I've got a week left until I'm supposed to return to the states. Technically, the US is "home"...it's where I'm from, where I grew up, it's what I know. However, in the last two months, Delhi has become home. You know that feeling you get when you travel somewhere and your heart tells you it's where you belong? I never had that in the Pacific Northwest. It always felt odd. India though, India is where my heart belongs. It's where it will forever stay.
As I've been recollecting my thoughts and looking back through the past couple of months, I've realized I'm going to miss a lot about this place:
1) How they put a green dot on foods to indicate it's vegetarian, and a red to denote non-veg and it's on EVERYTHING. There's no need to guess if it's got meat in it or not...
2) How you can walk anywhere for at least 5 minutes and run into a market...
3) The markets even if they're small, have everything you could need or want on a daily basis...
4) The chemists act as general physician doctors so you don't need to spend extra money if you already know what's ailing you. And then when you need it, the antibiotics or other drugs are really super cheap...
5) Food isn't just a necessity, it's what brings people together. Oh, and as an added bonus, 95% of it is good!!...
6) Vegetarian meals don't seem so odd, you could (at least temporarily) picture yourself not eating meat every again...
7) The lizard(s) that hang out in your room, behind your tube light, and underneath your bed...
8) How people help each other, hidden agendas or not...
9) Seeing children knocking on your car window to buy meaningless crap instead of going to school, and feeling helpless in a messed up world...
10) Getting the material for a shirt for $2.50 and then having a tailor make it to fit your unique body for another $2.50...
11) Nosey Aunty and Uncle who are in everyone's business for the sake of community. Nevermind the fact that they're unfortunately where you live and not down the street...
12) Being stared at like you're some alien from outer space because you're so pale. Then again, the paleness is a sign of beauty so it makes you feel like the prettiest woman on Earth...
13) Driving down the road in a taxi and feeling like you're on Space Mountain in Disneyland, with the lights on...
14) The spirituality India posses, moving you in ways you only dreamed of, making you want to learn more...
15) Never quite feeling as feminine as you did before with the sarees and the jewelry and the bangles and the shoes and everything else that females wear here on a daily basis, because they can...
16) Driving the equivalent of Portland to Seattle for a get-away, but it takes you all day to get there because of the traffic...
17) "Bathing" in the Ganga river and feeling healed although you probably inhaled your fair share of pollutants and deadly diseases...
18) Playing in the Arabian Sea, learning how salty it really is, and watching the sun set over the palm tree lined, white sand beaches...
19) The markets! Ohhhh geez, I'm definitely going to miss the markets! I'm going to miss wandering through the little paths filled with thousands of people looking for good deals. Then haggling prices with the owner who first give you an inflated price because you're white but learn that you've been in the game before and quickly lower their prices so you don't go to the stall down the alleyway which was offering it to you for 200 bucks (Rupees) less...
20) Trying to plan things in advance but having to succumb to the millions of others who will do what they want when they want, and ending up just going with the flow...
21) Learning that even through all of the bad, the good is still 100x better than where you're from...
I really don't want to go back to the US! =(
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Food In America Vs. India
I've been here less than a month and judging by the way my pants fit, I've probably lost a good 10 pounds or so. Really I'm not eating less but I've started to realize some of the key differences between the two countries which might be contributing to my weight loss.
1)The Heat – While it's not particularly about the food per se, the heat in this country has a lot to do with the food combinations that go on in India. For example, onions apparently are good for you in the heat. You'll find onions in almost all of the food. Scary, I'm learning to eat them. Still can't consume onions by their lonesome but I can eat fresh onions mixed with other food. Not only that, the heat causes people to eat less and drink more. Water is everywhere. And although soft drinks are too, the variety is limited and the caloric value is actually less per serving than in the US. Go figure. People drink Coke for a special occasion, not 8 cans a day everyday (you know who you are).
2)Preservatives – Wow. I couldn't figure out why all packaged foods have expiration dates. ALL. Even dry soup packets, which would last an eternity in the US, have expiration dates. Then, I started looking at the ingredient list of the packages. Amazingly, I can pronounce every single ingredient in the package. No preservatives or weird chemical names. I'm willing to bet that the chemical makeup of the foods in the US is the reason why obesity is such a huge problem. I'm still eating. Since my Delhi Belly has corrected itself, I've been eating more. Yet, my pants are continually growing and my belt needs some new holes because it's getting too big.
3)Knowledge is Power – You won't find every other commercial on the TV some new drug promising to correct everything that's wrong with you at the expense of some new problem (side effects). At the same time, Diabetes is a problem in this country. And judging by the amount of road-side advertisements, sugar-free products, etc that this country has, it is either a very big problem, or this country is making sure that people are aware of the dangers of Diabetes. Not only that, it seems like India is going out of it's way to provide enough information so one doesn't have to rely on 10 different Diabetes drugs to live.
