Power of ignorance

Sometimes when you get yourself in a bad place in a foreign country, ignorance can be your friend.

After a 12 hour day at work, Rachel and I took the public bus home. (the school van was full, we did not have our scooters at school because of rain in the morning, and the bus is cheaper than a taxi (though in retrospect, it would have been worth it)). After watching several of the wrong buses go by, we decided to get on a bus that did not go by our complex, but went in the general direction of home. Of course, the bus immediately behind ours turned out to be the correct bus. Go figure.

On the bus, we were met with the leering smile and bloodshot, twinkling eyes of an intoxicated passenger. His smell was quite noxious, so we moved past him as he gave the standard set of lines we here from those unaccustomed to seeing foreigners. After some prodding (literally) and further questions, I put some space between us and we pretended to not understand him. He soon lost interest.

Rachel told me, "You know, you could still talk to him."

Not today, Rachel. Not today.

-alan