I have been making turkey cutlets which have now been renamed turkey putties. Everytime I hear putties it makes me think of a malayalam word meaning dog. Anyway it came out quite well. So it has become an anytime snack and meal.
I also made a Thai Coconut Shrimp Curry, which turned out fabulously. But then anything with coconut milk tastes quite good. My uncle always told me to make sure that I had coconut milk in the house because it could be used to make a good curry. Being a mallu I personally like anything with coconut. Reminds me of home.
I went grocery shopping in Weis today. It is supposed to be the grocery store in State College. ALthough according to Mahesh it is the best in the US. It reminded me of Giant Eagle, in Akron though. The whole layout is very similar. I prefer Wah Wah. I haven't been to any of those stores I just like the sound of it.

I keep saying there is a first time for everything. Well yesterday for the first time I drove my car down to State College PA. I have never taken my Humbug on such a long journey before but she survived. I thought it would be a pain because I would have to change gears often. FOrtunately that was not a problem. Once I got on the freeway I stayed in fifth gear. The pain is sitting next to the worst backseat driver ever, and especially one who does not know how to drive a manual car.
Another first - I went for a walk in State College. It was fun. The weather is amazing! I got ot of Mahesh's appartment and took a forty minute walk and enjoyed every minute of it. I never usually have time to do that when I come here- constantly running around doing something or the other. This time I am here to relax. While my Macha is preparing for his dissertation I am having a good time exploring. My second Christmas!! :)

I am staying at Sajit and CHitra's house for two weeks. I am having a good time. For one thing it is a big house and I have it all to myself. The second thing is that I have a bathtub to myself. I love bubble baths. This bathtub has one of those whirlpool gadgets. You press a little button and the water startsbubbling. Its awesooome!!

I realised something recently about myself. When I want something I have an idea in my mind about what it should be like. If I come across something that resembles the thing I want I'm stuck on that. Maybe its a mindset. For example when I bought my car I knew I needed something that could take me from point A to point B, something that would be economical and if it was going to be American it had to be a Ford. I didn't do much research into how goo

I am going to celebrate Christmas twice this year. Once this weekend and the second time on the 25th of December. I am lloking forward to this. Not many people get to celebrate twice. Well..... unless you are one of the British Royals. Then you get to celebrate everything twice. You have a public birthday and a private birthday, a public christmas and a private christmas, a public funeral and a private funeral.
Anyway this weekend I get to open presents and be with friends. On the 25th I shall go to church- which is usually what we do for Christmas. When we were kids the first thing my sister and I would do when we woke up was open our presents. As we grew up going to church got more importance. So all four of us- my parents, sister and I- would go for the early morning service. After that we would go across the road to the drive- in restaurant, Woodlands, to have dosa and other South Indian delicacies. Then we would go home and everyone would sit together and open their presents. After that its family time. The whole family gets together for lunch.
I guess the biggest tradition in my house at Christmas time is decorating the Christmas tree. My sister and I love doing it. We take the huge dusty boxes out of the storage cupboard, call our friends over and then begin. My mom is usually around to help us put up the tree. Then all the kids put the decorations up. MOst of it is old stuff from my grandmother's collection. My father is usually in charge of putting the lights on the tree. Then we all sit down and admire it.
When my dog was alive he always thought that he was small enough to get under the tree. He almost brought the whole thing tumbling down once. Another time he tried eating all the presents.
I miss Christmas back home... So this year is good.... I'm going to have it twice.... :) I can't wait for the celebrations to begin!!!

I finished my last final exam ever in this university. What a feeling! One more semester and two licensure exams to go. Sounds good! What is even better is that I don't have to take extra classes next semester. Apparently there is something called reduced course load which students can make use of in their last semester and have finished all their required courses. THis stipulates that international graduate students can take less than 9 credits and still maintain their visa status. Thank God! I really did not want to take extra classes next semester. So now I have to run around- go to OIP, get some forms, meet my advisor and get his signature. Hallelujah! Oh yeah I can keep an on campus job... Hallelujah again!

Apparently Timber Tops has become a very popular place among the Indian community of Akron. Quite a few people are migrating there.I guess that is going to become the new desi village. Hahahahahahahahaha! Thats a funny thought!