Feeling better today (yay!) and ready to fulfill my main purpose in coming here this trip – HATS!!!! But 1st, let me tell you what this is….

 

 

 

 

This my friends is a mashed, cumin and chili spiced potato mixture spread between a folded up piece of Wonderbread, dipped in pakora batter and deep fried to a brown, crispy goodness.

Not impressed? You simple folk. Had I not just gotten over a very nasty stomach thing, I would have eaten four or five of these monster fried tea sandwiches slathered with Indian ketchup, a sweeter, less thick version we have in the States. Because I DID just get over a nasty stomach thing, this was my breakfast instead….

It wasn’t a bad 2^nd choice mind you. Indian-style overnight oats–

–        About ½ cup scottish-style oats

–        ½ cup of the best milk you will ever taste in your life courtesy of the ashram cows who reside about 300 feet or so away (any milk will do really)

–        ½ water.

Mix together in a small pot and refrigerate overnight. In the morning heat over medium heat until simmering. Turn off and let sit for 5 minutes. Add fruit, nuts, honey, or whatever you like (today I had on hand the three previously mentioned ingredients). YUMMY!!

And now, hats!

So about a year ago my friend Andrea and I decided that we were going to knit the kids all a hat – around 75 to be precise. I don’t know if we realized when we started out what a crazy idea this was to begin with, but lo and behold here we are and its January 8^th, 2011 and I am delivering 75 hats to the kids. I can’t really believe it. It took a whole suitcase to get them over here. I spent most of the year looking at old photos and footage shot for Lifting Dreams assessing the size of the kids’ heads. No matter how much we prepared we didn’t get them all perfect, but that wasn’t really the goal I guess. The goal was to feel connected to the kids when we weren’t with them, and I think Andrea would agree with me that this little project kept us very much connected. My only regret is that my Mango Didi isn’t here for the hat drop as well. But we’ll see what the future holds for another Natalie/Andrea/SRA visit. 🙂

 

 

Its odd. I don’t really know what to do with my hands now. They are sort of idle I guess until the next project (look for updates on that soon!) For now I will just use them to hold Indian babies. XO

PS. This is for you KT – this makes me want to run back to my tiny Brooklyn kitchen and whip up a bowl of this post-haste! The egg had me at hello.