Daily Reminder

As a wife, mother, daughter, sister, student, homemaker, wannabe athlete there are constant demands of things to do, research, learning the best ways to live your life, improve your life, prepare for the future etc. Life can be overwhelming. You know the feeling, don't you? It is so important to remind ourselves that we are but human and all we can do is our best. Leave the worry, the stress of the unknown, and do what you can with what you have where you are.

Vegetarianism Was Forced Upon Me, I Say!

Its festival season in India. That means one festival after another, after another. Which is fun an all, but unfortunately, during any festival or special occasion in the Hindu religion (and many times daily life), there is a strict policy of no meat-eating, whatsoever. Not even eggs. "**shock, gasp, the horror!!**"


You see, it was difficult for me already with my in-laws being vegetarians for religious reasons; Abhi and I respected that by eating outside whenever the carnivorous craving kicked in (which happens all the time for me!). Though, we would regularly eat eggs and such at home.

Now, I never want to disrespect my in-laws in any way, hence my temporary change in diet. BUT, I think this vegetarian deal is starting to get to my head and it might just be making me a little loopy. Its been almost a month now without any meat or eggs!! Aaahhh!! And before this festival season started my meat intake was very, very slim. Seriously, I would like to see any Puerto Rican/American (I added the Puerto Rican part because yes, we like our pork) try to reduce meat from their diet for 8 months and then walk through life with a big, happy smile =D. I know I may be obsessing a little bit, but I would like to see you (yes, you) try to get through an episode of MasterChef without your stomach growling at every sight of chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, fish, goat, whathaveyou.

All this said in good fun, I'm patiently (not patiently enough, hence this blog post) awaiting my reunion with my beloved proteins (Friday!). That being said, don't call me on that day because I'm sure, I'll be busy eating. ;)

The Wrong Kind of Milk In Our Coffee

Our neighbors now collectively own FIVE animals of the cow variety (2 cows and 3 buffaloes). When I first moved here there were only 3, but recently the cow and buffalo have been popping out babies. Aside from having a really cute cow baby to pet, there are other 'products' that come from the birth of a cow/buffalo.

After the cow gives birth, its milk is different than regular, plain-ol' cow's milk. For a few days its milk has a higher quantity of fats and vitamins than it normally would. People can also drink this milk and in fact, many people really like it. To make a special 'treat' with the new cow's milk you just boil it and add raw sugar. Once its boiled it separates into liquid with small pieces and becomes a light brown color, called Khees. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of Khees, though I don't hate it either. Its just one of those things that throws you off mentally when you hear what it is, even though the taste isn't bad. Actually, the first time I ever met my in-laws they served me Khees. I had never heard of it before and judging by its texture and taste I was a little scared. Though, I was even more scared not to finish it so that my in-laws' first impression of me wouldn't be that I'm a picky eater! Ha!

ANYWAYS, our neighbors so graciously bring us Khees every time their cow or buffalo has a baby. Usually when they bring it, it has already been boiled and changed color. This time when they brought it, it was still in its normal white milk form. So this morning in my sleepy stupor, I reached into the fridge to grab the milk for mine and Abhinav's coffee. I performed my usual half-asleep ritual of making coffee for the both of us without a second thought of what I was doing. We both sat to read the newspaper and drink our coffee, when suddenly my mother-in-law came in the room and asked me a strange question. "Jess, how is your coffee today???" I drink coffee the same way everyday and she never asks me how it is. Why now? With a funny smile on her face she showed me the two different bowls of milk. "You made Khees coffee!" I tasted my coffee and realized I had used the Khees milk instead of regular milk. Which, does not taste the same AT ALL.

The strange mistakes that I could never make in the U.S. surface all the time in India...hmm :)

Chyawanprash: In Sickness and in Health

The practice of using natural medicines and (ayurvedic medicines) originated in India, bringing remedies for illnesses from the major to the minor. With the main concern being finding a cure for sickness using all natural ingredients, ayurveda provides natural medicines for things like upset stomachs or bad gas to artery and heart disease to diabetes and more. There are even yoga exercises that are practiced to keep good health as far as illness and disease are concerned. Within India many ingredients, such as turmeric and cumin, that are used in everyday foods are also key to ayurvedic practice of maintaining good health.

I recently started showing symptoms of a cold (first one in 6 months, I think thats pretty good!), so Abhinav introduced me to a new "product" used in ayurveda. Its not exactly a cold medicine, per say, but more of an immunity booster. It can be eaten throughout the year... in sickness and in health.

Its called chyawanprash and I really have never seen anything like it in my life. Its this dark brown paste with a strong sour smell; not appealing to the senses in any way by its looks alone. The taste is not so bad, though i takes some getting used to if you've never had it before. And its really difficult to describe, other than a mixture of salty, spicy, sweet, and sour all-in-one.

Chyawanprash is made up of around 50 different ingredients, but the main effective ingredient used is Amla(Indian Gooseberry). Amla is considered the fruit with the highest Vitamin C content on the earth, and is a key ingredient in many ayurvedic medicines. For a list of other ingredients used in chyawanprash, look here.

Nice color, huh? 

Here's to better health!

East Vs. West: Who Has the 'Better' Toilet?

This blog post is not for the sensitive.

We all know what the typical Western toilet bowl looks like and how to use it. We know that we can sit comfortably and relaxed on our own toilet at home, and that outside we should always 'hover' over the seat or at least put down a protective layer of toilet paper before sitting on a public toilet.

Western Toilet

Then, we have the Eastern toilet; a little bit closer to nature.

Eastern Toilet

The rules apply a little bit differently with the Eastern Toilet. For starters, your sitting position is completely different; have a look:

A lot of Westerners, myself included, have difficulty with this position because we never naturally sit this way.

Secondly, the surroundings of the Eastern toilet are usually wet because there is always a running water tap nearby. Why is a water tap necessary, you ask? GREAT QUESTION. No toilet paper allowed in the Eastern Toilet. That's right folks, while using the Eastern toilet you clean yourself with your God-given utensils: your own hand and some water.

Now, I know what you might be thinking...it seems strange, maybe even gross to use your hand and water 'down there.' But think about it from a different side; say you used water your whole life and found out that some people only use toilet paper. That's like saying my hands got covered in mud, but no worries, i wiped them off with a napkin and now they're perfectly clean. No water necessary.

Another interesting fact I bet you didn't know is that there are actually health benefits to this squatting position of the Eastern toilet. A friend of mine shared this link with me and though I'm not sure how scientific or credible it is, its still interesting. click here if you dare. (Warning: this website contains even more sensitive information).

In our home now we only have an Eastern toilet so I've gotten used to it mostly, and I do believe that things flow out more easily in the squatting position than they do in the sitting position of a Western toilet. I haven't adopted the water-only policy and still consider toilet paper highly valuable and necessary, and don't think I'll let go of that one for a loooong time.

Here's a photo that I got from the internet but I have actually seen pictures like this near public toilets in India.

If you've never seen a Western toilet, you might be confused :)

And another neat little invention I've discovered is a toilet converter, maybe we'll get one of these for when we go back home to the U.S. ;)

Thanks for reading, hope I didn't gross you out.