Life in the Information Age

The saga of my complicated relationship with India continues. As I near the end of my last planned trip to India I am filled with mixed feelings. In many ways I am looking forward to ending my time of trying to live in two different countries, always packing up and moving to the other just as I get back into a routine in one. It's been an exhausting year and a half and it will be nice to stay away from airports and large backpacks for a while (notwhithstanding my Big Chill Revisited trip to Quebec in August to visit the old St.John's crowd). Still, when I think that in less than two weeks I will be leaving here with no idea when I will return makes me a little sad. I feel there is still so much to do, so much to see. I've met so many amazing people, and they keep introducing me to more. One thing I am looking forward to is that open, friendly Canadian style of communication....

It would be so much easier to, well, do anything, here if only people weren't so averse to sharing information. One of the NGOs I've been working with had a tendency to ask me why I wasn't at an event, organized by them, that was directly related to my research - the day after. I don't think they were keeping information from me, but it never occurred to anyone to tell me in advance. They seemed to think I would know. Direct and pointed questions are key, but you need to know what to ask. It's also important never to ask a question that could require an "I don't know" reply, because I have never heard these words uttered. This usually happens when asking directions, and if the person doesn't know they will make something up on the spot and tell you with the utmost surity how to get there.

Today was another example of how I will NOT miss this.

I was supposed to take a day trip by train to Alappuzha today to meet with a research contact. We spoke on the phone last night and decided to meet here in Thiruvananthapuram instead, since she has to come here on Monday. This means I could cancel my train ticket. Off I went to the station to make the cancellation and get a refund. I knew there was a separate reservations desk I needed to go to, but I couldn't find it so went to the information booth. I was told my morning ticket couldn't be refunded until after 8pm, and the return couldn't be refunded until today. So I left and went back this afternoon. I got in the wrong line up - 1/2 hour in the midday heat - to be told where the reservation office actually is, in another building. I went there and took a number to find there were 200 people ahead of me. I was clearing going to miss my afternoon appointment so I left and returned a couple of hours later. I was not looking forward to the wait so went to inquire that I could in fact get a refund. I was told I had to write a request for refund on a piece of white paper, which was procured for me with some difficulty, and I was directed to the station manager's office. The manager ripped up my request, wrote something on my ticket, and sent me directly to a wicket (no waiting!). Turns out I was too late to refund my morning ticket (why couldn't they do it last night!?) and because my return train was leaving within 4 hours I could only get a 50% refund. Again, why couldn't any have told me this earlier?! So I took my refund and left, thankful that at least I didn't wait for 3 hours in the line for what turned out to be $3.50. Cost for 3 rickshaw trips: $3.25.

Slow Food IS Good Food

Finally, a week after leaving Italy, I think I may soon be hungry again. Maybe. I Spent the first few days talking food at Slow Food, and spent most of the rest of my visit just eating food. My diet was basically wine, espresso, gelato, cheese, and cured meats. And pasta of course. The few days I spent in Bra let me see a little of the inner workings of Slow Food and its University of Gastronomic Sciences, and I liked what I saw. They truly do seem to be living their rhetoric. Food is really, really important to these folks.

My meetings with the organizers of Terra Madre were fruitful. The workshop on agricultural land stewardship that I proposed along with Heather Pritchard from Farm Folk City Folk has been accepted as one of 28 thematic streams at the 2008 gathering. So, in addition to representing the UBC Faculty of Land and Food Systems at Terra Madre, I will be facilitating our workshop, moderating comments from farmers and activists around the world. Based on contributions to the online forum, we will identify the key issues from different places and arrange for as many people as possible to speak at the October meeting. I will then facilitate the discussion at Terra Madre.

What really amazed me about Slow Food and Italy is the way people really seem to live Slow Food. We had the Slow Food restaurant guide and ate at as many recommended places as possible. Unlike in Canada, the best restaurants in Italy are ALL about the food. There's no pretence, no need to dress up, and there's no show. It seemed that most places to eat were about the same price range (expensive). Nothing was really cheap and almost nothing was exhorbitant. The atmosphere in the really great places we went was relaxed and homey. Most were family run places, with the owners doing everything from cooking to serving tables. And they are proud of what they do.

It's completely normal to eat 3 or 4 courses at any meal, even lunch. Once the food was so good that Nathan ordered his main course of oven roasted pork a second time. They didn't raise an eyebrow. We never did figure out how to get tap water, but the wine flows free so it was never a big deal. Most restaurants have their own house wine available by the glass or part bottle. One place we went in Florence had bottles of house red on all the tables. You just pull the cork and drink as much as you like, and they somehow charge you for what you drink. No one was getting trashed, but it's perfectly acceptable, even expected, to have a glass with your sandwich at noon.



In Florence we found a great Slow solution to fast food. There
were sandwich restaurants that were seemed to be an abundance of either open to the streets or just tiny little places. They served only sandwiches, and had a list of combinations of meat and cheese and occasionally vegetables. You just choose one and eat it right there. One even had a little stand for your glass of wine (served in real glasses, even out on the street). It was pretty cheap, pretty healthy, waste free, and only served real food. Nothing in a package. All local ingredients. And simple. So very simple. And did I mention how GOOD it tasted?