Hindi Class!

                So as of last week I’ve started taking Hindi classes! As part of that I have to get to class by myself by auto rickshaw… which has been a class in itself trying to negotiate directions and prices with my 5 handy words.. :/ The first day I went, I guess I got lucky because the rickshaw driver knew where this place was... of course when I got out of the rickshaw it was clear I had no idea where to go once I got dropped off at the building… I tried to walk around the building and kept ending up in different neighborhoods while the rickshaw driver stared at me… I finally called the woman working there and found out I needed to go in the building, not next to it (ah ha!)

I’m still not sure what he told me after I got out but I don’t think he liked how much I gave him. (I’d asked before how much it was and so I just gave him 30 rupees, because that’s what I knew the price was…) I gave him an extra 10 and he kept talking so I just shrugged and walked away (new bargaining tactic for when you have no idea what the other guy is saying!)

                Day 2 rickshaw driver crossed the main street and then looked at me like, “Ok, where to now?”  So I ended up telling him all the rest of the directions to get there (“Left! Right! Straight! Here!”) When I paid him the right price once we got there though, he did the Indian head bob. I decided that since I knew where I was at that point he assumed that I knew the right price. Either way, I was ready to do my shrug and run… :)