from egg roll to pizza

Homesickness has its phases to it. you start with missing people, things, routine and when you get used to everything else, you realise that homesickness that you were experiencing was actually centered around homefood-sickness. and that one is the most difficult to get used to.

so then you start figuring out solutions. i did the same. firstly i was inert. coz i thought cooking everyday??? i couldn't possibly do that! i had plum cake for my meals and washed it down with orange juice. then i added cornflakes and eggs to my list of ingredients. you know, food that is ready to eat in no time at all. i mean back home i hated standing in front of the stove waiting for the potatoes to soften for example. then i realised i was eating less just to avoid the cooking exercise. and finally the discount store helped. i found cheap stuff, stocked my kitchen with ata and imported masala (from my mother) and then i felt more at ease.

then i realised i can cook if i have all the vegetable and masalas neatly laid out in front of me. like in cookery shows. pehle dheemee aanch pe tel garam karen aur usme zeere ka tadka de. phir usme ek cup kata pyaz, adha chammach dhaniya powder blah blah and blah. and on the other hand i like to cook as a hobby to try out new recipes, chocolate cakes, flury's brownies, you know something thats exciting and has an element of surprise to it, of success to it. when the flavour wafting through the room apparates you back into your home, at your dining table where maa ke haath ka khana awaits you. hmmm yummy.. but thats far away. so back to my experiment.

then the inertia gave way to curiosity. what do i do with my mushrooms? i thought i had to boil them before using, so they sat in my fridge for a week before i realised i could use them without boiling. (after i realised they were not like potatoes. n btw thanks to sam, i now know how to boil potatoes the neat way. peel them, put them in a bowl and microwave them for 6 minutes. or was it 7 minutes. erm. will check that.)

and the kitchen became a more likeable place for me. after all it was fully equipped now to sustain my experiments. so then they began. cheese mushroom omlette with toast. brought Pune's German Bakery right into my kitchen. then the ata experiment, which was actually maida, but served the purpose. sam made mushroom and potato curry. my firang roommates liked it, so i would safely say it was a success. and today it was the egg roll. no the pizzas hasnt graced my kitchen yet. its just that egg roll didnt turn out quite right and looked like pizza. time for picsssssss. but technically retarted that i am, i havent yet figured out how to transfer files from BB to laptop. sorry guys, next time.

and guys, there has to be a way for me to know that you are reading this space. i mean i write so much, and you guys not even a line? come on. aapko aaj ke ye recipe kaisi lagi, ye batane ke liye hume likhe is pate par, ya actually neeche wale box mein. dhanyavad.

Opening my eyes wide

i.e. with my sunglasses on. back home i would perpetually squint my eyes in the sun and here i am wearing sunglasses. not that one doesnt get sunglasses in india, the difference is that i never felt like owning a pair in india. so now it would be apt to say, "videsh ne meri aankhen khol di hain."

And its true in many ways. i have been meeting all sorts of people. for last three nights straight i have had class get togethers, getting home at 3,4,5 respectively. and what do i do? take a glass in hand and repeat this set of questions every now and then. "hi, nice to meet you. i am so and so from so and so, and you? oh so when did you arrive? so where are you staying? and what's your BB pin?" and next time we meet, we say, "oh you look familiar, have we met before?" and the introduction continues. then there are pakistanis who will give you free printouts, or will offer to get indian masalas shipped on demand, or want you to work with them illegally, something that sets off the siren in my head. eeeon eeeeeon eeeeeeeon. or locals who give you their number and want to meet you. people of every shape, size, colour and intention.

thats the people side of the city, but in general i like this place. i made some observations which hit straight in the heart and make me comfortable instantly. like people breaking traffic signals. or catcalls and whistles when you are walking on the street. or kids quarrelling and their moms disciplining them. or the popularity of flat chappals and clothbags. or indian women in salwar kameez, exchanging feedback about tailors. or watching kaminey at friends' place. or the festive feel of MG road on La Rambla. or the sound of tadka in the kitchen and the flavour of frying masala. or the afternoon siestas. or the habit of never keeping appointments. feels like home.

and then there are the differences. its stays sunny for 14 hours. the streets are not crowded, they are in fact empty since its vacation time here. the bathrooms are so differently made that they cant be used to wash your clothes. at all. the public transport is just so convenient, user friendly, cheap and safe. the city is all yours to explore and all you need to be equipped with is maps. yes plural because there's one for the multiple metro routes, one for train routes and one more that does not miss a single nook and cranny. business here starts early around 8, then people take lunch and siesta from 2 to 4, and then work stops after 6, 7 or 8 depending on the timings from office to office. and then ofcourse there are the beaches, the wining and dining and expensive merchandize.

in all as i experience more firsts, i feel this place has various indian elements, the nighbourhoods of south bombay, the crowd of pune's koregaon park, the omnipresent sindhi community, and yet with all its unique differences. it makes you fall in love with it. its beautiful. its alive.

