Noticing
"Drum, madam? Very nice sound." (Demonstrates)
"No thanks."
"Very nice sound, madam. I make you good price." (Demonstrates rubbing his finger on top of the drum.)
"No, I have one."
"I make you best price. You tell me your price."
"No, I have one already."
"Very nice, madam. Best quality. Best sound, cheap price." (Continues to demonstrate.)
Me: "No, no. My son has one. He plays it all the time."
Drum Seller: (Leaves.)
Khalifah: "I'm totally pulling out the kids thing on people. My son has that. It works."
*
I love the things people notice when they first come here.
Khalifah has noticed:
~ The notches on the coconut trees. (For climbing.)
~ The different colors of bindi on women.
~ The way we make everything from scratch.
~ The plethora of insects.
~ Roosters in the morning.
~ Crazy bird calls.
~ Pigs running around.
~ That people burn their trash fires very close to their houses or close to the road. We had a discussion about this. There is almost no wood here, so people aren't afraid of houses burning down. With only stone or concrete or marble, there is much less fire danger.
~ Orange flags on a banyan tree.
~ A tall man coming through a very small doorway in the electronics store.
~ The bread in the tiny Indian restaurant falling on the floor, and the man putting it right back on the pile.
~ How coated with old food the pot in the tiny Indian restaurant was. (I swear, I have blanked those things completely out of my awareness.)
And about a thousand other things.
She's such a great, open, curious girl to have for a visit.