“Yes please! No calories!” – A Turkish storekeeper who was attempting to lure us into his baklava shop.
“Careful! Our stop lights are decorative.” – A Turkish citizen saving us from certain death while attempting to cross the street in Istanbul.
“Don’t worry, I’m an artist, not a terrorist.” – A lovely young woman from Iran who was staying in a hostel dorm with us. This made me really sad, and I kept trying to explain to her that not ALL Americans think that ALL people from Iran are terrorists.
“What? You are 34? You don’t have children? What is wrong with you? You don’t like children?” – Man on a bus beside me as we traveled to see the Elora caves in India. Next time I get asked if I have children I am going to say I have 4 children and have left them at home with their grandparents while we vacation.
“Where from? You welcome.” – This is the Jordanian way of saying “Welcome to Jordan.”
“Next bus is in two hours.” – In this case, it meant ‘I’m going to try to see if I can get you to pay 10 times the bus fare to take a taxi with my friend. When that won’t work, I’m going to see if I can get you to pay 4 times the regular bus fare on the bus that in fact leaves in 20 minutes. If that won’t work I am going to pretend like I’m getting you a great deal by letting you pay the regular bus price and I’m going to try to make you believe that you are riding a private bus even though it’s clear that it’s the regular public bus.’
The Parallel Life 
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