February 16, 2008 – Tamil Nadu, India

The George Foundation – Shanti Bhavan

I feel a little like I’m at fat camp. No, they are not starving us here, it’s just that my mind and body got very used to the whole constantly being fed rich, fatty & sweet things in Mumbai and mentally at least it far preferred that to the healthy rice with some sort of pulse (beans, lentils etc.) curry and no dessert diet here. My body will probably thank me for it but I never realized how strong a craving for peanut butter (protein?) or fruit could be.  They make the volunteers eat an extra egg each day because apparently Indians are better adapted to getting protein out of whatever they eat, whereas weak Caucasians like us need help.  Even Evy has been craving meat, a highly unusual situation for her.  I think the whole thing may be a little psycho-somatic though, and really we’re just missing our usual sugar fix – but who’s to say for sure…

I should mention that the food here is very tasty and we are not limited in amounts that we eat in the least.  Evy and I aren’t able to manage the huge quantities that the kids seem able to pack down, but maybe eating vast quantities of rice and vegetable curry is a also an inherited ability.

I should also mention that the kitchen staff is pretty impressive here.  Due to lack of money for fuel for the kitchen stoves, the large majority of our meals are cooked outside in huge pots on an open fire.  I don’t know how they manage to feed all 300+ of us so well, and with at least some sense of variety.  The other day they even spiced things up a little (or down I suppose, in this case!) by baking bread and making peanut butter/tuna sandwiches.  There’s nothing like sandwiches on homemade bread, especially after weeks of curry variations (tasty though they are!).