After English club today, Drew and I went to a Uyghur cafe for lagman and beer. Of course, the cafe was out of beer and instead the waitress directed us to the neighboring convenience store. Not a problem -- beer is cheaper that way. About 30 minutes into the meal, a friendly drunk guy came up to us, enthralled by the sound of a foreign language. We told him that we were Australians, a response that is extremely effective because it explains our English but stifles follow-up questions since nobody knows much about Australia here. Again, not a problem since there wasn't even a whiff of hostility around this guy. Not long after, we asked for the bill and waited for our change of 250 tenge. The cafe was busy tonight and apparently they were out of change, so we received a 200 tenge bill and about half a pack of gum. They didn't just give us a pack of gum for the trouble, they pro-rated the gum. The waitress brought a 3/4 full pack and gave us about two-thirds of what was left. This wasn't really a problem since 50 tenge is worth about 30 cents, which is cheaper than the price of the story, at least in my estimation. This incident wasn't even the first time I have seen volunteers receive gum in lieu of money at a cafe. So really, not a problem.
Sometimes, I remember that I am living in a strange country. The strangest thing of all is that this series of events barely seems remarkable to me any more.
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4 comments:
The first thought in my mind: What type of gum?
I dig the gum change. But I hate getting change in matches. I don't smoke and I don't have a fireplace. And I'm scared of Smokey the Bear.
And god help the first person that tries to give me change in курт.
Craig, I think it was Orbitz? But I don't really remember. After all, she squeezed out about five pieces and that was it. Obviously, she was rationing the gum -- other people need change, too!
Курт... well, the good news is that I don't think it deserves to be wasted on foreigners who don't appreciate it in all its glory.
you know it was almost a year here before i realized i could buy single pieces of gum from women on the street. if you're ever hurting for that 60 tenge...
and maybe another volunteer would understand, but related to gum, i'm always fooled by the slightly cheaper price of dirol. but the orbitz inside package lets you fold down the top to prevent all of them from leaking inside your pocket. totally worth five tenge, but I still get the dirol. i'm okay with gum just sitting in my pocket I guess.
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