This morning’s paper said the monsoons are 24 hours away. Apparently the downpour we were caught in yesterday morning signals that the rains are on their way. People tell me that the monsoons are not as severe here in Delhi as in other parts of India, where floods are common. Last fall there were large floods, worse than they’d had for many years. Of course, when I read that the monsoons were 24 hours away I imagined a huge cloud descending on Delhi, bringing with it lakes and oceans of rain. Really it’s more like the rainy season is arriving, but rains are much heavier so they’re called monsoons. Can’t wait to see how tomorrow dawns!
I expected the food to be easy since I’ve always enjoyed Indian food. However, the level of spice is overwhelming, not only because of hot spicyness, but also because of sheer overwhelming aroma and spice. The staples thus far are lentils, cottage cheese, curry sauces, rice, nan and other vegetable curry dishes. There are some unusual surprises, like last night I had lily buds in my meal (not so spice–part of a meal at the upscale Chinese restaurant at our hotel). I’ve been tasting as much as I dare, and finding that I enjoy many of the foods, although my stomach usually responds a bit harshly to all the spice. Luckily it’s just minor discomfort for a little while–not major digestive problems. We have a group of teachers from Nigeria here for the training as well, and they had a very difficult time with the spicyness of the food, ultimately refusing to eat any at all. I very much sympathised–feeling thankful that Indian food is familiar and tasty enough to me for me to feel comfortable. With my persnickety tummy, that makes a huge difference for how much I can enjoy myself when I travel.
Tomorrow is the last day of training, and Friday will be a free day for us before we take off on a midnight flight to fly west to our homes. I feel like the trip is over way too quickly! I’ve hardly whet my appetite for traveling and getting to know this country.
