Cooking Kimchi in India?

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Ode to the Missed Call

Living in a land of prepaid phones is pretty nice most of the time. You only spend money on the minutes that you use. You can buy special “tariffs” to make text messages cost a fraction of a cent or make your phone calls cheaper. Also, if someone calls you they pay. It doesn’t cost the recipient to receive calls or texts.

One down side is that voicemail is almost unheard of here. “Leave me a message and I’ll cal you back,” just doesn’t work here. In America if you didn’t leave me a message you probably wouldn’t get a call back. I don’t have that liberty here because there just isn’t a way for you to leave one.

Instead people use the “missed call” and it can have lots (and lots) of meanings. Here are just a few examples:

1) I meet a new friend. We want to get together for lunch next week. He gives me his number and then says, “Give me a missed call.” I call him and as soon as the number shows up on his phone I hang up. He’s got my number now and can put in address book.

2) A predetermined meaning can sometimes be behind a missed call. A friend of mine is coming to my house for the first time. He says, “I’ll give you a missed call when I reach,” so when he gets to the intersection on the main road he gives me a missed call. I know to go out and meet him and he didn’t have to spend any money.

3) My friend is short on cash. He doesn’t want to spend the 2 cents that it costs to call me, so he calls and as soon as it starts to ring he hangs up. This means “You call me and spend your money.” This one can get frustrating, especially if they call and call and call if you don’t answer the first time… I mean, I can’t reach I my pocket and answer while riding my motorcycle. I like to play ‘try and answer the phone before he hangs up’ not because I’m worried about the extra few cents but just have a little fun and maybe sharpen my reflexes.

-एरिक

imagine this

a pizza and grilled cheese have a baby. sure it’s a stretch, but hang in there with me. i imagine it’d end up looking like the cousin of a calzone… maybe the half-sibling of a ham and cheese sandwich.

“that’s ridiculous, eric” you say. well, yes, you’re right.

“why would you even think about something so absurd?”

well i’ll tell you…

when i get packages here, they’re often filled with delicious surprises. in my birthday package from my parents was all the stuff to make some homemade pizzas. after the pizzas were eaten (it didn’t take long) i had only used about 1/3 of the pepperonis i’d been sent. now comes the time to get creative. seriously…i can’t let good pepperonis go to waste.

then i got to thinking. i took some fresh, sharp cheddar, some good bread, a little oregano-ish seasoning… okay, okay... so it was a domino’s pizza seasoning… i’ve got limited resources here… added pepperonis and cooked up two delicious grilled pizza sandwiches!

i cut it into "triangles" for illustrative purposes, but i think it made it taste better. something to do with 3rd grade memories i'm sure

mmm… i think i’ll do it again some day soon.

and on a very different note, this reminds of the classic movie… or I think it should be a classic, but hardly anyone has seen it… Hot Rod! near the end of the movie and grilled cheese and a taco battle it. let’s just say the grilled cheese wasn’t as successful in the movie

and just for fun
here's a picture of me dressed up as Hot Rod a couple years ago for halloween.

the hair was fake, but the mustache was real. because as Rod would say, "All great men have mustaches, Frank."



-एरिक

oh, and don't forget to check out my photoblog. www.eric365.wordpress.com

Way to go Rahul?

For high school students in India there are two really important grades; 10th and 12th class. If you pass 10th you can keep going, and if not you're pretty much done with schooling. Well my friend Rahul was more than a little worried that he might not have passed his 10th class exams, but we found out this weekend that he did! So of we got him a cake... It said "Shabash Rahul" which translated means "Way to go!" or "congrats!" but instead of an exclamation mark, the cake maker put a question mark.

Shabash Rahul?


-एरिक

Weddings, Circuses, and More!

Okay, I’m sorry. I’ve really been a slacker when it comes to blogging this month. It’s May 27^th, and this will only be fourth time I’ve updated (and probably the last time I do before June). My bad. I’ll do better in June though. I promise.

In the last two weeks I’ve done a whole lot. Let’s see if I give you a little glimpse through pictures:

Where to begin….

Well I bought some new pointy shoes

Which I wore to a wedding. And of course, at the wedding there was dancing...

(but it’s funnier to show you a picture of T than of me).

I’ve also put quite a few miles (or kilometers on my bike). So as T. Sometimes we ride alone, some times it’s with two people, or every once and a while we ride three deep...

I also went to the Indian Circus: It was kind of like a “western circus”

And then when I went to my friends’ house to spend the night, all the kids decided to reenact the circus for us!

