Day Two in the Venus Hotel

(It must be notted that the photos in the last post, and any paragraph seperation and such useful additions have not converted over from Word and as i don’t have much time online here i have not made said adjustments.  Sorry for the inconvienance.)

I must be getting near that point of bored heat exhaustion; this is not good as its only day two of twelve! I played my first game of Mario Cart in what must be months, I even had to reinstall the N64 simulator, therefore all my previous games were lost and it was the Mushroom Cup at 50cc, I don’t think I’ve ever made it as far as the 150cc but maybe these next ten days will change all that! Perhaps it should be mentioned that I don’t move forward unless I get gold. I’ve decided it’s time for a shave. I had one four days ago and in this heat and Jeanie’s preference for my unshaven look it’s not really necessary but I do need a hair cut something desperate. I’ve made a pact to not cut my hair for a whole year, this started on February 1st 2009 and so far I’ve kept the pact. I actually shaved my head clean bald so the experiment would be complete, how long does one’s hair grow in a year? Today’s trim will be the first and the general scruffiness of my hair demands something be done, particularly in a country where a haircut is less than fifty pence! I will possibly have to do a bit of negotiating, as a shave should cost me no more than 10 rupees or 7p and a haircut no more than 20 rupees or 15p. This is why I, this is sadly perhaps one of my main reasons for getting excited about going to India. For the next six weeks I will not shave myself, I will not even look at a razor except in the shower when doing my armpits! I’m off; I will detail the experience after the experience. My one rule (I’m back by the way) that I always manage to forgo at some point is one that always annoys me afterwards. To start with let’s say Jeanie will be happy with my new haircut, it’s definitely shorter than I would have liked. I’ll be going along with the old verbiage that cutting helps stimulate growth, so perhaps it’ll come back stronger and longer sooner! The shave was like any other shave, twice around the face followed by aftershave. He then gave something of a massage that included a huge amount of cracking in my neck and oddly enough my elbows. The tall smiling nearly black man has nothing more than a hut. He operates in a row of huts, the one next to him is a Chai (tea) shop, the others lie empty. It’s something like an outhouse with one side exposed to the elements, slightly elevated in case of rains and definitely one of the cheaper haircutting options. The only thing cheaper than this is literally a chair and mirror on the street corner, he can be proud of having a “building”. Approaching his building he came running over all smiles, he’d been trying to get me in his shop for some days already. It was obvious I needed a cut and a shave and when I asked him how much he simply waved me off as if it should be of no concern. I wasn’t actually sure if he could speak the red stains of beetle-nut in his mouth and low lying grunts made me wonder. I let it pass, thinking it could not cost me much off the above mentioned prices. When the cracks and smiles and cuts were complete I smiled at him and asked him how much. I’ve always found asking this question of Indians can prove difficult. The words themselves often leave one without a reply and the rubbing of two fingers has never produced much more. I did see on my first day in Calcutta a man do a similar sign using not only his thumb and pointer but using all his fingers. I can’t tell if this has worked better or not, I tend to now do a combination of everything I can think of! And remember, most of these people speak some English if not a decent amount. My barber had begun to speak using a funny combination of words that he possibly didn’t know the meaning of. Faced with this question I received the usual nothingness followed by gestures towards his head (haircut) followed by five fingers, his face (shave) another five fingers, and my legs (massage) with one finger. He did this a few times as I looked on in wonderment. Five rupees is too little for a haircut and fifty is too much for either, the one on my legs made no sense to me at all, perhaps ten, certainly not one or one hundred? I should have confirmed all this beforehand, bargaining after the fact is never a good idea; at least I had small change! Seeing my confusion he said he wanted one hundred and fifty rupees! I didn’t even bring that much with me. He wanted fifty for each it would seem, a crazy price that I would never pay, I handed him twenty. He continued with his amounts. I then took the twenty and put forty on the counter in front of me, still more than I feel okay about but the fifty he was now demanding was never going to happen, I had ninety with me, four tens and a fifty, the fifty was staying with me and I think as I put it in my pocket and stood up he saw this. If I rationalize twenty for the cut, ten for the shave and ten for the massage then I don’t mind, even so, it’s more than an outhouse would ever get from a local! In four days time when I’m again looking for a shave I will not go to him, he could have had me for the rest of my time here but I don’t forgive business easily. It’s twenty past ten and I feel like a nap! This can’t happen as I must leave for Jeanie in half an hour but once again sleep was restless and full of funny dreams. At least this time there were no mozzies! I must get my pair of jeans fixed now, the crotch is coming undone and I want to put in a couple hidden pockets. I’ve already found the old tailor with a similar style outhouse that I want to go to. I don’t know the prices really but I’m guessing for under a dollar the deal should be done. Time for a bit more Mario Cart and then I’ll hit the streets! 13:56 – I’m going to start time stamping my new entries. It should be noted now that if you’ve been thinking what a wuss I am for complaining about the heat I read in the Times of India just now that yesterdays high was 44.6c and the same again today with an expected low of 30.1 and %79 percent humidity! I’m amazed I can move at all!! Well, I’m heading downstairs to the internet soon and I’ll be publishing this, Speak soon xx Jeffrey