Hello 2008! I have plans for you. Big plans. Small plans. And I plan to be open to unanticipated adventures too. I’ve kept my refuse no (safe) invitation policy, which has once again led to good things.
Last week a woman came into the clinic to whiten her teeth. She’s in her early 50’s and had a big beautiful, but yellow, smile. By the time she left she had a big, beautiful, white smile and I had a new friend. She invited me to dinner after learning that I love Indian food. And of course I accepted.
Lata and her banker husband are from Bombay and have lived in Oman for 23 years. Their home is filled with photos and memorabilia of their happy family. I had asked her if I could help cook and she had refused but she allowed me to watch. She had all of the ingredients prepared when I got there.
Wow, can this woman cook. She made rice with onion and peas. Fried potatoes seasoned with onion, garlic, ginger, mustard seed, cumin seed, dry mango powder (which I ran out and bought after- is it ever good) black sea salt and lime juice. Chana (chick pea) masala seasoned with onion, garlic, ginger, cumin seed, coriander, turmeric, fresh pureed tomatoes and fresh coriander leaf. While she was cooking she made pakora for me to snack on. The trick, I learned, with pakora, it to fry them twice. It makes them crispier. Incidentally, this is the trick with fresh French fries as well. You fry them half way, let them cool, then fry them again. She served the pakora with a coriander leaf (cilantro) chutney that was out of this world. When everything was ready she fried fresh puris. The dough is made from whole wheat flour, salt and water. A little dough is rolled into a little, then rolled into a thin circle and fried in hot oil. If the oil is just the right temperature they puff way up. Too cool. She served the meal with a potato and corn raita and a plate of carrots, cucumbers and daikon radish cut into sticks and splashed with lime juice.
I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Everything was so delicious and Lata and her husband are so nice. Towards the end of the evening they busted out some photos and video of a wedding they had gone to in Bombay in November. Now I want to go to an Indian wedding. Beautiful clothes and crazy, happy dancing.
Truly, it was a wonderful night. Right up until the end of the night when I hit a dog on my way home. Or I should say the dog hit me. He came out of nowhere on the rainy highway (Yes, I said rainy. It rained here for the first time since June) and ran right into my tire. He must have gotten caught in the tire because the wheel well lining was ripped out and made a monstrous noise as it scraped on the highway. An altogether unpleasant and quite frightening experience.
How was the dog? I don’t know. By the time I had found a safe place to pull over on the busy highway, get the noisy wheel well lining thingie ripped out all the way, made my way to the next exit then double back, the dog was gone. There had been a man at the side of the road when it happened. I think it was his dog and I think he carried him away. There is little chance the dog could have survived a hit like that.
The whole event caught me by surprise. I realized I have come to expect only good things to happen to me. I read a book called "The Best Year of Your Life" a couple of years ago and I now realize that much of what I had said I wanted, I got last year. 2007 really was the best year of my life. Which is nice, but that dog really threw me. Fear not, I’m back in my stride now and ready for all the year (and life in general) has to offer.
This year, may we all have the best year of our lives. What would yours look like?
