A Few Random Tidbits

choosing a saree is a group affair

Heh... I don't think KFC does that in the U.S.! 

I read the first sentence as "Free-Range Sugar" and got quite a laugh.

On The Menu at our favorite South Indian Place 

A jewelry palace: Jewelry is serious business in Jaipur

Sweets or Cash? We discovered that sometimes when cashiers don’t have the correct small change here, they attempt to give you candy instead of change.  The first time I thought she was giving me a sweet just to be nice, but then the next time she tried to give me 3 pieces and I saw my change was short.  If the candy had been a better quality I think they might be on to something, but now I ask for my money.

Trash: Last weekend the Prime Minister of India paid Jaipur a visit, and I hope he comes to town more often, because when we were walking along a familiar path last Saturday we noticed all the garbage (and I mean large, stinky, piles of garbage) that littered both the sidewalk and the street had magically disappeared.  Then we noticed the chalked welcome flowers, etc on the street and figured out it was on the motorcade route.  I remember Abhas telling us that the Cameroonian government flattened a bunch of ratty looking shops that were going to be on the Pope’s motorcade route and put a few people swiftly out of business, but the garbage pick up was a great improvement to the scenery.  Come down our block, Mr. Prime Minister, please!

VPNs: I found out that it’s possible to make your place of origin anonymous on the Internet by purchasing your own VPN (virtual private network).  I now own one so I can check out Glee episodes on Hulu, because they don’t broadcast outside the U.S.  I don’t think I’ll do it very often because I imagine it will take about 2 hours to buffer, but it feels good knowing I could possibly hear Lea Michele croon me a tune.  I did wonder if this anonymous thing is really a good idea, though, with all the creepers that are out there.  Don’t we want to be able to know who’s sending the creepy stuff? .

The Gym:  We joined a gym when we first moved here, and while I’d like to think that all gyms are pretty much the same, there are some quirky aspects to this gym.  First, about every hour a woman with a saree comes through the weight and cardio room spraying a jasmine spray to try to overpower the sweat smell.  It doesn’t work but it’s amusing.  Second, the management has a very interesting philosophy toward the cardio machines.  All the machines have been set to go for a maximum of 10 minutes, because, I was told, that’s more than plenty of cardio.  I WISH.  Second all the treadmills’ mph and calories/hour are totally whacko, so it looks like I just improved my personal best mile by 5 minutes last week!  And I burned about 4 x as many calories as I ever did in the U.S.  Which makes me ask, why I don’t fall out of my clothes when I’m walking around with this obviously svelte body?  Finally, there is a woman at the gym whose name to S. and I is the warm-up Nazi, after we attended her yoga class which was 60 minutes of warm up exercises and not one asana. This gal takes her mission to warm-up the world quite seriously.  The first few times I came in and went to the treadmill she stopped me and insisted that I warm up first.  I told her I walked to the gym and that would suffice.  She wasn’t happy.  Then she had to correct me about my shoes, because they don’t allow you to wear your street shoes, even if they are tennis shoes, into the gym.  I said ok and kept walking.  This week she came over to me while I was running on the treadmill and motioned she wanted to talk with me.  I took off my ear buds and she told me I really shouldn’t run at all on the treadmill, because over time it would damage my ligaments and do something else terrible I can’t even remember.  I tried to assure her I’ve been running on a treadmill for quite a while and wasn’t worried.  However, she was encouraged by those remarks and told me to change my ways before it was too late.  I thanked her and began to move the mph up to about 10 so I could start running again, and she said in an exasperated voice that she was telling me to DECREASE my speed, not INCREASE it.  I told her I understood her, but I didn’t agree with her, and then put my earbuds back in.  We are friendly and chat each time I see her, but she’s determined to save my old bones from further abuse, I guess!

Planet Earth: S. and I purchased the complete set of Planet Earth videos.  This is honestly some of the most remarkable nature footage I have ever seen.  We watched a group of river otters face down a huge crocodile, and it was as entertaining as any movie I’ve seen.  So check them out, literally.  Most public libraries should have them, or don’t forget inter-library loan capabilities.

Tigers in our Future:  Finally, S. and I took a couple of walks in the last 24 hours and I saw some interesting stuff so snapped some pictures for you to enjoy. We’re off tomorrow to Ranthambore National Park to go on a Safari of sorts.  We decided this last minute and I was in a hurry booking the hotel while at work.  I just looked at the website tonight and it appears I may have booked us into a fancy tent to go camping.  Unbelievable.  S. just smiled.  He’s lived with me so long nothing much surprises him anymore.