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World domination....

.......... is not easy!

I went over to Tyler's house last night and played the boardgame 'Risk' with the other UCC people and thanks to my husband's awful tip I lost :-P .

But it was a lot of fun nevertheless and I finally tasted Canadian beer which was really good!

And no, NOT maple syrup flavored.  People have GOT to stop asking me that.

Eggscapades

No body warned me that boiling an egg can be quite an ordeal. I followed a youtube video that took me through a long, step by step procedure of how to make the 'perfect hard boiled egg'. Now my first reaction was skepticism because it's JUST an egg for crying out loud. Easy peasy, right?! 

Wrong.

It is a painful procedure especially paired with a ceramic top stove that takes a century to heat up and actually get the water boiling. And as the name 'hard boiled egg' suggests, boiling hot water is, unfortunately, an important element. Sigh. 

I was dying of hunger and in desperation I started eating leftover Lebanese tabbouleh salad to stop my tummy from growling. Speaking of growling tummies, I was sitting in church this sunday (and had forgotten to eat a granola bar before leaving home), and my tummy growled sooo loudly that Sarah got up and fetched me a cookie :-O.  Slightly embarrassing but fortunately Indians can't turn red.

Back to my eggs. After what seemed like 20 bathroom breaks later, the water finally started boiling and after timing the eggs bla bla, I finally peeled one open and inside was a beautiful, perfectly boiled egg. Not a hint of gray, just bright yellow, soft deliciousness. I can't believe I just called a boiled egg delicious because once upon a time they made me gag.

Times have changed!

Poo(p) Pourri

Imagine this. You're at a swanky bar, dressed to the 9s, sipping on cocktails, talking to a group of people who think you're the coolest girl on the earth. Then you're tummy begins to rumble. And not because you're hungry. You mentally chastise yourself because you know you should've have stayed away from that taco earlier. You politely excuse yourself and make your way to the restroom.

You quickly slam the restroom door shut, sit down on the toilet and get to business. The clock is ticking and you really want to leave, but today just isn't your day. So you keep sitting there waiting for business to end. You can sense that the line outside the restroom is getting longer and longer. People are getting impatient and you can hear them murmuring to each other "Is anybody in there? It's been forever! Why don't you knock?". Then an impatient knock on the door and you respond, in a strangled, embarrassed voice, "Yes". "Oh", says that person. 

The deed is done and you finally hit the fancy looking flush on the fancy looking toilet you just completely destroyed. But now you face your biggest problem. How do you explain to the girl outside that she probably needs to stay away from the restroom stall for maybe two days if she wants to avoid dying? You open the door and quickly run out the restroom door before anyone takes note of your face and then recognizes you walking around the bar later on.

If that's the story of your life, apparently there's a fantastic product you need to buy. "Poo Pourri" it's called. 

I watched the youtube video and died laughing. Apparently you spray the fragrance into the water of the toilet before you "go" and then after you've "gone" , the layer of essential oils on the water blocks the scent and traps it underneath the water. When you flush you will be able to smell peaches, vanilla, cinnamon and other lovely goodies (depending on what flavor "Poo Pourri" you chose to buy) instead of the terrible crime you just committed behind that shut door. 

Hahaha, I can't stop laughing. 

I know what I'm buying every single person I know for Xmas this year. May we smell like dessert factories always, even at our darkest, most heinous hour.

Wednesday

Lori cooks amazing food! She's so nice and cooks dinner for me also. Roast ham with dijon mustard glaze and pineapples, bruschetta with fresh tomatoes from the garden and mozzarella cheese, white fish with spicy mango thai sauce, salad with artisan lettuce and cranberries, BLTs, pasta with the best sauce ever, spaghetti and meatballs and the list go on! I've been learning so much from her and she mentors me in many ways.

It also gives me great joy that I can now make the money to pay for myself. I've been working hard and the $ is quickly adding up.

Lori gave me a lift to the 'Orange Room' on Wednesday night where the UCC kids meet every week in groups, for the book discussion. Reached there at 8pm and then Lori picked me up close to 10. The book we're reading now is called 'Irresistible Revolution' by Shane Claiborne who by the way, is from Tennessee so his mom does occasionally say things like "You gonna git Yankeeefied" :P .

