Yesterday I spent 8 hours drawing. It was bliss. Yes the fan behind me seemed to be blowing hot air, which didn’t help that I already felt a little faint from not quite managing to buy a full lunch, but I was happy in my own little world I’d created from pencil.

The previous day, however, was not As good, it wasn’t necessarily bad either just a little frustrating. I had been taken shopping which was great because I felt I didn’t have appropriate clothes.

Turns out I’m a fussy shopper! I honestly didn’t see that coming! I mean I worked at a charity shop just before I left and for the past 10 months All my clothes, bar vest tops and pants, came from that shop!

I think it’s partly my complete lack of tolerance for sales assistants that follow you around and partly because I genuinely didn’t know what I was buying. Reading up on what to wear before I came gave me the impression that shoulders where a no show area and to get respect you should get a 3 piece salwar suit (trousers, a long dress/top and a scarf). The first shop seemed like a direct fusion of what I wear back home and what they wear here and as much as I liked them I didn’t recall seeing anyone wear those kinds of things here.

The second shop was more like the idea of what I prefer. The labels talk about the actual craftsmanship of making the clothes and use they natural material. This means a lot to me because it sounds like the crafters are treated right and paid well enough, hence why I came to India! Saribari, the group I’m with, are fully commited to giving women jobs as artisans instead of being trapped in unthinkable circumstances.

I did buy something from the second shop, a pair of ridiculous baggy mint green pantaloon type things that I absolutely love! I also returned to the first shop and spent probably an hour or more being followed around by sales assistants untill I just handed them everything I was considering and just left. I can’t be doing with that!