A Barracuda Feast!

It turns out Sebastian is a professional diver and has been diving for close to 20 years. He's also a very accomplished free diver and proved his abilities firth thing this morning when, after disappearing under the water for over 2 minutes, he resurfaced with a big grin on his face and a 4-foot baracuda! It was awesome. I napped, read, and tried not to bake in the sun while the others explored the sea floor. After a few hours out on the water, we returned to Pondy to prepare for a big feast. One of the divers, Erik, a guy from New York and Sebastian's boss, took the baracuda home to be cooked up for dinner by his chef. Erik and his wife live a very luxurious, pampered life--a personal chef, driver, wait staff, cleaning crew, guard, etc. He claims he hasn't washed a dish or lifted a bag in the 5 years he's been living in India, and while I was a bit uncomfortable being driven around by his driver (of course as I'm chatting away on my cell phone in the back seat!), it does provide a stable and decent livlihood for people who may otherwise struggle to support their families. His chef did a surpurb job of creating a baracuda curry and all of the side dishes you could imagine for a true Indian feast. What I found so funny was that when we sat down to eat in his extravegent dining room, we still ate with our hands in the typical, traditional Indian fashion. I felt a little ridiculous eating with my fingers at a grand dining room table, surrounded by fine art and butlers--that's definetly not something that would ever happen at home!