curiosity,

2 little girls with heart-warming smiles and curiosity-filled eyes stop in front of me as I’m texting on my phone on the streets of my neighborhood.

“بياعة ده؟ بكام ده؟”
I’m not quite sure which part of my appearance resembles the Chinese ladies I occasionally come across on the Dokki streets selling random items such as cell-phones and remote controls.
“ماعرفش بالضبط عشان اشتريت ده من زمان.”
“انتي صينية؟”
“لا، أنا منين؟”
I love playing this guessing game. They ponder and inspect my face.
“انتي أميركية؟”
Either I speak Arabic with a strong American accent or some facial feature I have makes me look Caucasian because I get this from time to time.
“!لا”
“انتي من مصر؟”
This puts a big smile on my face.
“.لا”
“انتي منين؟؟”
(:”أنا من كوريا الجنوبية.”
“أههه”, they say. Their polite smiles make me wonder if it’s out of simple courtesy or genuine recognition of the small peninsula some thousand miles away. Their curiosity has been satisfied and “مع السلامة” we part our ways.

What cute role-models, I should be more like them – throwing those questions that itch my curiosity. Good to know I look 1) Chinese, 2) American, and 3) Egyptian.