the little things

Being in India--or, I would imagine, in any faraway place for an extended period of time--makes me appreciate strange things that I would typically overlook in the states, viz. my new-found obsession with X-Men.

Ya, Hugh, that's just about how I feel when I go outside into the blistering heat (requisite weather complaint: see
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/heat-wave-will-continue-says-weatherman-lead_100208610.htmlhttp://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/heat-wave-will-continue-says-weatherman-lead_100208610.html

nuff said)

So, after seeing the most recent X-Men movie on the big screen last weekend, I have been downloading bits and pieces of the other 3 movies on the internet all week. And I will admit, with some chagrin, that I already have plans to see the film again this coming weekend. I don't even like action films! Or sci-fi films! Or whatever you'd call X-Men.


I had a similar experience recently with a culinary delight called "Suddenly Pasta Salad".

My dear former roommate was kind enough to leave me a year-and-a-half dusty old box of this stuff when she left India. Someone had sent/brought it to her from the US, and she had never gotten around to using it. I thought to myself, "What the hell am I going to do with this?!"...and a week later, it was gone. The entire, mushy, just-add-mayonnaise bacon-bit-flavored box of it. Devoured, with glee.

I recall a similar incident during my year as a student in Banaras involving five people and an entire log of Velveeta "cheese" that had been sent by one of my compatriots' moms.

All of which is to say, India makes you appreciate the little things. This is, in fact, one thing I love about India. Take my new roommate, for instance:

He has been wandering around my kitchen for several days now. This morning I found him moored in the sink, an undoubtedly traumatic experience for him, but it gave me the opportunity to pick him up and feel his sticky little feet clinging onto my hand. He's currently excaped the heat of the kitchen and is hiding under my bureau.

One of these days I'll get around to writing a blog post about my actual research, which is coming along quite well. In the telling it's not very exciting, so I have been trying to think of more interesting things to write about. Basically, I just go to a different clinic every day and wait around for patients to show up. In between, I am doing some networking with professors, professionals, and doctors. The hard part was locating doctors and getting their permission. Now that I have done so with about 13 docs, the research practically runs itself. Sort of.

I will leave you with a parting photo. This was the view from our hotel in Goa: