close to home (subtitled: one chocolate-banana pancake, two forks)

one of my favorite parts of living in a new place is establishing myself as a "regular" at different establishments. the tailor, chardukan tea shoppe, the tavern (the site of this birthday party photo), ram chander grocer, to name a few in mussoorie. cole and i knew we had successfully become regulars at chardukan this sunday morning when we ordered our usual (2 bun omlettes and 1 chocolate-banana pancake to split) and the pancake arrived (for the first time) with two forks. two forks might not mean much to you, but it said to us that our friends at the tea shoppe know that we share our delicious pancake (complete with melted chocolate pieces on top).


while i traveled extensively during september and parts of october, the true weight of teaching has recently curtailed my once-weekly jaunts around india. however, staying close to home has had much to offer, including video arcade motorcycle rallies, celebrations of guy faukes day (completed by diwali fireworks and a campfire) and big feasts of indian food at our favorite restaraunts (picture the goodness of chapati's for about a fourth of the price. the woodstock staff discount is a wonderous thing).

happy valley, which lives up to its name, is a tibetan community near mussoorie. cole, andy, jen (two oles visiting from the "biology in south india" program) and i set out this saturday morning only to be greeted by the himalayan snows and friendly faces at each turn. while i became a bit carried away with pictures, the beauty of the snowy peaks and thousands of prayer flags overwhelmed me. "the snows" actually just became a part of the scenery following the end of monsoon a few weeks ago. however, one of my favorite photos is that of one of workers at the buddhist temple and i. go vikes. following our trip to the temple, we basked in the wonder that is tibetan cuisine at a nearby restaraunt. cole and i even experienced beef (in the form of steamed momos-- similar to chinese dumplings) for the first time in two-and-a-half months. sidenote: the reason cows are not eaten in hindu culture is because they are venerated as the most productive and giving animal-- like the mother to all humans. but, level with me here, how would they not be even more productive to use as plows, a milk source and as food? while this might not be the most culturally-sensitive moment of my life, i justify the rhetoric with the yearning for a cheeseburger. stupid american.