Tuesday, May 21, 2024 Adventures in Italy, Part 8

(To start at the beginning: Adventures in Italy Part 1)

The third place on our ticket wasn’t going to open until 6:00 p.m. so we consulted our maps and decided to make our way to the port.  Have I mentioned how hot it was getting?  There was no air conditioning at either museum, so as we made our way to the port as soon as I saw a sign for “La Cremaria,” I veered off without even warning Kris.  Gelato is my friend. 

We wound our way through more narrow streets and eventually came out to a large, busy and festive-looking section of town at the port.  We walked over to the famous aquarium and decided to give it a pass for the time being.  The tickets were fairly expensive and we were both feeling a little bit of “tourist fatigue” after the two museums. I walked over to a shady spot to rest while Kris looked over the information about the aquarium.  When he rejoined me, he mentioned that some guy had tried to give him a little carved item, which he had to refuse several times. That seemed mystifying and we joked about how it was probably some sort of hidden drug cache that he’d track to our home town to reclaim. 

We walked farther on down the port and while Kris went over to look at large reproduction of an old ship, he was approached by another man trying to give away a little carved item.  Kris refused a few times, but this guy was more persistent and managed to find out that Kris spoke English. Kris was making his getaway to return to where I was when the fatal mistake occurred: the man turned around and saw me.  “Oh, is that your wife?” he said cheerily, and you could almost see the thought bubble forming over his head, saying “I have found the weak link!”  He came over and pressed a small wooden elephant in my palm, saying, “This is a gift for you – I am just giving it away today. I am from Kenya and we are here raising money for our country, but today is our last day and I am just going to give this to you.”

I was a little dumbfounded, but said thank you, uncertainly. He then pressed a little wooden turtle into Kris’s palm with the same speech. We were trying to make the best of an awkward situation, but didn’t really want to take these “gifts.” He asked where we were from and when we told him the United States, he beamed with pleasure. “Oh, I love America! I live in New York and I love it there!” He was all smiles and pleasantness. “Yesterday I was selling these for 35 euro each, but today because it is our last day, I give them to you free. No charge.  Do you have children?” We told him yes, and this sent him into another frenzy of activity with little decorative strings that he tied around our wrists with a strange little ritual involving each of us blowing on the string, kissing each other and then him tying it on. Awkward! How do we get out of here?

He reassured us many, many times that all of this largesse was absolutely no charge, just out of the kindness of his heart. We were getting restless and trying to move away, when the other shoe dropped.  He got out a third carved item and said, “And now I give you this last item, no charge, but if you could give us something, anything, to help our country we would appreciate it. It doesn’t matter how much – anything will help.” I was desperate to get out his clutches at this point and began to open my purse, thinking it would be easiest to give him 5 euros as a fee for letting us go. But Kris stepped in firmly at this point, taking us the harder, but better route of refusal, stating that we weren’t going to take the items since it now obligated us to give, rather than making our giving be something we chose to do freely. He was nonplussed and continued to look cheerful, saying “Don’t be vexed with me – these are gifts, no charge, no obligation. Just give whatever you want, no matter how much!”  Kris eventually took all three carved items and placed them carefully in the man’s palm. The man looked at me, as if to say, “Are you really going to let him do this?” but we broke free at last. It was really an unpleasant interaction, as it always is when you feel forced to appear impolite. It hung over us for quite a while… 

To be continued! Next: Adventures in Italy Part 9

Don’t be vexed with me, but I might delete this in the morning.