Culinary learning, the hard way.

When I asked the guy at this outdoor cafe for a picture of his kitchen he looked at me like, "If you really want to." I just thought it was a blatent show of the differneces between our countries.
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Things here feel more under control now. I’ve finished the admissions process except for registering with the Foreign Registration Office that keeps track of foreigners in India. I picked my classes along with 2 Austrian girls with similar goals of learning about India. As you can see in the photos, I have also moved into my dorm room. Like I said in the caption, the room is modest, but it is all I need. The important thing is that I have a place to call "home away from home."

There is a good amount of foreign students here from the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Last night Tongayi and I went to the Northern part of the city to see some of his old friends at the University of Delhi. It is a world different from JNU. Like I’ve said before, JNU is like central park in Delhi. The University of Delhi is HUGE. It is it’s own crowded and hectic part of the city with schools and dorms all over the city.

My new bedroom in Chandrabaga room 101. Humble but adequate. The floors are concrete and in need of some grass mats, but my roommate (who's moving tomorrow) has done a nice job livening things ip with pictures and magazine clippings on the walls.
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Anyone who knows me knows that food is one of my passions. It is strange to not only not be cooking for myself, but to have virtually no control over what I eat often times. In the dorm they serve the meals cafeteria style in the mess. You get a steel tray with the meal variations for the day (today for lunch it was yogurt and an eggplant side dish) then on the tables are big bowls of the staples...rice and dal (lentils). I learned today that if you don’t bring your own spoon, you’ll eat Indian-style, with your hands only. I forgot my spoon. It can be fun to eat with your hands, but rice and yogurt aren’t easy, in any graceful fashion,to get into your mouth. There are no napkins either. There are just washrooms on your way out to wash your hands.

I saw these flowers for sale in Bulgaria too. I put my fingertip in the picuture so you could have and idea of the size of these tiny beauties.
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For breakfast yesterday we had the choice of an "omelet," which was a very thin fried egg with chilies and onions in it, or some sort of semolina porridge with raisins in it. Both came with the bad version of American white bread and a pat of butter. You could get a spoonful of jam on request. I learned at breakfast that the highly important chai (cardamom tea with milk and sugar) is unlimited, but you have to bring your own cup. So, I brought the cup for lunch then realized they didn’t have chai at lunch and that I didn’t have a spoon. But I’m learning.

Just to give you an idea of where I will be writing you from for the next 10 months. At least I got the desk by the window. The dust storms are over for the year, so it's nice now.
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Even at restaurants, I’m still have a lot to learn. Usually I just look at the headings of the menu....Veg (for vegetarian), chicken, momo’s (steamed dumpling), etc. Then I pick something under that heading. I don’t know what the names are so it’s usually a suprise. When I find something I like I try to remember the name so I can order it again. Almost everything comes in a thin sauce of some kind. They aren’t all curries, but they are usually yellow and flavored with a variety of spices. The chilies have been prevalent and make it a bit hard for me to enjoy the other flavors at times.

I went to my first church service here yesterday with the JNU student Christian Union. It really brings a reality to the outdoor preaching of the bible.
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As a former pastry chef, I have been trying some of the desserts. Most of the desserts are quite light. Though, I have seen some European style pasty shops over the past few days. The one I like most are balls made of some kind of cheese, but they have a bread-like consistency, and they are served in a sugar syrup. I also like kofta, I believe is the name. It’s a semolina based desert similar to very thick cream-of-wheat with nuts, raisins, and, I think, a little saffron because it usually has a yellow color.

Some people complain about the long (5-10 min) walk to Chandrabaga. But while the weather is nice, it's really relaxing and beautiful.
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So, no ground-breaking news for now, I’m just trying to find some good people and start getting involved in activities. I went to church on campus Sunday and may go to the bible study tonight. Then classes, academic and yoga, start next week in full-swing. I am also still trying to connect to the Rotary sponsored school for migrant workers' children here in the city. So, things are getting off the ground. I still miss you all very much, but I am hopeful about the coming months. I also got internet in my room today so don't hesitate to email, I'll be online often.