'Tis the Season: Grub Club Special Edition

Okay.  So you may have noticed I failed to deliver a food post this week.  That's because we went to Hazara restaurant, which, while delicious, is nothing I haven't been to before (over and over and often had delivered in fact)...so I forgot to take pictures.  So in lieu of that, let me report on our staff Christmas party at The Garden, in...Japan Town?...ie, probably the most awesome Christmas party.  Ever.

Because you know when you walk in and see one of these, it's gonna be a good, good night.  Actually, they didn't turn it on but by the end Five and I decided we didn't care and started dipping out of the bottom, and that was good enough! 

The food was served buffet style, and it was really good, but I didn't take any pictures of it.  I probably should have, but I was too busy eating at first, and then I was too busy taking pictures.  Because apparently we can't just have a staff dinner - oh no, we have to have entertainment.  I ended up being part of the entertainment, first by singing "The Christmas Song," and then by taking place in the drawing contest (in which a partner and I had to draw a Christmas tree, blindfolded.

Not bad, eh?  This was part of a 3 round Christmas contest: trivia, drawing, and dance.  Dance, you say?  Why yes.  Every table had to pick a couple to get up and participate in a 6 minute dance off.  Hilarity ensued...

Domestic Goddess, Fire Marshall, and Mad Science are all shakin' their groove thangs, as you can see.  Fearless Leader was dancing his blues away, as well, but you can't see him in this shot.  Never let it be said that I hang out with dull people.

Japan Town, I asked before.  I take it back.  Yes, it WAS in Japan Town, and this proves it.  I took the early bus home, but before I left I had the unenviable task of figuring out how the hell to flush the toilet.  Strangely enough, I never wrote much about toilets before Mongolia, and now I seem to do so about once a month.  Hmm.  Anyways, I'll leave you on that note.

INDIA!!! It's set in India!

I've been waiting a while to use that line.

So here I am, in Hyderabad, in the Evil One's fabulous state department flat. Let me tell you something - this is not how I typically travel. Not just the posh lodgings, but giving up my navigational duties and taking things at a slower pace. I got in at 5 a.m. on Thursday morning. I slept til ten, then I wasted a few hours reading and goofing off on the internet before Evil came home and put me to work stirring the things she was making for her Christmas party. I socialized with strangers...well, to an extent. Before the party really got started, I got out the back of the belt I needed to sew and started stitching, which later on sort of backfired, because when her friends asked what I was making, I saw no reason to lie about the fact that it was a belly dance costume, and they all wanted me to demonstrate...which led to everyone showing off their dance skills. Kinda strange and wonderful, actually.

The next day was Christmas, and while Indian Mormons apparently go to church on Christmas, the Evil One and I saw no reason to do so ourselves. Instead we opened our presents, went across the street for coke and Indian food, and napped while waiting for her cute Indian-Mormon-boy-Partner-in-Crime, Nik, to come over for a True Blood marathon. "Nik watches True Blood???" I asked Evil. "Does he KNOW what HBO is like??" Apparently he does. He was likewise interested in my decision to drag her to Khajuraho...a stop on our itinerary that she hasn't shared with her other church friends. That evening, she dragged me to a Christmas dinner at a consular friend's EVEN LARGER AND POSHER flat. One of the gals had been to Shilparamam that day, a huge craft fair, and Raika, a soon-to-be-consular-ex-wife volunteered to take us yesterday. Of course, though, she had a hangover from the previous night's wine, so it was noon before we left the house, late roll-outs being another thing I don't normally do on my travels...but then, things in India don't open until 11 or so, anyways, or so the Evil One tells me, so I should just probably just shut the heck up, sit back, and enjoy the ride. I can do this - I don't normally travel this way, but I managed it for Bronte last fall...but of course, that was Greece, and I was getting cooking lessons during the lazy afternoons, and it's hard to feel antsy when you're full of moussaka. And just as I had real travel coming up then, this tour's real travel bit doesn't start til the 2nd, so I should probably conserve my energy and money and concentrate on not getting Delhi Belly...(non-degenerate formula? A coke for brekke, a coke for lunch, a coke for dinner - this method has seen me through the third world countless times over. The acid in coke will kill just about anything).

Get Gone

One more sleep, teachah. That's right, guys - tomorrow I fly out to India! It's only been three weeks since the last vacation, but I didn't really go anywhere (Dubai doesn't count), so I'm pretty excited. It will be a warm Christmas - the first one ever. It's funny - the Evil One is more family to me than anyone I spent my other away season with, but that Christmas in Korea felt more like it because of the barren trees and sharp Siberian winds. Here's hoping the similarities stop there - that was the year I trekked up to Seoraksan and got nasty food poisoning, and I realize that there's a very real possibility of me getting some sort of bug whilst there.

I think it will be really good for me to get out of the country. There are a few points on which I need to get my head straight. I got asked to give a talk and serve as a youth Sunday school teacher two weeks ago - me, bad attitude Mormon girl. The talk went well enough...I didn't quote scripture, but for the record, I did look for articles on the church's website. What can I say, it was a tough topic: staying close to the family as a single adult away from home. Yeah, that's right. I was not impressed, and one of my fellow singletons, when she saw my topic, thought it was a crap subject. Apparently it was pick on the Great One week. Anyways, I gave the talk, and it was a manic-depressive sort of talk, because I'm kind of manic-depressive when it comes to my family, and afterwards this sort-of batty old lady comes to me and suggests I take Vitamin B, that it will help even me out.

(Hey you, you old bag! Why don't YOU try giving a talk about being away from your family at Christmas time without being a little emotional?)

And I accepted the calling, too, because that's what we do, and I miss working with high schoolers, and our high schoolers are pretty cool. When I was set apart, I was promised that the Lord is "poised to bring forth miracles." Let it be the one miracle in all the world that concerns me right now - that's all I want. Maybe it would cure me of my bad attitude...maybe not, since I don't have a problem with my Heavenly Father or the church in general, but rather with the congregations I've been in in the past year. And maybe that's not what miracles are for...maybe that's what the youth is for. I don't know. But it will be good to get away and sort out how I really feel about it and other things. Catch you on the flip side.