We have moved!

I have moved my blog to  http://thebrowniebytes.com/

Visit that website to sign up for new emails :)

Enjoy! 

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'.

Laughing in your sleep

I do this ALL the time.

Just when I started thinking I had a big problem I woke up one night in Murray to faint laughter. I turned around and Jonathan was giggling really hard, eyes tightly shut.


Phew. I'm not crazy.


Just had to remind myself!

Sculpture park

I walked along the riverfront, in the Odette Sculpture park and took some pretty pictures. It was peaceful minus some creepy creep who insisted on following me chanting "Hi hi hi hi". If looks could kill he'd be a dead guy.

It's so funny that America is like... right there! I could see their post office even.

Am I Raj Mahal sick? No. I'm over it :) . I do miss Jonathan but I'm happy, optimistic and cheerful, like I should be. Meghna always bounces back.

P.S. Update on the little dog who was suspicious of me - we're best buddies now and he loves me  ^.^ . I'm extremely fond of him .. he's an adorable little thing. And he gives me leg kisses. Jonathan says gross but I say cute. :P 

Get me to the church on time, BUS!

I've learned my lesson. I HAVE to leave the house one hour early to make sure I arrive at church on time when it's just a 10 minute journey because buses are extremely infrequent on sunday! I waited for nearly 40 minutes!!! And I was half an hour late :( !

The church was full and there was one seat left at the rear so that's where I sat down.

I love this church because everyone is so friendly and that makes me very happy! They actually invite you to do things with them which rarely happened in KY. Then again, I think the KY folks were always scared they were invading the newly-weds' privacy.

I honestly think my social skills are better without Jonathan around. Is that normal? I am friendlier, absolutely confident and open. I think it's because I have nobody else to depend on to pick up the strings of conversation so I just do it myself. And I'm not always thinking "Oh my goodness, will his friends like me?" as a result of which I'm no longer self-conscious. So yes, I met some nice people and I'm definitely going back next weekend :) .

I also think that people here are more open to outsiders and people from other countries. Everybody didn't grow up knowing each other like they did in Murray and since it's a university town that attracts kids from all over the world, everyone is used to welcoming new people. Although everyone in KY was very nice indeed, I always felt that people never really knew how to react to the new kid.

Here the awareness that new comers need attention and MOST importantly company is very much there and I'm feeling it.

The only reason I had a BLAST in America is because of my amazing husband and his thoughtfulness :) !! We did so much cool stuff and he made me very very happy :) !

I also made a friend on the bus today! That would've never happened with Jonathan around because I would've been way too engrossed in him to notice somebody else. I was waiting for a bus to get back home and she walked up to me and asked me if the bus 1C passed that way. I said yes! That's what I'm waiting for! We got talking and we seemed to get along really well! Told her why I was in Windsor and she told me all about herself as well. The bus arrived, we got on and talked more and more. And eventually exchanged numbers. It's not as romantic as it sounds I assure you :-P. But it was fun because it was so random. She is a grad student at the university here and we're going sightseeing sometime.

I did some work today and that's very exciting too because I get paid for it! Yay!

It's the smart little feller who stocked up his cellar

To be honest, I'm as happy as I could possibly be considering the circumstances. I owe this to good housemates, my privacy, my mobility and being just a hop, skip and jump away from the US.

The bus system is fantastic here and their maps are so useful! My bus pass takes me everywhere. Mobility at last, folks! :)

Today I decided to dress up, put some make-up on and go out. I first took the bus to the Windsor Community Museum which was small but quite interesting.

I learned/saw some interesting things at the tiny museum :

1.

 "It's the smart little feller who stocked up his cellar that's getting the beautiful girls"

^ And that is why prohibition will never work :-P .

2. 'Pontiac' was a Native American chief! So was Tecumseh. And Ottawa and Huron were tribes. In fact, Pontiac was chief on the Ottawa tribe.

3. The name 'Detroit' is french meaning 'The Strait'. Who knew!

4. The term 'biological warfare' . Simply frightful. Refer picture below.

My second stop was the Windsor Public Library which is fantastic and gave me free, first-time membership. And of course, the Indian in me loved that ^.^ . 

