Spicy!

I went with a group of friends to eat street food snacks tonight. One expat friend ate a few and then said that he wanted his next one to be super spicy.

Our local friend warned, "No, don't take it like that. It will offend you in the night."

ALL

Another movie-related post...

Remember this point?

The movies are censored for extreme violence or sexual content. A violent scene from Angels and Demons was cut and lots of scenes from The Reader were cut. Sometimes when we are deciding whether or not to go see a movie, Jerry asks himself, "Do I just want to wait to watch it on DVD so I can see the entire movie?"

Well, Inglourious Basterds is playing here and I asked Jerry if he wanted to go see it. His reply,

"It will probably be censored. I want to see ALL the violence."

Whereas my thought was, "It will probably be censored. Good. I would rather see it here." Well, we ended up going and sure enough, we could tell when scenes were cut out. But we were both surprised at how much we enjoyed the film, especially me, although I did close my eyes during all of the killing scenes.

My husband... His quote deserves to be on here twice.

"It will probably be censored. I want to see ALL the violence."

Let's Go to the Movies!

Let's go see the stars! Fred and Ginger - spinning madly! - who knows where these lyrics are from? :)

The movie experience here is a little different than in the US. Here are some of my observations:

1. Movie schedules change on Fridays, just like back home, but unlike the US, you cannot find out what is playing until Friday morning. Sometimes, you can find out on Thursday - but only from the website of one of the theaters, and the site is usually not working.
2. Ticket prices are based on day of the week, time of day, projected popularity of the movie and where you sit in the theater. For instance, a seat in the back row of popular Bollywood film showing late Sunday afternoon or evening will cost the most - maybe $5. But a seat on the front row of a not so popular Hollywood film on weekday morning could cost as little as $1.40.
3. Yes, the back row is the most expensive since people here think those seats are the best. The front row is the cheapest and there is no difference in cost between the 2nd highest row or the 2nd lowest row and those in between We always go for the middle and rarely is anyone in front of us unless the theater is packed.
4. So, yes, there are assigned seats and you get to pick from a diagram exactly where you want to sit. I like this alot! So, the early bird can buy his tickets and choose his seats and then roam around the mall for a little while without worrying about making a mad dash for seats when the theater doors open. (See #8)
   
5. Before each film showing, everyone has to stand for a film clip of famous vocalists singing the national anthem. It's quite pretty, but it is in Sanskrit, so only those who learn the meaning in school understand the lyrics.
   
6. There is an intermission at exactly the half-way mark of every movie. They call this the "interval". At one theater, during the break, on the screen was what looked like a filmed piece of scratch paper that had "INTER VEEL" on it. It was also in that particular theater that Jerry had to keep one eye on the screen and his other eye on the rat that was running around. (We have not been back to that theater.) Bollywood films tend to be 3+ hours, so I understand the need for the break, but there is even a break in a 1.5 hour film. During the interval, the theater staff come filing in with snacks and beverages to purchase - shouting their wares - just like at a sports game in the US. It's kinda funny, but nice, too. No need to go to the snack bar!
7. The movies are censored for extreme violence or sexual content. A violent scene from Angels and Demons was cut and lots of scenes from The Reader were cut. Sometimes when we are deciding whether or not to go see a movie, Jerry asks himself, "Do I just want to wait to watch it on DVD so I can see the entire movie?"
8. Theaters make more money the more showings they have. But here, it is sometimes at the cost of the credits. We have been to several movies where the movie ends, the credits start to roll and then it fades to black so they can get started with the next showing earlier. Is that even legal? And so because there is very little time between film showings, you are not allowed to enter the theater until the film is supposed to start. And sometimes not even until after the start time.
9. A popular movie snack is steamed corn. It comes in a small paper cup and you can add salt, butter or masala (Indian spices). It's quite tasty!
   

And now for an amusing movie story...
One Saturday morning we went the theater for the 10:45am showing of Horton Hears a Who. We got there at 10:30am to get tickets - plenty of time to get seats, snacks, etc since it was a Saturday morning - an unpopular movie-going time. We had double-checked the theater website to make sure the time was right, but when we got to the theater, we found out that the showing had been preponed to 10:15am. So, we were late instead of early! Yup, you read correctly - PREponed. It's a real word here. It's used when something is changed to an earlier time. Makes sense right? If things can be postponed, surely they can be preponed!

Kroger vs HEB

Whoa! It has been over month since I last posted. Gol-ly!

