Weirdness

Do you ever have those times where things just seem to be a little weird? Not really bad, just weird. Like out of the normal things keep happening that are just for lack of a better word, weird. The last couple of days have been that way for me.

We went to Pondicherry this past Saturday and lucky for us they were not on strike again so things were actually opened! Yeah! Right as we were about to be dropped off, it started pouring rain. It has been raining almost all week, and raining pretty hard at that. Like I had to go buy an umbrella it has been so constant. Funny side note, when it rains people grab bags and simply put them over their heads. Not over their faces, but over their heads so their hair stays dry. I don’t know if part of the reason they do that is because wet hair is often associated with getting sick, but it can be pretty funny to see all these people who are soaked through to the bone everywhere else but they make sure they make sure at least their hair is dry by placing a bag over their head. Here is a pic of J-Raj with Cohen during a downpour the other day. Cohen doesn't like getting attention or being touch by others very much. Silly Boy.

But that is not the point. The point is that it was coming down pretty hard so we asked Rajenderain if he would drop us off at Bakers Street, which is a little café we LOVE going too. He said he would, and dropped us off at what he was sure was Bakers Street-but it sure wasn’t and not only that but it wasn’t really even near Bakers Street. But the rain was getting worse and worse so we went into this little clothing shop to wait out the storm. It was an enchanting shop, in a garage sale mixed with swap meet kind of a way, complete with fake grass/mini golf turf covering the whole floor of the store.

Once the storm let up we walked the six-ish blocks to Bakers Street, where I got my usual ham and cheese croissant with a pastry, only I had to try a new pastry this time because they didn’t have the raspberry tart I am obsessed with. I decided a little lemon tart looked good. By the looks of it, it’s name, ingredients, etc. I was expecting it to taste like a lemon bar/slightly more lemony version of key lime pie. Seems sensible right? Imagine my disappointment when I took a bite and tasted fish. Strong fish. I thought I was crazy so I took another bite-but it was the same thing. I was so confused so I pushed it aside, worked on my croissant some, then went back for my third bite-which was the fishy-est of all of them. It was so bad I started pulling faces and getting goosebumps-I don’t know if I have mentioned this before or not, but I am not much of a fish person. I love to swim with them and see them but I hate eating them. But even if I liked fish I wouldn't have liked this pastry any more-especially not when you are expecting divine pastry and get a mouth full of fermenting aquatic life. The rest of the group tried it, and were gagging at the fish taste too-and they like fish! So yeah, needless to say, that went back to the counter and was switched out for a brownie faster then you can say Tuna. 

So we had the fake grass garage sell/swap meet store, my lemon tart that tasted like the dumpster smells of SeaWorld, and then we were off to the Grand Bazzar-which you can usually smell-you guessed it, the fish section-a couple of blocks away. Surprisingly today though, since it was a weird day, we could hardly smell it, and when we did it was so mellow even though it was still right there. I took the girls to the textile part of the Grand Bazzar, which I felt kind of bad for later because I basically took the equivalent of  a bunch of alcoholics to a bar.  3 hours later (okay I honestly don’t know if it was really three hours but if it wasn’t it was close) we forced them to move on, several shopping bags in tow. Berlyn has been wanting to get her nose pierced for a bit so she found a place to do it today and get this-the stud and piercing cost a total of 100 rupees-that is a little less then $2 USD. And it wasn’t in some dark ally way either, it was in a fancy jewelry store. I was holding her hand while it happened, while she was also latched onto the lady store worker, with all other available employees watching and laughing. She kept getting scared and backing away when ever the guy put the gun anywhere close to her face-but once it was done, she celebrated by throwing both arms in the air and cheering. Oh Berlyny. We love her. I have to admit that there has always been a small part of me that wants to get a nose ring. I think that with the right face, having a small stud or small sparkle on the side of your nose is so cute. I was really tempted for 100 rupees but I totally chickened out. With my luck I would probably have some massive complication with it, but even then, I can just let it grow in before it fully heals and then all that is lost is $1.75. We will see if I find the courage to do it before I go home, but for now I'll have to stick with my stick on bindi nose piercing studs. If only I didn’t have to worry about finding a job when I get home. Or MRSA. Or my allergies. 

As per ususal I am having a hard time with the video loading, but believe me it was funny. You can't really see her piercing in this pic, but I promise it is there!

The last weirdness on Pondy came at the super market. I FOUND HAIRSPRAY, a HUGE ball of mozzarella cheese, feta cheese, BLACK BEANS, baked beans. Blue cheese dressing and Chicken Vienna Sausages. The last two things I wouldn’t have the craving for at home, but I see them in India and the desire overpowers me. I don’t even think I have eaten Vienna Sausages since I was around five years old. I am constantly amazed at the food cravings I have had here. They really are so random. Every trip to the super market has become very exciting because I keep surprising myself. And just FYI, even the huge mother ball of mozzarella cheese was  pretty cheap-like less then 1/3 of the price of the Almond Hersey Kisses. Literally, less then 1/3.