Odds and Ends 2
• I’ve seen a lot of toddlers wearing shoes that squeak as they walk. Kind of adorable, kind of annoying.
• In one town, Matteo and I were psyched to see a Baskin Robbins and, after looking at its menu, decided to order a banana split. The man behind the ice cream counter said that we couldn’t have a banana split, but he could fix us a “Banana Royale.” Seeing that the only difference (including price) between the two items was that the Banana Royale had sliced bananas while the banana split required a whole banana, we said sure, thinking that maybe there were no whole bananas in the shop. But, as we sat down to wait for our desert, the man took out a whole banana and began chopping it into pieces. … I’m still trying to understand that sort of logic—it seems to happen in a lot of places overseas.
• Some autorickshaws and cars play music that alerts pedestrians when the vehicles back up. The music has ranged from twinkling renditions of “Happy Birthday” to “It’s a Small World.”
• Speaking of music, earlier on this trip in India in the summer I was at a fancy Chinese restaurant that was playing a Muzak version of “White Christmas.” How inappropriate. Now I’m curious to learn the origin of music I hear in ethnic restaurants in America.
• Loudly burping in public, and doing so multiple times, is apparently not an unladylike thing to do.
• You know those VW Bug contests that see how many people can fit at once into the tiny car? I’m convinced that were the contest an Olympic event, the Indian team would take the gold medal every time. I cannot believe how many people can squeeze onto or into vehicles at one time. I’ve seen a family of four on a motor scooter and a group of 10 in a four-seater autorickshaw. And, two days ago, I had the pleasure of being one of 21 people (20 of whom were full-grown adults, mind you) in a van built for 10, with a 200-pound-or-so woman sitting halfway on my lap.
Tags: India, Odds and Ends, RTW 07/08
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