PIZZA

I finally made it to Pizza Hut tonight. I am relieved to report that this is one part of Western cuisine that India has managed not to screw up. Sure, it's mass-produced greasy junk, but oh my god it tasted heavenly.

This past month has really made me appreciate how lucky we are to live in a nation of immigrants. I do enjoy Indian food, but it's beginning to seem like every restaurant has the exact same menu. It's chicken, paneer, and/or vegetables drenched in a very spicy sauce. If you want to really go crazy, you can order Chinese food! I hope you like fried rice.

I had gotten so spoiled by having the options of so many different ethnic cuisines available to me at any given time. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Italians, Greeks, Mexicans, Jews, and everyone else who decided America would be a swell place to live. You really can't appreciate it until you spend an extended period of time in a place where food choice is so limited.

In non-food related news, we had another short trip this weekend. The highlight for me was climbing approximately one zillion steps to see a gigantic statue of an important figure in Jainism whose name I have already forgotten. The better part came when I was discovered by a gaggle of Indian kids. The oldest one, who spoke pretty good English, informed me that they were fascinated by my hair. I guess curly hair doesn't often make an appearance in this country. We spent the trip down the stairs discussing the differences between cricket and baseball.

We also saw some cool temples that were pretty much like the other one I described previously, so I'm not going to rehash it again. I'm now looking forward to the Desara festival next week. We have a week off from school, and I plan to spend a whole bunch of time downtown getting crushed between thousands of tourists. Should be fun.