I came home to 3 dogs - two little ones and one large one. They are all cute. Even the littlest one who is highly suspicious of me and barks every time it sees me. I tried bribing it into liking me with food (the same way I can be bribed into being anyone's friend with Oreos) but it simply ate it and continued barking. Sigh! Well, it's cute anyway! 

New beginnings - Hello, Ontario!

My 6 months in America flew by so fast. It was an amazing 6 months, that's for sure.

So I've now moved to Canada to wait out my greencard process. This is my home until I'm allowed to move back to America, to live with my husband.

Crossing the border, into Canada

My room is great, my housemates are great and I have everything I need.

This is the beginning of a new chapter in my life.

You are feeling sleeeepy.

On Wednesday, after my GRE exam finally ended, Jonathan and I headed to the university to attend the hypnotist show. A hypnotist was performing on stage for all the college kids!

He called several kids on stage, got them to sit down and slowly lulled them into a trance -like state of mind. And they actually did all the crazy things he asked them to do! It was hilarious and we had so much fun watching. When they were in their hypnotic state or whatever it's called they'd appear to be asleep, slumped on their chairs. When he snapped his fingers they'd wake up and start doing whatever he had asked them to do while they were 'asleep'.

Hey, I wanna be hyptonized too!

Salon Ya-Ya and butterchicken

I did some research on where to get my haircut and settled on 'Salon Ya Ya' near Green Hills Mall, Nashville. It was FANTASTIC. I love my new hair and the girl who did it was so friendly. I definitely recommend this salon :) .

We also hunted around for apartments since Jonathan has to move there in November. There are such beautiful new apartments in Nashville and we loved them. Nashville is a special city because it is green and beautiful yet modern. I know I'm going to enjoy living there! We also met some nice people while apartment hunting and who knows, they may be our neighbors very soon :) .

Dinner was at 'Bombay Palace Restaurant' because I was craving good Indian food. And by good Indian food I (obviously) mean butter chicken, paneer and buttery garlic naan. The amount I ate was possibly 10 times my body weight and, like a stuffed python, slowly curled up on our car seat all ready for the trip back to Murray.

But I will say this - noone makes butterchicken like the 'motherland' does. Indian food is Indian food only in India. And like most Tamilians do when they see each other, the waiter looked at Jonathan with a HUGE smile and said, "Madras aaaa?" . And to his absolute astonishment Jonathan replied, "Murray, Kentucky". Haha, that answer NEVER fails to shock people. Brown people in Kentucky?! What!? 

We comforted Mr. Waiter by telling him that I, on the other hand, was indeed from Madras :) .

The Perseids Meteor Shower '13

Space geeks will be aware that the Perseids Meteor Shower peaked on the nights of August 11th and 12th. I could NOT miss it so on monday night we drove to a deserted road, away from city lights, put our lawn chairs out and star-gazed.  We saw quite a few meteors which was very exciting!! They whiz by extremely fast and peripheral vision is your best friend when you're meteor watching. We were initially afraid we would not be able to see a thing because it had been raining and cloudy just a few hours earlier. Luckily, the sky cleared up just in time!

Apparently a bashful meteor :-P

You can also watch this AMAZING time-lapse video of the meteor shower taken by some talented people. You will not only be able to see the meteors but also a faint Aurora Borealis, some lightening and some clouds. 

For those of you who missed it, don't worry! The next meteor shower happens on October 21st. You can check the meteor schedule here. 

"Look! Another meteor!"

Some tips on meteor-watching: 

1. Make sure the sky isn't cloudy.

2. Take bug spray! Our feet got bitten pretty badly.

3. Drive away from the city lights. Less light = greater visibility

3. Take lawn chairs to sit on outside your car or if you have a truck go ahead and lie down in the back. Whatever it is, be outside! 

4. Avoid checking Facebook notifications :-P . I checked it once and I missed a meteor! They go by really fast!

5. Constantly scan a wide portion of the sky. Just because the meteor shower was supposed to happen in the north-east sky does not mean it was limited to just that part! We even saw one towards the south. So keep your eyes wide open and depend on your peripheral vision.

