For the past two and a half weeks that we've been staying in Ganiyari we have mostly stayed on the JSS campus. Except for one brief ride I took into Bilaspur, we hadn't gone more than a short walk away. We have also been eating all our meals in the canteen, occasionally supplemented by a curry we've made ourselves in one of the kitchens here. All of the food has been vegetarian... we usually get some eggs with lunch, but there has been absolutely no meat.

Dolly and I went into Bilaspur on Thursday, mostly to open a bank account, but also with a strong craving for some animal protein. The first thing we did when we arrived was to find a restaurant reccommended by our friend, where we ordered and devoured a tandoori chicken and an order of lamb briyani. It was one of the most satisfying meals we had had in a while.

The bank account isn't open yet, but it was easier than the cell phone. They were willing to accept separate proof of address and ID (which makes sense to me...) and the branch manager was very friendly and willing to work with us in getting the account approved with the paperwork that we have. It seems that the worst case is that the account gets delayed until we are physically moved into where we will be staying.

Also, today is Indian Independence Day, commemorating the day they were officially freed from British rule. There was a ceremony on campus, with a flag unfurling (done by the oldest members of the staff) and then some songs were sung and samosas were passed out. Its mostly a holiday, but some people are working, and while sitting in front of the lab we heard something about someone testing positive for cholera, and it was said in a way that sounded serious. So lets hope that there isn't an outbreak, and that I don't get it.