Mary in India

So, Tresta is a fellow volunteer here with AIC. Unlike other volunteers, but LIKE me, she lives here. She lives with her boyfriend in a nice apartment in Kaliyani Nagar. Since Tresta volunteered for AIC back in 2008 and is now back again, she has a lot of insights in how much AIC has grown and improved. She also has tons of wonderful India knowledge. Both her and her boyfriend have travelled India and her boyfriend has lived in Pune for 4 years now. They know all the best restaurants in Pune. It's so nice to have someone with this knowledge. Not the same as having an Indian friend of course (still looking for one ;p) but good enough.

In light of the fact that during the week I spend my time at AIC with her, Tresta has offered their extra guest room to me to stay in when I stay the nights in town. Even though Remi and I technically LIVE in Pune, we're actually out in Fursungi which is quite far from the downtown/fun areas. So of course I took her up on this offer, it's so much easier for me this way. So I am away from Remi 2 nights a week but he doesn't mind since he is so crazy busy with work at the moment anyway. Plus, he has always encouraged my work with AIC since day one, which I appreciate.

Just last week Tresta, her BF, and I went out to dinner at Malaka Spice (funny name because I am like 99% sure 'malaka' in Greek means 'asshole') for the first time, well first time for me, not them...they're regulars. The food is all Asian style, and by that I mean the menu is a mix up of Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Malaysian, even Indian style foods. The food was so delicious! And much needed after weeks of only Indian food. Remi was so jealous when I told him I got to eat some decent Thai food finally, and can't wait to try the restaurant out for himself. Thai and Sushi are Remi's two favorite foods. The atmosphere here is great, we ate outside (luckily I had my mosquito spray) and were brought plenty of drinks for once. Although the mixed drinks are a little weak (which all us expats agreed tend to be in India) everything else was perfect. The appetizers were so yummy, I could eat plates of these little kebabs and dumplings. I am definitely going back with Remi.

Sidenote:

As a rule I find in fancier restaurants in India you tend to get a little annoyed with the waiters. They either never bring you drinks you ask for (annoying!), they often bring you something different than what you ordered (Remi calls it the 'lottery'), or they come to your table too often and bother you with questions they should have asked the first time they took your order. They also don't hesitate to interrupt your conversations (which I hate). And they really try to push you to order more appetizers than you want and really really push desserts, even though you've kindly told them no several times already, and even when you finally say 'If I eat another bite I'll explode', they'll still pester you! You really have to put your foot down and say NOOOOOO THANK YOU!!!!

It gets old, but it's India.