I was feeling fine this morning, but when I got to work I was hit with a nasty allergy attack. Really made teaching tough all day. The last class was so hard to get through. I got home and took a groggy nap. When I woke up it was pouring down rain. I felt like getting out so as soon as it slowed down I set out to go to a restaurant. Walking along the road I was suddenly confronted by knee high water in the road. I was on high ground but both the left and right of the road were 2 feet of dirty polluted water. I had no choice but to do what everyone else was doing and roll up my pants and wade through it. Which everyone on the entire street found extremely funny. People were falling over laughing at the fact that a foreigner was walking through the water right along side them. So after dinner as I was walking home it started raining again so I grabbed an ocek (motorcycle taxi) and when he dropped me off at my apt. I paid him. Now I should mention that all ocek rides are negotiated. There is no fixed price, so what I do is take what a taxi would charge and half it. I usually overpay anyways but its better than haggling over 15 cents. So after I paid the driver he objected and asked for 10 times what I would normally pay, I objected and gave him what I deemed fair. He lowered to 5 times, I wouldn't budge. I've been sick all day and had not too long ago waded through raw sewage so I was in no mood. He finally accepted my price and as he drove away the crowd which I hadn't noticed surrounding me cheered and applauded me! So needless to say, I continue to bring endless entertainment to the locals.
On a different subject, I found out that one of my students parents run a motorcycle dealership, so now I have a place to get a good fair price! As soon as I get my license I am good to go! No more taxis and now I can finally explore!
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