What I have Eaten/ taken from Email to Liz Brandt

I'm in a place called Ahmadabad right now, it's my HQ. So far I've visited Delhi, and haven't quite made it on a tour of this cozy city. I'm staying with someone who got really sick after a while of eating Indian food, so I haven't been able to experiment much by my self.

I've made a sweet and sour eggplant/onion/garlic/ginger/Fuji apple (the same ones we get in Canada)/Alphonso Mango stirfry that I've eaten for the last couple of days. I got take out Veggie Chow Mein that was amazing, it was from a vegetarian restaurant so I have no idea what they were using for the gravy. It tasted authentic enough. Spaghetti noodles, cilantro, chopped cabbage, carrot, soooo much garlic, and enough sauce that it was like a chow mein soup.

I also went to McDonald's, had a McVeggie burger that was really tasty, processed cheese over a battered samosa patty, mayonaise and lettuce...... first time I've eaten there in a really long time. I have had Subway too, but that's no fun because it's the same as from home.

People speak Gujurati and Hindi here. The traffic is crazy, no one pays attention to right of way, it's everyone for themselves. I have to say, as a pedestrian trying to get accross the street, you have to do just hope that you're not going to get hit.

There are some people from Nepal, but because I am very pale, I stick out.

June 4th Part III /Now

The following is from an email I wrote to Russell Heyman of BCIT:


I had a little trouble getting picked up at the airport last night, but it had a happy ending. Made me realize just how vulnerable I am out here, as I'm writing this I have a smile on my face.

I arrived in AMD last night, and no one was there to pick me up. I was alone, with nothing smaller than a 100 Rupee note, and an out of service pay phone. No one who was behind a counter could speak English. The guard (with a gun) kept watching me go in and out of the airport, cruise the drivers to see if someone had my name on a sign. I did this several times.

This is where luck came in. A nice gentleman asked me if I needed any help... you know, I was pretty mad looking by this point. Finally, after about half an hour of watching me do this, he asked me again, and he called Poi in Delhi for me. I felt a lot better after that.

Ok... happy ending: So it turn out that Mr. Menoge was there the whole time. He was waiting at the gate, and he totally missed me when I got in. So yeah, I'm glad it worked out. I'm going to talk to Mr. Rohit as soon as he gets into the city, so I'll ask him if I can get set up with a mobile.
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So I'm staying with Erin, and it's fun. Nice to be able to talk to a girl, she's been here for 5 weeks. Turns out, we used to hang out at the same bars in Vancouver. A lot of the time, we get home from Xplora and hit the sack. It's really hot here. I've been watching a lot of TV, and I picked up an optical mouse, I'm working on my portfolio for want of anything else to work on.

I went to get ice cream last night with Erin, she's kinda stressed out right now. And I got to see an Elephant yesterday. Briefly from the autorickshaw.

I'm writing from Erin's system admin class. We're watching Monster's Inc. So far, I'm having a great time.

June 4th Part II

This flight, I had a great sleep. Got to practice my French on one of my neighbors, and the other guy was doctor. He got called off to help a toddler who hit her head in a fall later on in the flight. I slept through that. I woke up to some super good Indian food.

Landed in Delhi, and Poi was there to pick me up. I went over to his place, woke up Jessica. It was cool to see Poi, he's darker and has lost some weight. He's living with a Nepalese guy, and the Landlord to his building is going to get him to house sit.

I got to go to the Xplora School, we walked there. I saw cows and dogs on the street. Also there are venders, and rickshaw drivers. It was a good first day. Got to meet Miss Priddy, and Jessica wanted McDonald's. And then I also got to go over the entire course of Project Portfolio: 1,2,3. And then Jessica gave me her books.

And then I left Delhi, and flew to Ahmadabad.

June 4th Part I

On my way to Heathrow, I barely slept. I had a chance to watch Arthur and the Invisibles, and The Last King of Scottland. I enjoyed both of them, guess which of those has Madonna in it? Then, a four hour stay in London.

I transferred perfectly, unfortunately, I didn't eat anything on my ride over the pond so I had to jettison some snacks to make room for a giant black purse. I bought water, Smirnoff, and Johnny Walker Red. I also got the latest issue of NME, which has a totally nude cover of Beth Ditto, the lovely plump singer of The Gossip. I got into an awesome conversation with the clerk about her.

I had the pleasure of seeing the Gossip for $3 at Under the Volcano, a festival for arts and activism. Some of you might have been disappointed that it didn't happen last year, but it's going strong this summer. Beth Ditto is jaw-dropping, voice, body, songs. This is what I was telling the clerk, and his reply was "Eck, how many stone is that?"

I didn't care for the food in the airport. I thought that I played it safe, had a panini with chicken, avocado, tomato. Ok, When I see avocado on the menu, I assume that the cook actually has avocados in the kitchen. I was not prepared for the pasty off yellow sludge that was artfully squished between the sliced soy chicken and the "focaccia," a white bread with speckles of burnt herbs. The tomato was real.

And then I was off to India.