October 2003, Merida, Mexico.
“I just want to practise my English…but come to my shop/my brother’s shop/my friend’s shop”, or, “I can speak a bit English. I want to practise and I can help you. I guide you in Merida”.
These guys are very persistent, especially around the main squares, and most tourists have trouble resisting them. They trail around after you, and many people are afraid to be rude, especially in a strange place. Today, I decide to get the better of one of these touts.
“Hallo, you speak Spanish? No, English?” I hear the familiar refrain and smile.
“Today is my day off, but I want to be a guide, so I want to speak more English with tourists like you. My English is not good”.
He crosses the street with me and we stop outside the big cathedral, the plaza teeming with tour groups. He launches into his spiel about where to go and what to do here in Merida, with the inevitable mention of an Artisans Shop.
I smile again and tell him I’ve been to Merida twice before, then launch into my own spiel. “It’s interesting that you want to learn English. I teach English to foreign students in the USA”. I proceed to ask him what he’s doing to help learn the language, asking about books, TV programs, courses, and offering all kinds of suggestions.
He listens, dumbfounded, then says, “Thanks. I have to go now”. He disappears round the corner, and later when I see him on the main square, chatting up another tourist, he avoids my eye.
“I just want to practise my English…but come to my shop/my brother’s shop/my friend’s shop”, or, “I can speak a bit English. I want to practise and I can help you. I guide you in Merida”.
These guys are very persistent, especially around the main squares, and most tourists have trouble resisting them. They trail around after you, and many people are afraid to be rude, especially in a strange place. Today, I decide to get the better of one of these touts.
“Hallo, you speak Spanish? No, English?” I hear the familiar refrain and smile.
“Today is my day off, but I want to be a guide, so I want to speak more English with tourists like you. My English is not good”.
He crosses the street with me and we stop outside the big cathedral, the plaza teeming with tour groups. He launches into his spiel about where to go and what to do here in Merida, with the inevitable mention of an Artisans Shop.
I smile again and tell him I’ve been to Merida twice before, then launch into my own spiel. “It’s interesting that you want to learn English. I teach English to foreign students in the USA”. I proceed to ask him what he’s doing to help learn the language, asking about books, TV programs, courses, and offering all kinds of suggestions.
He listens, dumbfounded, then says, “Thanks. I have to go now”. He disappears round the corner, and later when I see him on the main square, chatting up another tourist, he avoids my eye.
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