"Use Your Right Hand"!

This weekend, I'm in my dear Hosur once again using this slow computer that has, weekend after weekend, eased my longing for the world wide web. Then, after sending you all my love, the volunteers are going to meet up with all the teachers to enjoy an Indian lunch which will most likely include: chicken, mushy vegetables, some powerfully flavored sauces and some scrumptious Indian bread. By the way, I think that in southern India, the concept of "al dente" vegetables would be incomprehensible. They cook and re-cook and re-boil vegetables till they become so soft that you basically have to scoop it off the plate as if it were Gerber.

In reference to dining I must also mention that I am finally brilliant at eating only with my right hand. You know how western etiquette claims that pushing yourself with the knife is bad manners? I have always thought it was a stupid rule, simply impractical. Well, at least the Indians have a perfectly good and legitimate reason for not using their left hand, if you know what I mean. I have gotten really good at keeping it either under the table or nowadays even resting next to my plate without even moving it slightly before remembering not to use it. It was really awkward at the beginning, when I couldn't help but rip the chapattis (basically an Indian tortilla) with both my hands. The younger children would look at me with a puzzled face and very frankly whisper to my ear: "Miss Blue Jay, put your left hand away", haha, it was really cute but certainly a bit embarrassing.

Another particular habit that at first I had to get used to but now brings me satisfaction is the fact that apart from the rice, I have been eating only with my hand (singular) and barely ever using utensils. Although they do have forks available, Indian food is most often, made to be eaten with your hand. The way the teachers do it is amazing. The way they move their fingers to quickly and neatly assemble bites and then place them at the tip of their mouth without spilling a drop is seriously a mechanism that requires practice. Usually you scoop out the lentil juice and vegetables from a small bowl with whatever type of Indian bread or tortilla you get that day. At first I was a mess at it, I would spill everywhere and would never be able to scoop out the right amount of juice, making my bites entirely disappointing. Now, although I have yet to manage how to do it as gracefully as my fellow Indian teachers, I no longer appear to eat like a blind chicken and food even tastes better when I eat with my hand =).

That's all for now, I'll see you back here soon!

I miss you.