Fix it and forget it

We have a furnished apartment here in Hyderabad. For the most part, the furniture is fine. Granted there are a number (or maybe I should say were) a number of glass topped tables whose days are most likely numbered, but overall it's a comfortable apartment. Although I still think that those who have glass tables shouldn't have kids:



One surprise was a broken couch whose huge sag in the middle was cleverly disguised with bolster pillows in the photos we saw. We emailed the owner about the couch and he wasn't really interested in replacing it unless we really needed it to be replaced. Now being frugally influenced by a number of friends, I could understand that, especially since the price of a new couch could be more than a month's rent.

During our short time here, we've already had a number of things repaired or replaced in the apartment. Our on-site maintenance staff doesn't charge for labor, only for parts. A pipe under the kitchen sink cost less than a dollar to replace, and to replace a part in a ceiling fan cost $1.20. If $1.20 could make our ceiling fan go from dead to super turbo again, I began to wonder how much it would be to fix the couch. We'd have to find a carpenter to find out.

On Tuesday the girls, their nanny, & I were doing some grocery shopping and we stopped at the fresh (still breathing when you order it) chicken shop. Conveniently located right next door was a woodworker's shop. My cook/nanny, Kamleen, and my driver, Prasad, went over to inquire about getting our couch fixed. Later that afternoon, two carpenters, master and apprentice I presume, came over and we haggled over the price. Keep in mind that these 2 men did not speak ANY English, and Kamleen served as my translator. Part of our haggling was over the cost to transport the couch to and from their shop, which, for the record, was around the corner. They were originally going to hire a cargo autorickshaw to transport the couch, but would use something else that would be cheaper, so that they could keep more of the agreed price. The apprentice returned with this:

A middle aged man with a three wheeled bicycle-rickshaw, drove our broken couch back to the shop and brought it back again, and all he got was $4.

I watched the couch be pushed up the hill to the main entry gate and then it disappeared from sight. I was secretly slightly worried that something would happen to it and I'd have to explain to the owner how I had 'lost' his couch. I shouldn't have worried. Not even 24 hours later, the couch was returned by the same middle aged man with the bicycle rickshaw and the carpenter's apprentice, completely repaired. I paid $64 total. Great price, great service.

Yesterday during my trip to the shoe store, a young Indian man came up to me and said:

"Hello. Where are you from?"

"The U.S."

"And what is your name?"

"Meigan."

"I am Shankar from India."

"Hello Shankar from India."

People certainly are friendly here.
:)

Just call me Sasquatch...

I did a little shoe shopping today. I found a cute pair that I wanted to try and asked the overly-attentive salesman if I could try it on in a size 8. Here is our conversation:

"We don't have any of these in an 8", he said, shaking his head sadly and waving his hand toward the ENTIRE back half of the store. "The only kinds we have in your size are Hush Puppies or Dr. Scholls."

Ok, show me something like this pair in an 8."

First pair was unsuccessful.
"Ok, show me everything you have in a size 8." I think I tried on 4 different pairs of shoes. If I wore a size 5 or a 6, I would have been golden and could have had my pick of the entire store.

Oh well, I did buy one pair. I'll just have to check with the other expat ladies who have sasquatch feet like me, where to buy shoes.

Meigan's Indian Cooking...Take 1

My first attempt at cooking an Indian dinner was a great success. The flavor was good, the spice was not too intense, and most importantly, the girls ate it all! That being said, I did learn a few things. To start with, whatever measurement the recipe says for chili powder...divide it in HALF. Secondly, and this is a very important one, don't touch your face after you've touched chili peppers. I thought my eyes were going to be burned out of their sockets. This picture was taken after I vigorously rinsed my eyes out with water, hence the wet shirt.



Chicken Tikka Masala in progress:


A Happy Family:


With any luck the girls will become accomplished eaters of spicy food. Cory is a bit more adventurous than Sammy is right now. Cory's new phrase is "It's OK Sammy, it's not spicy, it just has a little Zip to it!" :D

A Girl's Gotta Eat

It took 27 days in India for me to admit that I cannot live on restaurant food and pasta alone. I have to start cooking again. Unless a cook happens to knock on my door, I either need to get out and search for one or light the stove myself.

