Today I met my third housemate, Ciai, a Japanese woman studying public health at Cornell. With John and Zarasp, I went down to the
Theosophical Society, a sort of religious center founded in the late 1800s by an American Civil War veteran, with a Russian psychic, among others. Four of us crammed into an autorickshaw and made our way to the grounds, only to find when we arrived noon that the facility was closed to visitors between 10am and 2 pm. To bide our time, we walked down to Elliott’s beach. The scenery was beautiful, but the sand was blistering hot and there was little shade. The beaches here are more popular in the evening, when the sands have cooled and the sea breeze makes the beach feel more comfortable than the rest of this hot city.
We had lunch down around the beach shore. I haven’t been eating much, with the jet lag and adjusting to the heat, so I just had a bowl of “curd rice” - rice with yogurt, green chilies, and mint – and a glass of sweet lime juice. We did an little window shopping around, and then made our way back over to the Theosophical Society. The grounds were very park like, and the dry dust smelled like Southern California. Aside from the library filled with books of interest to scholars of different religious movements, one of the main attractions of the grounds is the world’s second largest Banyan tree. The Banyan has aerial roots, which makes this single tree appear to be a forest of trees.
After closing time, we headed down the road to find another autorickshaw willing to take the four of us. Along the way, I spotted this vendor and the bright golden color of the corn. They cover it with lime juice and chili – which makes the spices the best part of this maize-like corn. Although its called “American corn”, its not very juicy, and not very sweet.
Once we got back home, I decided to investigate the kitchen, to see what kind of tools we have available and what I might want to pick up to start cooking. In the bottom drawer, I found a huge lizard working to keep the roaches in check. Made me feel like I was bag in Uganda again. I’d missed the house lizards!
For dinner, the four of headed to a Japanese restaurant up on the of main roads. (I have yet to learn the names of any of the roads other than mine, and our cross streets, but hopefully tomorrow I will buy a map book.) We shared some Japanese pickles and a fish appetizer, and John wowed us with his knowledge of Japanese. Weirdly, they’d left a Japanese magazine on the table. Perhaps they expect people to have boring dinner companions? My udon was pretty good, but I’m hoping that another restaurant in the city might have more interesting sounding sushi options. I don’t know that flounder and grouper are really going to do it for me!
We caught a bus home instead of a rickshaw, which is a much cheaper option if you know which one to get one. Only 3 rupees per person! The bus was full of women on their way home, and the scent of the jasmine flowed through the air as the bus picked up speed, carrying the scent off the flowers in the hair. Heavenly....
Apparently the cold soba noodle wasn’t enough for Ciai, so we stopped at a food stand to get her a dosa, a bread-like pancake with sauce. I was too full to have one myself, but the bit I tried was tasty like sourdough bread, so I’m sure that I will be back! We bought bananas and papayas from a street vendor, and then made our way home. John had bought a carton of mango ice cream, so we all enjoyed a bowl and Ciai, Zarasp and I hung out in the living room talking until the power went out. Now I’m really wishing that I’d had the energy before I left NYC to climb up into the closet to retrieve my headlamp from inside our tent, because now I’m without and writing this in the dark in my bedroom which is rapidly heating up without AC or a fan! I guess that means that its bedtime.
