for billy, who loves pictures of food

Here is what we eat for lunch these days:

We have a cook! Our lunch is rice with yellow lentils, then a mix of veggie "sides." In the mornings, vegetable vendors set up shop just outside our complex so we get a fresh every day. Dinner is mostly the same, with a different veggie side and a meat option, if we choose. Occasionally we will want to mix it up, so we will probably replace the rice with roti (homemade tortilla-like breads like chapatis or something else). We don't have an oven so we can't make our own naan, but I'm sure we could find a stall nearby if we look hard enough.

Yesterday was our first day with the new housekeeper and so far she seems like a perfect match for us. She worked for the US Consul General's family for a few years and her English is really good. I think she is a little surprised that we want the kids to eat local food and although they are not yet really sold on the idea, it's getting better. I am so happy to have her because there is no way I could have known how to navigate the rickshaw ride to market and the food shopping myself. She does not know this neighborhood, either, but she bravely went out yesterday to try to figure everything out. She came back with a supply of the basics, lentils, the necessary spices and then a couple of kilos of fresh veggies. Then she brought me change from the $4 I had sent along with her.

I think I could have bought one single jar of cumin in a regular supermarket in the US for that!