Saturday, January 23
Well today was an adventure as every shopping trip is! We went to another open market place that I haven’t been to before. I would tell you the name of it, but seeming as Dorreen and I refer to it as “the market that starts with S and ends in nagar” that really isn’t an option!
I was able to get a few good deals on some jewelry and other souvenirs. I bought Devin a “real” (I doubt it) Italian leather belt for Rs. 100. I didn’t real plan on getting one, but when I got him down from Rs. 600, it seemed wrong to just walk away. Plus, it really is a nice belt, even if I don’t believe it to be really from Italy. The best moment of the day came about mid day however.
Unfortunately, an easy way to make a few extra bucks is to steal goods from an actual vendor and sell them to passerbies. And of course since you didn’t have to pay for them, anything is a profit. Now, if I could have shaken my morals, I could have walked away with a killer deal!
Anyway, Payal and Doreen were looking in a stall at some jewelry. I wasn’t really interested and it was pretty crowded, so I was just standing outside people watching. This guy walks up to me, looking in both directions as he did, and drops his eyes to his side. I follow his gaze out of sheer curiosity to see a very nice pair of Ray-ban’s. Based on the way he was acting, I was pretty certain he had jacked them from some else. So I asked him, “Who’d you steal those from?” He laughed and continued showing me all the great attributes of the sunglasses. I’m not expert, but I’m 95% sure they were actual Ray-bans and not a knockoff.
I couldn’t really just walk away and leave my friends, and he wasn’t scary or pushy so I let him show them to me. Honestly, they looked pretty nice, but again those darn morals got in the way, even when he came all the way down to Rs. 150 (~$3). I started looking for a way to get out, so I pointed at my glasses on my head and said I don’t need another pair. I’m not sure what he thought I was saying, but the next thing I know, the man was lifting up his shirt and pulling out a whole bunch of different shapes and colors! And this whole time I thought he just had a little middle age belly going on!
At this point, I lost it and began laughing so hard I think the entire market shut down for a second to figure out what was wrong with the crazy American! Here I thought he had jacked a pair or two and was trying to make a quick buck. The next thing I know he is pulling out different styles from everywhere. He didn’t steal a pair, she ripped off an entire store!
Anyway, while I did buy lots of different things, stolen sunglasses was not one of them!
With Love,
Eli
Countdown to Home: 16 days…
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