America sneaks up
Well, it's been an American week, at any rate. Strange, considering that the quickest way back to the good old US of A would be a tunnel through the center of the earth. Remember that? I know that when I was little, I was obsessed with digging a tunnel to the other side of the world. Hey, I was a tough little kid! At the time, it was all about China. What did I know about India, besides that The Jungle Book was set there?
But anyway, I'm now ten-ish years older and not very much wiser. Tunnels gave way to airplanes, and I've been matching dreams with reality. By and large, I'm loving the culture, gulping down mango lassi and rassa. Last week, however, we did the unthinkable. Morale was low, rupees were scarce, and homesickness reared its ugly head. So, as a group, we decided to throw caution and morality to the wind and go to a McDonald's. Yes, you heard me correctly. Once again, I think it's somewhat funny that I've had more American fast food over here within the past two months than I've had back home in the past year. And no, Taco Bell at home doesn't count. Shhhh!
We walked into a glowing, shiny, very plastic restaurant and were greeted by people taking our orders down on pads. Some strange melding of sit-down and fast-food, this McDonald's had an air of exclusivity and glitz. We were greeted incredibly warmly, even more so than usual. After all, we're the McDonald's poster children (literally). Surprisingly, the food was good. Back home, I avoid McDonald's at all costs. First of all, I saw the movie Super Size Me. Enough said. But secondly, I'm a vegetarian. While ordering a "filet of fish, but hold the fish" is pretty exciting, the resulting meal isn't too spectacular. Over here, in a country of roughly 500 million vegetarians, the veg options were plentiful although deep-fried. I had a McVeggie (a fried and battered concoction of potato, peas, carrots, and Ganesh knows what else...), fries, and a Coke (pesticide and all), and I felt darn good about it. I know that I'm a bad person, but I've accepted that. I plan on having a masala dosa, rice, and dahl for lunch today to attone for my sins.
So, if McDonald's wasn't enough to catapult me back to Minnesota for a week or so, we received some surprising news. The next day, through the wonders of ACM (yet again), we had the opportunity to audition to be extras in the new Angelina Jolie film that's being filmed in Pune. It took me a minute to absorb that. After all of my whimpering and pleading and scouring the newspaper back home, all that I needed to do to audition for a Hollywood film was to travel halfway across the world. OK, you can hardly call filling out a form and getting a picture snapped an audition, but it made me happy. They'll give me a call if they decide that I look like a journalist or an FBI agent... I'm not holding my breath. It was definitely fun, though.
That same day, the American-ness continued. We decided to have lunch at the famous German Bakery, a much-hyped place praised by every foreigner we'd met so far. One thirty-minute rickshaw ride later, we landed in heaven. Ice-cold fruit salad, cheese mushroom pizzas, scrambled eggs, butter croissants, cookies, chocolate pie, spinach burgers... Ahhhhhh. Besides the allure of the food, we walked into a casual, open-air establishment and were pretty much ignored by everyone eating there. I can't tell you how good that felt.
Even though there were a bunch of other foreigners present, they all had the unshowered, white-person-with-dreadlocks look that so many Americans have over here. The fairly (in)famous Osho Ashram is located in the same area, and we encountered quite a few people who came to India seeking enlightenment and hemp clothing in equal amounts. Even though I'm certain that some people here are on a true spiritual quest, I felt like I was back in somebody's dorm room at CC, looking at posters of Bob Marley as some guy who hasn't showered since 1996 tells me that "the devil's in American materialism" and that "Eastern ways are so chill, man." Everybody looked somewhere between blissed out and strung out. I bumped into a woman on my way to the bathroom who told me to "Just feel it. You are one with ohm and the wind... The self needs to dissolve. Forget materialism" or something roughly along those lines. I'm into relaxation and spirituality as much as the next person, but I feel that I'd gain a lot more inner peace and forget materialism by spending the $7000 Osho fees on providing food and housing for others here. But then, I'm just a bleeding-heart liberal. Still, the food was good, the atmosphere "chill," and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Love,
Sarah!
iPod: "Chasing Cars," Snow Patrol
But anyway, I'm now ten-ish years older and not very much wiser. Tunnels gave way to airplanes, and I've been matching dreams with reality. By and large, I'm loving the culture, gulping down mango lassi and rassa. Last week, however, we did the unthinkable. Morale was low, rupees were scarce, and homesickness reared its ugly head. So, as a group, we decided to throw caution and morality to the wind and go to a McDonald's. Yes, you heard me correctly. Once again, I think it's somewhat funny that I've had more American fast food over here within the past two months than I've had back home in the past year. And no, Taco Bell at home doesn't count. Shhhh!
