Tuesday, January 02, 2007

bathing in tikka masala

(january 2, 2007)

ayurvedic massages are greasy. after lathering you all over with the special oil that comes from india, you are left slick and smelling like curry. it was relaxing for sure, but i think i will stick to my regular fancy tickles unless i experience the amazing healing properties of ayurveda in the next few days. the oil didn’t do anything for the skin peeling off my back due to the overexposure to the sun. redness, tenderness, heat rash, peeling skin… when will i take nature’s hint and stay out of direct sunlight at high noon in the tropics? probably not in the near future. just as vanity kept me from scratching my chest, it will also leave me wanting more of the vitamin d goodness of the sun.

all that poolside/beach time let me dive into A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and i am on page 350. this would sound a lot more impressive if the book were not 1400 pages long. it is a behemoth of a novel and i intend on conquering it. but no dolphin trip for me as it was cancelled due to low numbers (and this is supposed to be the tourism high season) but we were not informed until 7:50am so we paid the hostess at a fancy hotel restaurant 200 bob (about $3) so we could drink the lovely, dark, rich coffee and eat the buffet. corruption makes this canadian uneasy and puts african countries back years in socioeconomic development initiatives, but breakfast was good. and cheap. sometimes, corruption tastes better than any of the other options.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I dragged "A Suitable Boy" all around Chile and Peru and garnered strange looks from everyone who witnessed the book dragging - right from the first plane ride to the plane ride home (I finally finished it back in Calgary). The good thing about the book - it is worth reading -- and you can always use it as a doorstop if you need to :) However, it did rip a hole in a cute bag that I bought in Santiago - it only lasted 2 weeks. I don't think it was ever meant to carry that weight.