It's Called Variety

The reason I haven't posted in a while is because I was at a yoga retreat (the Kundalini Yoga Summer Solstice Celebration). Retreat, festival, space camp... all would be good descriptions for the camping out under the stars, meditating for three days straight, and raving with crazy old and young Sikhs that I did in New Mexico last week. It was all wonderful and I can't wait to go back next year. In fact, it's hard to believe I have to wait a whole year before I can go back. Sigh.

But besides for improving my meditating and bhangra dancing skills (that's right, baby! I'm a bhangra queen now!) I also got a chance to eat a lot of food. By "a lot" I mean, a large quantity, not a large variety. Every day we were served the same thing for breakfast and dinner. Lunches varied and could be quite interesting, in an Indian vegetarian kind of way. (Why is it always Saag Paneer? What's wrong with a good chana masala, I ask you?) Breakfast was probably the meal most complained about though after a while I kind of enjoyed it. Potato and celery soup, curried, with bananas. And yes, you were encouraged to put the bananas in the soup. Don't ask me why, but this actually made the soup taste better. I was kind of grooving on this by the last day. I don't usually eat bananas, especially ones flown in from Ecuador, but since we were in New Mexico and it was hot, some tropical fruit seemed appropriate. Tropical fruit is designed to cool you off, much like spicy food, and therefore best to eat in hot, humid climates. But I swear there was a freaking mutiny on the last day in the line for the "kid's" food, which was oatmeal. I think I saw more adults in that line than kids.

Every night for dinner we were served "kitchari", essentially mung beans and rice, cooked to a mushy softness. It's old people food. You could loose all your teeth and still be able to eat kitchari. This dinner was also served with cooked carrots (my dad's favorite- yuck!) and cooked beets. A lovely pretty contrasting color scheme to the greenish brown of the rice and beans. Oh, and let us not forget: the lettuce! Iceberg lettuce, about half a head per person usually. I never thought iceberg lettuce had any value but the one time I tried to eat this without the lettuce I realized it did. Roughage really does help the medicine go down!