Cocoa Masala Chai

Exotic Mexican Salad - when I saw that as restaurant dish on Zomato, I got super excited. What's not to like - beans, fresh peppers, onions, tomatoes and the like, sans any of the omnipresent sauce that's in many Indian dishes. My mouth had been craving the satisfying bite into a crisp vegetable and my ears missed the sound of the wet crunch from every bite (I've come to realize that food texture and the right mouthfeel is very important to me).  So I placed the order. Though I was a little disappointed that it turned out to be more of an 'everything' salsa 😑, I still ate it. I had gotten spoiled by the fresh veggie dishes available in Noida (just outside of Delhi) with absolutely no problems. Well, a few days later my digestive tract said it was unhappy with me and was very expressive in its protests. 'What did I eat? I've been cooking all my own food', I thought. Then I remembered the Exotic Mexican Salad. It's funny because I never considered M

Do you remember the end scene of the first Back to the Future movie? Marty asks about how they're going to get the DeLorean to 88mph on a residential street and Doc retorts: "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."  Well, in India, the drivers be like: "Rules? Where we're going, we don't need rules."  Needless to say, I will never drive in India, and if I did, I would probably be the cause of an accident because I did something stupid, like stop at a red light or used a turn signal. So, how do you get around if you're car-less? If you're in one of the larger cities like Delhi, you can catch public transportation, with modern and efficient Metro stations. Where I am is a smaller city that does have public buses, but I can't even tell what the bus route numbers are, let alone a bus stop. Maybe I'll take catch one someday, but not anytime soon. One option is an auto rickshaw, or auto, for short. You can catch a sharing auto

Or should I say, "money goes 'round the world" because you have to take it with you to your dream destination. You can't live without it, especially when traveling abroad. I'm always up for swapping best practices or learning from others what has or hasn't worked for them. So when I met up with a pair of fellow travelers that were also trekking through India, I jumped at the c hance to learn what was working for them.  They had a family member that was sending them money via Western Union, which is a convenient, consistent and reliable way to send money to anyone around the world. It worked for them, but it seemed like it'd be too much work for me. The good news is that you have options! What are they? What should you choose? And what if it's your first time in India? Well, scroll on, dear reader, scroll on! Option 1: Exchange Money at Home This option lets you arrive at your destination prepared, no need to stop off at an ATM or at a dreaded Foreign E

That's the most asked question I get. Sometimes, people don't even bother to ask, they tell me where I'm from: mostly it's "You from Nigeria?" I got South Africa once and was a little surprised. Today I even got Gujarat ! It's very rare that someone guesses the US. Most of the time people are genuinely curious and then I'll entertain the conversation. Even when I'm in the US and I meet someone from another state or country, I will ask where they're from, what made them travel to wherever the location may be. In India, people are even more excited when they find out I speak Hindi and it gives me a chance to have a good conversation and improve my Hindi. Other times, especially at touristy spots, I feel like they want to know where you're from so they can upcharge and make you pay the tourist tax. In that case, it's not worthy of a response. Or maybe a snarky one like "Earth". Photo by Brett Zeck on Unsplash

I should be a pro at this, after all, it's my third trip into New Delhi and the first two times I had no problem. But I'm at the ATM (it's so hard not to say MAC machine) and it's not letting me make a withdrawal. This is the same machine that 8 months ago happily dispensed my cash for a fee. "Okay, let's try this other bank; I've gotten cash from them with no problem before." Nope,  doesn't work either. Now, before you think I'm in some shady spot trying to get cash, let me tell you that I'm in the airport and there's an armed guard constantly scanning the crowd for trouble makers. In fact, the very first ATM I tried was right behind the guard. There was a 3rd bank's ATM, but I dismissed going there because that bank didn't work for me in 2019. So, in my desperation, I go to a money exchange kiosk, which I already know is a rip off, but I want the cash. They do take debit cards using a PIN, but I balked at their fee and let the