Saturday morning, Felicia and I set off on a chukra to visit Amitaben, my co-teacher. She has been inviting me for weeks because she really wanted me to meet her family, so I finally agreed to make the trip to her village for lunch. One stuff chukra and a short motorcycle ride later, we arrived in the most beautiful village I have seen yet. Amita lives with her parents, brothers, cousins and grandmother so it was fun to be in a full house. Her six year old cousin, Paat, ran from one end of the house to the other for the entire length of our visit. He was so energetic and a little trouble-maker. Amita prepared a delicious traditional Indian meal for us, with rice, okra, eggplant, chipati, and daal (sauce/soup).
Just when I had stuffed myself full and sank into the couch to relax and watch a Bollywood movie on TV, Amita told us we had more of her family to visit. So, went outside into the Indian sun and began walking to her uncle's house. On our way, we recognized some of our students who then insisted we come to their houses and meet their families. So once again, we went through the process of removing our shoes, greeting their parents with "Namastes" and the other few Hindi phrases we know and sitting quietly on the couch or swing waiting for the snack they would prepare for us. It is customary to make some food and drink for any visitor you have, here in India. And if you don't have something to make, then you send your child out to buy something. My student, Preet, ran to the market and bought me a chocolate bar and on his way back picked some wild flowers for me. When we finally made it to Amita's uncle's house, we were served big bowls of ice cream! It was a rough trip home on the bumpy, stuffy chukra with enough food for a family of four in my stomach.
After a super fast trip to Bardoli, the nearest town, it was time for the next visit. Every evening I go for a run, just as the sun is setting. I usually take the same path and I run and walk for about 5 miles, 5-6 days per week. It's a great stress reliever and it's nice to get out of the house for an hour or so. Well now that I have been running for about 5 weeks, I have gotten to know the same people who are on the road every day. There is a man with neon orange hair, there is a man and his wife who have matching outfits and a plethora of other people who are out and about between 6 and 7 pm, herding their cows or enjoying the cool breeze. Last week, I started talking with this group of older men who have a little walking club every day. They speak good English and after a week, one of them, Ashokbhai, invited us over for dinner. His wife cooks pizza and let's just say it didn't take much convincing because he knew his audience. So on Saturday night, even though we were still full from our 4 lunches, we went to his house for some really delicious pizza. His family speaks English very well, so it was so fun to talk, eat our pizza and drink Pepsi.
Sunday morning, I woke up still full from Saturday, but it was time to go again, to Bajipura, a village about 45 minutes away to visit Hemlathaben, the teacher who offered me meat under the table. When we got there, a feast of chicken curry was awaiting us. Her son, Dhaval, a chef who studied in Australia for three years, cooked our lunch. I had no self control and continued to eat for a straight hour. The chicken was indescribable and for once the curry wasn't too spicy. After lunch, Hemlathaben sensed our food coma and took us to her guest bedroom so we could lie down. She sat with us and pulled out about 25 photo albums and told us stories about her life. It seems my visits to her house are going to be more frequent. 
A few hours later, again after a long trip home, I cozied up on my rock-hard bed and watched a Bollywood movie. It's now 9:30 pm on Monday and I am still full from this weekend. My run tonight was more of casual stroll. And my walking friends asked why I didn't walk on Saturday or Sunday night. I wouldn't have been able to even if I tried.
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