I Scream, You Scream...

Well, my days of gelato-filled bliss in Italy are over, but I've discovered a new frozen treat: Indian ice cream. Now, Indian ice cream isn't anything compared to gelato. It's more like those B-rated movies that are so bad you love them. And we love Indian ice cream.

Some of it's not even that bad... but you can tell how artificial it is. Our favorite ice cream comes from St. George's Taste Bud, an ice cream parlor in Kozhencherry, a town about 3km from the village. At St. George's Taste Bud, you can get ice cream, shakes, and fresh-squeezed juice (they are no longer surprised when we ask for "no ice, no sugar"). The ice cream menu (they give us the one in English) includes such delights as: Falooda, Royal Falooda, Chocolatate Giment, Chocolate Ripple, Black Vipper, Upper Crest, Pink Laddy, and Scotmen (and no, these particular spelling mistakes are not because *I* don't proofread). The sundaes come in tall, skinny glasses with long, skinny spoons or in short, wide-mouthed curvaceous ones. They are topped with syrups, dried fruit, nuts (almonds & cashews!), corn flakes, and what seem to be chocolate covered corn flakes! The other day we confirmed our theory that the sundaes' names may stay the same but it doesn't mean you get the same thing every time. I ordered Black Vipper on my visit: it was a wonderful chocolate concoction. This week my Black Vipper was distinctly white ice cream covered in electric blue syrup.

Usually we walk to Kozhencherry (it's only 3km), but this week the Revathi family took the bus when we went (only 4 rupees each way). When we are really tired, we splurge on an autoriksha (spelling here is very creative) for 30 rupees (or 35 or 40 if the driver decides to take advantage of having a foreign passenger and we don't feel like haggling). But anyway, the bus: it was named Swapna (Malayalam for "dream", I know this because tomorrow I am going to a wedding and the brides name is Swapna). Inside the front window was hanging a catenary arch of red silk rose buds with a great deity sticker collection: Jesus, Ganesha, and Shiva and Parvati all in a row; Hanuman in the center above them; and at the very top: Ariel from the Little Mermaid and Tweety Bird.