Sunday, May 23, 2010

Belly Laugh

Good humor has been elusive the past couple of days so I headed out to a restaurant this afternoon in order to pretend to get it away from it all and to indulge in my new favorite discovery - an incredibly delicious milkshake. I was sitting in the back of the restaurant when some hilarious gestures caught my attention. A group of four Chinese men were trying to communicate their order to their Senegalese waitress. They all had English menus and were trying to tell her their orders in English, which wasn't working for two reasons. 1. The waitress doesn't speak English and was even trying to match up what they were pointing to on the English menu with the French menu and 2. the men's accents were so thick and their English so poor that I could barely understand them.

After allowing everyone involved to struggle for a little while, I went over and helped translate. No thanks were offered, but what happened next was more than I could ever imagine. I barely noticed when Whitney Houston's greatest hits went on repeat, as that is the usual soundtrack at this restaurant, but I did notice when four Chinese men starting singing along with Whitney as though they were alone in the shower and not in a restaurant in Thies, Senegal. The entire situation was just too priceless and it reminded me that as long as I leave my room every day something absolutely ridiculous will happen to make me laugh and smile.

2 comments:

  1. Alyssa,

    That sounds/looks like a perfect time to get the camera phone working. We have finally reached 80 degrees for the first time since last July per the weatherman.

    Dad

    Dad

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  2. My guess is the Chinese guys were having Gazelles not milkshakes!!!

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