Those Nosey Americans

It is hot and I am bored.

That pretty much sums up my existence lately. Thankfully, the monsoon rains started last evening and will continue cooling things down, but the heat and humidity in combination with the jet lag have sapped my energy so severely that all I've been able to do for the past few days is nap and read (not always in that order--sometimes I read, then nap). My aunt and grandmother are pretty bored, too. I feel bad for holding them in hostage in our flat taking care of me.

Actually, I had an nice time hanging out with my Bengali-American friend Monisha yesterday. We used to room together in Dhaka and we've hung out quite a bit in the US. She is at Yale and I am at Clark. Last Friday we made a date to meet up on the other side of the world. Let's meet at Barista (India's answer to Starbucks) on Park Street at 3:00pm Monday! How odd it was to actually meet up then and there like it was nothing. Yesterday we had dinner at the Atrium Cafe, a swanky upmarket restaurant with gourmet Western food and good service. I am always rife with guilt eating at such lavish places (especially when I came here to work for the poorest of the poor), but I must say it was a nice break from the torrent of turmeric-and-rice dishes. I wonder if my innards are permanently stained yellow. My fingernails certainly are.

A waiter at the Atrium Cafe yesterday called Monisha and I "nosey." He handed her credit card back, smiling, and said "You are Americans madame, and Americans are very nosey." We were both taken aback, unsure quite how to respond to such an accusation. Aferall, its usually people in this part of the world who are the nosey ones, constantly asking about your name, country, marital status, siblings, bowel movements, etc. Americans are known for jealously guarding their privacy. He noted our confusion and tried to explain: "I used to stay in London for four years. You can always know Americans when they talk...very, very nosey they are." Ohhhh, okay, I get it. Nasal. He meant that Americans speak English in a very NASAL manner. Hmm, I'm not sure that's much less insulting. I'm constantly self conscious about my midwestern accent while speaking English here, and Mr. nosey surely didn't help that.

Anyway, off to take care of some random errands. I got a mobile phone and its already having service issues. I am Lady Luck when it comes to technology.

Namascar,

TKP