August 4th (time delay!!)

Aug 4th (I've written the blogs just couldn't get them posted!)
Well, we moved from our safe haven of the hotel into our monstrous house on the beach. My favorite thing about this house was supposed to be the terrace on the roof but the guard birds (mutant grackles) dive bomb you when they catch you in their space!! It turns out my favorite thing thus far is the surprising view I have as I’m brushing my teeth - the reflection in the mirror – you can see the waves rolling in!!!

We’ve been very busy just trying to figure out the simple things like – groceries. The driver, Kumar and our new cook Pryia took me shopping today at a veggie/fruit market. Here I was thinking open air/ farmer’s market but no – it is a quaint little hole in the wall (literally!) shop with awesome and fresh selections… spent 540 Rupees (about $12) for two and a half huge bags of fruit and veggies… now if the kids will only eat it!! After the 30 minute drive there… we stopped at another market – Spencer’s (a UK chain lo-and-behold, here in Chennai) it had a few US goods on the shelf… you have to watch the expire date though!! The jam I picked up was dated 10/08 (I put it back!) The one next to it was “fresher”… Feb 09!! Good seal, no discoloration! If the water doesn’t kill us, it was the jam. Cost wise, I did ok but it certainly is hard. The packaging certainly isn’t Sam’s or Costco style, much less aimed at a family of 6!!
What we are lacking is sandwich meat and meat in general!! We’re all going through withdrawl… but we stumbled into another little grocery market Nigrili’s that was, I think, nicer. I think the prices were higher but it was cleaner and that scored points. We even found a freezer in the back that had some frozen chicken. (Pryia asked me if we wanted chicken earlier in the day at Spencer’s as she pointed out a bag of chicken nuggets but no “real” chicken!!) We’ll brave that bag when we get a little more desperate… tomorrow, probably!! I’ll try to get a photo of a butcher shop – with the live chickens in pens and the leg of mutton (goat) dangling openly in the doorway! Oh, such is the search for meat!
So tonight Pyria prepared steamed green beans/carrots / broccoli, rice, two potatoes for mashing and a portion of Dal – mildly flavored – quite tasty! We ate after she left, and I fixed a pot of mac-n-cheese. Lifesaver in a box … 2 of the four kids will definitely starve to death over the next two years because of their stubbornness… oh well, if I keep offering them food, they can’t really be starving to death!!
Here's a view of our street from the rooftop terrace...