Forgive me Lord for I have sinned

it all started with need and then became greed. the day was fated to be my most expensive day in barca so far.

but before that, my last post bombed. n that's where i start counting my sins. i thought i was going to be this thriller-writer, creator-of-suspense blah-blah. big s***. i am not. so in repentance here's a song, for MD whom it hit the hardest:

o mere sona re sona re sona re...(next two line not applicable)... hua kusur khafa mat hona re...

khabar jaari hai. i really wanted bathroom slippers. Couldnt keep using my Osho chappals for that, they are way too smart. so yesterday i walked into a discount shoe store. 6 euros a pair. thats sin #2. then i bought a pair. sin #3. fluroscent green with white flowers on it! but thats forgivable since they were for 3 euros a pair!!

and from then on it was a roll. sin # 4,5,6.. i soon lost count. Blackberry! yeah yeah now i am a part of the 24x7-online social jerks. oh but haven't i been that already for the past few days anyway. so i had to have some chocolate to gulp down all that guilt. i remember dad, my Chief Education Sponsor, saying, "its all right, you can buy it". saving grace that i rented it.

next i played with the idea of skimpy clothes, but in the end resisted them. settled for 5 pairs of socks instead. phew! but, i couldnt resist a levis skirt and that too at 42 euros after a 50% discount. if i were to take the "which Sarabhai character are you" on Facebook, i am sure i would be the sale-crazy Monisha!! even though this skirt comes after the BB on the costliest items list, guilt-wise its my biggest sin so far.

but the lord forgave me and directed me to a satsang in the evening. yes a satsang in barca! it was being held at this sindhi family's place who had shared my lost baggage woes and i just thought i should visit them to say thanks for the other day. i got some prasad too and ta-da all my sins got washed off. some penance. and now its gets even better.

all this was happening a day before my birthday. so my BB is dad's gift and the skirt is MD's. that lays to rest all the last bit of the guilt. the birthday started with a bang too. we had this all barcelona MBA alumni party and thats where i started my birthday. to save money we had a pre-party to prepare for the club. you know what i mean. but i behaved like a good girl. met more of my new classmates and on the whole it was good. the birthday continues today. so lets see whats in store for me. will keep you guys posted!

Spanish Guys

yeah, yeah pull those eyebrows down now. its just the first one.

i follow a no-names policy, so there goes his name out of the window. he is a physicist. yeah brainy nerd i know. studied in spain, did further research in france, speaks many languages including spanish, english, french and more. and prefers indians over french. I even had a varanasi connection with him. and of course he is one of the cute curly-haired spanish guys who are soo friendly.

ok, snap out of your imagination guys. what were you thinking huh??? let me take you back to the story from the beginning.

so i reach the airport after a walk-metro-renfe journey for 2 hours and go to the information desk. so this guy there escorts me to the lost and found section. before that some more background. i dont speak spanish and people there hardly speak english. this guy speaks both fluently and its his job to help passengers. and thats what he did. helped me. so after the lost and found section, which wasnt where i was supposed to go, we went to multiple desks in the airport, explaining the situation to each one of them and getting the next clue. it was like a treasure hunt. in fact a treasure hunt and my baggage hunt dont seem so different in hindsight.

so back to the spanish guy. during this search and translate operation i got to know about his background, education, work in france (and hence the hatred) and holiday in india (and hence the fondness). after 5 years of research he gave it up and went to india for a 4 month holiday to clear his mind.

so i hope all the sentences have fallen into the right places now. and just to tweak it further, i am joining him for an authentic paella meal sometime real soon. (i would say soon by martian time standards). keep exercising those grey cells!!

i guess the first times are always special and stay engraved in your memory. or maybe in a blogpost like this. in my case its both, because my first trip was so eventful, it lead to many firsts.

