I Was Definitely Not Looking for a Girl
But I was certainly guilty of compensating for my limited knowledge of the local language in a worst manner possible
I t’s not that I didn’t ask the right question. It is just that I assumed it would be enough and didn’t bother completing it. On second thoughts, maybe the person at the other end of the counter was not in the best of moods that morning. Else, it is common sense. What kind of question would a potential customer ask at a currency exchange counter?
One morning in Sofia, I headed to the nearby currency exchange counter to procure some Bulgarian lev (BGN). The idea was to have some cash at my disposal, to take care of the expenses at those local outlets where they do not accept the card.
“What’s the rate?” I asked the man at the counter.
“Rate of what?” he responded, obviously irritated. On the spur of the moment, mine had been a seemingly ambiguous query. Things got clarified soon after, but this faux pas was only a trailer. There was a blockbuster awaiting release.
I consider myself to be a polyglot. I take pride in the fact that I am able to speak a few languages fluently, and manage a few others decently. Besides, being an avid traveler makes me do another thing. When I head to a…