I had really nice time :) . Plus there were fresh banana muffins and hot chocolate.

My personality is changing and that's so cool!

I have decided that even if my greencard comes soon, I will move to America only after Jonathan moves to Nashville or at least firmly decides on the date. I think I can make enough money on my own to cover all my major expenses so I will be able to stay afloat here on my own, more or less. Being apart is hard, but being immobile and lacking a social circle of my own is harder. So I'm sorry but I choose Windsor.

Indians and white people

Indians are hypocrites in many ways. Don't get me wrong. I love my country and all. 

But I've noticed something. 

Give an Indian the chance to go abroad to white-people land and he/she will be over the moon, excited as excited can be, show off a little, pack their bags and leave ASAP. I'm off to white people land, they'll excitedly text you. Yay, I'm finally leaving this damn country, they'll excitedly say. 

But take away that Indian's chance of ever moving to another country and what's left? A sour-puss Indian with nasty, mean things to say about 'dumb white folks'. Oh, us Indians, we're the smart ones, they'll say. White people are stupid, they'll say. We hate America, they'll say. We hate white people, they'll say. Ugh, you're a Canadian citizen living in racist white-people land, they'll laugh. Don't you know that American's hate your brown skin, they'll say looking all smug. Come back to India, this is where you belong, they'll persuade. 

And that'll be the same Indian who is secretly dying to leave the heat, indiscipline and chaos of the motherland far far behind and run away to another country. 

But the simple truth is that all those harsh critical remarks boil down to one sad little truth - they are destined to remain in India forever, to never move, to never travel, to never see the shore of another country. And that bothers the heck out of them. So what's the only thing left for them to do? Insult the countries they are dying to visit or live in, but never can.

It's called sour grapes. And I've seen it oh so often.

And I have just one response to all those remarks - I may have seen some indifference, but I have also seen more kindness, gentleness, respect and courtesy in North America in just 6 months than I have seen in India for 23 years. And the only instance of meanness I faced here, on the other side of the pond, was from an Indian.

That should say something. 

On the other hand, there are indeed silly white people who don't know anything about anything outside their little counties (refer: tweets about Nina Davuluri, the newly crowned Indian Miss America '14). They still think brown people are all arabs who live in trees and ride elephants. And it still surprises them that my English is impeccable. Every country has it's ignoramuses.

The bottom line is to live and let live :-) . There's goodness everywhere and there's ignorance everywhere. 

Sunday funday, monday and headed south

Sunday was great! Met more fantastic people and Andrea gave me a lift back home. Lunch at the Green Bean was butternut squash soup made by Ben himself. Yummy! Michelle, Nikki and Mady were there again and I got introduced to other people as well. One guy simply could not believe I was 24 and married but said it's a good thing because when I'm like 50 years old I'll probably still look 30. So me being carded everywhere now is a blessing in disguise :-P . I'll try to be that optimistic the next time a bouncer or bar tender suspiciously asks me for my ID.

I also signed up for the weekly discussion group so we're all meeting every wednesday. I've got myself a ride back home so thankfully I don't have to catch the bus at 10 pm, in the dark. Thank goodness for new buddies.

So by 9pm today I wouldve made more than enough $ to cover rent :) . I love my little business because it's flexible and enjoyable.

I was bad yesterday and went shopping. I had to take two buses to get to Devonshire Mall but it was worth it! Definitely jacket weather but not too cold. I love H&M so that's of course where I first headed. And then Ardenne and Target for some belts. Got back home and watched the HBO series 'Rome' which is FANTASTIC. Scandalously graphic but soooo interesting. Then Chantelle, Lori and I headed out to grab some dinner and do a bit of grocery shopping.

I have more work to do now because another writer slacked off so I get her share. Yay. Grabbing opportunities ^.^ !

I woke up in the middle of the night and my head was where my feet were when I went to sleep. My sleep habits are so strange. Jonathan says I was 'headed south'.