My Incredible Restraint

I would just like to point how much restraint I’ve been showing in not talking about my gastro-intestinal system.  I say restraint because it’s something that you think about all the time.  You have to think about everything that you eat or drink.  Everytime you walk out the door you have to wonder if there’s going to be “a situation”.  You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to not run your toothbrush under the tap.  I actually have to hold my left hand behind my back while brushing my teeth so that I can’t turn on the tap.  Even so, I’ve almost done it twice.

Tuesday was the first day that my stomach didn’t feel queasy.  Although I was quite sick one day, my stomach just didn’t feel right the whole time.  Part of it is probably the fact that I’ve been eating three spicy meals a day.  Maybe I’ll celebrate my new-found immunity with a big glass of murky tap water.

Although I’ve only been here less than two weeks, it’s amazing how the noise and chaos has become the norm.  I realised this morning that I’m going to miss the haggling over cab fares and almost getting hit by quick-moving vehicles (even while walking on the sidewalk).

I had a panic attack yesterday when I realised I was leaving in a couple of days and still hadn’t bought any gifts.  I decided to make last night a shopping night.  At lunch, some of the students had taken me to a clothing/home goods store called Fabindia.  Apparently it’s a chain all across the country.  It wasn’t a really manly trip, but I got some good ideas for things to buy.  Last night, I went to the Forum which is a mall just a couple of kilometres from my apartment.  The traffic in Bangalore is horrible, even compared to Kolkata.  You just sit and you don’t move at all.

The mall was mostly like a western mall, except that some of the stores are different, and the food court is completely different (except for the Subway).  I got some good stuff there and topped it off with a trip to the Pizza Hut.  I’m not proud of this fact, but they had many things on the menu which you would never see in a North American PH, such as chicken tikka pizza, which I ordered and devoured with great relish.  It was not near as greasy as it is at home, and was actually damn good.