A Birthday Party and McDonalds

This week was spent studying and helping my friend Goldy rewrite her Master's Thesis. If you recall, her forty page paper was eaten by a computer virus so I volunteered to help her with the rewrite.

Me and Goldy

We didn't work on it on Monday because it was Goldy's birthday. Her parents very nicely invited me over and her mother (who is an excellent cook) made a lovely lunch. I think they rearranged the party around my schedule since I had to get back for class at five. It was really nice of them to include me. I ate waay to much because I'd already eaten lunch at the hostel. And then of course they kept putting more rice on my plate.

Goldy, her neice, and her Mother

 

Goldy's Sister-in-law

We worked on her paper on Tuesday and Wednesday and we were supposed to work on it Thursday but I think she got a little overwhelmed and decided she needed to stay up in Rajpur to finish it.

That meant that I stayed behind at the school on Thursday and didn't get lunch. I wasn't really hungry at the time but by the time our five to six class was over, I was pretty peckish. Matthew wanted to get ice cream and since the other students don't finish until 7:30 we took an auto (the three wheeled rickshaws that serve as taxis here) into the town center.

The main highway that runs through Dehradun is called Rajpur Rd... probably so named because it runs all the way up to the town of Rajpur (where I was last weekend). It's where you'll find big stores (or what passes as a big store here). It's where I bought my skippy peanut butter and my pickles from Holland.

But it's also where the only McDonalds in town is. So feeling like a completely stupid American, I went to McDonalds and bought an order of french fries.

There is a part of me that loathes the idea of eating at a chain restaurant when I go to another country. But then again, I'm here for four more months and I have plenty of time to eat at local places. Besides that, there's the added curiosity of what a McDonalds in India serves. In Singapore, they have McSalmon burgers. (not good) Here, there is no beef on the menu. Only chicken and other vegetarian type burger things.

The french fries came with a shake bag and a packet of piri piri spice. You empty your fries and the spices into the bag and (what else) shake it. It tastes a little like you just dumped a bunch of seasoned salt onto them.

Speaking of spices, I found out that they dry mango and powder them into something called Aamchur. Then they put it in a bunch of stuff you would never expect to find mango in -like potato chips. I find that I have to be careful of anything that is "Masala" flavored. Which is weird because Masala is just Hindi for spice. And sometimes they put in the chutney that they serve with samosas. Ack! But at least now I know how to ask if there's mango or aamchur in what I order. It's saved me a bad allergic reaction a couple of times.

Today (Saturday) Songjoo, Matthew, and I are going to the Tibetan Bazaar for lunch. We are very close to Tibet here and I am excited to see some of the beautiful craft work that the Tibetans do. I may run up to see Achui in Rajpur as well. I haven't gotten to see her since Goldy's Birthday Party on Monday and I would like to know how her house hunting is going. 

Achui and Goldy's niece.

For those of your interested, Navila's mother is here from Japan. The police have finally taken an interest and have tracked her movements to Shimla. That's another hill station about six hours from here. She is apparently traveling alone and giving a false name at the guest houses she's been staying at. If you think about it, please keep her in your prayers.

Okay, forgot my adapter for my computer back at the hostel so I'd better sign off now before my computer does it for me.

Happy Labor Day weekend. Someone eat a hotdog for me :)