Election Day

Elections here are held in waves. It takes about a month to arrange for a billion people to vote. Different cities and regions vote on different days. Today my city is voting. This means that the foreigners get to stay home while the nationals have to brave the heat to cast their ballots.

What am I doing this Election Day?

I started by sleeping in and then I got up and made some chocolate chip pancakes. Yep, I found chocolate chips in the market yesterday along with some other goodies. As I enjoyed my pancakes I watched a new movie I purchased yesterday. It was thought provoking and provocative as expected for a Deepa Mehta film. I’ve seen her film Water which I highly recommend. Yesterday I bought her films Earth and Fire. This morning I watched Fire.

After the movie I was strangely inspired to shave my legs. If you know me well then you know that I hate doing this usually. Now I have smooth sexy legs. Too bad no one will ever see them. At least I will enjoy them. I guess that’s the point.

I found a recipe for microwave gooey banana bread. Our bananas are going bad so I thought I’d try it. It turned out pretty good for microwave bread. I snacked on some Pringles (sour cream and onion) and warmed up some left over Chinese food. Now I am typing this blog.

Later I will try my hand at making some potato soup (a recipe submitted for my contest). I will end the day by making chocolate cake in a mug. That’s right. It was another creative idea from my contest. Cocoa was another goodie I found in the market yesterday. You mix all the ingredients in a mug and then cook it in the microwave for about 3 minutes. Last night I purchased some vanilla ice cream to go with it. I will probably enjoy eating it while watching American Idol tonight.

Right now I’m going to pop in another movie and pop some microwave popcorn. I am definitely indulging myself in tastes from home. I wish Election Day back home was this relaxing and exciting.

Party Time

I went to my language helper's younger brother's birthday party last night. It was very typical of other parties I've been to....

I arrived when asked (which meant I was early). My language helper's house was being used for doing all the cooking. The guests were seated in the uncle's house directly behind.

I was offered chai and water. I took water and then was brought chai. Others came in over the next hour. Then we were ushered outside to dance. Imagine loud Bollywood music and a bunch of kids busting out dance moves just like you see in Bollywood films. The guests are encouraged to dance. Nani (grandmother) joins in as well as all the other single people in the family.

After we have danced to the point that we are drenched in sweat we are taken back into the uncle's house and it's cake time. The candles are lit along with a plastic rose which has sparklers in the middle and plays the birthday song when lit. The candles are blown out and then we sing. A balloon of confetti is popped. The birthday boy takes the first piece of cake and all the guests are to take a bite from it. Then each of us received a plate with our own piece of cake, chips, cookies and a piece of candy. We eat. Then wait for everything to be cleaned and the floor cleared.

The "table" (a plastic table cloth spread out on the floor) is set and we are seated (women on one side and men on the other). The raita is set out (yogurt based dish). Then the chicken byriani is served (chicken and rice dish). We lucked out and got to serve ourselves (which rarely happens) so we served ourselves small portions because we knew what would happen. Before we could finish our first serving our host was taking our plates and piling it up with seconds. We ate until we were stuffed. By that time I have to excuse myself to head home.