Oh this event was good. After class we went to a mall. I cant remember the name because it's sort of difficult but listen...
Rule: Not to stay out in India After Dark.
Fact - it gets dark here after seven...seven thirty-ish
A group of us - two males and five females - run around the mall a bit looking for clothes, etc.
By seven thirty we decide that it is time to go.
We walk back out to the street where there are many bike rickshaws waiting for passengers.
Problem: we all pretty much live in different locations and none of us know how to tell the bike drivers how to get us to where we live.
One of us (Ayushi) is more familiar with the language than the others...so she goes about speaking the native tongue giving directions and orders.
Now, these guys are like taxi drivers and are hustling...
In the busy street it looked like five Americans vs. five or so rickshaw drivers...the scene was classic.
So she tells the driver how to get the guys home and they work out a price. 30 to 50 rupees (Rs.).
She is then speaking on the behalf of me and my roomys. [[One roomy is very outspoken and the other is sort of the only child type.]]
She is speaking with this guy for the better half of 15 minutes who clearly had a big ego. He wanted a lot of money and didnt seem to know where it was we were trying to get. By this time a crowd was forming in the street. Kids were poking us for hand outs and people were trying to sell us flowers. A kind woman did ask if we needed help and we should have taken it.
One guy interjected and acted as if he know where we needed to go. After a bit of negotiating...all three of us pile in a two person rickshaw...hopeful.
After about a quarter mile in the right direction the driver directs us to get out.
CONFUSION!!!
We reluctantly get out thinking he was saying something about the police but he wasnt.
Question: Did you really think this was where we were wanting to go for Rs. 50...
Answer: NO!
So Tabitha is talking to him and Sabrina is taken back more than the rest of us. < roomys
I immediately get on the phone with our host brother Adesh*.
He talks to the guy and we are on our way again...knowing this guys is going to want to charge us an outrageous fee.
After we got back to more familiar territory, the driver makes a wrong turn (i knew it). He drives a block and stops..
Wait...wait...wait...
And... he was whispering to people walking in the street. That was a No Go.
So...I get back on the phone with Adesh. The driver gives the phone to another guy in the street. He was an older man walking with a younger man. Adesh gave them directions to give to the driver and we were once again on our way.
At this point we were near the school but unsure of it. The school is not close to the house but I knew how to navigate from there. It was dark and Im guessing it was dangerous. (Just as in any city...rough or not)
We get back to the house. :)
The the driver sort of starts a scene... about the money of course. I handed him Rs. 100 and walked inside. The others lingered behind me. Our host brother came out and his servant I'm guessing ( a young boy - he answered the gate for me) Kids were beginning to gather and the family was watching from the inside. Also, another familiar rickshaw biker was outside. He is super friendly though and a strong old man if I might add. That was that! It wasnt that big of a scene; it was a very complex night.
I thank God but I know he had us the whole time.
It was fun...a "for sure" India experience.
Goodnight and Good Morning.
Rule: Not to stay out in India After Dark.
Fact - it gets dark here after seven...seven thirty-ish
A group of us - two males and five females - run around the mall a bit looking for clothes, etc.
By seven thirty we decide that it is time to go.
We walk back out to the street where there are many bike rickshaws waiting for passengers.
Problem: we all pretty much live in different locations and none of us know how to tell the bike drivers how to get us to where we live.
One of us (Ayushi) is more familiar with the language than the others...so she goes about speaking the native tongue giving directions and orders.
Now, these guys are like taxi drivers and are hustling...
In the busy street it looked like five Americans vs. five or so rickshaw drivers...the scene was classic.
So she tells the driver how to get the guys home and they work out a price. 30 to 50 rupees (Rs.).
She is then speaking on the behalf of me and my roomys. [[One roomy is very outspoken and the other is sort of the only child type.]]
She is speaking with this guy for the better half of 15 minutes who clearly had a big ego. He wanted a lot of money and didnt seem to know where it was we were trying to get. By this time a crowd was forming in the street. Kids were poking us for hand outs and people were trying to sell us flowers. A kind woman did ask if we needed help and we should have taken it.
One guy interjected and acted as if he know where we needed to go. After a bit of negotiating...all three of us pile in a two person rickshaw...hopeful.
After about a quarter mile in the right direction the driver directs us to get out.
CONFUSION!!!
We reluctantly get out thinking he was saying something about the police but he wasnt.
Question: Did you really think this was where we were wanting to go for Rs. 50...
Answer: NO!
So Tabitha is talking to him and Sabrina is taken back more than the rest of us. < roomys
I immediately get on the phone with our host brother Adesh*.
He talks to the guy and we are on our way again...knowing this guys is going to want to charge us an outrageous fee.
After we got back to more familiar territory, the driver makes a wrong turn (i knew it). He drives a block and stops..
Wait...wait...wait...
And... he was whispering to people walking in the street. That was a No Go.
So...I get back on the phone with Adesh. The driver gives the phone to another guy in the street. He was an older man walking with a younger man. Adesh gave them directions to give to the driver and we were once again on our way.
At this point we were near the school but unsure of it. The school is not close to the house but I knew how to navigate from there. It was dark and Im guessing it was dangerous. (Just as in any city...rough or not)
We get back to the house. :)
The the driver sort of starts a scene... about the money of course. I handed him Rs. 100 and walked inside. The others lingered behind me. Our host brother came out and his servant I'm guessing ( a young boy - he answered the gate for me) Kids were beginning to gather and the family was watching from the inside. Also, another familiar rickshaw biker was outside. He is super friendly though and a strong old man if I might add. That was that! It wasnt that big of a scene; it was a very complex night.
I thank God but I know he had us the whole time.
It was fun...a "for sure" India experience.
Goodnight and Good Morning.
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