Tomorrow is my last day of Hindi classes. I have to admit, I am ready to be done here and move on. Hindi has gotten so frustratingly difficult, but I have officially finished the textbook. I’m pleased that I progressed as far as I did, but the past few chapters are still a little foggy. I find I am able to converse without thinking about it in my head before speaking, but I still find situations where I just cannot say anything. For example, I was bargaining for a taxi the other day with one of my friends. We wanted to go to this Himalayan Weavers shop that is about 9 kilometers away. We knew the cab should only be around 300 rupees; the first driver we approached told us 500. We continued walking to another driver down the road, and the first guy followed us, yelling behind is in Hindi that he already told us 500, and that no one should take us for less than that. We gave up on the independent drivers and went to the taxi company window. The man continued following us, yelling that he told us 500 rupees, and if any other driver wanted 500 they should just tell the foreigners (us) that that is the price. I bargained as much as I could in Hindi, (as my friend speaks no Hindi at all) but they just kept saying 500; the first driver we spoke to kept yelling that the foreigners would eventually give in. Finally, frustrated and angry because I could not get my point across, I turned to the first driver and screamed in English that I could understand his Hindi. All the men laughed (probably more so at my frustration than the fact that I made the man a fool), and we got a driver for 400. Not what we hoped, but the man sulked away leaving us alone, and we happily took our ride to the shop. I wish I could have whipped out some nasty words and told him off but in my frustration I couldn’t even remember any of the slang I had been taught by my Indian friends, or any Hindi for that matter. I still have a long way to go until I’m fluent, but I am quite happy with the progress I have made here. I will have a few days to relax and just take my private lessons before continuing on to Delhi, Bangalore, and Goa.
I am one of the few foreigners up here who wears Indian clothes. Everyone else has seemingly brought their entire Western wardrobes with them. They all find it surprising when I tell them I only came with a backpack. I am visiting a friend in Bangalore, and he said something along the lines of “I know you, and I know how much you travel with; I can tell you right now you will probably feel uncomfortable in Bangalore in your Indian clothes. Everyone dresses like they’re in NYC.” So, I have spent the past few days shopping for Western-type clothes in the bazaar. Who would have thought…. I’m just glad I decided to bring a pair of jeans at the last minute.
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