grub and toilets - part 2

I find that being abroad makes me much more typically English than I would be at home. Every time someone sees me they say "hello, how are you?" to which I reply "very well thank you" .... which of course is complete and utter bollocks, but I've yet to master the Tamil for "I've just spent the last 2 hours watching what can only be described as the lining of my gut fly out of my bum at the speed of light"! Conversation amongst volunteers, once the introductions are done with, descends to endless talk of bowel habits (the likes of which can only be equaled by the elderly). Solid poos are a cause for genuine celebration. I've done 2 so far..... in 3 months (in case you were wondering - I'm sure you weren't!). After the ultimate in loo roll conservation - one roll in 2 months (I became extremely adept at the ancient art of paper folding!) - I am now in heaven as I have a stack courtesy of my sister (when I mentioned loo roll I was thinking one, maybe two, but no...I'm now the proud owner of a family of nine quilted rolls!). When bowels are exhausted, both conversationally and otherwise, talk turns to food. Ahhh - the hours I've spent talking about what I'd like to eat, how I'd cook it, what it would smell like - I've mastered food meditation. Don't get me wrong it's not that the food's bad, it's just that it's so different. My first 2 months were quite challenging as vegetables were minimal, fruit non-existent, protein zero, just good old carbs and chilli. Rice bloats you instantly and then a few hours later leaves you really hungry. Chilli....well you know the effect that has and I won't digress back onto bowels....needless to say, spicy on the way in and out! The food provided by my new family is a big improvement. Lakshmi is a fantastic cook but I don't know how she manages it. Her house is minute, much smaller than the bedroom I stay in. There are 2 tiny rooms, no bathroom or toilet and no water (there's a tap outside that works twice a day). She lives with her husband, Durai and her two boys, Sadhiz and Vinit. It feels quite ridiculous to think that I have a house all to myself back home - I wish I could do a swap. Lakshmi's house is right next door to one of the largest houses I've seen in India. It seems strange that they live side by side. There doesn't seem to be any resentment - people just accept their lot and get on with it.