(I think that’s supposed to be a sword… He kind of looks like a dinosaur though)

These two guys are being the scantily clad dancers, or as their literal Hindi translation would be "dirty girls"

And even the dog joined in

It’s been a crazy few weeks . feel like I haven’t stopped for very long, but it’s been a lot of fun. Our friends who are here with us leave next Saturday, and T and I will also be headed out for a few days to Nepal. Maybe I’ll get another blog out before then, maybe not. Either way, expect more pictures in the not too distant future!

-एरिक

"No, I won't take you to America with me" and a quick update on life

Since we got back from our hiking adventure, I've been spending a lot of time on college campuses. Right now I've got some friends from the states who are here helping with the research that I'm doing.

Basically, this research looks at the similarities and differences between college students in the U.S. and college students in northern India (probably one of the most culturally diverse places in the world). We look at a lot of different aspects of the college students life - hobbies, interest, and future plans... how this generation is different from the last... how western culture is influencing India... how religion is (or is not) important to the newest generation of Indian adults. From this simple survey we've had some really good responses, and the one-on-one meetings that often follow have been really encouraging to me. Daily I'm learning so much more about this place that has become home and these people who are now my neighbors. I'm having the opportunity to learn from them, and at the the same time I'm able to share with them also. I've been doing this for the last 3 or 4 months months (since my full-time language learning ended), but the last two weeks have been much more focused on it. Good times.

Today though, I had a funny thing happen. When I approach a person or a group I generally say "hello" or something similar in English. The Hindi word "namaste" is a little formal, and college students don't really use it much. Plus, this helps to gauge the level of English they speak and I decided from there if we're going to talk more in Hindi or English. Well, before I had a chance to say much more than hello, I heard a girl at the back of the group say (in Hindi), "He can have a visa made for me!"

The group laughed, I chuckled a little, and then switched the conversation over to Hindi. She was mortified when she realized I understood. The other girls started giggling, the guys laughed pretty hard, and she quickly found a reason to head off in another direction.

Other than though, it was a really great morning. My friend and I who were doing surveys had some really good responses from both students and administrators, this afternoon he was able to have some really beneficial follow up conversations this evening while I was in language class.

These guys helping with what we're doing will be here through the end of the month, and I'm really excited to see how they'll continue to further the projects we're working on!

This one's for you Dad

Dad,

In the last week I've taken the train to Delhi and then back home, turned around headed right back by night taxi, and then made it home again this morning by train. I feel like I've been on the run non-stop (and that's not stopping anytime soon), but while I was in Delhi this last time I found a few things that I'm sure would interest you.

First, I found a the world's largest cup of coffee. Well, maybe it wasn't the world's largest, but it was big enough have to use two hands even at the bottom of the cup. Best of all though, it was just a big cup of black coffee. I know how you like that stuff (guess I didn't fall too far from the tree on that one).


Then when I was wondering around I also found some construction techniques I'm sure you'd be found of... bamboo scaffolding।


And now, in the morning I'm headed out into the Himalayas... I imagine that it'll be kind of like El Paso's mountain, but then again probably a lot different, too. I'm just hoping it doesn't end up like the time we went camping at Martin Creek Park and it poured down on us all night. That'd be no fun.

So you've been on my mind lately, and just thought I'd send you a quick hello before heading out for another week!

-eric (एरिक)

Welcome to the Jungle... oh wait, thats my backyard

I live at the edge of the city, and behind our back wall is a "jungle." Really its more of a grove of Mango trees and Leechi trees, but they call it a jungle. There's a fence between us and the trees, but the branches hangover our porch. You better believe that I'm going to eat those mangoes when they're ripe next month.

I digress. The real reason for this post is what I found IN the nearest mango tree. This bird:


It looks a little like Toucan Sam and a dinosaur had a baby. It sounds like a mix between a pterodactyl and my sister hiccuping... "mwaaaak!" (Sorry, JA... love you!)

I first saw it several days ago, and then yesterday there were four of them in the tree! I have a pack of pterodactyl like birds living behind my house. great....

Anyone have any idea what this creature really is?

-एरिक

Club Shadi

Today I went to my first Indian wedding. Wow, it was an adventure, and to be honest words would do little to describe it. Instead, I've got some great pictures to show just what went down (I'm sure one day I'll regret these pictures being on the internet).

So this is my buddy Prem and me. It was a girl in his neighborhood that got married, so its our friendship that got me into the wedding today. He also took me shopping for my kurta (traditional Indian shirt).

This is the wedding tent. It was 100 degrees outside today, the wedding was at one pm, and outside in a tent. Sweet.

Like most weddings, this one had a bride and groom, but they really didn't seem to be the center of attention most of the time.

Turns out it was really the white people who ended up being the center of attention at times.
This is us with the groom's party.

Like any good wedding this one had food. Unlike a good wedding the cows managed to find their way into this one.