I took a trip to the bookstore yesterday and came home with 5 cookbooks. Four of them are mini ones so I really didn't go crazy. Here are the titles:

Nita Metha's Indian Cooking
Choicest Indian Curries
Fabulous Flavors Vegetarian
50 Great Curries of India

and the one that shouted "Buy me! Buy me!":
Simple Cooking for the Desperate Housewife

Yup, that's how I felt: desperate. A great majority of South Indians are vegetarian. Their grocery stores reflect this. Most of the ones I have visited do NOT sell any kind of meat, neither fresh nor frozen. What I have found are huge barrels of lentils, grains, and lots of other mysterious legumes that would probably be fun to plunge your hands into. Unfortunately, I don't know what or how to cook all of those things! Where's the meat? So my desperation led me to the bookstore.

Today I had to start stocking the cupboards. I perused my new assortment of recipes, and made a grocery list. Thankfully I wrote the Hindi translations down as well as the English, because I would have left the grocery store with either empty hands or a daring assortment of "this looks like whole cumin...I hope."

So my cupboards now contain things like garam masala, chat masala, ginger paste, garlic paste, chili powder, and whole cumin. Just opening the cupboard doors releases a nice waft of spicy air. Lets hope my cooking smells as good.

The Nehru Zoo Review

We spent yesterday at the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad. It is the largest zoo in India and we're lucky to have it in our city. It has over 300 acres of land and over 250 different species of birds and animals. The phrase 'Zoo Park' is quite accurate. There are many large areas to sit and relax in the shade. The animal enclosures were often separated from the walkways by large moats rather than by fences or plexiglass. It made a nicer viewing atmosphere and made it seem more 'natural' for the animals. Perhaps the best benefits of going to a zoo in India was the hot climate. I should specify that it was a benefit for viewing the animals rather than a personal benefit (I was dripping with sweat the whole day). Rarely have I been to a zoo where the animals were out and about as much as they were here. It was very hot yesterday with a light breeze. Almost every single animal was out of its cave and visible if not moving around. It was a great improvement from going to the Washington DC Zoo in the winter and wondering why all of these hot weather animals were inside their shelters.





Once again, we were an attraction as well. Crowds would form around us and stare at us, not only at the animals. Friendly Indians would approach us and attempt small talk in English. On more than one occasion Indian parents would push (sometimes literally) their young children to say hello to us. Sometimes the poor kids would squeak out a shy "Hello", other times they'd engage in polite and friendly conversation. You could see the pride in the parents' eyes.



We had a great day at the zoo and didn't have the energy for the safari through the lion habitat. We'll save that for next time. Another great part of the day was our driver, Prasad, who helped us immensely by buying tickets, jumping lines, and most importantly by carrying Sammy around the zoo. I think he carried her more than she walked around by herself and also more than anyone else carried her, which was a godsend on such a hot day.

Good Eats-Mangoes

When we first arrived in Hyderabad, my driver from the airport told me that mango season was just starting. Now, mangoes are my absolute favorite tropical fruit. Bill and I have the bar set pretty high when it comes to mangoes: they are all compared to "the ones we bought on the side of the road in St. Thomas." Just the mention of them causes a Pavlovian response for me. My first trip to the grocery store made me realize that were more kinds of mangoes than I had ever anticipated. There are some that are best for eating, best for pickling, best for chutneys, best for this and that, and best for juice.

The other day, our friend, Bill's co-worker, and Hyderabad native, Anjali brought us some mangoes that her dad had picked for us. One type was for eating, the other was for juice. Not realizing that there were 'juice' mangoes, I was very intrigued. The instructions were to wash the outside of the mango really well, massage it, pull off the stem, hold the mango up to your mouth and drink. Wow oh wow. Nectar from the gods! I started making sounds like my buddy Carmine does when he eats a meatball sub: Mmm...oh...MMM..ohhh... Not wanting to overdose on enjoyment I squeezed the remaining pulp from the pit, and squeezed another full mango into a cereal bowl. The bowl was full(!) from the juice of 2 mangoes. Heaven...I'm in heaven... Then to save it for later, I poured my sweet mango elixir into popsicle molds, dropped in some craft sticks and popped the molds into the freezer. Frozen fresh squeezed mango-pops...life is good.