Week 6 - I am really living internationally

Week 6 Thoughts:

1. It's official, I am abroad. I know this because I got food poisoning and an ear infection, I always seem to get something when I travel internationally. 
2. Travelling like Indiana Jones is fun.
3. Realizing I have exactly 2 more months. Bittersweet.

This past week was a ton of fun and came with a lot of realizations (and not a few stomach aches). It has officially been 6 weeks since I first arrived in India and it is exactly 2 months, to the day, until I arrive State-side. This is dangerous in two aspects. After going to Goa, I was very much reminded of SoCal and how much I love Cali and summers in Huntington Beach which are characterized by sunburns, barbecues and salty / sandy hair and skin. The second aspect goes back to the realization that this experience is halfway over and I hate it when adventures end, not to mention how much I will miss the friends I have made here and the food I have grown to love. I know that I will have to come back to India again. 

We went to Goa last weekend, and it was so beautiful and the Arabian Sea was so warm. We took an overnight sleeper bus to Goa and it was quite an adventure and I felt like Indiana Jones; weaving in and out of the jungle roads while sitting in a small bed with no safety belt of any kind.

My bottom bunk in the sleeper bus

The view from the bus on the way to Goa!







Just getting used to the bus :)



We arrived in Goa early Saturday morning and immediately set out for Anjuna Beach and it was paradise - a hot paradise. The water was so nice and the waves were 'rolly polly' waves, as my aunt and I affectionately label waves that 'roll' over you and gently pull you around.  

Goa was not as built up as I thought it would be, but this really only adds to the experience and adventure I think. The way to the beach was a beaten path and the jungle seemed to enclose us everywhere. Above is the view from our hotel balcony. 

Saturday night we headed to the Saturday Night Bazaar which was a lot of fun and absolutely humongous! Much bargaining was to be had.  I was also surprised to find a lot of fellow Westerners, mostly of the hippy variety. Many stalls were operated by them. 








We ended the night by sipping some drinks on the beach with the Arabian Sea stretched out in front of us and the beach shacks behind us.  Although it was not peak season, there were still so many people milling about and watching the Chennai vs Mumbai cricket match. It was fun seeing the locals' reaction to the game. 




And although Goa was so much fun, it did leave a few of us with an unexpected gift: food poisoning. But, it was all apart of the experience and really, it was bound to happen one way or another.




What I really loved about Goa though, was that it seemed to have escaped becoming an overly touristy place. It still felt 'undiscovered.'  I haven't truly experienced this feeling before, and it is undeniably something I am not soon to forget. 








This weekend we are going to Charminar and will explore more of Hyderabad, but I will wait to write about that next Thursday.  Hope you all are enjoying whichever adventure you are currently navigating. 

Cooking Adventures - Week 4 and 5

Week 4 and 5 Thoughts:

1. I need to go get a boat load of Indian spices to cook food with for when I get home!
2. Eating with your hands is a talent and skill that I do not possess but am working on.
3. It is getting progressively hotter.
4. We go to Goa this weekend! 

Last weekend we went to Falaknuma Palace and it was so beautiful. It was so much fun getting dressed up and fancy for a fancy dinner that had a sorbet in between courses as a palate cleanser! (You fancy huh?) The grounds were so beautiful and the peacocks that sounded like cats were pretty cool as well. But, I think my favorite part was being in the library.  It was so beautiful and I couldn't help but store the memory away for later use when I have my own library. 

The palace also had a dining room that accommodated over 100 people. It was immense and I looked around for Lumiere and Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast but sadly they were nowhere to be found!

The sunset was absolutely breath taking, a night well spent.

Last week passed pretty uneventfully, but it was this weekend where the real fun happened.  Not only did I laze around the pool at the hotel, but I also tried out some new Indian restaurants, got some mosquito bites, and more importantly, I learned to cook some Indian food and tea! It was quite an exciting moment. 



I took note of all the spices I would need to buy to prepare all of this at home and am very excited to cook for you when I get back! One thing that I did find interesting, and that all of my Indian friends rightly guessed I would mention in this blog, was that I was completely flabbergasted to find that Indian kitchens do not come with ovens! And this coming from a girl that dreams of having two ovens in her house one day. (To cook the turkey and the pies at the same time of course!) 







But as I realized, an oven is not really needed for Indian cooking; we cooked the chicken and spices for the rice over the stove and the rice in a rice cooker. But, if my mango cheesecake is to be made during mango season, I will need the use of an oven. That was meant for all of you in India who are reading this!

 I was so excited to eat the food that we made; it was so good!

I even tried to eat 'Indian style' with my hands, and let me tell you, it was hard!! There is definitely a certain technique that you need to use to not have rice falling all over you, which I semi-mastered by the end of the meal. Many times throughout the meal I was asked if I wanted to switch to using a spoon and fork, but I persevered and am now an amateur at it, so I am told. I was very proud of myself. 

This coming weekend we are going to Goa and I cannot wait to share my experience of that with you all.  Have a great week and until next Thursday, the 18th!