Two Great Days

So I was I didn’t write this weekend, but for once it wasn’t because I had some terrible illness sucking away my joy and happiness- I was busy!

Friday was my first Indian cooking class, and I learned the dirrernce between South and North Indian food, as well how to make some tasty basics like naan and chicken curry.  I am thinking a dinner party will be in order for all my Knoxville friends when I am back in town, so you may have the privledge of marveling at my talentsJ  Our cooking class got out pretty late, and since we had planned such a busy day Saturday, we ecided to cool our heels and go see the new snow white movie.  Indian movie theaters are cleaner, comfier, and all aroud better than ours.  Also, it doesn’t hurt that Chris Hmsworth is hot on every continent.

Saturday we toured the communtities that our university in Bangalore sponsors as part of it’s service learviing initiative, including a leoprosy facility, shelter for battered women, and a school for children with HIV.  This was not a charity system- everyone who was able(except kids)  worked at producing some kind of skill or craft tha could be sold and used to sustain the community.  Leoporsy seems like such an old fashioned thing to me, and t was really shocking to see people missing limbs and fingers from it, working to make candles or sew purses.  The coordinator was very strict on pointing out that these people were not disabled- they were differently abled, and in fact quite capable of being productive.

After the communities visit, Niana, Eddie and I hoped off the bus “literally” in the middle of down tow, in order to visit the Bull Temple, a great landmark of Bangalore.  The temple itself was handsome, but nothing like the gold and silver fantatsies seen elsewhere.  It’s primary focus was a giant statue of a black bull.  We were the only parisoners there at that time, so we had a moment to chat with the priest. The temple and statue were 500 years old, and his family had served as the priest their the entire time.  Americans really have no sense of scale for something like that- I am proud to be at least three generations Lutheran on my father’s side of the family, the odea of a dynasty that goes ack five times longer is mind- blowing.  The gardens around the temple were huge and lush, with lots of water formation, flowers, and yes, monkeys.

That night for dinner one of my friends here, Amanda, had a friend who was actually playing jazz in the city that night.  The show was really great, and the bar itself was very new and tasty, the perfect end to a very, very long day.