Chocolate Room and Day 2 at FRO

It can get frustrating here, too, though. It was raining a lot this morning, but it was so nice and cool, I couldn’t mind it at all. I still don’t feel settled though. At IIM we were spoiled, the internet connection was nice and fast. I tried to get a USB port internet connection, but everything requires all these documents for foreigners and I’ll have to have a friend take it out in her name. It will just be nice to be able to get online anytime! Also I still feel somewhat nomadic, despite having a flat now which I am still very thankful for. But at CEPT I don’t really have a space at which to work yet, or to spread out and leave some of my things, so as it is we have to lug our laptops and all this. In the meantime it is taking several days to get my library card. Then at the library some books are locked up, so you have to have the librarian get them for you, and then I can’t check anything out yet. So it’s just a bit of a pain, since it’s not a system I’m used to.

For the second day we had to go all the way out to the Foreign Registration Office which is an experience equivalent to going to the DMV only in a foreign country, so you don’t always understand what is going on…But the rickshaw ride is far! And we have to get all these letters and make copies and bring passport photos. Luckily we weren’t late, so we don’t have to pay the fine, but we still have to come back for a police investigation!

When we got back, we decided to go to the Chocolate Room that Arpita has been telling us about. It’s this chocolate lounge like Bissinger’s back home in St. Louis. Even though Arpita has sworn off of chocolate for a month, her favorite thing, she finally agreed to at least get some chocolate coffee. Caryn tried a chocolate brownie sundae, and I had this chocolate cake stuff with ice cream. When we got back, this movie Devdas was on TV. I actually just bought it because I bought the soundtrack when I was here last, but hadn’t seen the movie, so it was exciting to actually watch it, and my roommates were explaining it to me.

People eat quite a lot later for dinner here – like 8 or 9 pm, so Arpita and Rashmi decided to order from Dominos for dinner. The pizza was the same pretty much except it had corn on it, and the breadsticks were pretty similar too. Also it came with a container of pasta which was really good. It’s so funny though because Rashmi hardly eats anything, and Arpita is always telling her to eat more. Arpita says she loves to eat and is addicted to chocolate, but she is so small too! But it was a really nice evening with my roommates! Arpita was telling me about her urban development research, and how these new urban renewal programs in India are affecting/not affecting the lower castes. It’s really interesting and also amazing how much her research is relevant to my own study, and especially how much she knows about politics and even American politics! It’s just so interesting to hear, and amazing that even though it’s been difficult for Nihal and Caryn to find a flat, I have been so lucky as to find a flat for cheap, but to also find roommates that are so enjoyable and have so much in common with, especially Arpita, despite living on opposite sides of the world is such different cultures. I think having these roommates will really enhance my experience here. And really meeting people is the best part of this! And even the most basic things that we take for granted in the US, like washing clothes, is different here. People just go about it differently so it’s nice to have roommates to ask these things like how they go about everyday activities.

Gujarati thali

It was nice to wake up in my own room this morning and have a leisurely breakfast with Rashmi and Arpita. Arpita made Poha which was this beaten rice with some vegetables and spices that was really nice. If I’m not describing the food well enough, it’s usually because even when they tell me what it is, it may be something we don’t have in the US. This morning I went through the cupboard asking Arpita what all the things were, even when she tells me, it doesn’t mean much to me if I don’t know what it’s used for or what it tastes like. Also I could tell you probably many different names of things that are made from rice and vegetables but the spices differ so it’s hard to describe. I’ve been told that Gujarati food – the state I am now in – their food is always a little sweet. Punjabi food, my friend Harpreet tells me, is very thick and rich, so it just differs by the state or region.

Caryn and I went out to the Foreign Registration Office this afternoon. We are supposed to register with them within 14 days of arrival, but we needed proof of our address and residence here. We keep hearing stories about how difficult it can be registering and how you need a million copies of everything, but so far it doesn’t seem too bad, but we have to go back tomorrow. Also I got lectured because I only brought copies of my passport, and not the actual passport, so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

Shrawan took us out to this very traditional Gujarati restaurant, Saasooji for thali. Thali is the word for plate but it also means the meal they serve on this big plate. You get this metal plate with all these little metal bowls and they fill it up and keep bringing you more of what you want, so it’s a little like ‘family style’ in the US. He took us all – Caryn and me, Nihal and Karuna, and another couple he knows – the husband has worked for the planning office in Gandhinagar for 30 years! So he’ll be a great help for my research! And then his wife works at a bank, so they were both very nice. She was explaining all the different food on the plate. There were two different kinds of daal – which are lentils. There are sooo many kinds of lentils and ways of preparing them. There was different subji- which means vegetables cooked up. Papad – a cracker-like wafer, Roti – kind of an equivalent to a quesadilla and used to scoop up the food. Srikaand – a sweet yogurty-pudding-y dessert with nuts – very good. Little tiny samosas…and more – but I don’t k now how to really describe it! But I could definitely taste the sweetness in all of it, like they say it typical of Gujarati food! It was really nice and fun!

Tonight was the first time in India I have been that it has rained really much at all! But they took us home in their car which was nice. I had trouble getting there – the rickshaw driver didn’t really understand or know where I wanted to go. He kept speaking to me in Hindi like I could understand him! People seem to be impressed when I try and speak the little Hindi I know. That’s the problem because as soon as I try to speak a little Hindi people start talking to me like I am fluent! But it is difficult to fiIt was nice to wake up in my own room this morning and have a leisurely breakfast with Rashmi and Arpita. Arpita made Poha which was this beaten rice with some vegetables and spices that was really nice. If I’m not describing the food well enough, it’s usually because even when they tell me what it is, it may be something we don’t have in the US. This morning I went through the cupboard asking Arpita what all the things were, even when she tells me, it doesn’t mean much to me if I don’t know what it’s used for or what it tastes like. Also I could tell you probably many different names of things that are made from rice and vegetables but the spices differ so it’s hard to describe. I’ve been told that Gujarati food – the state I am now in – their food is always a little sweet. Punjabi food, my friend Harpreet tells me, is very thick and rich, so it just differs by the state or region.

Caryn and I went out to the Foreign Registration Office this afternoon. We are supposed to register with them within 14 days of arrival, but we needed proof of our address and residence here. We keep hearing stories about how difficult it can be registering and how you need a million copies of everything, but so far it doesn’t seem too bad, but we have to go back tomorrow. Also I got lectured because I only brought copies of my passport, and not the actual passport, so we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

I feel quite lucky that I managed to get a flat so easily! Nihal and Caryn and still having trouble finding a place. My place is a bit farther from CEPT than I would have liked, but Arpita and Rashmi are great! I was showing them pictures of my family last night, and then Arpita was showing me hers and pics from her trip up to Leh which is in the Himalayas. It’s really beautiful! I’ll have to go!nd your way around here. Even a map doesn’t help too much because most of the times the street names aren’t labeled so they really rely on landmarks. But the trouble is, not being from here, we don’t know which are the main landmarks. They say knowing the crossroads is the best way to get around. Sometimes you just have to wander around a bit to find the kind of shop you need, sometimes you get lucky and find it right away.

The pictures of us at Saasuji, the Gujarati place and then of my two roommates, Rashmi and Arpita - aren't they so cute?