“But what is of great importance to me is observation of the movement of colors.”–Robert Delaunay
Yesterday, not a lot happened so I’m combining it with today’s blog. We had class as per usual, although our Hindi class was 20x better than our first class. We still had some non-Hindi topic discussions but this time it was the professor who would start us back on track. I haven’t been very good about working on memorizing the phrases I know. Definitely need to start more on that because time is ticking.
After Hindi class, Marielle, Amanda and I headed to Commercial Street to buy sarees for Ethnic day on Sept. 8! Very fun and different experience. A sari is made up of three parts. There is the blouse, six yards of fabric and a petty coat. When you buy the fabric, part of the fabric will be specifically for the blouse, which you then have tailored. The petticoat can be tailored as well, but we bought ours premade for much cheaper.
Me attempting to pretend I know how to drape a sari
The store we ended up going to was fairly nice, with couches and everything. We figured we could splurge on a nice sari =) It was really hard to decide what fabric! They just kept showing us more and more options. The one I chose ended up costing about $60, which is really like buying a pair of jeans and a shirt in the States. The tailor took our measurements and we headed home.
Today, before returning to pick up our blouses, we had to go to class. But we had two new classes today since we had a holiday last Wednesday. Yoga was the perfect way to start the morning. Yoga here is much more focused on the meditation rather than the exercise. So relaxing! I am going to look into taking classes at the club next to NGV because once a week does not seem like enough!
After classes, Amanda and I went on a mission to find safety pins for pinning on our sarees tomorrow. Who would have thought such a simple task would be so difficult? And unsuccessful! We went into all sorts of stores at the mall and couldn’t find any! I have no idea where they sell safety pins in India!
Around 6, we headed back to Commercial Street to pick up our tailored blouses and drop off some fabric we had purchased a while back for a few new outfits. For dinner, we bought corn on the cob from a street vendor with lime and chili powder. Definitely my favorite way to eat corn.
6. Yards.
We took a rickshaw home and when we were close to NGV, the driver offered to let us drive!!! So I drove the rickshaw on the street leading to our apartment. He had to shift for me when we went over speed bumps because in the dark I couldn’t figure out the shifter that was on the handle. Super fun =)
"The world is a book..." 