the old monk wishes you a happy passover
Well, today was quite the eventful Saturday. I had to go into the office for a couple of hours this afternoon, and afterwards I went shopping w/Arod and Regina. I had only intended to go to pick up the pants that I got made last weekend, but we ended up doing some serious shopping at Meena Bazaar. The place is absolutely fantastic if you love fabric (which I do), and the end result was that I walked away with a sari and an absurdly expensive lehnga. Saris are the traditional wraparound formal outfit, which I do not yet know how to wrap around myself; lehngas are fitted tops and full skirts, with a matching scarf of sorts. The sari is this gorgeous red, and the lehnga is a sky blue that goes against my traditional color choice but makes my skin look nice and pale, so I had to go for it. I had to get something for a wedding that I'm going to in June, and I figure that between the two of them, I'm pretty much set for any Indian weddings that I may attend in the future. Yay. If nothing else, the red one would make some fantastic pillows at a later date.
The end result of this absurd shopping excursion was two unfortunate facts: we were an hour and a half late for dinner, and I have to go back to Meena Bazaar for the third weekend in a row next weekend to get the top made for the sari and get the lehnga custom-fitted and stitched. Boo. I was *starving* by the time we got home, since we walked in the apartments at 9:30pm and I hadn't eaten since my light breakfast at 11am.
So, it was quite amusing that dinner tonight wasn't a groaning-table feast at a fancy restaurant, but rather a super-belated Passover seder. One of the guys finally received a package from his mom containing matzah and other fun Jewish things, so we did a pseudo-seder tonight. The cooks turned out some mighty tasty matzah-ball soup, but we can't get wine here for love or money (well, you can get it for money if you want to spend $100 for a bottle that would cost $15 in the States), so we drank pina coladas instead of wine. Each pitcher of pina colada contained half a bottle of 'Old Monk' rum; surprisingly good stuff, since it costs about $4/bottle and is called Old Monk. Let me just say for a second that it's really weird to drink Old Monk with your boss and your boss' boss in the same room; the director of the whole office was sitting beside me, which was a little trippy. It got even better after someone pulled out her karaoke machine; however, since it was plugged in using a veritable Erector Set of transformers, adapters, and surge protectors, it's little wonder that the thing overheated and died after a few songs.
Much to my pleasure and enduring happiness, we made up for the lack of karaoke with a screening of 'Eurotrip', and I made up for a lack of pina colada mix by throwing together the last of the Finlandia vodka, some Old Monk, and a can of Red Bull. 'Eurotrip' was just as great as always, but I had to vacate when someone put in 'Donnie Darko', since I want to see that movie in a completely sober state of mind.
While I have v. fond memories of passover seders in the States, I must say that there was something v. entertaining about celebrating passover in India, more than a month late, with a rum called Old Monk instead of bottles of Manischewitz. We spent an inordinate amount of time talking about popes and Catholics, no doubt due to the beneficent influence of the Old Monk. And, of course, 'Eurotrip' climaxes in the Vatican, and I was so late for dinner that I missed most of the important ritual stuff, so I don't think this really qualifies as a seder for me at all. Oh, well, perhaps I'll celebrate one next year. Now, it's time for bed!
The end result of this absurd shopping excursion was two unfortunate facts: we were an hour and a half late for dinner, and I have to go back to Meena Bazaar for the third weekend in a row next weekend to get the top made for the sari and get the lehnga custom-fitted and stitched. Boo. I was *starving* by the time we got home, since we walked in the apartments at 9:30pm and I hadn't eaten since my light breakfast at 11am.
So, it was quite amusing that dinner tonight wasn't a groaning-table feast at a fancy restaurant, but rather a super-belated Passover seder. One of the guys finally received a package from his mom containing matzah and other fun Jewish things, so we did a pseudo-seder tonight. The cooks turned out some mighty tasty matzah-ball soup, but we can't get wine here for love or money (well, you can get it for money if you want to spend $100 for a bottle that would cost $15 in the States), so we drank pina coladas instead of wine. Each pitcher of pina colada contained half a bottle of 'Old Monk' rum; surprisingly good stuff, since it costs about $4/bottle and is called Old Monk. Let me just say for a second that it's really weird to drink Old Monk with your boss and your boss' boss in the same room; the director of the whole office was sitting beside me, which was a little trippy. It got even better after someone pulled out her karaoke machine; however, since it was plugged in using a veritable Erector Set of transformers, adapters, and surge protectors, it's little wonder that the thing overheated and died after a few songs.
Much to my pleasure and enduring happiness, we made up for the lack of karaoke with a screening of 'Eurotrip', and I made up for a lack of pina colada mix by throwing together the last of the Finlandia vodka, some Old Monk, and a can of Red Bull. 'Eurotrip' was just as great as always, but I had to vacate when someone put in 'Donnie Darko', since I want to see that movie in a completely sober state of mind.
While I have v. fond memories of passover seders in the States, I must say that there was something v. entertaining about celebrating passover in India, more than a month late, with a rum called Old Monk instead of bottles of Manischewitz. We spent an inordinate amount of time talking about popes and Catholics, no doubt due to the beneficent influence of the Old Monk. And, of course, 'Eurotrip' climaxes in the Vatican, and I was so late for dinner that I missed most of the important ritual stuff, so I don't think this really qualifies as a seder for me at all. Oh, well, perhaps I'll celebrate one next year. Now, it's time for bed!
posted by Sara @ 2:38 PM
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