Food, glorious (?) food, (no) hot sausage and mustard!

These days, I don't find myself dreaming of Jeannie, but of lasagna, lettuce, cheese, chocolate, Tiramisu, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, applesauce, at least some meat for heaven's sakes, and did I mention chocolate?

Someone recently emailed to ask whether I found the food monotonous, boring, tedious. Do ducks quack? Is India hot and humid?

Here are the kids queue-ing up:

And voila, here it is in all its glory: dinner! Or lunch? Or is it dinner after all? Maybe breakfast?

Volunteers here who have traveled around this country tell me that the Indian food you get in the States is essentially food from northern India. It's diverse, it's got nuts and lentils, it's interesting and tasty. But alas, here we're in the south!

The big challenge for me is that I have zero tolerance for spicy food. Most of what they offer would frankly send me into a coma. This led to not a small amount of anxiety and insomnia when I first arrived. I pictured myself looking like Gandhi on one of his hunger strikes. But I've made it work and have lasted two months without complete emaciation!

But I exaggerate. I found a Western grocery store in Chennai (2-3 hours away, depending on how many cows and rickshaws get in the way) which is the size of a gas station convenience store, but stocks oatmeal, pasta, bread. At the risk of becoming an ugly American who barely samples the curry (last time I tried, my lips started to tingle and go numb, like at the dentist's), I do quite well. And the peanut butter and tuna from my mom have gone a very long way.