Photo strip, left to right: 1) Cows mingle with autorickshaws and motorcycles; 2) Kirsten (visitor from EK Rochester) dives into a drink at a Mexican restaurant; 3) yellow blossoms from a tree in the garden of my old house; 4) Cleaning the garden.
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Month 5 of my India stint has been pretty much consumed with work. A 65+-hour work week has a way of taking a big chunk out of a month! But, it does have a few advantages. May is the hottest month here, and the office is comfortably air conditioned, so it makes it very conducive to work. And our office building is surrounded by trees with vivid orange-red blossoms which are blooming right now, so the view outside my office window (below, right) is a treat& (The plant is called mayflower, but I don't think it's the same as our mayflower plant).
So, here I am, entering into the halfway point of my journey...
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TalkBack
"Hey Basia, I love reading your blog. I miss home cooked food everyday too...." --Maya
Hi Maya! Nice to see you on the blog. I was just telling someone the other day, how you and I seem to have exchanged lives. For those of you who don't know, Maya and I were students at RIT about 4 years ago. Maya is from India and she was studying in the US. At the time, me living in India wasn't a possibility that would have ever occurred to me. Now, Maya lives in TN (Tennessee), U.S., and I live in TN (Tamil Nadu), India. Life is so strange...
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"I have to laugh about the dunkin donuts- I remember something in the past when we were in LA- you and those donuts- some things never change - and that was about 25 years ago!!! Basia- your view-- I would never move from breakfast-- wow-- I love it!!!!!!!!" --Shannon
LOL. Yes, and I still love those pickles and popcorn too, Shannon! That hasn't changed either. And yes, I do have a hard time prying myself from the view each morning!
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"I can attest that Basia's addiction goes back as far as 1973...the first year I met her...that's 31 years ago!! And it probably started WAY before than...it was so bad she actually worked there on overnight shifts! And she'd toss out anyone who came in to bother her customers!! She was always brave, adventurous and unstoppable...I think it's the DONUTS!!" --Sharon
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"I would die for a marble floor and a granite tabletop (or a rock structure of any kind). That is my kind of place!" --Dale
Yeah, you would be in heaven here. Besides the granite and marble, you would also love all the magnificent stone sculptures and temple carvings. Interestingly enough, while marble and granite are everywhere, wood is very expensive. I rarely see any wooden houses here.
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"Been away from your blog for a while....As I read your Blog, I am reminded of my trip to Goa and Mumbai just over 18 months ago. It was so beautiful and sad at the same time." --William
Welcome back, William! I'm hoping to make it out to Mumbai and Goa before I leave here. I hear Mumbai is quite different from Chennai.
I was in LA last year- looking for that deli around the corner form Westrim that had those wonderful pickles--- my friends live in that neighborhood- oh how it has changed and grown.I thought of you when I was looking for the deli- and the apt you lived in!
Posted by: Shannon | Sunday, June 13, 2004 at 09:58 AM