A note on shopping.

Shopping stresses me out in the best of times. Now picture me, anxiety disorder and all, in a crowded (CROWDED) market filled with staring people speaking loudly in a foreign language all trying to get my attention and sell me their crap. Oh my. Can't. Handle. I tried buying clothes at 3 different markets before I gave up on the crazy haggle-bazaar and finally went to a fixed-price market with 7 other girls in my program, who were also all shopping. Less attention on me.

Shopping here is crazy. You just walk up to a dukkandar (shopkeeper), and he will immediately start unfolding stuff and laying it all out in front of you. It can be intimidated. The colors are all very bright, for some reason I can't fathom, they really want me to wear pink, and they will really just keep pulling out stuff until you run away from them. It's intense. With the assistance of the other girls, I am now the proud owner of two custom-tailored suits, which I purchased (fabric and tailoring) for 1500 rupees, or about $30 total. One is dark turquoise with brushed gold embroidery, and the other is a lovely light green with tan embroidery. They are beautiful. Unfortunately, I can't really wear them yet, as the tailoring does not include this crazy belt-thing. For that, I must go back to the bazaar. Which really just means 'market.' Bummer.