shopping in india

For all you shoppers out there this is your Heaven. (see if you can spot your gift).


"Street Shopping" - So pretty much every street in Delhi looks like this...shops next to shops selling the exact same thing. Need a new category hop to the next street. Need a better price hop to the next shop. Nobody here pays full price.


"Citrine" - but not all of the shops are on the street...this was a hidden shop found in some neighborhood...pretty exclusive...a lot more pricey butyou would find this kind of stuff in Beverly Hills for a hell of a lot more.


"Delhi Hut" - basically the tourists answer for getting everything you need at once. You have to pay to get in the shopping area...but it's worth it...got some GREAT deals.


"Mall" - Well India has one Giant mall already but this one had some good stuff and it was air conditioned.


"Fabric Store" - so many specialized stores...this was the secondfloor...so many kinds of fabrics.


"Gifts" - so here they are. I think I'm done and hopefully got everybody...this is about 100,000 Rupies...can't wait to hand them out. And if you wanna trade gifts it's fine by me there's too many of ya'll...there's a lot to choose from...hope I can pick out which ones go to whom.

-James

shopping preview

So they have entire streets that stretch for miles and have back alleys all devoted to certain products. Like this was the Jewelry street. There was a shoe street, photography street, bags, you name it...so much stuff...so much competition...so many bargins!

the people of india

"DT" this is the company we came to vist...they love being in shots as well as retouching them.


"Suruchi" This is the person that actually works for our company...An absolutely amazing person that has taught me a lot about the culture,business, food, and history...friendly as can be and as sweet as anangel...she also bargins like nobody's business which was very helpful fora lot of YOUR gifts.


"Indian Family" This is Suruchi's family, who are just as sweet as she is. They really made me feel at home. Her mom is hilarious...likes to party and will not stop feeding us...just to see that kind of family bonding and relationship/hospitality is refreshing to see.


"DT Group Shot" - so here is my crew in India...fun buch very hardworkers...treated me like I was one of their own.


"DT Jump Shot" - oh yes they do enjoy the occasional jump shot.


"DT Dance Shot" - and they can party like it's 1999. This was during our last day there. There was food music and of course dancing. They brought me in the middle and showed me a bunch of moves that I will reveal later...haha.

IM times:
cile: what up
cile: what you do today
james: oh my...cecile soooo much...you'd love it here
cecile: haha i know i would
cecile: you're there so you can take us back
james: we should try some time in the future...i made so many new friends here...
cecile: like how i took you to hawaii
james: yes
cecile: i want to go back to london
james: yeah these people are pretty amazing...with their hospitality andjust their way of thinking
cecile: fantone should come
james: shopping is nuts here...got so much stuff already...and never had to pay full price...suruchi (amazing girl) bargins like nobody's businessand has the sweetest family took me in like one of their own
cecile: hooray!
james: yeah i thought i was gonna get skinnier here...not gonna happen.
james: it's great glad i chose to go
cecile: haha. good.
cecile: you are humbled by humanity
cecile: and you were ready
cecile: now you know why i'm so friendly to strangers
james: absolutely hit that on the nail
james: for them to just take me in like that with all their hospitality...yeah i will be more like that
cecile: we take too much for granted here just because we're comfortable.
james: spoiled and snobby
cecile: not everyone. people just need to leave their bubble.
james: but the demeaner of the people here is peace
cecile: yes
james: sooooo many people

So the lesson of the day...have an open mind, learn about different cultures, try new things, welcome new people, treat others the way you would like to be treated and learn from them. so I lied...the next one will be about shopping and food....i think oh yeah and my hotel and stuff.

-James

signs

"Spit" - so I saw this sign just as I was about to clear my throat and spit out the door normally I would just do it...but the guy standing next to the signwith the giant shotgun made me think twice.


"basket" - this is going to be my new catch phrase on the courts..."hey Ja pass it to me so i can basket the ball.


"shoes" - so I took this picture right after I took off my shoes...noticethe people in the way in the background and all the shoes around the sign.


"Eatables"-saw this while eating my melting ice cream and i guess i had tofinish it before i got to go inside?


"Store in Elevator"-was thinkin to myself...wow this must be a gigantic elevator to be able to have the ability to hold an entire store.


"Kunt House" - self explanitory-

next one will be about the hotel-then the shopping and the markets / bargaining to get a much much betterprice-the absolutely amazing people i've met here and their hospitality.

-James

greetings!

Vendors at the Taj (people will run up to you to buy stuff and just will not leave you alone)

So here's the thing as soon as you enter the Taj area a bunch of people will come up to you and try to sell stuff. They will always lower their price till you say yes...and if you do say yes they will tell you to buy more it's nuts...so i decided to turn it to a little game because it got really frustrating for the the person that was taking care of us. So I decided to take a picture of all of the ones that came up to me secretly...so i would just talk to them till i got them in to a good pose and shoot..the one guy with the sweater around his neck and orange shirt i found to be just hilarious...(reminded me of pat for some reason)but yeah he was my first victim told me to come by these mini taj mahal's made out of real marble...went back and forth with like 3 vendors saying oh this person offererd me a lower price ... then they would come back with a lower one...then he showed me this egg with an elephant inside..and after i said now he was like how bout an egg with elephant inside and then inside that elephant another egg...so i was like well then...what i'm really look for is an egg with an elephant inside and inside that other egg another elephant and inside that elephant...another egg...he looked confused...i know it's evil but really they do not leave you alone so i decided to entertain myself.

The next guy is the whip guy...

i pretty much told him...wow yeah it's nice...real leather huh? then..what the heck am i goin to do with a whip??? and tim was like oh sorry i have like 10 of them already and spent all my money on opium and hookers.

The 3rd guy was chasing our car with a bag of water...enough said...this is only a few of the vendors...i have pics of a lot more....enjoy...

a james and cecile IM:
james: this place is nuts...i had chinese food listening to country music while watching soccer in India
cecile: nice. hahaha. good. the world is big
cecile: let's go australia
james: yeah...i'm a little drunk right now...our vendor's president took us out...tim is getting ready to throw up right now...it's crazy his apartment was no bigger then your room.
james: took us out to the market...bought me some shirts and a skirt for gift for whoever wants it....we discuss his poetry...while this person he got from the province or something makes us food
cecile: perfect. what time is it?
james: almost midnight
cecile: what you drink?
james: king fishers...like 7 of them
cecile: wow. is that beer?
james: which is nuts...i had that my first night...stuff is gross. it's a beer that they wouldn't stop serving me
james: that's the thing. you say no more please
cecile: they give you more.
james: and they give you like 10
cecile: good!

here's another one...this one kid called me out...cuz i told him sorry i can't buy your chess board because i had no cash on me (and i really didn't) and he was like ok show me your wallet! if you don't have cash i'll give it to you for free...if you do I get to keep the cash...poor kid didn't know what he was gettin into...as i was about to pull out my wallet...but then though naw...he's got it hard enough...and i don't think he would've gave me the chessboard and i would get mad and make a scene.

oh yeah everybody pees on the side of the road...and with all the traffic i was like wow i'm surprised i haven't seen any accidents yet...and as soon as i said that i saw some poor motorcyclilist get run over...lots of blood pretty gory...had to turn my head away ... quick...did not want to take a picture of that...next will be my pics and stories of the engrish signs.

-James