Carli arrived early Saturday morning. On my way to the airport, the traffic slowed to a crawl. I was shocked as it was well after midnight. We were moving enough that I knew it wasn't an accident but I could not for the life of me understand why it was so slow. I saw some flashlights ahead of me that were in the hands of two police officers. They turned the beams towards the truck driver next to us. He cracked his door open, slid a hand out and gave the officer a 100 Rupee note, closed his door, and continued on his way. I had witnessed my first unofficial official toll. This is so commonplace that my coworkers laughed at me when I enthusiastically repeated this story on Monday. One of my coworkers said he once saw a police officer on a motorcycle pull alongside a truck and a similar exchange happened at 50 mph. Just another day.
We took Saturday fairly easy and planned our excursion for Sunday. I called a cab and we went to Surajkund Mela, a giant craft market, in Faridabad (another suburb of Delhi). The drive took an hour and I had the pleasure of seeing Indian driving through Carli's eyes. The haphazard style of commuting that I have become accustomed to was all new for her. The cows, people, and sheep crossing the road, tractors, trucks, cars, and bikes sharing the same lanes, and the erratic lane changes and turns caught her by surprise. I now understand why my coworkers laughed at me my first week of going to the plant.
The market itself takes up a huge swath of land outside of the metro area of Faridabad. It takes place the first two weeks of February every year and features goods from every state in India as well as 20 countries from around the world. A different state "hosts" the event every year and representative monuments are erected in their honor. There are almost 1,000 vendor selling scarves, rugs, sculptures, earthenware, wood carvings, handmade clothing, beaded tapestries, jewelry, and metalwork. The event brought in over 1.2 million visitors last year and I'm sure this year will surpass that. It was very busy on Sunday and we definitely felt the crush of people. The vendors were friendly and were willing to bargain on price. I knew I was overcharged but I did not realize by how much until my coworkers heard what I paid for some items. I learned my lesson and will start much, much, much lower next time.
Carli and I turned into an attraction of our own. We were two of the three white people there on Sunday. The stares were abundant. As soon as we walked in, someone wanted our picture. I was warned this would happen but it still surprised us. At one point, we took a break from walking and I felt a presence near my hip. I looked down to find a young boy standing there and looking towards his father. He was ten feet away and had his phone out. He motioned for us to get closer, snapped a few pictures, and they were on their way. A few minutes later, another man came up and got a picture with the two of us. Carli and I are now minor celebrities on Facebook here. We are a local tourist attraction that requires photographic evidence or else no one will believe that you saw two white giants. This will be a recurring theme no doubt.
We took Saturday fairly easy and planned our excursion for Sunday. I called a cab and we went to Surajkund Mela, a giant craft market, in Faridabad (another suburb of Delhi). The drive took an hour and I had the pleasure of seeing Indian driving through Carli's eyes. The haphazard style of commuting that I have become accustomed to was all new for her. The cows, people, and sheep crossing the road, tractors, trucks, cars, and bikes sharing the same lanes, and the erratic lane changes and turns caught her by surprise. I now understand why my coworkers laughed at me my first week of going to the plant.
The market itself takes up a huge swath of land outside of the metro area of Faridabad. It takes place the first two weeks of February every year and features goods from every state in India as well as 20 countries from around the world. A different state "hosts" the event every year and representative monuments are erected in their honor. There are almost 1,000 vendor selling scarves, rugs, sculptures, earthenware, wood carvings, handmade clothing, beaded tapestries, jewelry, and metalwork. The event brought in over 1.2 million visitors last year and I'm sure this year will surpass that. It was very busy on Sunday and we definitely felt the crush of people. The vendors were friendly and were willing to bargain on price. I knew I was overcharged but I did not realize by how much until my coworkers heard what I paid for some items. I learned my lesson and will start much, much, much lower next time.
Carli and I turned into an attraction of our own. We were two of the three white people there on Sunday. The stares were abundant. As soon as we walked in, someone wanted our picture. I was warned this would happen but it still surprised us. At one point, we took a break from walking and I felt a presence near my hip. I looked down to find a young boy standing there and looking towards his father. He was ten feet away and had his phone out. He motioned for us to get closer, snapped a few pictures, and they were on their way. A few minutes later, another man came up and got a picture with the two of us. Carli and I are now minor celebrities on Facebook here. We are a local tourist attraction that requires photographic evidence or else no one will believe that you saw two white giants. This will be a recurring theme no doubt.
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