An Extra Banana

It was late one evening in Istanbul, and we were trying to buy a few breakfast items for the next morning.  We saw a small market run by an older Turkish gentleman.  When we stepped into his cozy store we could tell that he was prepared to ignore us.  We were just off the plane from Munich, excited to be in Turkey, and would not be denied a potential local interaction, so Steve greeted him with his best good evening in Turkish - “ee yee ahak sham lar”!  At first he looked startled and stared at us, then a grin appeared on his face.  A very welcome “Ee Yee Ahk Sham Lar” came back our way.  It was clear that he did not get many tourists in his shop who attempted to speak a few words in his language.  In the most friendly of gestures, he grabbed Steve by the arm and proudly gave us a tour of his beautiful assortment of fruit.  We pointed at a bunch of bananas, which he selected, weighed and bagged…smiling the whole time.  Before we could leave, he grabbed an extra banana and dropped it into the bag.  Breakfast was secure and a pleasant encounter was had during an otherwise mundane errand of buying bananas.

In Argentina practicing casual greetings in Spanish made our daily exercise regime more entertaining.  We found a great steep hill to climb in Salta to a magnificent view point of the valley.  It became our routine for a few days.  At first no one hiking in the opposite direction would pay any attention to us.  Steve started initiating greetings to our fellow hikers (more then boring ole buenos dias).  Oh boy, did the climb change.  We received smiles and gracious greetings in return.  All just over a few common words.
 
In every place we go we start a cheat sheet with about 5-10 basic expressions in the local language.  So far we have learned these phrases in a dozen or so languages. 

The first few days are always a memory test trying to remember and figure out how to pronounce the words.  We always bumble our way through it with anyone that will listen, and ask for guidance of how to pronounce the words correctly.  People are proud of their language and love to correct us.  By the time we are ready to leave a place, we can actually say them pretty well.  Will we remember them a year from now?  No.  But while on the road, it has given us many memories above and beyond 'the sights'. It has paid off handsomely in smiles, laughs, and sometimes…..an extra banana.