Yesterday was my friend Johanne's birthday. She invited Ami and me and some of the girls from the office to her birthday party, which took place at a bar in Bandra called The Big Nasty. Yes, that's really the name. There was a pre-party at one of her friend's houses beforehand, but instead of attending that party, a group of girls and I went to dinner at a nearby restaurant first, since we knew there would be no other time to eat prior to heading to the pub. We went to a place called Lemongrass, which offers asian fusion food. We had some great vegetarian dumplings - some were filled with spinach and paneer and spices, and the others were filled with shitaake mushrooms and water chestnuts. They both came with chutneys for dipping - mmmmmmmm. Ami and I took a risk and tried our first chutneys last night (we have been avoiding them since most are made with water). The waiter assured us that theirs were made with filtered water, so we figured we'd try it and see how it went. Success! I didn't get sick! In addition we had some delicious noodle dishes - a veggie pad thai and one with these Indian wheat noodles, mixed veggies in a black bean sauce. All were absolutely delicious. I've received a couple questions from people lately about my diet - yes, I'm still going vegetarian! I've challenged myself to see if I can go the full 3 months without eating any meat, so I'm going to stick with it while I'm here. Thankfully there are plenty of options for vegetarians here, since the grand majority of the country doesn't eat meat, so I haven't felt deprived of variety or choice at all. There have been a couple restaurants where some meat dishes sounded delicious, but otherwise I don't really miss it (so far). I'm sure by the end of the 3 months I'll be craving a hamburger, but for now I'm doing well. Speaking of hamburgers, beef is very rarely served on menus here - I assume it's because cows are considered sacred. I have seen beef a couple times, though, so it's not completely taboo. It seems that most red meats served here are lamb, however. We also ordered an Indian wine to go along with dinner - it was a rose and was surprisingly not terrible. India isn't exactly known for its wine production, but this country has so much variation in climates that I expect somewhere in the country you can find the right combination of variables to grow wine. I'll continue to try Indian wines and will let you know if I come up with any good recommendations.
With a name like The Big Nasty, I was expecting a dirty bar with sticky floors and jello shots being passed around by waitresses in skimpy outfits. The reality was surprising - in a good way! It seems that The Big Nasty doesn't quite have the connotation of debauchery here that it would in the states, although that didn't stop me from blushing when we had to stop to ask for directions 3 times when taking the tuk-tuk from the restaurant to the bar. "Excuse me, but do you know where The Big Nasty is?" still doesn't sound like something I should be asking someone, regardless of any meaning being lost in translation.
Anyway, we arrived at the bar and met up with Johanne and her group of friends. Her mom was even there (at least for a little while)! The bar was more upscale than I had been expecting - having more of a sports bar/restaurant vibe than a dirty club vibe. Johanne had told me she would require everyone to be dancing on the tables at some point through the night, and I couldn't figure out exactly how this place was going to turn into a dance venue - there were too many restaurant tables and chairs everywhere, and I didn't see a dance floor. There was a cricket game on the TV that everyone was watching at first (I seemed to impress some of my friends with my knowledge of cricket, gained while I was living in Australia), but once the game was over, the bar turned the lights down and the music up, and suddenly it's a dance club! People got around the space issues by dancing on the concrete benches that surrounded most tables. Johanne was one of the first to start dancing in the whole restaurant, but after not very long our entire group of about 20 was dancing on any surface we could find. Turns out they don't let you dance on the tables themselves...or on the upholstered chairs, which is something I found out from being yelled at by bouncers when I tried. Johanne's friends were a lively bunch, and most of them were great dancers, so I found myself letting loose and having a blast. I'm not sure that I can properly convey the atmosphere of this place, but try to imagine a crowded room, filled with Indian people all dancing on benches and the bar while singing along to "Call Me Maybe." At one point there were probably 8 people on the same concrete bench, and a staff member came and told us to get down quickly - we had broken the bench! It was cracking in 3 different places and was about to split apart completely. Whoops! The last song of the night was one of the only non-English songs they played all night, and it was a Goan folk song that was fast paced and lively. Johanne is Goan, so she and her friends - and well, the entire bar - went NUTS. They all grabbed napkins and handkerchiefs and started waving them in the air because apparently this song requires accessories. Try to imagine the entire bar jumping around from bench to bench, waving napkins above their heads and singing along to the song by repeating the phrase "Maria Pitache" over and over and over. Actually, Google "Maria Pitache" and find some Youtube videos of people going nuts for this song - I'm sure they're out there (unfortunately Youtube is blocked in the office or else I'd post a link).
Today I learned from Johanne that she had never met many of the people we were dancing with until that night. I had been very impressed with how many people showed up to celebrate her birthday on a Wednesday night, but apparently several of them were just people she had met at the bar and invited to dance with our group! She is a social butterfly indeed.