This has nothing to do with transitioning to life in S Asia, but I still wanted to share, since we have been anticipating the opening of the new HEB on Buffalo Speedway, which is in our neighborhood in Houston.

We went to the Grand Opening of HEB Buffalo Market and had a devil of a time finding a parking space. A couple of the reviews I read pointed out the small parking area. I feel sorry for the folks who want to eat at Buffalo Grille, but cannot find parking since they share the same lot. (By the way, we had breakfast at Buffalo Grille last Sunday and the food was WONDERFUL - I had forgotten how much we enjoy that place! Plus, I ran into one of my old students from my very first year of teaching. He is 25 now!! I had him in World History and he commented that it was a good class and I made it fun. I love running into old students!)

Back to HEB. It was fairly crowded and reminded Jerry of a circus atmosphere. There were lots of "stations" to visit. I was very impressed with the varieties of fresh bread, cheeses and meats. There were samples galore - my fav was probably the homemade mozzarella. We had planned to eat lunch at their Cafe on the Run (which was pretty small), but we had enough samples to fill us up.

The weekend before we went to the Kroger across the street that had its grand re-opening to compete with HEB. I was REALLY impressed and wondered how HEB could possible out-do Kroger. The samples were great, including a half-pint of Graeter's ice cream. (Side review: For the price, Ben and Jerry's is better. And for cheaper ice cream, Blue Bell will do for me. It was kinda funny that Blue Bell was on sale 2 half-gallons for $5. Everyone was eating the free Graeter's, but had Blue Bell in their carts!)

Back to Kroger vs. HEB. I thought the calif roll at Kroger was better than the sushi at HEB. Also, I did not like the seafood people at HEB who were shouting for customers to come to their area. It sounded like we were on the midway at a carnival. Also, the sales at Kroger were WAY better, except for the fresh lobster at HEB. See below for price. Kroger has really expanded their prepared food area. I look forward to eating some meals in the new upstairs dining area that overlooks the supermarket when we move back to Houston.

Bottom line - we'll keep doing our regular grocery shopping at Kroger, but if we need specialty items or the HEB flier has an exceptional sale, we will go there.

Competition is always good for the consumer. Here is what we had for lunch the day before we came back to S Asia:

steamed lobster: HEB - 5.99/lb
steamed asparagus: Kroger - .99/lb
bing cherries: Kroger - .99/lb.
mac n cheese mixed with cut up hot dogs - hotdogs were .55 for a 14oz Oscar Meyer at Kroger

P.S. I also ran into an old student at Kroger!

There is a first time for everything

I have a boil. It is on my arm. Near my wrist. It is gross and painful. When I think of boils, I think of the ten plagues from the Old Testament - remember Moses and Pharaoh? How is it that I have a boil?

But I do. And I have learned that lots of people get them here. It's because of the heat.

At least several times a day, I think to myself, "I have a boil. I can't believe I have a boil."

And at least several times a day, I hold up my arm to Jerry and say, "I have a boil."

I tried taking a picture, so you could see it, but the photo does not do justice to the real thing. I did not even know what boils looked like until I got one. It started off looking like a pimple, but then the skin around it swelled up, turned red and hurt like heck. I asked around and was told I have a boil.

I have a boil. I can't believe I have a boil.

Better than a bidet

One thing I will REALLY miss about living here is this:

Not the toilet, but the white hose-looking thing to the right. I do not know the official name for it, but I call it a sprayer. Its cultural use is to spray your bum after you go short toilet (pee) or long toilet (poop) instead of using toilet paper. I use the sprayer AND toilet paper. The sprayer for the bits and the rinse and then the toilet paper for the dry.

I think it is better than a bidet because you do not have to move to another contraption to get the "rinse" and you have control over where the stream is spraying as well as the intensity. I have asked Jerry if he can install one wherever we end up living when we move back to Houston. He has said, "Yes."

So, if you end up coming over to our place in Houston one day and need to go to the bathroom...

well, it's interesting to me

I find that my facebook status is usually about the weather. And I think - this is probably really boring to most people, but the reason I put it out there is that it is really fascinating to me how hot and humid it gets here. Yesterday the heat index was 153 degrees. Can you imagine that? Well, I can honestly say that not only can I imagine it - I have felt it and it is HOT! I was just telling someone who just moved here that I used to try to describe the heat, but now all I can say is, "It is hot; it is really hot."

This is for my sister - I found myself telling Jerry a couple of weeks ago, "I know I am spoiled, but I have endured alot!"