Wednesday 19^th December

Many drinks parties, at this time of year.  I have enjoyed them all very much but have been a bit startled, each time, to discover that there is yet more food to be eaten.  I am a slow learner!  I love small bite-sized bits of food – delicious dips, prunes wrapped in bacon, goats cheese tarts, chilli prawns on a skewer.  Yum yum, yes please I say, as I scoff yet another one, firmly saying to myself, Well that is DINNER!  But on several occasions there has been an unexpected announcement – dinner is served, out on the veranda… And yes, MORE delicious food, in large amounts!

Apart from the copious amounts of food, I have also enjoyed copious amounts of conversation.

For example:

In Jericho I discussed the horrors of losing an iPhone… Lynne’s beloved iPhone 3 has now been replaced by a new and shiny iPhone 4 because the first one was drowned in her handbag in a small but lethal puddle of whisky.  A stylish way to go but very distressing for her.  She spent a good few hours in my new spiritual home – the Telstra shop near Woolworths in town…

Also in Jericho I had very interesting conversations about:

Seasickness (no there is no cure)

Sheep

Dogs

Ovarian cancer (there can be a cure, with a bit of luck and a fair wind.  Have a pap smear right now!!!))

Oh and possums… While we were having the above conversations, some of the daughters of the house came to join us.  “We don’t usually light this fire.  So I suppose possums won’t be able to come down the chimney tonight.”  We asked about the possums, and our 8 year old hostess gestured to the walls, which were, somewhat dramatically, covered with paw-prints.  “Possums!”  So we asked about the opposite wall, which had big black smears.  “No not possums…Charlie!”  Young brothers can be every bit as destructive as possums.

India #46

Much as we loved the Narmada Jackson, we very quickly realised it wasn’t our sort of place for dinner.  There was a large new cafeteria type place, with food in bainmaries.  The other option was a formal dining room with starched tablecloths and a superabundance of waiters.  So on our first evening in Jabalpur we set off to find our favourite sort of Indian restaurant, ie cheap and cheerful (and yummy.)  There was a small shop nearby, so Vish and Pete went in to ask for a recommendation.  They got long complicated directions; apparently our Mecca was the Rissy Regency.  Highly recommended.  We walked the length and breadth of the centre of Jabalpur, all in the dark, skirting potholes and poos and wondering where on earth we were going down the long dark streets.  Past the Hindu temple, past the Hare Krishnas, past a busy roundabout, back down another street, back up yet another one, oh there is the temple again… Back down the street.  Near the temples, Pete had espied a small restaurant, the Hotel Lovely.  He murmured, “Well that looks like our sort of place…” but Vish was on a mission.  He had been convinced that the Rissy Regency was our right and proper destination and we were going to find it by hook or by crook.  At last!  Rissy Regency!  But..oh no…Starched white tablecloths, a plethora of waiters, no other Indian customers…not for us!

Back we went, past the Hare Krisha and the Hindu temple, back to the Lovely Hotel, where we found perfectly delicious food, for about $7 for all four of us.  I shouldn’t think other foreigners go there at all; it was frequented entirely by young Indian men, mostly watching cricket on TV.  We went back there twice more, for lunch the next night and lunch before we left and the chef and waiter were flabbergasted, and delighted, to see us return.  My notes say, “No women, plastic chairs, kitty parties.”  And indeed on the menu they advertised kitty parties, and wedding receptions, 70 rupees per head.  This is TWO DOLLARS per head, for what I am sure would be a totally delicious Indian nuptial feast!  (As for the kitty parties…well I am sure they would be full of food and games for small children, not anything else at all…)