I knew this coming in, and I think it's actually a topic we covered in one of Rick Schuhmann's classes (OK, sorry Rick, I know you want to be called "Ricky" or "Old Shu"), but bargaining is something that is very important here (as it is in many countries outside the US). You should never pay full price for something you're buying from a small shop or from a vendor on the street - in fact, it is almost insulting, and if not, you're just plain getting ripped off.

As the kind of guy who enjoys bargaining to begin with, I really like doing this, and I always feel good when I get my price. Today was probably the best bargaining experience to date: we went out to Commercial Street to actually look at getting some souveneirs and things (an aspect I'd pretty much neglected to this point, but now I realize I should consider since there are only three weeks left) and stopped in a decent little place called Khan's "The Culture" that sold a number of different things. Larissa wanted to buy some saris, so we went in to see what else they had. I noticed a couple of little elephant trinkets that I thought were cool, and wanted to pick up a couple with the different symbols. The elephant with the trunk pointing upwards means "Good Luck," while the elephant with the trunk down means "Blessing," and I thought the little statues and actually some simple hand-made envelope openers looked cool. Well, they weren't OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive or anything to begin with, but I figured "what the heck?" and that I'd like to try to get a good deal since it's customary. Plus, I figure it's best to inflate the Indian economy as little as possible while I'm here and not spend TOO much money. About twenty minutes and a lot of laughs later, I left with my price, and I was happy. The guy wanted nothing to do with my offer initially, but I stuck to my guns and got him down. He told me I should stay in Bangalore and that I'm made for this place. I promised him I'd tell all my friends about his shop since he was genuinely a nice guy. I don't think the other guy working there was too happy that he let me off the hook with less than they wanted, but really it's a win-win situation because I'm happy and I know they still made a nice chunk of rupees off me.

On the way home, our group of four split up into rickshaws (after bargaining for the price of course) and started home. After initially passing each other a couple times on the way, it started to get competitive and turned into a race of sorts which was a lot of fun. We weren't going dangerously fast or anything, but you could tell each driver was really trying to get ahead of the other. I was glad that our drivers were genuinely nice guys and were each genuinely having a good time. A lot of the complaints about the city from the locals is that there are a.) too many rickshaw drivers and that b.) a lot of them aren't very nice people. The rickshaws themselves are a big source of pollution, and a number of the drivers can be mean and really try to take advantage (e.g. drive around in circles, overcharge, play with the meter) but overall I can't complain, and really, people wouldn't be able to get around without them. For our drivers tonight, we gladly tipped well for their good service, and it capped off a fun night.

Tomorrow, our plan is to head to the biggest and best buffet brunch in Bangalore (say that ten times fast). We're all very much looking forward to that. They serve a smorgasboard of different foods, from Indian to Chinese to Thai to Continental, and they even serve unlimited Indian champagne! Afterwards, we want to look around the Diamond District a little bit and then maybe finally take in one of these "amazing" Bollywood movies. People here are VERY proud of Bollywood, and it's a big part of the culture, especially for the "fatafat generation." (Fatafat means literally to want things fast, and that is one of the terms used to describe the current generation of young people these days who've grown up in a very Westernized society.) This generation may be Westernized, but they still have deep pride in their Indian heritage, so the Indian Bollywood scene is very popular from the music to the movies. Many of the TV channels feature Bollywood music and dancing 24/7, and a lot of the music on the radio is Bollywood. The movies are also extremely popular. We're told that we're to expect something that can sometimes be quite long by American film standards, but usually has some type of funny or ridiculous storyline or message depending on the genre of the film. Should be fun. 

The last thing that I'm trying to work on this weekend is deciding what my personal plans will be for finishing up my Penn State education! The first glance at the Spring schedule (sans professors) came out on The University Registrar, so I took a look at things and I'm trying to decide how I want to proceed. I had planned to be part-time my final semester and just take Golf to save some $$$ (since I've worked really hard my first three years and am ahead of where I need to be requirements-wise), but I'm debating lightening the load for the Fall and staying full-time in the Spring (which would also allow me to pick up an additional minor in Supply Chain, which I'm interested in). Decisions, decisions... 

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful weekend wherever you are. I'll be checking back in some time in the coming week. A representative from Honeywell in Morristown, NJ is coming into Bangalore this week, and we should be getting dinner with him Tuesday, which will be nice. It'll be approximately round 4815162342 of talking about what we've thought of India thus far, but you know what, it really never gets old sharing my thoughts, opinions, and observations. :)