Houston: a friend and a plate of risotto.

A good friend and former roommate of mine, Ramesh, gave me some of his free air miles to spend this past weekend in Houston. On Friday, we saw Julie and Julia (huge thumbs up), had dinner at a great Italian restaurant, and saw Sherlock Holmes and the Crucifer of Blood at the Alley Theater downtown. Saturday, after being treated to incredible homemade pumpkin-cranberry muffins, we spent the entire afternoon at the enormous Houston Museum of Natural Science.

The crowning achievement of the weekend, however, was the enormously successful dinner we cooked last night. Boursin and spinach risotto, with seared herbed salmon. This was my first real attempt at making risotto, and it certainly won't be my last.

Ramesh had eaten a boursin-spinach risotto at a restaurant and wanted to replicate it, so we combined a couple recipes we found online. We pureed some cooked spinach with vegetable broth, and gradually added it to the arborio rice on low heat, taking care to stir continuously. After about 40 minutes, the rice was al dente and the perfect consistency, at which point we stirred in the creamy boursin cheese. The salmon was sprinkled with a mixture of basil, thyme, rosemary, and fennel seed and seared til a beautiful brown. Paired with asparagus and pomegranate wine, this was perfection in a meal.


Always a pleasure to see an old friend.

Cop-out post.

Sometimes, I just itch to put something on the internet, but currently I lack inspiration. And Lexie's q&a looked like a good time. So, you: ask me a question, and I'll answer if it the total number of questions reaches some kind of critical mass. Make 'em interesting. I've been wondering what the audience to this blog is anyway, so whoever reads this should fire away.

Update: These questions are fantastic. Many merit entire posts to themselves. I'm working on it. Ask me more!

An extended trip.

Months and months of searching has finally come to a close. Starting mid-September for about half a year, I will be a resident of New Delhi.

I applied to dozens and dozens of jobs, heard back from some, turned down a few, and was rejected by many. By July, the process had become disheartening. After having anticipated the excursion for so long, the mere possibility of not being able to go was an idea I dared not entertain. All the Krakauer books I read this summer didn't help either; they stirred my romantic sensibilities and made me long for the road, toward unknown places with unknown people.

My job is straightforward enough. I will be working for an education company called Educomp (the joint venture of Pearson in the US), designing math curriculum, lesson plans, and worksheets for K-12 level. The salary is a modest $100 (around 5000 rupees) a month, but the company offers free transportation, free breakfast and lunch, and $60-a-month accommodation. Financially, I should just come out even. India is cheap, and I'm counting on using the money that I have saved to fund my trip and more.

I'm going to India not because I got a job there; I got a job there because I wanted to go to India. As I learned with Australia, living somewhere is a vastly different experience than just stopping by, and I think the country I have chosen will have more than a few things to teach me. New Delhi promises to be an uncomfortable place in many ways. I will be probably be lonely sometimes. I'll probably puke my guts out on occasion. People will stare at me, and I won't understand the language and certain customs. There will be heavy pollution, public pissing, undrinkable water, and slums. But isn't this the point? The lack of the familiarities and amenities of home is the entire allure of going.

There is a grittier side of life that I have never lived around or observed seriously, and I consider that something of a character flaw. There's nothing like learning about what you are by learning about what you're not.


(Aside: for the upcoming birthday, book donations will be received with much appreciation. See my to-read-list. Does New Delhi have English bookstores/libraries anyway?)