Rain, rain...go away

We got a reminder today that this is, in fact, monsoon season in Kolkata. A sudden deluge washed over the city a little after noon. It came like all other things in Kolkata: with little subtlety. The rain roared over the skyline and pattered loudly off the corrugated tin roof of the building next door. It momentarily silenced Kolkata's vibrating human carnival. The rain lasted about fifteen minutes and was then gone. The sun reappeared and life went on as before.

Sundays in Kolkata appear to be like Sundays in most other places: slow and leisurely . Another truism also holds up: early Sunday morning in Kolkata is the best time of the week to go grocery shopping. Jenna and I bought supplies for the coming week at a three-story supermarket called Spencers that was nearly empty when we went. In this city overrun by street hawkers and family vendors, Spencers is as close to Walmart as you can get. The first floor is for groceries. The second floor is for clothing, appliances and other random items like beer glasses and pencil pouches. The third floor is that most Western of delights: a food court. The food court happened to be closed when Jenna and I went today, but the aisles of pre-packaged consumer goods gave us an odd sense of peace. No bargaining. No hassle. Just put the goods in your cart and roll them to the check-out counter--American style.

We bought rice (of course), oranges, eggs, tea, bread, chocolate, peanut butter, jam, and other essentials. Starting tomorrow, we will be given lunch every day as part of our teacher-training course, so it was imperative to stock up on breakfast items. We also bought another towel and a few "back to school" supplies like notebooks and colored pencils. As a luxury, we bought a package of Oreos in the "International Food" aisle. All in all, it was good haul. And carrying grocery bags back to our apartment made us feel more at home. Whiling away a lazy Sunday afternoon indoors also made us feel as if Kolkata was not that strange after all.