Februry 18 cont...

Back again...I wish we could have spent more time in the market because it wasn’t really long enough to look around, never mind many any decisions. It just has made me really excited for all of the other markets yet to come!
We then went to the sari shop! It was a very cool experience. All of the Punjabi suits are pre-cut and put into packages with all three pieces, and there were thousands to choose from! No two looked alike, either, which made it all the more difficult! The price ranges were extreme as well, which made it even more challenging. I found this beautiful, hand printed, cotton, red and black one that was about 900 Rs, but that is really on the high end of things. It was more stressful than it probably needed to be because we had already stopped at the bangle store and picked bangles...and I kind of wanted my bangles to match! After much deliberation, I ended up deciding on a blue and teal suit that has a matching scarf thing (that isn’t really a scarf, but I always forget the name). It only cost me 320 Rs for the material! That is about 10$ for an entire outfit!! My bangles aren’t the same colour any more, but I think they will look fine together, anyway!
We got back to lunch late because our driver definitely went the LONG way home...and didn’t really know where he was going. We did get there eventually, though. The auto-rickshaws aren’t exactly stressful any more...you kind of just have to hope that they will actually admit if they don’t know where they are going so you can get another one! And, even if they do take you a roundabout route instead of a direct route, it ends up being about a 25 cent difference in the end. I’m sure I’ll get over it.
In the afternoon we had our session on Wali art or Indian embroidery. It was painful!! About a 1-hour session could have/would have sufficed, but instead, they dragged it out into a 3-hour session! I was originally scheduled to be in the embroidery session, but too many people signed up, so I ended up switching to the Wali art thing. Again, interesting, but not for three hours! I can colour in triangles like a pro now, however!
Dinner was pretty much beef stroganoff – except chicken instead of the beef! Thank goodness something that was normal-ish that I liked eating, because, well, I have a feeling my pants are going to be falling down soon – and I didn’t bring a belt!
After dinner we had campfire. We only have one the entire time we are here, which is probably a good thing because wearing long pants and long shirt to sit by a fire in 25°C heat was kind of odd!! It was fun, though. Everyone knows such different songs from their guiding background – or at least, different versions of the same song!
Night.
-AJ