The Big Red One

This week, I stumbled across an old post on Press Gazette’s Axegrinder blog about a young chap doing a work placement on a Sri Lanka newspaper during his gap year.

I found some of Andrew Liddle’s observations to be quite pertinent to some of my own experiences of India, though I think I was luckier when it came to my homestay. (Incidentally, I considered Sri Lanka as a possible destination – but after reading that post, I am glad I didn’t!).

He mentions his longing for a sirloin steak with blue cheese sauce and a bottle of red (Steak and wine? When I was that age, it was chips and cider!). As it happens, red meat and alcohol were the things that I missed the most in India and my first meal back involved steak and red wine. So I’m with him on that one.

His other complaint is less familiar to me. He describes how the family he  stayed with gathered round to watch him eat – alone. Thankfully, this was not the case at my homestay where we generally talked or watched TV during our meals. Much like home really.

This may be my last post for a while, although I am keeping the blog going until my article for Press Gazette is published. Looks like it’s going to appear later in the month…