Biryani attempt #1

So today I finally challenged myself and made Biryani (a delectable Indian dish that is generally eaten on special occasions) by following the video below

It's in Tamil by the way so if you don't understand Tamil you may need to search for another vid!

It turned out surprisingly well and we enjoyed eating it! I also made some cucumber pachadi by following this recipe. I think I added a little too much turmeric though (hence the slightly extra yellow-ness) but taste-wise it was great. I definitely recommend that recipe :) ! 

And, for the umpteenth time, I cut my finger- this time on my food chopper's blade while making fresh ginger-garlic paste. It was a pretty bad cut which bled for a while but I managed to finally stop the bleeding. I put some anti septic on it and frantically hunted for the band aids. And as Murphy's law would have it I was unable to find them even though they keep turning up when I don't need them!!! I told Jonathan I couldn't find them so he immediately left work, bought more band aids and came home. 

He spoils me I tell you ^.^ . I'm not complaining though :) .

First you zip, then you sip!

Many interesting things happened this weekend.

1) I fell asleep before Jonathan and when he finally lay down I (apparently) said in perfect Tamil "Come, get under the sheets". I don't recall this at all. But that's not the weird part. The weird part is now that I'm awake I honestly don't know how to say that in Tamil (and I'm thinking really hard!!!!). Jonathan kind of understood it though and was wondering what had gotten into me. So strange!

2) We went Zip Lining to the Shawnee National Forest!

I got called Meghan (story of my life) so I changed the name on my helmet to Meg. 

 

Our gear

 

Getting strapped in!

 

All of us

We zip lined through the canopy, the longest zip line being 1000+ feet. It was exhilarating! Our guides Tyler and Dalton were fantastic and fun.We also had to walk across 3 suspension bridges which was scary but it just added to the entire amazing experience! Tyler of course started bouncing up and down on it to make the entire bridge violently shake which made me cling on to the bridges' ropes extra tight even though falling was impossible since we were all still attached to the zip line cable. I was of course a source of great entertainment as I gingerly made my way across the bridge looking nervous. Someone spotted a snake curled up on a branch which was quite unnerving but interesting nevertheless! We had such a wonderful, exciting time and I highly recommend the Shawnee Bluff Canopy Tour. 

3) After zip lining we made our way to a nearby vineyard called Blue Sky to do some wine tasting and eat since we were starving. I have never been a fan of wine but I was game. The vineyard was extremely pretty and I was intrigued by the rows and rows of vines with huge bunches of grapes hanging off them.

 There was also a small lake  by which we sat drinking our wine and chatting. It was a beautiful evening - not too sunny - and we were enjoying the light breeze and the view. 

I tasted 3 wines - Chambourcin Blush (a sweet wine), Misterioso (a semi-sweet wine that is supposed to be really really good) and Cream Sherry (a dessert wine). I, of course, picked Sherry since it was nice and sweet. 

My sherry 

There was a wedding being held at a small area adjacent to where we were sitting and believe it or not, I witnessed my first American wedding (in person) right here at Blue Sky Winery! 

 

The 'altar' for the wedding

You know the popular belief that wine/champagne is supposedly OK to drink versus other alcohol? Well, whether Jesus drank it or not, wine can get to your head equally, if not faster, than any other alcohol and at most parties I've been to, the craziest people were sipping on glasses of wine. This held true even at the vineyard. Well-dressed folks slurring over their bottles of wine, clapping and talking loudly as the poor bride walked down the aisle to Train's famous song 'Marry me'. The setting was indeed beautiful but I honestly don't think that the bride thought it through when she chose this to be her venue. 

^ Everyone watching the wedding, clapping and loudly talking about one groomsman who had a rather ... odd beard. 

 

Bet the poor guy had no idea his beard was the topic of discussion for the longest time

 

The vows

 

Mr & Mrs

I have no idea who those people are but I (and the other 50 odd people at the winery) have pictures of their wedding :-P . 

All in all, it was a fantastic day :-) !!

