Saturday, Shopping?

Saturday I was supposed to go shopping with Sumon and if you’re reading this when I posted you may think Saturday has just started but it’s going on 10:30 pm here.  My alarm was set for 1:30 am EST so I could get up and get ready to meet Sumon at 1 pm IST (2:30 am EST).  I got a phone call about 12:30  that told me my driver was here and right away I was confused.  Sumon was supposed to be picking me up, not my driver. 

When I made my way to the lobby they had to call the car up from the garage and I was surprised to see Mujeep instead of Sumon.  Now, in the few conversations I’ve had with Mujeep I’ve come to understand that he does not know or speak English very well.  I asked where Sumon was and he told me he was running late and would meet up with me at 3 which meant I would be shopping in India alone for 2 hours.  This made me very uncomfortable.  I told Mujeep immediately that I wanted to wait for Sumon (and really would have preferred to sleep if I had known he would be late) but Mujeep proceeded on our route and pointed to a brochure of where he was taking me. 

I started to panic.  I have no problem shopping alone at home and I’m sure I would feel comfortable in any country that was not part of the third world but, people here are different.  They have different standards and treat people differently.  I’ve read a lot about their culture but nothing has prepared me for the reality.  There is a line that I wasn’t willing to cross between adventurous and foolish.  If Mujeep spoke English I would have asked him to accompany me, but he doesn’t. 

When he pulled up in front of the little shop it seemed harmless but I still was uncomfortable.  I had no idea what would be on the other side of all those posters in the window.  I asked Mujeep to take me back to the hotel so I could wait for Sumon.  I figured I would just wait another hour and a half for Sumon to call.  I received a call from him 6 hours later. 

I was napping, because I had been up since 2 am, and when my hotel room phone rang I was slightly confused.  Sumon was calling at 7:15, certainly not 1 pm.  When he asked if I wanted to go shopping it seemed late to me and I declined telling him we would meet tomorrow.  It wasn’t until after I got off the phone that I realized a few things.  Sumon might have been calling from the lobby and now had to drive back home and I had no idea what time I was meeting him tomorrow.  I guess I’ll find out when someone calls from the front desk to tell me a car is here for me.  Hopefully I will be meeting other women I work with and we will all go shopping together, which will be great! 

I did wander onto the ground floor of the hotel today which included some shops.  A man showed me 20-30 pashmina and silk scarves.  I was starting to make decisions on which ones I wanted to bring home for people and then he told me the prices.  (Which I had asked for before he started showing, but they don’t really hear/understand everything you say the first time.)  1 scarf was 7500 Rupees which would have been $120 USD.  He kept trying to bargain with me and telling me he would give me a discount.  I refused and went back to my room. 

They were truly beautiful scarves and I’m sure they were worth a lot but I wasn’t prepared to pay that much, even for myself.  Not after I have continually heard how cheap things are here.  I will wait for my potential shopping adventure tomorrow and hopefully be able to buy 20 scarves for a quarter of the cost.  Sumon had also mentioned that we could buy pearls to make jewelry with since Hyderabad is the City of Pearls.  I am very excited to see what they have to offer.  I’m sure I will have a much better story tomorrow with lots of beautiful pictures. After all, I have 5,000 Rupees ($80 USD) burning a hole in my pocket!

Much love,

Melissa