We're slowly starting to settle into a routine here in Bangalore. Most mornings Robert goes to work, and the kids and I do school work. If Robert doesn't have a lunch date, we walk over (about 20 minutes across campus) and meet him for lunch. So far we've been going to the same place every time, a restaurant called Nesara. It's got yummy thalis, but wow is service slow! After about 20 minutes we usually end up having to flag someone down to take our order. This is more difficult than it sounds, as the waiters are very, very good at avoiding eye contact. Yesterday I literally had to throw my arm out in front of one to stop him walking off. He had taken the order at the table next to ours (they'd come in about 10 minutes after we did) and was doing his best to ignore us. Upon being forced to acknowledge us he was quite polite ("Oh, you haven't ordered!?"), and this also appears to be par for the course. Once we actually order service becomes just fine- food comes quickly, orders for coffee are taken in a normal time frame, and the bill and change come promptly. I'm not sure what it is about getting or initial order in, but eh. So far it's worth it!
Generally speaking my goal is to cook either lunch or dinner most days, but not both. The maid we thought we'd hired last week decided she'd rather not work for us after all, and never showed up. Since our apartment is quite small Robert and I decided to forgo a maid for the time being and just do the cleaning (easy) and the laundry (less easy) ourselves. Not cooking too much is part of this plan :) I don't want to give up cooking entirely however, as I enjoy cooking and like the control it gives me. Since the damn induction cooker continues to defeat us, I'm currently relying on my rice cooker for all meal. So far I've found that I can cook rice in it (of course) but also dhal and potatoes. For lunch today I cooked potatoes with zucchini and cauliflower for me and the kids and it was pretty yummy! I'm sure the copious quantities of butter helped with that, but still. I've got one pot and one knife and I'm making decent food! When we go out to run errands this afternoon we're hoping to buy an electric frying pan. Keep your fingers crossed we can find one.
Yesterday we decided to change some US dollars for rupees, which turned out to be an adventure in itself. There are at least two banks on campus, so we went to Canara bank because it was closest to Nesara. About 10 minutes in 2 different lines there revealed that you can't change money there unless you are an account holder, so we went on to the State Bank of India. Three lines and 45 minutes later we'd successfully exchanged money. I'm really grateful we were able to do so (and got a decent exchange rate too) but man, those were the slowest moving lines ever! Robert spent about 25 minutes in one line with only 3 people in front of him. The kids were super patient, and I read an article about the Indian Institute of Spice Research, and the 50th anniversary of the Cardamom Group while we waited. Robert did the actual line waiting, bless him.
Today I placed my first online grocery order! It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so stay tuned for a full (and thrilling) report.
Generally speaking my goal is to cook either lunch or dinner most days, but not both. The maid we thought we'd hired last week decided she'd rather not work for us after all, and never showed up. Since our apartment is quite small Robert and I decided to forgo a maid for the time being and just do the cleaning (easy) and the laundry (less easy) ourselves. Not cooking too much is part of this plan :) I don't want to give up cooking entirely however, as I enjoy cooking and like the control it gives me. Since the damn induction cooker continues to defeat us, I'm currently relying on my rice cooker for all meal. So far I've found that I can cook rice in it (of course) but also dhal and potatoes. For lunch today I cooked potatoes with zucchini and cauliflower for me and the kids and it was pretty yummy! I'm sure the copious quantities of butter helped with that, but still. I've got one pot and one knife and I'm making decent food! When we go out to run errands this afternoon we're hoping to buy an electric frying pan. Keep your fingers crossed we can find one.
Yesterday we decided to change some US dollars for rupees, which turned out to be an adventure in itself. There are at least two banks on campus, so we went to Canara bank because it was closest to Nesara. About 10 minutes in 2 different lines there revealed that you can't change money there unless you are an account holder, so we went on to the State Bank of India. Three lines and 45 minutes later we'd successfully exchanged money. I'm really grateful we were able to do so (and got a decent exchange rate too) but man, those were the slowest moving lines ever! Robert spent about 25 minutes in one line with only 3 people in front of him. The kids were super patient, and I read an article about the Indian Institute of Spice Research, and the 50th anniversary of the Cardamom Group while we waited. Robert did the actual line waiting, bless him.
Today I placed my first online grocery order! It's supposed to be delivered tomorrow, so stay tuned for a full (and thrilling) report.
