good weekend

yesterday jojo and i had a much-needed day of indulgence.
at 9:30 we hopped onto our favorite rickshaw (the one that "bob marley" pedals), and went to the swanky area of varanasi known as the cantonment. we sat in the air-conditioned raddison hotel, eating toast, muffins, and croissants (items that are pretty scarce around here), drinking tea and coffee, and watching MTV india. we finished off our breakfast with a banana split.
then we went to modilal, a wonderful bookstore, and each bought some books that we've been eyeing all year. if they're published in india, books are a LOT cheaper here than they are in the U.S., so it's worth it to buy things here and have them shipped home.
after that, we spent a couple of hours at phulwari, a restaurant in the main crossing in the city known as godoulia. we sat in a courtyard, drank fancy juice drinks and had pizza. ('pizza' here is usually an interesting interpretation of what most americans are used to eating, but phulwari is a popular tourist spot, and they have the best pizza that i've had in india. i'd even argue that compared to a lot of pizza in america, it's pretty darn tasty.)
then we went to three more bookshops, where i bought gifts for my tibetan teacher and my pal lhamo. we caught an auto back just in time to make our 6pm curfew in the hostel, and then we cooked the box of kraft macaroni and cheese that the smithies sent us last week. (it tasted AMAZING.) later that evening, i made some coffee, yangri and tsechu joined us, and i made everybody watch "the silence of the lambs."

it was a good day.