4)Dining Out – I'm not sure if it's because I'm trying to be health conscious or if the portions are really out of control, but one dish at a restaurant is about four servings. While I usually share orders with others or take 4 days to consume, I've also noticed others doing the same when out (i.e. sharing). I remember going to Goa Sizzlers (which is like a sizzler platter). For some reason, the four of us (Rahul, Sid, Shweta, and I) ordered our own platters while every other table only had one or two for the tables. We realized when the food came, that it was just way too much. We should have ordered two sizzlers for the four of us. Even then, there still would have been left-overs. What's even better, the only fast food in this country is KFC, McDonald's, and Subway. However, it's really not fast food. There's no drive-thru windows. You have to go in and order your food, sit down, and eat. Or order for delivery. I've yet to visit any of these establishments because we have them back home and I'd rather have good food. I guess I should try one some day just for more comparison. All restaurants I've visited use more fresh ingredients, less frozen reconstituted crap.
5)Fresh Foods – The chicken isn't force fed grain. The chicken eggs are amazing. Mutton, pork, sea food...they're all fresh(er) and less engineered. It's obvious when you taste the food. Produce is usually local too. It's like when you buy local fruits back home and bite into that crispy apple.
I really wish the US would take a cue from other countries and learn to rely less on the drug companies and more on the farming communities for food choices. I'm happy that there is a movement in the United States for co-op farming or farming markets but I wish that it was more main-stream and less expensive so those who have health concerns can enjoy eating right.
1)The Heat – While it's not particularly about the food per se, the heat in this country has a lot to do with the food combinations that go on in India. For example, onions apparently are good for you in the heat. You'll find onions in almost all of the food. Scary, I'm learning to eat them. Still can't consume onions by their lonesome but I can eat fresh onions mixed with other food. Not only that, the heat causes people to eat less and drink more. Water is everywhere. And although soft drinks are too, the variety is limited and the caloric value is actually less per serving than in the US. Go figure. People drink Coke for a special occasion, not 8 cans a day everyday (you know who you are).
2)Preservatives – Wow. I couldn't figure out why all packaged foods have expiration dates. ALL. Even dry soup packets, which would last an eternity in the US, have expiration dates. Then, I started looking at the ingredient list of the packages. Amazingly, I can pronounce every single ingredient in the package. No preservatives or weird chemical names. I'm willing to bet that the chemical makeup of the foods in the US is the reason why obesity is such a huge problem. I'm still eating. Since my Delhi Belly has corrected itself, I've been eating more. Yet, my pants are continually growing and my belt needs some new holes because it's getting too big.
3)Knowledge is Power – You won't find every other commercial on the TV some new drug promising to correct everything that's wrong with you at the expense of some new problem (side effects). At the same time, Diabetes is a problem in this country. And judging by the amount of road-side advertisements, sugar-free products, etc that this country has, it is either a very big problem, or this country is making sure that people are aware of the dangers of Diabetes. Not only that, it seems like India is going out of it's way to provide enough information so one doesn't have to rely on 10 different Diabetes drugs to live.
4)Dining Out – I'm not sure if it's because I'm trying to be health conscious or if the portions are really out of control, but one dish at a restaurant is about four servings. While I usually share orders with others or take 4 days to consume, I've also noticed others doing the same when out (i.e. sharing). I remember going to Goa Sizzlers (which is like a sizzler platter). For some reason, the four of us (Rahul, Sid, Shweta, and I) ordered our own platters while every other table only had one or two for the tables. We realized when the food came, that it was just way too much. We should have ordered two sizzlers for the four of us. Even then, there still would have been left-overs. What's even better, the only fast food in this country is KFC, McDonald's, and Subway. However, it's really not fast food. There's no drive-thru windows. You have to go in and order your food, sit down, and eat. Or order for delivery. I've yet to visit any of these establishments because we have them back home and I'd rather have good food. I guess I should try one some day just for more comparison. All restaurants I've visited use more fresh ingredients, less frozen reconstituted crap.
5)Fresh Foods – The chicken isn't force fed grain. The chicken eggs are amazing. Mutton, pork, sea food...they're all fresh(er) and less engineered. It's obvious when you taste the food. Produce is usually local too. It's like when you buy local fruits back home and bite into that crispy apple.
I really wish the US would take a cue from other countries and learn to rely less on the drug companies and more on the farming communities for food choices. I'm happy that there is a movement in the United States for co-op farming or farming markets but I wish that it was more main-stream and less expensive so those who have health concerns can enjoy eating right.
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