And there was music by the Euphorian DJ. Not sure that I want "smack that" played at mine.



Now with music comes dancing...



Lots of dancing...



So its only right that I joined in!



During a break we headed back up to Prem's house where I played with the kids.



And then we got silly...



But he got even sillier...

And then things just got out of control!
(no children were harmed the taking of this photo)

All in all it was a really fun day. A new experience and a chance to spend more time with a great family of friends. And to the bride and groom: I wish you luck and apologize for stealing some of the attention at your wedding. But then again, had you really been upset about it you probably wouldn't have spent your first dance as a couple dancing with me!

-एरिक

Three Good Things... Count 'em... 1,2,3

Here's your Hindi lesson for the day. By the time we're done you'll be able to count to three, and now three things that brightened up my day a little.

1. Ek - Chicken Wings - Nothing like a little bit of America to satisfy my belly. Homemade chicken wings sure hit the spot tonight (plus they were a big hit with my Indian friends).

I don't mind bragging about my own cooking... it was delicious. I'll make you a deal, come visit me and I'll prove it to you.

2. Do (Doe) - The "electric mosquito destroyer machine..." Not only does it sound intimidating, but hopefully now I'll be able to sleep without being eaten alive. Those pesky mosquitoes don't stand a chance.

How to activate the electric mosquito destroyer machine.

The electric mosquito destroyer machine activated! Mosquitoes beware!

3. Tin (Teen) - Air Conditioning - I finally have my very own window unit installed in my room!

I don't plan on using it except for an hour or so before I go to sleep, but that will sure help to fight of the 95+ weather we're already having (both outside and inside).

Ek, Do, Tin. It's as easy as One, Two, Three.

-एरिक

April Fooled?

I just walked out on to my balcony and saw something a little out of the ordinary. If it was Christmas time in the US or Diwali time here I wouldn't have been surprised, but as I think through my limited knowledge of upcoming Indian holidays my mind is drawing a blank as to why this is happening. And then it hit me. My neighbors are trying to pull the ultimate April Fools joke on the neighborhood. They want us all to wake up tomorrow morning and think it's Christmas.


Well neighbor, I've got news for you. I caught your April Fools joke... You didn't fool me!

Bowling Upstairs

I’ve got a good friend in town here whose family has quickly become one of my favorites. They’re the same family that we went and played Holi with at the beginning of March. Well, his kids are great, and so we decided to treat them to something new and fun this weekend. We surprised them by taking to Baskin Robbins where there’s a bowling alley upstairs (yep, that’s right… inside of Baskin Robbins there’s a bowling alley... on the third floor).

It’s a new “bowling alley” consisting of two lanes (one of which was open), and it was their first time to bowl.

Notice the barefoot-ness... There were bowling shoes, but not required...

After an exciting game where we didn't worry about the score (I mean, come on, there weren't any bumpers) we took them downstairs, played a few arcade games, and treated them to ice cream. It was a great afternoon with a couple fun kids!

And this was just funny...

-एरिक

Using a Camel for advertisement, and I'm not talking about Joe Cool.

In the U.S. we have a lot of advertisements. Here in India it's no different; it might even be worse. Consumerism reaches every corner of society here. For example, here's what I saw in Delhi:

Over the last 6 months (yeah, I've been here almost 6 months already!) I've seen lots and lots of advertisements, but this week here in town I saw a new advertising strategy that blew me away... Camels!


Yep! That's a Camel being used as a portable billboard!

-एरिक

You Never Know What You're Gonna Get

Here I think you could take the same situation on any two different days and end up with two very different outcomes.

Take buying a couch for instance - Today Travis and I took a trip down into the bazaar, found a couch, bought it, and had it delivered. It was here before 3pm. Now as you can see it was brought by a different mode of transportation than expected, but it got here, was taken upstairs, and now its in the living room. No problem.



But then again, as we found out over Christmas at our friends' house, it's not always as easy as our experience today was. At their house it took 3 Americans and 5 or 6 Indians to lift the couches up to the 3rd floor by nylon rope.



Only in India!

-एरिक

A Little Morning Motivation

there's nothing better than a little encouragement every morning to get up and do your best.


It also probably helps to subliminally boost my competitive spirit, but let's be honest, it's not like I really need any help there.

An Unexpected Present

We went over to a friend’s house last week for dinner, and as we got ready to leave, I found this present the cat had left for me!

Janki Children

Riding through town the other day we spotted this sign...















This was also the day that a very small man (what's the PC way to say it, dwarf?) stepped out in front of us in traffic only to stare my friend Cortney down as he walked across the road.

You know you don't quite belong somewhere when HE stares YOU down.