Goa to Pune

Hi everyone,
We are here currently in Pune, staying with a great couple from New York, that we connected with through Deb's contacts.

Life in India seems to be really full of experiences, adventures, etc. Doesn't seem like 2 days since we posted last, seems much longer.

We went to the city of Mapusa where we tried to check out some really great organizations they have there but couldn't find them so ended up at the local market. I don't think I was expecting what it would be, but do think it was really good practice to ease me into what the rest of India will be like. We were 2 of very few foreigners there and this woman (Anita or Amita) pegged us pretty fast and "befriended" us. Deb was cautious at first and me being completely naive didn't understand her concern as I was clearly communicating (verbally) to this woman that we wouldn't buy anything from her and didn't need any help. Well, we both warmed up to her and she ended up taking us to a place where we could buy a shalwar kameez (sp?). The shop keepers pulled out probably over 15 options of dresses we could buy but we were hesitant so were very non-committal. I had no idea what a reasonable price was on these and didn't want to get completely fleeced. Well, probably 30 minutes later, we agreed on a price for a outfit for both Deb and I. Because I wasn't interested in any of the really cheap ones, the shop keeper ended up offering me a more expensive one for a reduced rate. Then after that sheer exhaustion of bartering and arguing, he tries to charge us for the tailor cost to sew on both the sleeves on both our outfits. I pointed out they had agreed in the beginning of the conversation that it would be free so he changes his argument to say that mine is free, Deb's is 50 rupees. Well, after more arguing, he agreed to a price with free alterations but when Deb paid, he tried to short us the cost for them again. So that was another conversation. Phew. It was really tiring...and while all this is going on, we are the talk of the market it seemed. Anita was in there with us, talking in Hindi to them and talking english to us, and constantly asking us to "remember her"and come visit her stall(even though we made it clear we didn't need to buy anything she was selling). And there was another woman who decided to try to get in on the obligation so she was there "helping" the entire time during the outfits conversation. And the boy, and some kids...it was a regular party inside! We went to Anita's shop...bought some shawls and then got the heck out of dodge. It was really interesting for Deb and I to notice our different approaches to the situation. I'm Canadian with no other cultural background so my words are what I use to communicate and I'm not aware of non-verbal cultural requirements. So when I tell the woman who is following us around that we're not promising to visit her shop if she recommends a clothing store to us, I'm not aware of any other requirements in our interactions. Deb comes from a place of knowing cultural obligations etc and so knows that by default, when we start to talk to her, we are obligated to some degree to visit her shop out of respect. Anyways - it was nice to have confirmed by some of the teachers from the school we visited today that we both only paid 100-200R ($2-4) more than we should have for our outfits. Not bad. :) Oh - and the other thing that made me laugh..when we first arrived in the market, I had a kid come up to me and tell me I was "really white - like milk!".Then Anita arrives and tells me that I look like an Indian barbie (referring to the henna). Later on she told me twice that I was a difficult woman so conclusion....I'm a difficult barbie! :)

We had a sketch moment leaving Goa that was interesting...our hostel guy had agreed to order us a taxi to the airport and so we paid him and set off to get in our taxi. He passed us off to this guy we recognized from our breakfast place who then continues to lead us to our taxi. We hit this one intersection where he tells us to wait for him. But while there, another taxi guy comes up and asks if we're friends with Arun. Arun was a guy who drove us back from Kerim beach and Deb was asking prices to the airport but we never agreed to anything. Well,this guy has clearly recognized us from some description and is trying to get us to go in his taxi. We waited for the hostel guy...ignored the wierd situation with this other guy (there was a whole group of men just hanging around watching and getting involved in the conversation which we understood none of), and got in the pre-paid taxi once it arrived. We drove maybe 3 minutes and he stops the car behind another taxi and tells us it's his brother and we have to switch. We tried pretty hard to protest but eventually got in the other non-prepaid taxi, completely wierded out. Anyways - I probably offended the guy but I let him know regularly that I was paying attention to where we were, and where we were going (Deb had fallen asleep cause she took gravol for the 2 hour journey). When we got near the airport, he said to me, "look, airport, you happy now? you relax?". It was just really wierd..guess there was some sort of deal that happened so he got a commission or something. ?? who knows.

What else...I had no idea the driving here is influenced by the Hindi culture/religion...they look straight ahead when they drive, not beside or behind them and this is influenced by life...I'm still amazed by the driving...and I think I must dream the sound of horns in my sleep now...the pollution is gross...it's so thick it's choking.

There's lots of people here who have empty eyes. You look at them and there's little life in their eyes...they sit on the side of the street and just watch with no expressions on their face. It's sad. I haven't been bombarded with the poverty I will see in Mumbai yet though. There were a few beggars in Arambol but not enough to really impact me...

But India is an amazing place. I loved Goa and would most definitely visit it again...there's so much to see and so much life and things happening around you, whether it's the traffic or the woman balancing her stuff on her head, or the guy blocking traffic with his oxen and his cart or the hoards of people standing on the side of the road waiting for buses or all the little stands selling whatever you may need on the side of the road...it's so amazing. I can't describe with words and can't post my photos but I'll try to post a few of Deb's...

hope you're all well. :)

mel