Undercover Agent

by Jamie

Ever wonder what it would be like to be an undercover secret agent? Let me tell you!

My digital camera that I bought just before the trip has really been getting a workout. Taking pictures of our group is never a problem, but I have learned that the people here don't like being photographed, so it makes it really hard to take pictures of the city and streets without making people nervous and upset. Our team "Master"mind gave me a great idea. The next time I went out to one of the open-air vegetable/fruit markets I put on my sun glasses, turned off the flash on my camera, and muted all the sound effects. No clicking, no flashing. I held it at my side and casually sauntered down the street snapping pictures right in front of my unsuspecting subjects! It took me a few practice shots to get my angle right, but some of the pictures turned out great!

I'm not the only one with a knack for the sneaky. One other member of our team has shown great talent as well. To start the story off from the beginning . . . I and one of the other girls on the team made a cultural observation very early on in the trip. We observed that all the young, trying-to-be-hot guys that you pass on the street all seem to waft by on a wave of very strong, very good smelling cologne.  We both wanted to buy some for family back home, but didn't have clue what to buy. What were we to do--stop some guy on the street and ask him what cologne he was wearing? NO! Rather, we enlisted(conscripted might be a better word) the aid of one of the guys on the team, a most resourceful fellow who desires to be referred to as "Agent X." One day, my friend noticed that one of Agent X's English students was wearing the coveted cologne and ordered him to find out what it was. So, Agent X cleverly made "cologne" one of the day's vocabulary words and then casually asked,

"Soooo, what cologne do you wear?"

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

I am now the happy possessor of a bottle of Madidni cologne!

This trip is definitely work, but the moments of hilarity come often!