I discovered Kingfisher beer in Springfield, MA, at an Indian restaurant as part of our send off from Widi's friends, and we've been drinking it here since it's locally brewed and rather light and refreshing. A couple of expatriates have mentioned, "Well, I hear they mix it with glycerin." We have just ignored these comments since we have a whole case at home and we're enjoying it. So Widi and I were happily splitting large bottles of Kingfisher, that comment came up again the other night, and then when some people were paying their checks, one Corona drinker was questioning the waiter and learned there was a 58% luxury tax on imported beer. She was distressed to learn that she was paying $13/bottle. "That glycerin is tasting better all the time," I quipped to new friends, who are just learning about our living large yet frugally mentality.
We are starting to get reports of visitors coming to India. Two of Widi's friends from Indonesia are coming in the next couple months, Susan Tyler is planning a January trip, and my mother and her cousin are planning to come but dates have not been set. Make your guestroom reservations soon! We have discovered, however, that the downstairs guestroom bathroom does not have a hot water heater. We're going to check into having one installed. The bathrooms are screened, non-air conditioned, so they stay steamy and the tepid shower water, is perfectly fine in this climate. Still, there's something about hot showers that Americans, more than others I think, are attached to. The shower upstairs in John's bathroom, and the master bath both have heaters, but the downstairs guestroom is much more secluded for our guests, so we'll work on that.
As we sat on the beach watching John search and capture unsuspecting crabs last evening just before sunset, a funeral march came by. We thought it was a Diwali celebration because just ahead of the march, young men were setting off firecrackers. There was a drum and bugle playing as the all male procession passed by carrying a brightly flowered casket of sorts. Later we noticed a fire burning across a field, and a neighbor told us they were cremating the person right there.
Also on the walk back home Widi pointed out these large grasshopper-looking bugs eating leaves like hungry caterpillars. They were very well camouflaged as they devoured the bushes. When we asked, a woman said the translation was "cutting parrots" because these bugs, which are large, colorful and fly like parrots, have sharp legs, so if they hit you, you get cut. We took a bunch of pictures because they looked so cool, and none of them flew away, but Widi thought they looked like locust and with so many of them, we wondered what kind of damage they might do.
If you've ever experienced the Chinese New Year, you'll appreciate the sounds of Indian Diwali. It's a time of random and frequent fire crackers. The actual date of Diwali is October 17 this year, but already there are loud and startling sounds like gunshots in our neighborhood. We'll be heading down to the Annamalai Hotel in the former French town of Pondicherry on Saturday, the holiday itself, so we'll see how much louder and more startling it gets. After two nights there, we'll have four days of retreat at The Dune, Eco-Village and Spa, which hopefully will be far from the celebrations. I'm looking forward to the daily yoga and meditation sessions and, of course, the loungers on the beach and at the pool...
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