New clothes

So I decided to really try and clean the bathroom well today…I see no difference after. Well, then I needed some stamps to mail for my prescriptions through our health plan, so I went to the post office. Everything is a learning process – I was apparently at the wrong window there, so was directed to another and got my stamps. I asked for postcard stamps, but she said no..not sure why.

I’ve just realized that my wardrobe consists almost entirely of purple T-shirts, so I was thinking I should remedy that rather than having people wondering, geez this girl is wearing the same shirt every day! So I went to Himalaya mall to this department store there. They had some very nice dress material that you buy to have a salwar kameez made. Some were pretty elaborate and pretty but were over Rs. 1000 just for the material plus it costs maybe Rs. 500 to have it tailored. I found some simpler stuff in the handloom style that was on sale for only Rs. 200 so I bought two sets and will take it to the tailor tomorrow when I pick up the one I dropped off earlier in the week.

Oh and there was a McDonalds in this mall, so I thought I should check it out just to see what it was like here. I opted for the McAloo Tikka sandwich, although now Caryn tells me the McVeggie patty is really good. I felt like such a cliché, an American going into a McDonalds in India :P I don’t know why people would want to go there actually – for a McAloo sandwich, fries, and a coke it was Rs. 100. For that you could have a decent meal at another restaurant. The McAloo was looked like a crispy chicken patty but was made with potatoes. It had a couple of sad tomatoes on top and a dab of what I guess was Tikka sauce. The french fries were just the same. They had a few snack wraps, one with chicken, one with paneer (cheese), a chicken sandwich, the McMaharaja which is chicken, a veggie pizza puff, and a few other items. I am a little curious about the McMaharaja so I might go back just to see….

So I asked Caryn to come have dinner with us, but it was getting late and I didn’t hear from Arpita, so I thought I should start to make something…There was rice, so I knew I could make that and throw some things in it. I added some onion and peanuts, turmeric, and another spice that I’m not sure what it was, but they use it all the time. Then Arpita came home and was like, umm, are you making anything with this? You can’t just have rice! Well I had no clue as to what else to make! Arpita was like, oh no, you have to fry this and that first or it will be hard. So she took over and made daal (lentils) to go with the rice. However they still seemed impressed that I had cooked something; Rashmi said she would have to tell her friends at work! Ha! And despite my not cooking it right, they said it still was good. Caryn brought some ice cream for dessert that was good! One was cashew and the other we think was prune or fig.

Unfortunately I’ve misplaced the cord to download my pictures, so unless I find it, I’ll have to go hunt for another before I can add some pictures. Sorry!