More butter chicken than you can shake an aloo tikki at.

WOW! I went to the most amazing wedding on the weekend. Over 600 people!!!! Us mangia cakes have a wedding of 140 and we think it is “excessive.” As I sat, danced, drank and celebrated in that sea of people, I kept wondering “how and what are they going to feed the masses?” and “thank God I don’t have to make pie for this many.” As it turns out, you feed them a variety of Indian dishes like chaat papri, pakoras and chicken tikka. I was so full after dinner that I didn’t even notice there was nothing with pastry on it. As we were entertained with the bhangra dancers, I had flashbacks of my trip to India. Now there were MANY light and flaky moments on that trip and loads of smiles.

For example, no matter how much you want it, “fresh” orange juice for breakfast is a BAD idea. If it comes out of a can or sealed carton then proceed with caution. But if you see anything mixed with water, listen to your friend Liz and don’t drink it. Unless, that is, you are REALLY fond of your toilet. Ugh.

Also, keep in mind that India is not Spain and kids you meet in the desert 6 hours out (by camel) of Jaisalmer likely don’t speak Spanish no matter how tired you are or how much goat you’ve had to eat. Liz and I were on an overnight trek into the desert and after feasting on somewhat raw goat decided to watch the sunset atop a sand dune. Once perched on said dune, two adorable kids came out of nowhere to join us. To this day I am convinced one of them said “buenas noches” so I replied back and proceeded to chit-chat (apparently to myself) in my broken Spanish. Liz finally asked me what I was doing and I noticed the stunned looks on the kid’s faces. Now, they didn’t speak English either, so they were none the wiser. Liz had a good laugh and so did I once I remembered where I was and what I was doing. That night we also saw huge beetles (bit crunchy but good) sneaking up to our sleeping bags as our fire died. As we were sleeping al fresco, we covered ourselves as well as we could and hunkered down for the night and were none-the-worse-for-wear the next morning. Ahhhhhhhhh. Good times.

Side bar – if you ever get the chance to see Jaisalmer, do it. Absolutely breath-taking! Our room in the old walled city was like something out of an Indiana Jones film. Bloody freezing at night, but fabulous during the day.

Biggest smile on the trip though - being swarmed by kids at dusk as I handed out pens, pencils, little colouring books and candy. I had to keep moving for fear of becoming human monkey bars. In that same village I developed my fondness for pants. No matter how unfair I think life is, or how badly I want a pity party, I think “hey, at least I have pants and was not caught picking my nose on camera.” Life is good.