City a mixed bag of experiences for foreigners

AHMEDABAD: Twenty-nine-year-old Benjamin Haynes from United States has been in the city for more than a month now. However, he is wary of taking an autorickshaw here.
"Whenever I am with a Gujarati friend and we have to take an auto, I stand at a distance. Until he fixes the fare for the trip, I do not venture near the rickshaw. The moment autorickshawallas see us, they try to flinch extra money from us."
After 23-year-old British national Pamela (name changed) living in the city was allegedly molested by a plumber and the harrowing experience she had in the court trying her case, TOI talked to some foreign students and professionals who are in the city for study or voluntary projects
And, they have myriad tales to narrate.
"The prolonged stares from people sometimes make us uncomfortable. Luckily, till now we have not had bad experiences," adds Haynes.
Anna Le'Harivel, a citizen of New Zealand who has been residing in the city for around 10 months, has enjoyed a trouble-free stay so far. Le'Harivel says, "People here are as such very helpful and the city is extremely safe."
"When I came to the city, I was staying with an Indian family and now I am living by myself. Till now there has been no problem and I have not even heard of any such incident from my friends either," she adds.
Chris Kost from USA have been living in city for more than a year. Kost says, "Most of the people look at us only as foreigners rather than human beings. My female friends who have been to Ahmedabad complain of staring and ogling but things here are not as bad as Delhi."