i forgot to mention that on tuesday, we got these really neat indian tye dyed bags filled with orientation material:
the bag only adds to my indian flare since on wednesday we went shopping for indian clothes. we could choose up to 3000 rupees of clothes/anything else we found in the store (it's called fabindia...i think they have a website), and ciee paid for it. shopping spree for indian clothes. i got two kurtas, whic are long tunic type things, and two pairs of pants. i don't understand why indian clothing hasn't caught on in good ole usa--everything is so comfortable and beautiful.
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| this is kurta number one with 3/4 sleeves (which i'm wearing today) |
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| this is kurta number two (with short sleeves) |
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| this is one pair of pants |
then a group of us all went to the shilparamam craft mela, where a artisans and vendors from all over india come and set up booths with pearls, jewelry, saris, pashminas, toys, teapots, street food, and even had dancers dancing on a stage to live music. there was so much stuff! matthew and i got sucked into one booth that sold polyester blended pashminas, where the two men asked us to sit on little stools and drink chai with them. unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) we had to meet back at our taxi that the group was riding in, so they gave us their business cards. everyone gives their business cards in india, people on the planes, people you meet. everyone wants to help and give you advice. oh i forgot to add that we had to pay 25 rupees to enter the craft fair and when i made my way to the front, i handed her 30 rupees. she gave me my ticket and i waited, smiling. she just looked at me and said "i have no change" so i shooed myself away. what's 5 rupees anyway?...11 cents i believe
as we were leaving the fair, little children beggars started asking us for money, pointing to their bellies for food. since we'd been warned about this, we just ignored them and kept walking. hold on let's pause for a moment to celebrate: I HAVE SUCCESSFULLY CROSSED THE STREET IN INDIA! FOUR TIMES! anyway, these children follow us back to our parked taxi. they start swinging on our arms, their mom comes over with us too, chaos. the driver told us to sit in the taxi and wait for everyone else so they would stop begging us, but they only stuck their little tiny hands through the rolled down windows and persisted. it's strange to ignore children like that, but i know it's something we'll have to get used to.
after everyone got back, we went to this bar/club called touch. haha, yes it is called touch. in my guidebook it describes touch as "the place where you can watch the beautiful people." so duh we went there. it was mimi's (a girl in the program) 21st birthday! we pull up to the entrance and contrary to all the skinny indian guys we've seen so far, there were buff indian bouncers with diamond stud earrings in. we all convinced them that we were old enough to go in, but they told us that if the police came, they would hide ben (another student) in the back because they thought he was 16. we shrugged it off and went inside--glowing red lights everywhere! and the ceiling looked like lasagna/jellyfish. all the couches were white and there were shaggy pillows. then we learned that all the ladies' drinks were FREE. and then mimi got FRENCH FRIES. and then we had a great time and started dancing and then ben was quickly whisked away into the back. and unlike some horrible nightmare where he was beaten and tortured in the back, they returned him safely within a few minutes and then told us to leave, since the police were coming. what a fun and interesting adventure.
now go on adventures of your own!
love love love
lauren
Just in case you are thinking....hmm, I wonder if anyone reads this stuff .... the answer is YES YES YES. Love all the details and the rich colors of your new clothes. I've forwarded this blog location to tons of people so please know that we are all watching and reading and loving every minute of it. Love you, Mom
ReplyDeletei read it too :)
ReplyDeletekeep posting honey buns.