Street shaving
The food here- it is so greasy. I think the problem is that I don’t really have the facilities to make lunch at home the night before and bring it, and ordering is so cheap, that I order lunch every day. So that is part of it, but the food my coworkers make at home and bring has a lot of oil in it too. Also, they are big on carbs here. I have seen people use bread to scoop up potatoes and rice. I just can’t do that, I feel like I need something green or something with a little fiber. Aloo parathas are popular here. You take potato, cook it in oil, then you shove it in between 2 pieces of bread and deep fry the whole thing. I find myself fantasizing about steamed broccoli and dry wheat toast.
There is also a lot of this Indian/Chinese fusion food here. It is an interesting mix, Indian type dishes with Chinese spices, Chinese type dishes with Indian spices, but it still all sort of tastes Chinese. But Indian Chinese.
Food at the grocery store is sometimes cheap, sometimes expensive, depending on where the food comes from. Local stuff is pretty cheap, imported stuff is always at least as expensive as it would be in the states.
I buy fruit and vegetables at a stand by the side of the road near my house. There is one girl I like to go to. I have no idea if I am supposed to bargain or not. I don’t feel like I should, for the produce. The people I work with don’t think her prices sound exorbitant, and they say that you don’t always bargain at the vegetable stalls. I think that some of the other people bargain with her a little, because it looks like they are going back and forth when they talk to her. But it must only be for a few rupees, and I don’t know that I the veg lady speaks enough English for me to be able to bargain. I don’t think she is cheating me though, because none of the other customers snicker when she tells me the price of my produce. I think she upped the price on me once, because her smile was really wide and innocent and the price was a little higher than usual. But she doesn’t normally.
The vegetables are sooo cheap. I know I’m not getting my hoity toity organic stuff, but still- the other night I bought 2 tomatoes, 2 carrots, 2 peppers, some long beans, 2 onions, some potatoes, spring onions, coriander, and ginger for 22 rps, or 50 cents. Today I bought a half a kilo of tomatoes for 5 rupees. And handfuls of garlic for 10 rupees. I love it! I have to keep reminding myself how ridiculous it would be to come back with a suitcase full of tomatoes.
Also, I like going to coffee shops because it is so much cheaper here. I think is it not cheap for the general population, but it is for me. It is about a dollar for tea, which isn’t super cheap, but still. Cheaper than Seattle.
I can tell it isn’t super cheap for everyone because I went to the coffee shop near my house during the Mt Mary fair, with hundreds of people thronging through streets, and it was mostly empty. That was weird. I thought with the crowds it would be packed.
One thing that I can’t get used to is that the cafes are like restaurants. You come in and sit down, and a waiter comes over to you, gives you a menu, and takes your order. I still go up to the counter to order, and then stand there for a minute waiting to pay before they tell me to go sit down.
The food here- it is so greasy. I think the problem is that I don’t really have the facilities to make lunch at home the night before and bring it, and ordering is so cheap, that I order lunch every day. So that is part of it, but the food my coworkers make at home and bring has a lot of oil in it too. Also, they are big on carbs here. I have seen people use bread to scoop up potatoes and rice. I just can’t do that, I feel like I need something green or something with a little fiber. Aloo parathas are popular here. You take potato, cook it in oil, then you shove it in between 2 pieces of bread and deep fry the whole thing. I find myself fantasizing about steamed broccoli and dry wheat toast.
There is also a lot of this Indian/Chinese fusion food here. It is an interesting mix, Indian type dishes with Chinese spices, Chinese type dishes with Indian spices, but it still all sort of tastes Chinese. But Indian Chinese.
Food at the grocery store is sometimes cheap, sometimes expensive, depending on where the food comes from. Local stuff is pretty cheap, imported stuff is always at least as expensive as it would be in the states.
I buy fruit and vegetables at a stand by the side of the road near my house. There is one girl I like to go to. I have no idea if I am supposed to bargain or not. I don’t feel like I should, for the produce. The people I work with don’t think her prices sound exorbitant, and they say that you don’t always bargain at the vegetable stalls. I think that some of the other people bargain with her a little, because it looks like they are going back and forth when they talk to her. But it must only be for a few rupees, and I don’t know that I the veg lady speaks enough English for me to be able to bargain. I don’t think she is cheating me though, because none of the other customers snicker when she tells me the price of my produce. I think she upped the price on me once, because her smile was really wide and innocent and the price was a little higher than usual. But she doesn’t normally.
The vegetables are sooo cheap. I know I’m not getting my hoity toity organic stuff, but still- the other night I bought 2 tomatoes, 2 carrots, 2 peppers, some long beans, 2 onions, some potatoes, spring onions, coriander, and ginger for 22 rps, or 50 cents. Today I bought a half a kilo of tomatoes for 5 rupees. And handfuls of garlic for 10 rupees. I love it! I have to keep reminding myself how ridiculous it would be to come back with a suitcase full of tomatoes.
Also, I like going to coffee shops because it is so much cheaper here. I think is it not cheap for the general population, but it is for me. It is about a dollar for tea, which isn’t super cheap, but still. Cheaper than Seattle.
I can tell it isn’t super cheap for everyone because I went to the coffee shop near my house during the Mt Mary fair, with hundreds of people thronging through streets, and it was mostly empty. That was weird. I thought with the crowds it would be packed.
One thing that I can’t get used to is that the cafes are like restaurants. You come in and sit down, and a waiter comes over to you, gives you a menu, and takes your order. I still go up to the counter to order, and then stand there for a minute waiting to pay before they tell me to go sit down.
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