La Viva Delhi

Two of my Uzbek buddies...Sardor (left) and Hushnid. I'm learning a little Uzbek language too:)
see all photos »

So folks, not much new here. Life in Delhi goes on, with new discoveries each day it seems. Lately I finally went to the the India Habitat Center which is the main cultural center in Delhi for performances, lectures, concerts, etc. The funny thing is that there is an American restaurant separate from the food court. It was really a trip being in there. black and white checkered floors, red booths, pictures of Elvis on the wall, and "burgers." I ordered the mushroom and cilantro burger, which looked and tasted incredible (minus the fact that it didn’t actually contain any beef.)

This is the vegetable and fruit stand near my Leslie's apartment where we bought supplies for our first home-cooked dinner in Delhi. Leslie has the luxury of a kitchen so I may be over that a lot.
see all photos »

I finally got my beef fix a few days later when I went with my Uzbek friend, Hushnid, to a Russian restaurant. (I’ve actually only had meat 3 or 4 times since I’ve been here.) It is this little place in a shopping center that you would never find unless you knew where it was. Sasha, the owner, stands behind the counter in the back of the small room peering out over him 4 table restaurant. He’s the waiter, cook, manager, and everything else. The TV in the corner is tuned in to Russian MTV and all four table were filled by ex-pats speaking languages I couldn’t understand. I tried not to speak for awhile after we came in because I thought the blond hair might make people assume I was Russian until I spoke English. It’s fun to pretend.

Mr. Eiad treated me to my first salad since I've been in India. When an Indian menu says "salad" they mean a variety of mixed vegetables. I guess lettuce isn't big here.
see all photos »

So, besides the beef we started the meal with a Russian juice made by boiling apples, plums, and other fruits then straining the mixture and adding sugar. Our first two courses were pickled mushrooms on wheat toast and then borsch (a traditional Russian vegetable soup with beets and sour cream, so it’s quite red.) For the main course I had beef stroganoff that was made from small pieces of beef that were sauteed with onions then spices and sour cream were added. They had a variety of blintzes (pancakes) for desert but I passed this time.

This gives you an idea of my hostel breakfasts here. This is what we have on Mondays. Chickpea curry, parathas (fried bread), and I request hot milk to make my Owen-style strong coffee in the room with instant (yuck).
see all photos »

Another fun part of the evening was getting to the restaurant. We were waiting on a busy street trying to flag down an auto to get from the shopping center to dinner. When autos pick you up at shopping centers or areas where there are a lot of foreigners, the fares can almost double. So, we were taking out time and this taxi kept offering his services. He had an air-conditioned ambassador, common car here. Usually we would never pay for such a ride, but he said he would do it for the price of an auto. We finally accepted. We got in, he turned on the ac, then said, "Ok, i'll do you a favor and take you to your restaurant for free, but you have to do me a favor and shop." Shop, I thought. That's doing him a favor? Turns out that if these taxis even take a tourist to a store they get 50 rupees. If we buy something he gets 100rp. So, we shopped at two upscale stores (one was only jewelry which I could have lived in). He got 100rp and we got to pretend to be rich for awhile. Which was especially funny because Hushnid was wearing a JNU t-shirt!

I think I've posted pictures of some of our migrant workers on campus before. This woman appears to be the mother of the four children in the cart who are taking care of themselves for the most part.
see all photos »

I've found some other great markets and restaurants lately, visited the American Embassy, and went to a cultural presentation on Sufi shrines in Delhi. Life here is good, my Hindi is getting better, and the weather is slowly cooling down. Enjoy the photos and keep the emails coming.