secundrabad, pt. II - 6/17/2011

this weekend, shivani's aunt and uncle were gracious enough to have me stay at their home. i think this is her paternal aunt because i remember her dad looking like her, and i can definitely see the resemblance between shivi and her grandmother. they're very sweet: they asked questions about my studies (obviously), my research trip, what kind of food i liked (they were happy to learn i'll eat basically all south indian food), and of course, they asked me about shivi.

they all came to fetch me at around 7:00, then we went to paradise hotel (the one we were supposed to go to last weekend) for dinner. it was amazing. from the chicken 65 (a starter), to the other chicken dish with butter naan, to the actual main course (i know, right?!) which is the restaurant's specialty, the chicken biryani. i told her uncle that i was a vegetarian, but he told me i could be a vegetarian on sunday because i absolutely had to try the biryani. i did NOT regret it, it was amazing. and in typical indian fashion, they insisted upon trying to make me eat more than my stomach could honestly hold. her grandmother kept trying to have me put more lemon onto my food (which i'll actually do from now on: the sourness actually activated the flavor in the food), and her aunt & uncle kept trying to dish food onto my plate (that's that indian hospitality i wrote about earlier), and her uncle asked if i wanted ice cream after. i would've said yes if my stomach hadn't been ready to pop.

tomorrow, her aunt laxmi is working, so her uncle is going to squire me about the town and we'll go sight-seeing. i might snag some bottoms, i want some of those poofy ones: i'm tired of suffocating my calves. oh! and at dinner, her uncle told me that they'll be taking me to a wedding on sunday morning!!!! i'm so excited!! HOWEVER, i don't have wedding appropriate clothes with me, although her aunt assured me that i'll be fine. luckily, i brought that blue kurta. if i can get some black puffy pants, then i'll be presentable.

oh, i think this weekend will be a lot of fun and unless they stuff me full of food (which all signs really seem to indicate), i'll live to tell the tale.