Holler India: Pot

Last night’s potluck was wonderful! Thanks, Mark, Alice, and Sam – for being such great hosts! About 15 of us Fulbrighters & friends got together at their place for drinks, food, and Hindi music.

Mark, Lauren, Alice & Dodie

I made these:

It was fabulous! And super easy to make. If anyone ever needs a quick, easy dessert:

Fruit Cheesecake Bites

Wholemeal biscuits (I got “Digestives” brand)

Cream Cheese

Powdered sugar

Fruit (I used pomegranate & kiwi)

Mix cream cheese until creamy.
Add in powdered sugar to taste.
Assemble: lay out biscuits, spread on cheesecake frosting, and top with fruit.
(Other options: Add a squirt of lime in the frosting to make a key-lime pie. Or top with some almonds. Or crushed Oreos. Mmm)

Coming back from their place at 11:30 was a bit problematic. First, it was raining, which typically means that all the streets flood up and auto rickshaws become boats and no one wants to work. Second, it was quite late, so alleys were deserted and creepy fobby boys were out and began to follow Dodie Lauren and me on our way to the find an auto. So… after about 15 minutes of trying, we decided to go back to the house call a cab. One hour later, the cab had still not arrived because he was lost.

This situation inspired me to search for directions from Malviya Nagar to my place in New Friends Colony. Here were the results:

Aurobindo Marg 12.4 km		17 mins
		New Friends Colony, Bharat Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi, India
1.	Head northwest on CV Raman Marg		0.1 km
2.	Take the 1st left toward Mathura Rd		0.6 km
3.	Turn left at Mathura Rd		1.0 km
4.	Take the exit		0.2 km
5.	Continue straight		0.5 km
6.	Continue straight onto Bhakti Vedant Swami Marg		0.3 km
7.	Slight left at Kalkaji Flyover/Outer Ring Rd Continue to follow Outer Ring Rd		4.8 km
8.	Turn left		0.6 km
9.	Turn left		0.1 km
		N Block N Block Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, New Delhi, Delhi (state) 110016, India

My favorite is "4) Take the exit". Does the exit have a name?

My conclusion is that you just have to be really direction savvy to be a taxi driver here in India. Our driver was clearly not.

In other exciting news - I may have found an NGO to volunteer! Still need to meet with the director and see what projects we come up with. I'm fiddling with two options: 1) A photovoice project, which I'm really dying to try out. OR 2) an acting/role-play workshop, which will help girls gain communication skills and educate them about a particular topic. Keep you posted - but I am so excited!

Oh - some of you might be wondering why I spend all my time doing NON-autism related stuff (eating, hindi, shopping). I am here on 2 types of Fulbright grants - one is the Research grant, where I'll be able to conduct my own research on Autism. The other is the Critical Language grant - which pays for my intensive Hindi course (20 hours/week). Until October 20, I'm only taking Hindi classes... and then I'll move onto my own project. Since my project requires interviews, I need to be able to know Hindi to start it. Meanwhile, before I start my project, I'm going to work on other public healthy stuff, because Public Health is COOL!