One thing I've learned in my short time here is that this country is not only conservative in dress, but also in their attitudes. Take, for example, one of my coworkers. She is probably 25 and has what I would consider to be a normal social life - she goes on dates every once in a while, she goes out dancing with her friends, she drinks but not a lot, etc. However, she has to hide all of this from her parents. When we were out at the Hard Rock Cafe earlier this week, she had to leave the bar entirely to take a call from her dad because she didn't want him to know that she was out on a Monday night - even though it was a very tame night of just eating and chatting. Apparently her parents' attitude stems from their desire for her to get married to a "good match," and most Indian guys here are looking for a "good girl," who wants to cook, clean, stay home, and raise children. By comparison, however, men are allowed to go out and drink, smoke, date around, go clubbing, etc. without any kind of stigma being attached to them - their parents overlook these behaviors and say "boys will be boys." How ridiculous of a double standard?!? As I sit here, writing this blog entry, I think about how I am writing down all of the details of my exploits here and know that my parents will read it. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to have to censor my stories to accommodate some kind of standards that my parents were imposing on my behavior, and I am incredibly thankful that I have such an understanding and accepting family where they want to know the real me rather than some fictionalized version.
One final note: I have gone through and added some photos to the posts Where ARE we????, Busy busy busy, and Caribbean or Arabian?. Feel free to go through and see some photos of Paresh and Varun, me with a cricket player cardboard cutout, Ami and I at dinner, and more...
From left: Praneetha, Isha, me, Ami
With a name like The Big Nasty, I was expecting a dirty bar with sticky floors and jello shots being passed around by waitresses in skimpy outfits. The reality was surprising - in a good way! It seems that The Big Nasty doesn't quite have the connotation of debauchery here that it would in the states, although that didn't stop me from blushing when we had to stop to ask for directions 3 times when taking the tuk-tuk from the restaurant to the bar. "Excuse me, but do you know where The Big Nasty is?" still doesn't sound like something I should be asking someone, regardless of any meaning being lost in translation.
From left: Isha, Ami, Praneetha, me
Anyway, we arrived at the bar and met up with Johanne and her group of friends. Her mom was even there (at least for a little while)! The bar was more upscale than I had been expecting - having more of a sports bar/restaurant vibe than a dirty club vibe. Johanne had told me she would require everyone to be dancing on the tables at some point through the night, and I couldn't figure out exactly how this place was going to turn into a dance venue - there were too many restaurant tables and chairs everywhere, and I didn't see a dance floor. There was a cricket game on the TV that everyone was watching at first (I seemed to impress some of my friends with my knowledge of cricket, gained while I was living in Australia), but once the game was over, the bar turned the lights down and the music up, and suddenly it's a dance club! People got around the space issues by dancing on the concrete benches that surrounded most tables. Johanne was one of the first to start dancing in the whole restaurant, but after not very long our entire group of about 20 was dancing on any surface we could find. Turns out they don't let you dance on the tables themselves...or on the upholstered chairs, which is something I found out from being yelled at by bouncers when I tried. Johanne's friends were a lively bunch, and most of them were great dancers, so I found myself letting loose and having a blast. I'm not sure that I can properly convey the atmosphere of this place, but try to imagine a crowded room, filled with Indian people all dancing on benches and the bar while singing along to "Call Me Maybe." At one point there were probably 8 people on the same concrete bench, and a staff member came and told us to get down quickly - we had broken the bench! It was cracking in 3 different places and was about to split apart completely. Whoops! The last song of the night was one of the only non-English songs they played all night, and it was a Goan folk song that was fast paced and lively. Johanne is Goan, so she and her friends - and well, the entire bar - went NUTS. They all grabbed napkins and handkerchiefs and started waving them in the air because apparently this song requires accessories. Try to imagine the entire bar jumping around from bench to bench, waving napkins above their heads and singing along to the song by repeating the phrase "Maria Pitache" over and over and over. Actually, Google "Maria Pitache" and find some Youtube videos of people going nuts for this song - I'm sure they're out there (unfortunately Youtube is blocked in the office or else I'd post a link).
From left: Isha, Praneetha, Ami, Johanne, me
Today I learned from Johanne that she had never met many of the people we were dancing with until that night. I had been very impressed with how many people showed up to celebrate her birthday on a Wednesday night, but apparently several of them were just people she had met at the bar and invited to dance with our group! She is a social butterfly indeed.
One thing I've learned in my short time here is that this country is not only conservative in dress, but also in their attitudes. Take, for example, one of my coworkers. She is probably 25 and has what I would consider to be a normal social life - she goes on dates every once in a while, she goes out dancing with her friends, she drinks but not a lot, etc. However, she has to hide all of this from her parents. When we were out at the Hard Rock Cafe earlier this week, she had to leave the bar entirely to take a call from her dad because she didn't want him to know that she was out on a Monday night - even though it was a very tame night of just eating and chatting. Apparently her parents' attitude stems from their desire for her to get married to a "good match," and most Indian guys here are looking for a "good girl," who wants to cook, clean, stay home, and raise children. By comparison, however, men are allowed to go out and drink, smoke, date around, go clubbing, etc. without any kind of stigma being attached to them - their parents overlook these behaviors and say "boys will be boys." How ridiculous of a double standard?!? As I sit here, writing this blog entry, I think about how I am writing down all of the details of my exploits here and know that my parents will read it. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to have to censor my stories to accommodate some kind of standards that my parents were imposing on my behavior, and I am incredibly thankful that I have such an understanding and accepting family where they want to know the real me rather than some fictionalized version.
One final note: I have gone through and added some photos to the posts Where ARE we????, Busy busy busy, and Caribbean or Arabian?. Feel free to go through and see some photos of Paresh and Varun, me with a cricket player cardboard cutout, Ami and I at dinner, and more...
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