My old supervisor used to make jokes about how if he every did anything stupid or culturally offensive, he would tell people he was Canadian. Americans get a bad enough rap, why make it worse? Well I was in a market in North Africa with a group of ladies from the states. One of them had to use the restroom. Well if you've ever been in a market, then you know there aren't any restrooms. So we were going to try and ask at the mosque if there was one there. We were stopped by this man who asked "Are you going to pray?" We didn't really look like we were the praying type if you know what I mean. In my best french accent, I replied, "no, we are looking for the restroom." He said, "Follow me" and motioned for me to follow him. At this point we/she was desperate for a bathroom, so I followed him, with the lady right behind me. He started to take us deep into the market (you can get lost in these things, if you aren't careful). She began to ask me where we were going (like I knew). I told her to be quiet, I didn't know. (I wanted to be as low profile as possible--and English is like a neon sign) And so I continued to follow him, all the while praying. After 2 minutes, I asked again, "Sir, are you taking us to the restroom?" At this he got frustrated/angry and said, "You said you needed a restroom . . . " I couldn't understand his french because he was missing teeth. So we continued. The lady nervously asked, "Is he taking us to his house?" I replied, "I have no idea, just stop talking." He finally looked at me and said, "where are you from? what is your nationality?" I quickly responded to his first question, "France" ( I do live in France). I knew what was coming next. "What part of France?" He asked this question with a look of slight unbelief, no doubt because of my lack of a french accent. So with a big smile, I responded, "Well actually I'm Canadian". And this look of "
oh so that's why her french is so bad" look came over his face. We finally arrived at the restroom. I paid him 1 dinar for his services and he kindly returned us to where he picked us up at. When in doubt tell them you are Canadian--Everyone loves the Canadians!!!
