south indian filter coffee

when it is good, it is so good. they have very very strong coffee, almost
like syrup, undrinkable black, to which they add very very hot milk and
sugar and you get a small cup, almost espresso size with bubbles over the
top. it is served very hot, and in some places you have a second cup and the
waiter pours it back and forth from one metal cup to the other. it is filled
to the very top, so there is often a saucer underneath. it is specifically
'south indian filter coffee' and has some chicory in it. It really is one of
those things that is made everywhere and you can go around town testing them
all out. one friend says we have to get to the place at 630 am because that
is the milk's first boil and it is even better then.

scroll down here to a good filter coffee photo and description:
http://kqedbayareabites.blogspot.com/2007/03/south-indian-rice-courses.jsp


so, completely different from what I drink in the US, but fantastic in its
own right. In the top ten things I will miss when we leave.

xmas

Life as usual in Bangalore, except Charles has the day off. We had lunch at Kamat - I had dosa and filter coffee and naan. I read the New Yorker my parents sent - thank you! I felt so up to date reading the Dec 25 2007 issue - I am reading it cover to cover. Just finished the Carver story. So nice to have time to actually read the New Yorker, even if it is much more expensive to get them.


Drinking elephant brand Ginger Beer which I really like - we had it in Sri Lanka and then saw it in the store here. I am thinking about checking out a new grocery store that I haven't been to - Spar. Will report back. With the ginger beer I am having cheese and crackers! havarti and cheddar. woo. while we wait for the Chimay beer to be delivered (I'll come in the morning, I'll be there in the afternoon, I'll be there by 7 pm, before 7:30 pm and woohooo he just arrived 8:14 pm)

And my friend Eric arrives tomorrow.

oh except we did hear LOTS of fireworks last night, probably around midnight.

Also coming up in January the Intl Film Festival in Bangalore. yay.

today

A day of small disappointments - went to russell market to get a few kitchen things, but the store was closed, but we did find a stone for
sharpening a knife that Charles wanted. And only about $2.

I wanted a heavy cotton duvet /comforter, went to one place that did not
have them. polyester only. called a bunch of others, they did not have them.
Went to Max Mueller to have a bratwurst lunch, but they are closed until
after NY. Went grocery shopping.

Came home and had Bacon Cheese tomato sandwiches, yum. then went to toy
store for travel scrabble, but they did not have it. tried two more places for heavy
cotton duvet,but no, anyway last place said we go pick fabric and
then go to some place near us (but of course nobody ever says exactly where,
you have to keep asking as you get closer and closer), so that is good in a
way, but won't happen so soon now, I am thinking. It is cold here in
Bangalore, well it has been, today was nice.

Charles bought cheetos that are horrible, some warped version. I
bought boursin spready cheese and fake ritz crackers and that is ok. Charles
is making cream of mushroom soup. oh and we had some nice gelato when
consoling ourselves that bratwurst was unavailable. so all was not lost.

Kerala

It was great staying in Fort Cochin - a very easy friendly walkable place. We stayed at Ann's Residency. Lots of tourists, but not as many as Goa. We also went on a houseboat - only for one night - I could've spent a week. A fine airport to fly into, only 90 min from Bangalore by air. Went to a Shiva festival, saw some fantastic murals, as lonely planet says, maybe the best in India! and saw a real life being used by jews synogogue! People were very friendly. If only it weren't so very hot there, but still worth it. nice laid back atmosphere. Plus we saw coir being spun into rope and loomed into doormats all manually.

voting! I want my vote to count.

If you haven't looked into it now might be a good time to start figuring out how to vote in the Federal election. I am in India and contacted the consulate and they said:

In order to vote, you will need to submit a Federal Post Card
Application (FPCA), which you can download from the Federal Voting
Assistance Program at http://www.fvap.gov/pubs/onlinefpca.html. If you
wish to participate in the primaries, be sure to include your political
party preference on the FPCA, otherwise you will not be sent any voting
materials.

In the interest of expediting your application, be sure to check for
your state's electronic submission options here:
http://www.fvap.gov/ivas/fvap_state_menu.html.

OMG

DONUTS in Bangalore. Must go VERY SOON.
thank you firangi squirrel

http://www.thedonutbaker.com/index.asp

Not anyone's mother

According to Purple Women http://purplewomenblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/purple-women-get-bloggy-on-november-15.html
it is childfree women blogging day! It never occured to me that there is a day for me, even though at least here in Bangalore we just got finished with children's day and there is mother's day and father's day. And really there isn't a day that celebrates NOT having kids.

In SF it felt like most of the people around me did not have kids, and here it is the opposite, it seems like almost everyone has kids. Our apt bldg is filled with kids, and our housecleaner can not stop harping on the you should have babies theme song. In the US the pressure on me to have kids was non-existent, but in India I think the pressure is huge. Somehow I ended up reading a bunch of mom blogs here. I don't even come across the childfree by choice thing here. And so many of the people writing the blogs refer to themselves and kidname's Mom, and I feel like their identity is so wrapped up in their kids

Anyway, I love my life without kids. It feels free to me. I am free to do my art projects or be creative in lots of ways. No custody battles where someone uses my behavior against me. No raging debates on how to raise a kid. The energy leftover from not having all of that is very nice. I get to be online lots. I only have to support myself. I'm in my relationship because I want to be, not for the kids. Sometimes it feels like so much in society is done for the sake of the children. I wish I could get away from that.

It is rare that I think about it, really, but it is such a huge decision. And it is so good for me. I am happy to have nieces and nephews and other kids I am friends with, but at the end of the day, they aren't mine. I like the adult life.