Ahhh, it's good to be back. But it was good to be in Boston. Fortunately for us and Unfortunately for S and A, we feel real comfortable at their house. Sleeping in their cozy spare bedroom, using their computers, eating their food, drinking their wine. Hells Bells, driving their CAR. Need a place to stay during your next trip to Boston? Just email me and I can pass along S and A's info - you can't beat Friends like them.
Anyway, the rest of the trip went like this:
Saturday, we had a very leisurely day - ate breakfast, went to a Barnes and Noble to hang out, then ate at a Chinese restaurant where actual Chinese people were eating. Did you get that, Internet? Chinese people eat in Chinese restaurants, too! It was a place called Sichuan Gourmet and I was the only White Person in the joint. It was unlike any Chinese food I have ever had. Perhaps, because it was Authentic? This place was so spicy that all four of us were sweating. Definitely not for the faint of heart nor a 10 month old baby (much to his chagrin). Later that day, S and A had to accompany S's brother to meet a potential Marriage Match. I can't go into too much detail because I've been BlogBlocked, but I will say this - most Americans have a very simplistic view of arranged marriages where they assume the parents say "Here's your girl" and that's the end of it. Most of the cases I have seen follow a much more complex pattern that involve families meeting, coffee dates, dinner dates, phone calls and emails, etc. Anyway, while S and A went with The Brother, X and I hung out at their house and made ourselves really comfortable by briefly locking ourselves out of the house and managing to find a way back in, but not until after the screen door fell off its rails. After S and A got home, we went to eat at a place in Somerville called The Kebab Factory - a funky, cool place that served kebab fusion. When I got over the fact that the kebabs weren't traditional, it was a great dining experience. After that, we went back to the house where the Consumption of Wine commenced.
Sunday, we headed out to Ipswich and Crane Beach. After that, we went back to the house where the Consumption of Wine commenced, again. Somewhere in the night, after Much Wine, I invited S and A for a Traditional White People Thanksgiving with MY FAMILY replete with promises of turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce and a Talent Show. They, having consumed Much Wine themselves, ACCEPTED. Who's the bigger Sucker? Stayed tuned in November.
Monday, everyone needed to work, so Arun and I headed out to Salem. I have driven through Salem twice before and actually, my first experience with Salem was one of Sheer Panic. In October 2002, I attended a conference in Cambridge and X was going to fly in for the weekend so we could go Leaf Peeping. Since I had an entire day to burn before heading up to Manchester to pick him up, I went to Marblehead for the day, then drove back through Salem on my way back to New Hampshire. What I didn't count on in my careful timing was coming to a screeching halt in Salem because of the Halloween Traffic. I did make it to the airport in time, but it was close. Anyway, I have always wanted to actually GO TO Salem as a destination, so Monday was a great opportunity for it. Unfortunately, Arun was fast asleep by the time we got there so I couldn't get out of the car. Damn, that kid really cramps my style sometimes. So, from what I could see through the car windows, Salem was a neat town. I feel sorry for the folks that live there who have to put up with Dumbasses like me creeping through their beautiful, tree-lined streets snapping off Stalkerish Photos.
Anyway, lots of Flickrage to be had. Here's a Snappage Sample:
Long Wait at The Long Wharf
I, Robot
Life is Good.
Actually, Ice Cream means No Scream
Paul Bizarre
Pink Stink
8 comments:
The days of seeing your spouse when the antarpat falls are long over, though arranged marriages remain, at heart, based on a completely different concept of love and marriage which is why people from the West tend to be somewhat skittish about them.
I find American/Western society very individualistic, which is what has made it a consistently innovative and dynamic society. Add to this the concept of free choice and love here is very much about matching partners to your personal needs-romantic love based marriage. In India marriage remains an economic institution created thought of primarily as the best way of raising children and preserving greater communal-familial order. And you're encouraged to think of love as growing more with time.
While I think the move towards making sure people get to know each other better prior to marriage is great-for the most part people are trying to screen out what sucked about arranged marriages in the past-getting stuck with a psycho, abuser blahblahblah rather than fall in love love.
Who knows which one is better? I think as a general statement American marriages seem to have a lot more passion and oftentimes intellectual-professional compatibility (though the intellect part is changing since Indian women are increasingly REQUIRED to be as educated as men in order to get married to a good match) but Indian marriages tend to be stable and practical. Americans give up too quickly and yet I have seen Indians hold on to matches that ruin their lives because they cannot change communal thinking/shame.
I think I need something in between. I'm in the unromantic camp of marriage but I don't think any man who wants an arranged marriage would touch me with a 10 foot pole!!
Too bad you didn't have a nice male twin, Cagey.
Welcome home to the heat and humidity - ugh the humidity.
Sounds like a great trip - I am so jealous that Arun is such a good traveler. After a particular harrowing trip from DC back to KC with my then 2 1/2 yr old I nixed traveling long distances with kids on airplanes.
Walking through the Boston Common a couple of years ago, I saw at least 6 wedding parties. It must be The Place Everyone Has Photos Taken (and ugh to the magenta dresses).
The hotel for Shweenster's was right in front of the Commons but we all summarily refused to go out for the photographs. My sister and R went and came back inside after about 5 minutes due to the humidity.
Your trip sounds fab! And your little man is getting big. I didn't think it was possible for him to be even more beautiful but he is!
i totally had to google 'leaf peeping'.
i'd never heard of it!
I love how you've spared that poor bride the public blog humiliation by hiding her face behind the leaves. Precision photography or accidental? We'll never know.
The "Life is Good" picture is a classic. You know that one's coming out on his wedding day.
Speaking of weddings (specifically arranged ones) - I recently read a book called "For Matrimonial Purposes". It's about an Indian woman living in America, trying to find a suitable mate for an "arranged marriage". Folks, there are Internet sites for this now! Great read! It really helped me understand the reasoning behind "arranged marriages" and why they aren't really a bad idea. !
To the bad-bridesmaid-dress pub crawl, of course!
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