A Curryous Taste

I haven’t been up to too much, just going to school in the afternoons/evenings and walking in the bazaar (when I don’t have too much homework) in the mornings.  

Not having a kitchen in my guesthouse has proven to be more difficult than I anticipated, as there are not many choices around here, but I have been managing and meeting my friends who either have kitchens or are at guesthouses with restaurants for dinner.  One of my recent dinners was at a new restaurant and guesthouse that is exquisitely painted in bright Tibetan designs.  A few people I go to school with are staying there and it is just a ten-minute walk down from where I live so I met them for dinner one night last week.  I ordered a coconut curry with noodles and peanuts and was enjoying it very much when I got a not so pleasant bite.  It was sandy, and kind of popped in my mouth when I bit into it.  I did my best to hide my shock, but all I could think was that it was some sort of bug, a cockroach or beetle or something.  The friends I was with have a small 4-year old boy that they were in the middle of teaching table manners to, so I didn’t want to spit it out in the middle of their lesson.  I took a huge sip of water and did my best to swallow it, but the grit was stuck in my teeth and I couldn’t get rid of what felt like tiny little legs floating around my mouth.  I looked in the bowl, but saw nothing else.  By this point the family had noticed my surprise, and I just decided I couldn’t eat anymore. 

After that fiasco, I decided it was time to treat myself to a nice dinner.  There is a place called Rokeby just up the mountain from where I live.  It’s an absolutely beautiful guesthouse, salon, and restaurant that is known for its amazing (and expensive) Western and Indian food.   I heard rumor of mashed potatoes, lasagna, nachos and chocolate cake.  Ten of us got together for dinner last night and went to Rokeby (Google Rokeby Mussoorie and I am sure their website will come up).  I shared a hummus and pita appetizer with Lisa (the French girl that lives in the guesthouse with me), and had chicken tortellini for dinner.  We split chocolate cake for dessert.  It felt as though I was no longer in the Himalayas, but the pounding rain outside the windows forced us to scream to each other and brought us back to reality.  It was an amazing dinner and place, and I certainly shouldn’t get used to it! The entire dinner cost us less than ten dollars each, but I usually get dinner for a little over one dollar each night.  It was certainly a nice treat though. 

I have spent most of the weekend doing homework; it has been raining so it forced me to get it all done.  The sun came out for a little bit yesterday, so I walked in the bazaar, but the rain came pounding back around dinner time and hasn’t stopped since.  Thank god we bought a heater to dry our clothes.  Everything is starting to smell and get moldy.  And it will only get worse as the days go by…