Last night a bunch of my friends and I attended a "Democrat's Abroad" watch party of the Vice Presidential debate, which was being hosted at a bar/club in the city. Interestingly enough, this bar was on the top floor of a really big mall. I found that to be really odd, but not unusual in India. For some reason some really nice restaurants and clubs can be found in upscale malls around the city. Most of my friends decided to take the bus, but rather than spend the time and energy, four of us opted for an autorickshaw, which got us there faster anyway. Once we got to the mall, we spent a bit of time walking around the perfume section right by the entrance, and it was ridiculous how many sales people started following us around and asking if we needed help. They pretty much surrounded us as one point. They surprised me with how many designer perfumes they carried, but I did find one that they didn't have- Chanel. After a bit we decided to find our way up to the club, and that took a bit because the elevators in the part of the mall we were in only went up to the third floor, and the club was on the seventh. We figured it all out though.
Once we got to the club we were greeted by the other Americans hosting the watch party. They actually ended up having quite a turn out. The club itself was a funny location to host a debate watch party at, but it worked out well. It had only opened up two weeks earlier, so they were eager to draw a crowd of people. The interior decoration was very modern and sleek, definitely my style, but they had these random fake candle things at each table, which made it look really tacky. Also, they didn't have much of a menu, and none of us had eaten, so we were a bit underwhelmed by their food options. Somebody had brought "Palin Bingo" to play while we watched the debate, and if you got bingo then you won a free drink. I didn't actually think that I'd do it because the keyword that I needed to win was "heartland," but near the end of the debate, she came through and said that word. Woohoo! Bingo!
Sidenote: the bar had a fantastic view of the city.
After the debate a bunch of us went to go get dinner at this noodle place down on the ground floor of the mall since we hadn't really eaten before or during the debate. Following dinner we got to my favorite part of the night... the autorickshaw ride home.
We spent a while haggling with various drivers over the price, but we just couldn't get them down below 200Rs. (Not that I really cared because that really only equates to $5 or less, but I guess it's the principle, since they always overcharge us) Finally we just got into a rickshaw. I hoped in with my friends Rachel, Lindsay and Harrison. For some reason, someone said something about 10 minutes into the ride, and it reminded me of the song, "A whole new world," from Aladdin, so I just busted out singing, and Lindsay and Rachel soon joined me in song. The driver totall loved it. He told us that he loved music and asked us to keep on sining, so we went through a series of Disney classics on the way home. At one point, the rickshaw driver told me that I should be recorded, which made me feel so flattered. :-) Then, when we were nearly back to campus, he pulled over to buy something. When he got back into the rickshaw, he handed us a bottle of Maaza Mango Juice and thanked us for our beautiful singing. I was so touched. On top of that, he also turned out to be a small time actor in Telugu movies, and he had his headshots in the back of his rickshaw, which we all took a look at. Needless to say, it was the best autorickshaw ride yet.
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