lazy weekend

Those of you who know me as the loquacious extrovert I am can probably imagine that our whirlwind recruiting trip to another city in a developing country to interview nine people whose native language is not English did a bit of a number on my social energy stores. Even a bubble bath and a very relaxing-looking chaise longue at the hotel in Delhi had done little to help.



I didn't realize how drained I was till this weekend, when the thought of leaving the apartment for anything beyond an hour's run seemed about as attractive as dirt.

Both Saturday and Sunday when the cleaning woman showed up, Casey and I were sitting in the exact same places on the same two couches in the living room--him with his computer and me with mine, and both times with me also knitting and listening to music on my headphones. I am pretty sure Mangal thinks we didn't move for 24 hours. I did get up once in a while to cook some comfort food--vegan pancakes for everybody both mornings, and today also some sheera, which is an Indian semolina pudding with nuts and raisins and banana. Needless to say, Casey did not eat any of that one. BANANA!

There was so much nonstop knitting action these past two days that I finished another pair of socks. Normally I don't worry about my yarn being vegan (technically wool and silk are not vegan, but those of you who have been to my apartment know that purging it of wool yarn would take six burly movers a full day, and at least one of them would suffer a hernia in the process). But the stuff I used for these socks (Tofutsies) is SO not vegan that I actually feel a bit weird about it--it's made with chitin, which comes from shellfish. It's supposedly naturally antibacterial or something like that. The bulk of the fiber is wool and soy silk (hence the name--which, hello, how misleading is that? what could sound more vegan than tofu yarn??).



And the yarn is actually so awesome (and you know how we feel about awesome) that I ordered enough for 3 more pairs of socks. I'm such a bad vegan. But damn I have cute socks.

UPDATED TO ADD: Casey just jumped off the couch, lunged and pointed at me, and shouted "Who's a dork?!" Then after a two-second pause he said "Remember that time, just now, when I said that?"

Good god, I love my coworkers.

beverage news

First of all, the trip to Delhi was a great success. We met 9 applicants who were all promising to some degree or another. Offers will be made. Also, Delhi is covered in monkeys. Just FYI.

On to the important stuff: beverage news.

1. You should make your own masala chai with whole spices. I will tell you how. Take the following and crunch them up a bit with a mortar and pestle or with a pulse or two in a spice grinder: 3 black peppercorns, a piece of star anise (or a few fennel seeds), 3 cloves, 2-3 green cardamom pods, and a small piece broken from a stick of cinnamon. Dump that along with a slice of peeled fresh ginger into a pot with 2 cups water and 1 cup milk or soy milk. Bring it to a boil for a few minutes. Turn off heat and dump in 3 rounded teaspoons of loose black tea and let it steep for 3 minutes. Strain everything into a teapot or mugs or whatever. Sweeten to taste. Enjoy the spicy goodness.



B. You should also make your own fresh lime soda. Squeeze some limes. Make some simple syrup (boil equal parts water and granulated sugar till the sugar is dissolved; let cool, then store in fridge). Pour about 1" lime juice in a glass, add a glop of sugar syrup, and top off with chilled club soda. We like to add a few shakes of salt, too. It's like Gatorade, except yummy.



iii. It is hard to get good coffee here, and in any case we do not have a coffee maker. I have discovered the beauty of the Greek "frappe." In a cocktail shaker put a couple of ice cubes, a Tbsp. of instant coffee (preferably the powdery kind, it dissolves easier), a couple glugs of milk or soy milk, about a Tbsp. of sugar syrup (see above), and about 1/2 cup water. Shake it up real shakey. Pour into a glass. It will have a nice head of foam.




d. We have now flown a couple of times on Kingfisher Airlines--yup, the same Kingfisher as Kingfisher beer. And yet Indian law prohibits the consumption of alcohol on domestic flights. THIS IS SO, SO WRONG. On the other hand, the flight attendants are gorgeous. Seriously, they are hot. Did I just say that in my out loud voice?

be vewy qwiet, we're hunting lingwists

Just in case you thought life in India was all about relaxing drives through monsoon-flooded streets and delicious tofu that is worth its weight in gold and adorable little cockroaches who just want to be your friends, that's all, is that so much to ask, tomorrow Alex and I have to get up at the crack of ASS to catch a bargain basement Indian Air flight to Delhi (we are nothing if not Fiscal Disciples). We will be interviewing at least 9 people in two 3-hour sessions over two days; back Thursday night. Wish us luck finding future colleagues!

Casey plans to take advantage of this situation and stay home drunk for two days at the apartment. So, if you receive any cryptic emails from him with no capitalization and rampant typos, you can blame it...oh, wait.

a cool truck 'n' stuff

I'm not here to report anything particularly interesting; I just wanted to show you this detail shot from a truck we saw on the way home the other day:



And also can I just say that even without hot water in my shower, living in an apartment is soooo much better than living in a hotel. Casey and Alex are fun to have as roommates, too. Don't tell them I said that, though--I am trying to maintain my tough boss lady image.

Oh, wait--I knew I had other stuff to show you. First, here is my horoscope from the in-flight magazine the other day on the way to Delhi:



Note that it says I may be shifting to a new apartment. OMG IT TOTALLY CAME TRUE!! Now I just need to talk to Lon about that promotion it mentions. And I also need to check on my wetland crops.

On the plane they had excellent food (seriously), and the meal came with a tiny spoon for mixing sugar/creamer in your tea. We thought it looked a lot like the kind of spoon you might use for other purposes. Or as Gina put it, "Oh my god, our dinner comes with a coke spoon!"



Finally, we spotted this article we thought Jeanette might appreciate:



The gist of the article is that some actor turned down a role because the character had "gay overtones," and John Abraham was more than happy to step in and take over. Not that there's anything wrong with that.