldn't do these little guys justice.

So if you're even in the exotic fruit section of your grocery store and see custard apples (they are in season now), give one a try.

The TP Situation: All Cleaned Up

My apologies for not giving a prompt update to the TP situation. Arguing over stupid things can really take a lot out of you. And so, the long awaited outcome: I am pleased to report that the morning following the insane phone call with the school's director, there was a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. A simple solution to a simple issue, I'm so glad I thought of it.