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Today was Eric's
birthday. He is from Luxembourg and since one month
he lives in the Ashram and helps the students. We
celebrated his birthday and surprised him with a
cake and gifts. He seemed to be very happy about it
which made me happy.
My
friends Roger and Mady went for a walk in the town
today. When they were taking pictures from a
barber's shop the barber waved them in and
wanted to have money because they took pictures.
Roger insisted that if he wants money he should do
something for it and shave him. So Roger sat down
and enjoyed for the first in his life how someone
shaved him. Of course not with an electric shaver
but with a blade. After this and a nice head massage
Roger asked for the price. And the barber wanted to
have 100 Rupees for something that normally costs
five Rupees. Good, Roger gave it because he did not
know that it is expensive and because it is only two
Euros. He laughed a lot when we told him that he
paid 95 Rupees more. He said: "Maybe it makes
him a rich man for one day and it does not make me a
poor man." It is a nice attitude that I
appreciate but on the other hand this shows how
funny the prices are in India. When a foreigner
comes, who is easily recognized because of the white
skin, the prices are immediately more than doubled.
However compared with the prices in Europe it is
still cheap. And this is how it works here. You have
to negotiate and bargain and still then as a
foreigner you will not
get the same price that Indians get.
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