Saturday, March 26, 2005

P.S. to Looking is Free...

Did I say it might be a good thing that the merchants send us home with souvenirs? What was I thinking? Was I high? Oh, no... wait a minute... it must have been a delusion brought on by the swelling of the brain, due to the heat.

We woke on our last full day to an empty town. The tourists had all completely disappeared, making us moving targets -- or rather sitting ducks -- for the people selling bed coverings and sarongs with elephant motifs and elegant embroidery, ankee bracelets that jingle when you walk, necklaces made of shells, silk scarves, decorative boxes made of fish bone, shirts, pants, skirts, stickers, shoes, belts and hand bags with shiny mirrors sewed in...

People were desperate to sell -- trudging through the sand with their wares, shoulders slumped, with a look of despair until they spotted us and suddenly their gate quickened, a glimmer of hope sparkled in their eye, and they were upon us.

"Business bad," they tell us, "tsunami." Or, "Everyone gone. Give me good price," while holding out something we didn't want or need. Sometimes they'd make the gesture for food, with the 5 finger tips pinched together and brought up to the mouth. This gesture, the "elbow curl" as I like to call it, is usually only used by the beggars.

Although the tsunami struck the opposite side of the country, apparently people have been avoiding South India altogether. Even the high season was low this year, and now the low season was slower than usual.

Sometimes it gets to me, when the merchants imply they won't eat if they don't make a sale. I feel bad. I have so much, they have so little. And they're only trying to make ends meet... but I can't buy everything and I can't save the world with rupees. I can't make a difference. Life goes on.

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