We walked into a glowing, shiny, very plastic restaurant and were greeted by people taking our orders down on pads. Some strange melding of sit-down and fast-food, this McDonald's had an air of exclusivity and glitz. We were greeted incredibly warmly, even more so than usual. After all, we're the McDonald's poster children (literally). Surprisingly, the food was good. Back home, I avoid McDonald's at all costs. First of all, I saw the movie Super Size Me. Enough said. But secondly, I'm a vegetarian. While ordering a "filet of fish, but hold the fish" is pretty exciting, the resulting meal isn't too spectacular. Over here, in a country of roughly 500 million vegetarians, the veg options were plentiful although deep-fried. I had a McVeggie (a fried and battered concoction of potato, peas, carrots, and Ganesh knows what else...), fries, and a Coke (pesticide and all), and I felt darn good about it. I know that I'm a bad person, but I've accepted that. I plan on having a masala dosa, rice, and dahl for lunch today to attone for my sins.
So, if McDonald's wasn't enough to catapult me back to Minnesota for a week or so, we received some surprising news. The next day, through the wonders of ACM (yet again), we had the opportunity to audition to be extras in the new Angelina Jolie film that's being filmed in Pune. It took me a minute to absorb that. After all of my whimpering and pleading and scouring the newspaper back home, all that I needed to do to audition for a Hollywood film was to travel halfway across the world. OK, you can hardly call filling out a form and getting a picture snapped an audition, but it made me happy. They'll give me a call if they decide that I look like a journalist or an FBI agent... I'm not holding my breath. It was definitely fun, though.
That same day, the American-ness continued. We decided to have lunch at the famous German Bakery, a much-hyped place praised by every foreigner we'd met so far. One thirty-minute rickshaw ride later, we landed in heaven. Ice-cold fruit salad, cheese mushroom pizzas, scrambled eggs, butter croissants, cookies, chocolate pie, spinach burgers... Ahhhhhh. Besides the allure of the food, we walked into a casual, open-air establishment and were pretty much ignored by everyone eating there. I can't tell you how good that felt.
Even though there were a bunch of other foreigners present, they all had the unshowered, white-person-with-dreadlocks look that so many Americans have over here. The fairly (in)famous Osho Ashram is located in the same area, and we encountered quite a few people who came to India seeking enlightenment and hemp clothing in equal amounts. Even though I'm certain that some people here are on a true spiritual quest, I felt like I was back in somebody's dorm room at CC, looking at posters of Bob Marley as some guy who hasn't showered since 1996 tells me that "the devil's in American materialism" and that "Eastern ways are so chill, man." Everybody looked somewhere between blissed out and strung out. I bumped into a woman on my way to the bathroom who told me to "Just feel it. You are one with ohm and the wind... The self needs to dissolve. Forget materialism" or something roughly along those lines. I'm into relaxation and spirituality as much as the next person, but I feel that I'd gain a lot more inner peace and forget materialism by spending the $7000 Osho fees on providing food and housing for others here. But then, I'm just a bleeding-heart liberal. Still, the food was good, the atmosphere "chill," and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
Love,
Sarah!
iPod: "Chasing Cars," Snow Patrol
posted by Sarah! at 10:54 PM
2 Comments:
OH NO! Shame on you Sarah. I vividly remember you swearing off McD's for the rest of your life as we walked out of Supersize me. Last time I had it, I was bed-ridden for a few hours due to stomach pain. That's how bad it is for you.
But I guess it's ok, because you are listening to snow patrol.
no worries cousin! i was at the mcds in moscow the other day, and i have to say the fries are even better than back home. i think they still use the old type of oil. i am loving your blog, keep it up!
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