Equatorial Equations
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 2 October 2009
By: zhousephine
9/18/09: The equator, Uganda
For the last week I have been trying to convince Kevin to let me buy some small souvenirs – earrings or a bracelet – to no avail. Whether this is because he is inherently cheap or because he really doesn’t want to carry the extra 0.1 ounce I’m not sure. I’m leaning toward inherently cheap because I’ve told him multiple times that I’ll actually wear whatever I buy. Kevin, you won’t have to carry the extra 0.1 ounce unless you’re carrying me. In which case there are probably much more dire things to be worried about than small souvenirs. Like broken bones. Or a fainted wife.
Anyway. Today we stopped on the side of the road by the equator to have breakfast and do a little bit of shopping. I finally convinced Kevin to hand over some cash (if I were responsible enough to carry the money I would have bought an entire tent full of things by now) so I could buy some earrings. I was a bit nervous because you’re expected to bargain things down in Africa, and I’ve always had someone more experienced haggle for me in the past (my mom or my aunt or my grandma). But if I let Kevin try to bargain he would probably try to pay MORE than the asking price. So I picked out a pair of earrings that I wanted and bit the bullet and nervously asked the seller how much they were.
“2,000 Ugandan” (Note: $1 = 2,000 Ugandan shillings)
I turned to Kevin and whispered, “Is it even worth haggling over a single DOLLAR?”
Kevin whispered back, “Get two pairs.”
I turned back to the seller. “How about two pairs for 2,500?”
He replied, “3,000.”
I responded, “2,700.”
“No, no, no, 3,000.”
“How about 2,800?”
“No, no, no, 3,000.” Pause. “Ok, ok, I give you a good deal. 2,500.”
I thought I must have misheard, so I asked, “For both pairs?”
“Yes. 2,500.”
“Um. Ok!”
The selection from which I bought my earrings.
I don’t know how this happened. Perhaps he just became dazed from looking at my beautiful face. That’s the theory I subscribe to anyway.
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Picture of the day: Mr. Turtle at the Nile
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