sucker

 {photo from Google of the market where I have been shopping}

I decided that for Christmas this year I am just going to buy new outfits for all the girls at one of our aftercare homes. It is soo much fun to shop for them and pick out individual things that I know they will love. I believe that part of my calling in life is to be a personal shopper. However.

I also am sure that my personal calling is not to be a south-asian market haggler. As we have been shopping, we have gone to a few different markets to look for clothes. Oh my goodness. First of all, I already have made it clear that I stick out big time around here. I am obviously a foreigner, probably an American, and to all these people they look at me and think she is rich. And clueless. What a sucker.

So this is how it goes. When walking around I am bombarded by men from all directions yelling at me to come into their shop, following me blocks down the street, telling me I am beautiful, grabbing onto me, etc. It is soo annoying, especially to someone who likes to shop alone in peace. When I am looking at something, the shop owners breathe down your back, follow you around and pull out 100 other options just in case I am interested in 53 versions of the same shirt. Then when I actually find something I like, they charge me like 5-6 times what they would charge any citizen here because they think I have no idea how much it is supposed to cost. If you walk away, they beg you and guilt trip you into talking to them more.  Today I went with two national girls from the office and they were able to have all the pricing conversations for me, which helped a ton. It's almost impossible to do it myself because they don't budge and I hate arguing.

Another thing that is hilarious is the English translations on a lot of the 'western wear.' Here is a great example of a t-shirt I saw today:

Any guesses? I know the yellow flip flop is supposed to say cutie and maybe the title is supposed to say Try Single. Lnier? Let me know if you want a special order of this gem!