11.17.12 - Jaipur

How is this only my fourth day in India?  I feel like I have been here for weeks.  So many seemingly extraordinary events can happen in a day, I feel as if I have witnessed a week's worth in only a few hours.  This makes for a busy brain.  Sorting out and trying to make sense of what is impossible to comprehend (I'm not expecting to after spending 4 days here).  India is like the stars to me.  I remember taking an astronomy class my freshman year in college, and simply not being able to comprehend the magnitude of stars and sky that existed.  That the Earth was such a small part of this world when to me it was everything.  That is India.  These are only a few things that my Western brain tried to process today:  hundreds of touts selling things (Mexican vendors have nothing on Indians); only a few beggars on the street today including about 10 amputees; 3 people puking in the street; at least 6 men flying snot rickets across the sidewalk; countless men urinating on walls; a baby being held up to poop on a mound of trash.  I see many of these have to do with bodily functions, so what else?  Gorgeous quilts, tapestries, saris, paintings, jewelry, beads, gems,  Those are the things I really enjoyed.  I had a rickshaw driver for what ended up being about 6 hours who took me around.  Most driver, or people in India for that matter, claim to be honest and they don't get any commission from any shops, and they merely want you to experience the real India.  They give you tips like, do not pay more than x amount of Rupees, that is a good price.  It is building a trust that is unwarranted, but somehow it is easy to believe.  I did for a moment, he was a sincere guy!  Ha!  I was taken to the tourist shops, that were meant to seem like villager shops.  I would run into the same tourists on the same route as I, being taken in by another driver.  The thing is, I 100% absolutely understand there is a great tourist industry in India.  And if I were Indian, I would surely jump on that bandwagon.  Everyone needs to make money, and I can't blame someone for trying.  The problem that I come across is the lying and the feeling of being cheated.  This feeling can be felt in so many circumstances in India.  I have gotten better about bargaining, and know that without my previous trip and some good pointers from Brooke, I would not last a minute.

In April I encountered the same instances in April.  A bottle of water costs 15 Rupees, it is labeled as such, but I am charged 20 or 30 Rupees on account of me being a tourist.  It's only another 30 cents, who cares?  It is endless, is the problem.  I am offered a pair of shoes for 1500 Rupees, and while looking at shoes I see an Indian woman being offered similar ones for 200 Rupees.  I feel offended.  But I bargain, and the idea is that I will feel like I got such a great deal when I end up paying 750 Rupees, which is still almost 4 times the other woman paid!  So we're both happy, yay!  I'll get the hang of it.  All of the excess money that I spend in not paying fair prices will have to be chalked up to the learning curve, for the first few weeks anyway.  And there is nothing wrong with looking.  I enjoy it actually, but what I worry of is a confrontation, of the worker becoming angry and pushy, which I have experienced before.  

I picked up my Indian dress that I had made yesterday.  when i got them home, I was very disappointed though.  The tailoring quality was poor.  The neckline crooked, ill-fitting, shaped like a tent, jagged seams, careless placement of fabric, undecorated hems.  I wonder if I might notice had I not studied textiles in college.  Yes, they are below standard.  It puts it into perspective what a good tailor I had found before in the south.  I'm pretty bummed, cause I spent a good amount on the fabrics at a shop down the street, and there isn't much to be done with them now.  I will take them back to him tomorrow, to see if he can make a few changes, to at least make them wearable, as yesterday when I picked them up if I could bring them back to make any adjustments.  But I'm pretty sure he will have excuses and tell me to fuck off.  WIll see, I should have faith.  But again, the quality in general is poor and I don't think you can fix that.

I also went to the FRO (Foreign Registration Office) today.  I was super impressed with myself for finding it.  I need to register since I will be staying more than 180 days.  I hadn't realized it was Saturday, I thought it might be Tuesday even, as I have absolutely no sense of days and time.  There was a man in the office, but after waiting some time to get to the front of the line, I was told to come back Monday.  I am not exactly sure what I need to register, and he could definitely not tell me.  I think there may be a form, but don't know where to get it.  I have my passport photos and a copy of my passport and visa.  But I do not have a residential address or an expected departure date, which may be problems.  In this bureaucracy, I expect I will be sent away a few more times before I am actually able to register, so I'll just go with the flow and figure it out.  That's all there is to do in India - go with the flow and figure it out.  Most things in India remind me of going to the Laramie County Auto Licensing and Taxes office.  The day, the person, how the person feels will determine what is necessary to complete the process, how much it is going to cost, how many times you will be sent out of the office for yet another piece of documentation.  So I will return on Monday and hopefully get some answers.

I went into a "gypsy house," an elephant house, saw how textiles were made (kinda), saw Water Palace (Jal Mahal) and the City Palace Observatory (Jantar Mantar), ate some goat curry!!!  Surprisingly good, especially after seeing the goats wandering the sidewalk only eating the trashiest of trash.  But then again, I suppose that's what all goats do, no?  Isn't that what they use the goats for on the Greenway in Cheyenne, as cleaners?  I heard they can eat a tin can!  It was the speciality of the restaurant, and also apparently the only thing on the menu available, as biryani and other things were "not possibility."  I have come to realize that it makes no difference what you order, you will get what they have.  It is best to go with it and I have found it is usually pretty tasty.

Jantar Mantar - Observatory

Jal Hahal - Water Palace

Elephant House

Tomorrow I will have some henna done, by the wife of the driver.  Then who knows.  I was going to change hotels since I had found one for half the price of the one I am staying in.  Being in India for so long, I definitely need to learn to be cheap.  That might be hard.  I told the hotel director when I got home today and he asked me what I expected to pay, then cut his rate almost in half.  Which had already been cut by 33%, which is yet half of what was listed on the website.  Hahahahaha, so you see how it goes here.  But I am happy, at least for the time being.  I will stay one more week here.  It is cleaner than the other hotel I found and in better shape.  It serves good breakfasts, and has reliable internet (a rarity).  It is pretty far from the city center, but that isn't so bad.  Plus I really don't want to be moving around every few days, I will be doing enough of that over the next while.