Catching Up with India Part III: Foreigners

They day we were all foreigners together. Otherwise known as the day Scott and Chloe arrived and made us feel competent in India as foreigners Back left is Yvette; front left, with the hena-ed red hair is Chloe; front right is me; and he bearded one is Scott. Here we are cooling down in the Cafe Turtle at the G.K. market after a hot, sweaty afternoon trooping around Janpath market.


Scott, who we hailed as our savior for bestowing upon us the internet password and answering our avalanche of questions, and Chloe, had just the night before gotten into Delhi from Nepal, where they had been trekking for the last while. Amazing huh?? They have convinced us to go visit what we can of Nepal during our last 10 days of travel. I, personally, would love to!


Scott and Chloe arrived late Friday night and come Saturday we had the whole day open for all four of us to explore. I'll call the day both adventurous and comforting. Comforting because it was nice to, for while, be with people who shared our background as Americans in a foreign and fantastic place, and adventurous because of the new things we learned and the new places we experienced. We started off the day with a lesson on "How to Catch and Direct an Auto with Severely Limited Hindi" taught by Scott. I now feel completely competent doing this :)

Our first destination was the Janpath market--almost what you would call a strip mall in the US, but a strip mall populated with cheap clothing, nagging salesmen and trinkets upon trinkets or very Indian-esq items--where we would learn "How to Barter with Severely Limited Hindi". But before the market, we arrived on a side of the street where we encountered street children for the first time.

We were on this side of the street attempting The Great Bank-Travelers Cheque Scavenger Hunt--a game in which you are sent from bank to bank, foreign exchange store to foreign exchange store trying to find someone who will cash Yvette's travelers cheques; we lost this game. It was here that first set of big-eyed, sweet-talking, heart-wrenching children descended upon us. Ouch, my heart.

As obvious foreigners we attracted the children like flies to fruit on an hot India day. We were prime targets for their efforts to sell little pencil sets and various other little trinkets. Their English was impressive for not having had any training other than street lessons...but it didn't matter what language they were pleading in, it was heart-breaking despite the words being used. After the Bank Scavenger Hunt we stopped for lunch, the only place, besides a McDonald's and street snack carts, was a Pizza Hut (I vow that this will be the only American food establishment I eat at for the rest of my time in India, I think my stomach would agree). I honestly don't want to spend time describing a Pizza Hut, but it is worth noting that it is a nice, clean sit-down and be served establishment with a large fancy menu with a variety of items besides pizza. Interesting. As we were paying we could see out the window that one little, absolutely stunning little girl was wait for us. She tried to get our attention by smiling and looking deathly cute. Which she succeeded at. Once we were outside she stuck to me like a magnet, probably because I do not seem as convincing as the others when I meagerly attempt to say "No I can't sweetie, I can't buy anything, no I am sorry...ohmygodyouaresocute". Although they all point to their stomaches then their mouth several times, at one point she was pointing to a drink stand and still saying the word for hungry. While making a drinking-from-a-cup motion, I asked if she was thirsty. She nodded. So I pulled out a half-full bottle of lemonade I bought earlier and handed it to her. She took it with a smile, but for once the adorable stream of words turned off and as I walked away to catch up with the others she just stood and stared with the same unreadable, but almost amused smile that the women who sold us the mint on the first day had.

We explored the Janpath market a little longer, bartering and each gathering a few things. Then we stopped by the G.K. market for a bit--where Yvette and I each got another outfit--then finally made our way home. Scott and Chloe were set to leave at 8pm; after dinner, some nice chatting and their hurried packing, it was time to say good-bye. It was actually hard to see them go, it had been such a great day and they were fantastic and truly insightful company. We will miss them.

Thanks for everything Scott and Chloe, have a safe trip home!