2. Trainees (the good batches!)

3. Drives down ECR (East Coast Road)

4. IST (Indian Stretchable Time)

Honestly, I have to admit it...sometimes it is nice to not have to be so....well...punctual. I mean, yes, there are time when you plan something and you want everyone to be there on time, but other times it's kind of nice to tell everyone that you're going to meet up somewhere at 8 pm, knowing full well that no one will show up until 9. Or knowing you don't have to show up for a wedding reception that lasts from 6pm-10pm until 9:30.

I think I should have added this one with yesterday's post:

5. Affordable pedicures & manicures

3 more working days!!!!

6. Having a servant maid

I don't know what I'm going to do back in the US when I have to sweep & mop floors, clean bathrooms, do dishes and hang out the laundry by myself!

Ok, with a clothes dryer maybe the last one won't matter so much in the US, but the rest still applies!

7. Sending out the ironing

And I'm going have to iron my own clothes again instead of sending them out for ironing at 5 cents each!

Hmm...I think I'll need to shop for some wrinkle-resistant clothes when I get back!

8. Alterations

And I'm definitely going to miss the fact that, if clothes don't fit in the store, you can get things altered at the store at no cost!

I'll take a bonna fide tailor over the petite section in a store any day!

Here's another one that has its good and bad parts:

9. Bargaining

I'm not saying that I'm great at bargaining by any means...except maybe with autos...sometimes. :) Bargaining can be both frustrating and daunting, especially at first. However, there is a certain satisfaction you feel when you bargain for something and are satisfied with the price that you paid for it-it's hard to describe. I know it often helps me feel like I'm adjusting to life here when I can complete a successful bargaining transaction, like things are not so out-of-control.

And two things that I am going to experience this weekend, as we are off to take a houseboat cruise in Alleppey :

10. Travelling by train

11. Fresh seafood in Kerala-grilled, with some butter and garlic, no heavy sauces...mmm!

12. Travelling by bike, feeling the wind (or the rain) on your face

Helmet laws, though, go into effect on June 1st in Chennai, so I guess this one is coming to an end (if they enforce it!)

These guys, in Port Blair, seem to have found a great solution though-cover your head while still feeling the wind on your face...though I have to wonder how well a hard hat would protect your head in an accident, if it stayed on your head at all! I wonder, though, if real helmets are scarce in the Andaman Islands and this is why we saw so many people resort to using hard hats?

13. Bangles...lots and lots of bangles!


















14. Indian clothing-and feeling like a princess when you get dressed up

15. Getting preferential treatment because you're a foreigner

I have to admit that this has both its upside and downside...but for this list I'm focusing on the good parts...for example, when I went to pay my electricity bill. Normally, they calculate the amount due and the maintenance people in my apartment bring the card to me; however, due to a problem over a previous payment, I had to go to the office to get the calculation and make the payment. Normally, you stand in line, get the amount, step out of line, get the payment ready, and then get back in line to make the payment. (Efficient, huh?) But, because I was a foreigner, they let me write the check and make the payment in the first line. (It was great-the people behind me in line were even complaining about it!) :)

10 more working days...and that figure will actually remain the same, since Liz can't come... :(

16. All-night parties at Zach & Crystal's....

...where we somehow always ended up in the Bay

which brings me to:

17. Being so close to the beach!

Mmmm...food

I knew I would fall behind in my list...but then I had more pressing things to attend to-like applying for jobs! *crossing fingers* Let's hope something comes from all the frantic searching!


13 more working days...although I'm taking off my remaining leave days next week when Liz is here, so that actually makes it more like 9 more. :) Either way it sounds good to me.



Anyway, back to my list....



There are a bunch of South Indian foods that I'm going to miss back in the US:



18. Masala dosa...and my new treat, mushroom dosa...pretty much any kind of dosa, actually











19. Mutton Biriyani-especially Hyderabadi Mutton Biriyani at Zubair's house! MMMM!

20. Fresh lime sodas-a little salt, a little sugar (kuncha salt, kuncha sweet to the Tamil vendors...which always makes them laugh!) is my favorite way to have it-so refreshing on a hot day!

I guess it takes some getting used to, though. I remember Stephen's face as he tried to get used to the taste of a drink with salt-he was not a fan!



21. Fresh-squeezed juices...especially grape, which tastes nothing like the packaged grape juice that you buy in the stores! Oh-and sweet lime too!


















22. Chaat-especially anything with dahi (yogurt) such as dahi poori

















23. And, even though I don't get it much in Chennai (it's a Kerala dish)-appams with coconut milk.

Ok, now I'm hungry....time for me to go make lunch! :)

Places I'll miss...

24. Lounging poolside at Aqua

25. Tapas at Zara's....even though they revised their drink menu!!!

26. Hanging out in Geoffrey's

27. Sunday brunches at the Taj

28. Smoking hookahs at Mocha

Port Blair

Ralph came for a visit from Kuwait, so we went off to explore a new part of India-Port Blair, in the Andaman Islands. Port Blair itself is a rather dull town that doesn't seem too interested in catering to tourists. Its one concession to the tourist industry is the number of scuba diving outfits that are there. We investigated the possibility of snorkeling, but decided against it when we were told that fins were not available.

Port Blair does have historical significance, though. We visited the Cellular Jail, which was used to incarcerate the Indian Freedom Fighters during the independence movement.

We also traveled to Ross Island, which was occupied first by the British and then by the Japanese in WWII.

The British settlement, once abandoned, was quickly brought to ruin by the natural vegetation; however, they have attempted to restore some of the old buildings. These were officer's quarters:

And this was the church

March Madness

21 more working days! :)

I'm so excited about heading home; however, I don't want to give them impression that all of my experiences in India have all been bad. I have decided, for the month of March, to list 30 things that I will miss about India, naturally with special emphasis on Chennai. I'm going to attempt to do this each day, but probably there will end up being groups of things every few days. Keep in mind they are not in any specific order, other than things I am thinking about at the moment.

I planned on starting this yesterday, so here are my first two (which is okay, since they are related):

30. NO SNOW!!! I haven't seen snow for the past 2 years (except during vacations back to Rochester in OCTOBER!) and I haven't missed it at all!

29. Warm weather year-round. Need I say more?