Bumping into your nurse at the mall

I just woke up and am dismally looking around my apartment at the huge mess that seems to have built up since my return. I wish I could blame Jonathan but when I walked in after my NYC trip it was spic and span :-P . So I shall grudgingly admit that it's all my fault. My suitcase is perched precariously on top of the chaise and I honestly don't know why. I console myself with this picture :

And I so do love museums :-P.

Yesterday mom and I headed to Clarksville so I could do a TB Gold test to complete my immigration medical requirements. The nurse was all smiley and nice. She also managed to pronounce my name correctly so I was really starting to like her! I officially declared myself (in my head) her biggest fan ever when she managed to draw three vials of blood without accusing me of possessing 'skinny veins' (this is the Murray hospital's reason for poking my arm a zillion times before they find a 'fat' vein :( Fat-ish vein in my case ). I knew for a fact she and I were meant to be when we bumped into her at the mall some 100 hours after we left the clinic because that's how long we were shopping haha ^.^ .

Jonathan is now referring to mom's van as 'the sleigh' because apparently we looked like this on our way back to Murray, with all our shopping loot :

Does that mean I'm Stanley the spare reindeer?!?!

(Speaking of Stanley, is it just me or does anyone else think he looks a little ... well, not all there?!)

But what's wrong with a little Christmas every now and then?! :-D

Post-vacation laziness

My mind is still adjusting to the fact that I'm no longer on vacation. I've been extremely lethargic and slow these past two days, dragging my feet, being bored and finding it exceedingly difficult to do my household chores. I didn't cook on Monday but today somehow managed to whip up some easy pressure-cooker chicken curry while talking to my cousins on Google Hang Out.

I have a million things to do tomorrow so I better start moving! 

On Sunday we decided to head to Louisville to attend Rebecca's 'white coat ceremony' for med school. 

Lunch was at HardRock Cafe which was sooo tiiiiny :-O . But the food was, as always, yummy. 

Let's hear it for New York! Days 3,4,5

The last few days in New York involved little outings with my friends, parties, cartoons and lots of fun!

One trip was to the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum which was fantastic!!

 

This was a dark room with a big screen. We were projected on to the screen in different colors, with hip hop music playing in the background .. kind of like a club! So you could keep dancing and watch yourself change color on the screen! It was SO much fun!! 

 

The sign reads 'Batman' :-P. Bruce Wayne would be horrified :-P.

The funniest display in the museum was a headless mannequin depicting breast augmentation. The mannequin was flat chested and wore a pink t shirt. Below was a big red button saying 'PRESS'. When you pressed the button, HUGE breasts suddenly popped out and appeared on the mannequin (beneath the t shirt thankfully). I was still laughing at this when a young mother with two little boys appeared. Her sons were at this moment looking at some other display in the room. She, however, was near the mannequin so she pressed the button and immediately gasped in horror when you know what suddenly popped out :-P . She quickly moved away to the other side of the room where her sons were. "MOM, what's thatttt?" the kids asked pointing to the scandalous pink t-shirt clad headless mannequin. "Oh .. urm , nothing .. heyy look at that!" , she said and quickly pushed them into the next room. My friend and I were literally rolling on the floor laughing our heads off. SO hilarious! 

I'm back in Murray now. I do miss the hustle and busy of the city but I've missed Jonathan so I'm glad to be back. 

Let's hear it for New York! Day 2

On the way to my bus stop I got asked on a date by a complete stranger which I politely declined :-P .

Interesting things I saw on my tour day#2 :

1. HUGH JACKMAN !!!!!!! The double decker bus rode past times square where they were recording the TV show 'Good Morning America' and HUGH JACKMAN was being interviewed, looking as handsome as ever! You can imagine the excitement! I unfortunately couldn't take a pic because there were sooo many people! I did get a good glimpse of him though.

2. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) - the largest stock exchange in the world.


3. The famous stock exchange bull. 

4. The statue of liberty! 



5. Famous Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan .......

..... at Madam Tussauds, the famous wax museum ^.^ .



6. The beatles!!

6.  The famous Anderson Cooper of CNN ! I think he's super cool.

7.  Jen Aniston

8. Bruce Willis !

I loved wandering around the streets of New York being a tourist. The fact that I can get around without depending on people for transport is amazing!