Vera thought they were called "murdercycles" for a long time. I actually prefer that name.
Hanging out on the balcony of a second floor apartment brought out my inner paparazzo.
The intersection below provided me with minutes and minutes of entertainment.
Come Mr tally man, tally me banana! You're going to have that song stuck in your head. That or Lady Gaga. Get back to me on which one wins.
Nanamma cuddling Vera after her "bath" with Manima just outside. Vera liked her hair wrapped like this like the "washer woman".
She put her hand up to steady it right when I snapped the pic! Ugh. A little cooperation puh-lease!
Even the cows are"driving" on the left!
More traffic.
An auto
I'm suddenly very hungry for a salad!
Busted! Hey, um, what kind of low-fat dressings do you carry?
The cow kept trying to get into the little store so they gave it one of their spherical cucumbers so it would stop making mischief.
More traffic
A Muslim lady. Which reminds me, I was in "child's pose" on my yoga mat towel this morning when the call to prayers came over the loud speaker. I hope that doesn't mean I converted. Btw, not pictured- but I can't believe how many grown-ass men are cruising around on hot pink scooters. Where's the self respect?
Maya spending quality time with her relatives the way her mama taught her to. Dangit, do as I say, not as I do!
Teja and Vera turning their noses up at the wonderful breakfast lovingly prepared for us by elderly relatives.
Ammon giving rice to the guy. The "garbage truck" in the background. You leave your pile of garbage and they put it in a bucket and dump it in the wagon which is pulled by a tractor.
I hope you didn't forget what those cows looked like already. We brought little plastic animals for Vera to play with and the cow was missing the other day. I suspected Raja of making a shrine to that plastic cow and told him so quite accusatorily. He was delighted. I cannot offend that man, try as I may!
Teja giving the guy rice. These guys only come around in January because it's the harvest festival this month. I'm curious about their day job the other 11 months of the year. A cousin told me how small villages celebrate the festival with what sounds like a tug of war between cows and also cock fighting. So it's the harvest festival and animal cruelty festival all rolled into one! I have no room to talk, though, as I have both beef and chicken in my freezer at home. And popsicles!
Here's that breakfast. My favourite part was the the ivy gourd chutney. It was so deliciously sour, spicy and garlicky. It was like there was a party in my mouth and everyone was invited. But then, for the remainder of our visit, I had to sit there, suffering with the garlickiest mouth ever. It was like I was being punished for always playing Tetris on my phone while Raj and the relatives chat even though I make sure to glance up, sporting my most pleasant smile (practice in the mirror or it looks like you're just baring your teeth, preparing to attack) every ten minutes or so. Manners!
I also enchanted the hosts by proclaiming the food "very good!" in Telugu. That never gets old for these guys. To make them giggle, I'll sometimes say "very spicy!" because they just get the biggest kick out of that. Sometimes I charm them by telling them it's "not spicy", which impresses them to no end. You see, making relatives like me is a delicate dance of kindly manipulation! Bask in my benevolence!
The kiddies have been playing with water balloons a lot the past couple of days, creating more laundry for that poor washer woman. This perfect beach weather is glorious but taunting. I sat in the sun on the roof for a bit this afternoon, watching a dozen differently coloured butterflies flutter around the lime tree. The roof is flat concrete with a three foot concrete wall all around except the stairwell. It occurred to me that it was like sitting in an empty swimming pool and wouldn't it be lovely if it was full of water. I shared this thought with Maya who proceeded to point out all the flaws in this idea. *sigh* A Mom can dream.....
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