Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I Don't Want to be Paris Hilton, with a side of okra


The program went really well yesterday, and hundreds of kids made it. I'm currently trying to crank out a newsletter. It's coming along pretty well.

On another note, I'm kinda tired of EVERYONE staring at me all the time. Writtu says it's because I'm pretty; David said it's because I'm an oddity. Regardless of who is right, stop with the staring for a minute. Every day 50+ people stare at me. At least once a day someone stops dead in their tracks to stare straight at me, sometimes within inches of my face. Routinely people point and look at me with their mouths open. I try to go for a walk, but every other taxi cuts me off and tries to get me to get in. Ahhhhhhhh! I feel like I need to dress up or something, like the people staring at me are like paparazzi. I'm not famous and I'm not rich, I'm just a normal college student trying to walk to work.

And now for the okra. I think I might need to be a vegetarian. If you order chicken here, more likely than not, one of those cute chickens in the wire cage outside looses it's head. Also I have to pick little dead chicken bones out of my teeth. The only other meat on the menu is goat, and I don't eat goat. Also, most of the time I don't know what I'm eating, so the reassurance that it's just vegetables makes me happy. I love animals, but in the states I have enough distance from the reality of eating meat that it doesn't bother me. I saw a man break all these chickens legs so he could lay them on the street and they wouldn't run away. People go to the market and buy chickens with broken legs and stick them in plastic bags, and they are still alive! I absolutely hate it, and I know it's stupid, but I still hate it. There is also a notable lack of refrigeration.

I enjoy trying new food, but there are somethings I just can't do. One of these things is "Jolly shandy Lemonade. It' s beer plus lemonade "fuel for the living" is the slogan. Sick. I was asking someone what something was on the menu and they said "I think it's balls, I think in English, balls" I think I'll pass.

P.S. Smriti asked me why we didn't eat goat. I told her I wasn't sure. Writtu said they don't eat cows b/c cows give you milk like your mother so they are like your mother and you worship them. "Oh," I said, "well we eat cows, so maybe that's why we don't eat goat."

4 comments:

Elizabeth Spann said...

Yay for vegetarianism, Chandle. Miss Elizabeth's so proud right now. :D Soon enough you'll be back in the states and all those disturbing images of chicken-in-a-sack will go away, and they will be replaced with images of Wendy's square burgers and Tyson chicken. Hee, hee.
Seriously though, good plan on sticking with veggies there. And PS, it's because you're purty they're looking at you. Start working on your pose.

Mari said...

Chan-del: Not to launch on the bandwagon, but I also have a hard time with the food here. The other day one of the staff started explaining to me how great the soups were here including soup made of eyes, brains, intestines, and yes balls! So basically I told him I wouldn't eat soup! Hah! I dreamt last night really vividly of Damn Good Pies and Margaritas! Can't wait till we get home!

Christin said...

hey asia buddy,

i'm with you on the staring issue. do people there wear the surgical masks/bandanas to keep the sun and the pollution at bay? i have started wearing my mask. this, combined with the hat and sunglasses, has cut down on the stares immensely. i highly recommend this look.

i am a vegetarian, and it's still not easy. people here just don't seem to get it!

hang in there!

Chandle said...

Mask, check, umbrella check, plenty of Hindus to feed my new vegetarian wants, check