Well, yesterday was a full day. Most of the cool things that occurred were work-related, so nothing I can talk about here. So, instead, I'm going to talk about food and conveniences. No, I have not had any "issues" with the food that would lead to abnormal use of conveniences. Rather, they're different here, warranting description (I think, anyway).
So, the picture here on the left is of my private bathroom in the apartment. There's a shower on the right, behind the door, which you can't see. On right is sink with a somewhat unusual fixture (will post it to my photos site later). That box on the wall in the upper right corner is the water heater. Each bathroom in the apartment has one.
I think there are a few interesting facets to the toilet area. First, every toilet I've seen, including in work restrooms, have a hand sprayer hanging on the wall next to the toilet. Why? Don't know. Also interesting is that when you sit down - you sit waaaaaay down. It really does model a squat position, which according to research from Australia, is a more correct position.
Also curious about these bathrooms are the TP. They sheets are narrower than in the States. It's very similar in every other way, but this. However, it should be noted that the sheets are also longer, so the overall surface area (cm-squared) is probably very close to the US.
Ok, enough on bathrooms... :)
Let's talk about food. I love the food here. If you want to eat light, you can eat veg and be trim and fit. If you want to eat heavy, then there are tons of non-beef meat choices (chicken, lamb). It's been wonderful.
As mentioned earlier, we went to South Indies on Tuesday night, where we sampled cuisine from throughout South India. It was great, and all veg! Wednesday night, we then moved to a major meat dinner.
Samarkand ("The Cave") is a traditional Afghan restaurant in the tandoori/kabob style. We all ordered the "750" - that is, an all-you-can-eat parade of food for RS750. We had some amazing appetizers, including very tasty stuffed mushrooms. Most of the food was heavily spiced, and some of the spices were rather hot. Nothing was unmanageable, however.
Let me just say, this was our second night with a 3-hour meal. Lots of socializing during the multiple courses. Simply amazing! The food was tremendous! I have not had a bad meal in this country yet. I had a bad after-dinner experience -- something called "pan" (pronounced pahn) -- that was hideous!!! Our host said he wished that he'd had a camera ready when I tried it as the face I made was pretty bad. He said he chuckled about the response for hours afterwards.
Well, anyway, that's all for yesterday. We're underway this morning, and with a prime audience, so hoping to make big, lasting points to our attendees. Perhaps more tonight, as we'll be turning in early. We're hoping to get out shopping on the street, do a little bargaining, so we'll see what happens. :)
