Thursday, September 15, 2011

Some observations

* A bullock cart, drawn by cattle with high upright horns curving like a lyre, passing a [parked] jeep.

* A handbell, rung in the dining hall, silences 300 people for a full minute before lunch begins.

*The girls' toilet is a squat: just like those in train stations and public squares in Europe when I first travelled there, 40 years ago.

*There are no desserts, but they're not missed, because endless cups of sweet, milky (but not spicy) tea fuel the day.

*Lizards, pi-dogs, stilt-legged cats, and monkeys [bonnet macaques] wander at will.  In the villages there are cows and goats, but I have yet to see a chicken.

*When it's picked young, sliced thin, called "ladyfingers" and served in a delicious sauce, okra can be yummy even to a confirm okra-hater.

*Sandalwood trees are so precious (valuable in monetary terms) that here they grow at the top of 12-foot stone-and-mortar pillars topped with glass shards. Armed gangs [dacoits] have invaded the campus to cut sandalwood, in the past: the surrounding area is extremely poor, so the temptation is great. There is school security, though: two night watchmen like to chat loudly outside my bedroom window at 12, 2, 4 . . . or oftener.

1 comment:

  1. Sweet, milky tea!!! Oh my that sounds heavenly.
    Did I ever mention to you that I am a tea-addict, especially since I started college? I once had 20+ kinds of tea. I had to narrow my choices of tea to bring to beijing down to 8. Sad. Haha

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