Fridays are short days at class, so the group went to see a famous paper factory and blue pottery business in Jaipur. This may not sound that exciting, but I had a great time. The pottery shop has been with the same family for 700 years. Besides making pottery, they also do block prints on textiles and pretty much anything else you can think of that has print. One of the pictures shows this cute old man that does block printing by hand all day. The patterns are constructed out of melted horse shoes. He dips the metal patterns in paint, and then aligns them perfectly on the fabric. A double bed sized tapestry takes him about 9 hours- using a screenprint machine would take less than 5 minutes. His tapestries sell for about 800 rupees (which is about $16US). Men and women were working with in paint and dust filled rooms without any type of mask. I don't think the work conditions are monitored too closely around here. People are just grateful to have steady work.
This weekend I am staying in Jaipur. Niveta (the homestay mom) is taking me and Carly to the markets tomorrow to do some shopping. Store owners rip foreigners off, so she is going to do the bargaining for us. We are attending a wedding with them in February, so we are also going to get fitted for a dress. I am super excited about the wedding- it's a pretty massive celebration. Next weekend, some of us are headed to a festival in the desert near the town of Jaisalmer. There's a mustache contest!
Girls don't really go out after dark, which is making me ansy. If we do go out, it's advisable to be back in by 8:00 at the latest. Safety is a central worry here for many, so I intend to abide by the norm. We're passing time at night by watching MTV India with papaji (the 80 year old grandpa), playing games with the kids (we played with farm animals in a pill tonight- they expand in water), and there's time left for talking about random stuff that comes to mind. I've also started having dance parties in my room- Paul's Boutique and the Slumdog soundtrack have been on repeat. The weekend getaways are coming soon.
I haven't been this well behaved since....well, I don't remember.
Warning: I'll be coming back to Uptown with a vengeance.