first transit: first i thought it was i who couldnt stop crying. then i realised it was the rain gods. or both actually. mumbai hadn't seen rain for almost 15 days, and that morning at 4.30 am after i walked into the Airbus A330 and we prepared to take off, it poured cats and dogs. i wonder if someone else too was crying silently.. i remember i slept for a bit, and then looking at my watch at 10 am, i wondered, "the plane was supposed to land at 9.15. where are we going?" and then it hit me- timezones!! after that i lost track of time. and just kept pushing back time. it felt good to live the same hour again and again, felt like a magic trick. the good part it is didnt give me any jet lag. i got down at istanbul and roamed around the duty free shops for a good two hours. the first hour with my bags on me, i think i should put that as a first here too, that of weightlifting. the next flight was pretty uneventful. until i landed i.e.

first baggage lost: yes it did. and both my bags. it took me 2 hours to register the complaint and at this point of time i am still waiting for one of my bags. good thing, i have clothes to wear now, bad thing, my documents are stuck. i know, i am a fool to put my documents in my check-in bags, but guess it was fated. i had shuffled my documents right at the airport because my handbag was overweight. oh yes and i had paid an excess fare of 7k at mumbai already. so my baggage proved to be a real weight for me.

first take at wild-life: first class get-together. now that dinners done where are going? ok to a bar. but when are we going to enter it? its been 2 hours. what! we are done already without even entering? and now we are going to a club? but its 3 in the morning and i am thirsty and sleepy!! Gawd. I ended up walking back home with my roomy, about 3.5 kms, at 3 in the morning, map in hand, trying to read the road signs, and in the middle of the finale of the Gracia fest. Crazy night, but it was the right introduction to Barcelona.

first trip in a spanish grocery store: Fed up of being holed up at home waiting for my bags and at the encouragement of my roomies taking guard, i ventured to the grocery store across the street from my house. I was like a prisoner coming out of a dark cell after ages, and of course i am exaggerating!! In the excitement i forgot my dictionary. The trip was a success as per my roomy, looking at all the stuff i was carrying when i got back, although there was one failure, in finding cheese. and all it took was about an hour and about 17 euros. now i had food and water!

first sigh of relief: My roomy called to tell me on the fixed line on saturday evening that the delivery guys had called her and would be home by 8 pm. by spanish time standards it was to be 9 pm, but now i had my stuff and i could set it up in my room!! yeah i stopped feeling like a celebrity living out of suitcases.

first chat with parents: it was long and detailed. from the rates of vegetables, to the common recipes, to explaining what emoticons meant, it was a welcome change. a wave of comfort washed over me. i was back in touch. i hate not being able to talk, so much so that all i do is chat all day, just to feel connected with people. my homesick-proneness amazes me. my defence for me - sometimes its ok to accept one's human tendencies.

first almost trip to tomatina: Yeah it was going to be holi in spain, from the suffocation of a mahalaxmi evening local and to the herbal cleansing of acidic tomatoes. but the bags came in the way. yes yet again. insurance guys, this is for you, and you better pay me back for this emotional distress and inconvenience that you have caused.

first pasta experiment: so my grocery trip didnt seem so much of a success when it translated into potential investment of hardwork and time in the kitchen. (yeah thanks to financial accounting, i am talking jargon already!) with the readymade pasta consumed, it was time for guniea pigs. only this time i was the pig as much as the cook. so this is what i conjured up - heat oil, cook some maggi masala, pour a spoonful of water, and pour some preboiled pasta. simmer till water dries off and ta-da.. i must tell you, self-cooked food is the tastiest in the world!! amen. and i haven't had a stomach ache yet.

and then there are the smaller firsts: oh a skateboard!; wow a bathtub- umm how do i stop the water !?!, a microwave- can i boil milk in this?, a fully automatic wasing machine- until now washing clothes was my secret to fitness; there's no tap in the toilet!; yippee!!! i can chat all day!!!; is that a bmw bike??!, n a volkswagon taxi ?!!??; i- dont-need-a-blackberry-no-i-dont-do-i-really?; is this boiled thing main-course, but didnt i just finish its raw version for salad?; umm, am i right to think i am lost, cause this street should be turning right, not left..!; omg! all bikinis???!! and where's the top gone?!#$%?!; lets see if i can earn some money out of my inconvenience, insurance ahoy!!; and more to follow later..

and finally, what does a lazy girl do? chat and blog. so signing off from my first blog and going back to some chat sessions. until next time, chao!