Wednesday, May 9, 2012

One Of My Favorite People

Today I ran into one of my favorite people. He's named Sala. He runs a shop on my way into the center of town. So on most days, whatever I'm walking into town to do, whether it's just to buy bread, or also to go to the post office, or pay a utility bill, or come here to the cyber, I usually run into him.

Today I crossed paths with Sala when he wasn't at his shop. He was around the corner, on the next street. As usual, he grinned at me and greeted me enthusiastically. Literally I have never seen this man unhappy or discontented. He genuinely seems to be both the happiest and most contented person I have ever seen. Sometimes I think of him as being like a Moroccan version of Santa Claus: he's tall, big, burly, with a big beard, and he is incredibly and indefatigably jolly and friendly. After exchanging our usual brief greetings, I continued on my way to the bakery, where I bought my bread for the day.

On my way back to my apartment, I saw Sala sitting outside his shop. Given how I seem to always walk away from interactions with him with a big smile on my face, I was pleased to get to joke around with him a little in an effort to try to amuse him. I remarked to him in Darija, that is, Moroccan Arabic, "There's a man back there who looks just like you!" Sala continued the jest, explaining that it was his brother. (I do know that it was him, both because he would have to have a twin to have someone look so much like him, and because he was still dressed in the same fairly distinctive jillaba, or long robe, which I had just seen him wearing.) This morning I parted ways with him happy to have run into him yet again since he's one of my favorite people, and also pleased that I had seemed to amuse him with my jocularity.

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