College Diet

You know what's stupid? Being cheap and car-less on a Sunday (when no buses run) and realising that you haven't bought groceries in 2 weeks.
My boyfriend usually visits every weekend and we all pile into his car on Sunday mornings to co-ordinate our household grocery trips. Last weekend I had come back from a week away, so I didn't buy anything. The weekend before that I didn't buy anything because I was going away. And the reason this weekend is just because

1. I don't have a car
2. It's cold outside
3. I'm lazy, and now it's also dark outside

I still have food... frozen veggies in the fridge, we have huge bags of  rice and pasta that never seem to end, and I have those quick packs of rice with the flavours that you just need to boil.
But I find that every time this happens I'm always left with the hard to make foods - the packet rice takes at least 25 minutes to make, and frozen veggies need to be cooked :(
I miss the days of quick hummus on toast, bananas or frozen waffles :D Those early days after a grocery trip where you have so many goodies to pick from....


Aren't you glad your college days are behind you?!

10 days ago....

... I left India and came back to Canada. It's been fun, so far:

I went running - 3km barefoot

I like staring at my adorable kitty while he's sleeping.

I spent a week (and a weekend) in London and we talked while sitting on the hood of a car

Played pool at a friend's house. I'm still working on my Break

When I was in India, I especially missed the variety of foods and choices that I enjoyed in Canada. I missed the convenience of a supermarket that stocks EVERYTHING. I missed the freedom to cook  for myself and enjoy non-spicy food. So I was very excited to come back and COOK for myself! Even the grocery shopping trip was fun :)

I restocked my seaweed supply and made vegetarian sushi.

I eat A LOT of stirfrys because they are super easy and yummy

We don't eat the greatest in London... but it works occasionally! Fried mushrooms with peppers and onions, and garlic bread.

And that's a few pictures from my time back. I want to get a long(ish) barefoot run in this weekend and I'll come back with a recap (or excuses) for that. I've also been biking and have plans, hopes and aspirations, to do a 50k ride sometime in the near future. 

I can stand on each foot with my eyes closed for over 45 seconds! Can you? (This indicates balance and whether you should work on it.)

Auto Rickshaw

Hey everyone!
I'm having a lot of fun in India :)
It's currently half-past midnight here, while it's 3pm Eastern time. It's random that we're 9.5 hours into the future - I've only ever been full hours ahead or behind.


We're currently just sitting in the trainee flat - Analucia, Emily, Mathieu and Oleg - and things are winding down.
We woke up at 10, which is early enough to take full advantage of the day, but too late to go to the gym (it closes at 9 for a few hours). We messed around and chatted to Joy, who had a vacation day today. We decided to go to the store to buy a few things (we are out of toilet paper!!), including snacks and food for lunch tomorrow. We also wanted to set up new phone numbers so we don't pass ridiculous roaming fees.
However, buying a new SIM card is not as easy as in Kuwait. We had to bring passport sized pictures and a copy of our electicity bill, which is to prove you live somewhere, and for ID I think. As we didn't have either, Emily was going to get a number, which we'll put in Analucia's blackberry and share. It took a while... and we put र100(rupees) into her phone... and then the number didn't work. So we'll try again tomorrow.


The weather hasn't been as hot as yesterday, which leads me to believe we're getting acclimatized! And so quickly :)


We went to the movies today. It was about र130, and there were awesome reclining seats! It's assigned seating here, just like in Kuwait, but unlike Canada/US. I like this way better, because you can stroll in just a few minutes before the movie starts without worrying that you won't get a good seat. One thing that stuck out as amazing was the complete silence before the movie started! And the almost silence during the movie. It was so quiet that everyone felt it, and we heard someone yell LOVE! It was neat. There was a 10 minute intermission in the middle of the movie, which was just the perfect amount of time to hit the wash-room, and for Prakash to hit up some popcorn before we went inside.


We also went to the store, where things looked a lot like Kuwait stores. We bought enough food for two people for a couple of days, including cereal, soy milk, yogurt, a green coconut, pasta and sauce. We spent $17 in total. We also bought a little chocolate cake for Emily, who turned 20 today. It was hilarious, because she is not used to the non-Chinese way of celebrating birthdays - with cake, and singing, and people throwing cake in your face. I felt so bad when our flat-mate spread it all across her face and she didn't understand. But she soon recovered and threw cake at all of us!


We also had a great lunch today, at a fancier international restaurant. I was so happy to see that they had pages of veg options, including at least 8 veggie steak options! As I like coriander, I picked something with rice in spinach and coriander sauce. The portions were huge, so we shared, and even at this most expensive restaurant, my meal was under $10! I also got a (virgin) piña colada, to keep in the Kuwaiti tradition I started last week - try every  piña colada restaurants serve to find the perfect one. So far Hard Rock in Kuwait is rocking the list!


Here is a picture of an auto rickshaw. This is the way we travel around here. While it isn't nearly as fast as a car, and only fits 3 people comfortably (we usually travel in 4 - one sits on our laps) it is preferable to walking in the heat. And they're very cheap compared to taxis in Canada/US.

First picture in a google search for 'auto rickshaw'. They are all exactly this colour.