"Hey, look - a white guy...

...I think I'll ask him for money!"

I imagine something like that passes through the brains of the men, women and children that take advantage of my passing by to ask for anywhere between "un peso" and "fai dolla'"--between five cents and five dollars, sometimes more.

When the kids do it, they typically go straight to the point - Not "Disculpe (Excuse me...)" or "Buenos Días (Good morning...); Just "Gib me wahn dolla'!" Most likely the only English they know, and it's probably not getting them as far as they thought it might. Kinda rude, right? Well, Brother David, one of the Bishops down here, gave a homily on this topic a while back, and he talked about how he tries to engage people in conversation when they ask him for financial goods. I've taken after this practice and usually respond to the kids by saying, "Buenas tardes, ¿Cómo estás?" Then we talk briefly about how he or she shouldn't demand money from strangers, and then I'm on my way.

Now, there are some adults that use this tactic to get money out of me as well. There are people that beg everyone for money and there are people that will just beg me for money. If you're a begger, you're a begger. I understand that you ask for money, both from me and from anyone else. But if you just walked by dozens of other people or dozens of people walked by you without you saying anything, and now you're gonna stick your hand out to me...? It's both frustrating and humbling at the same time. Frustrating because when they just ask me for money, it's because I'm white, and it shows the view people have of gringos, always having money in surplus. It's also humbling because as "simply" as I'm living down here and as much as I'd like to be able to honestly say that I have little more than they have, I actually have a lot more than most people have. I try not to use the words "No tengo" (I don't have any) in my response, because that's often bs. I have money for food and such at home, even when I'm not carrying money in my pockets, so saying I don't have money isn't really true. So I usually say that I can't and that I'm sorry and that I hope they have a nice day. Which is pretty cold, but I could spend hours of each day talking with all the people that ask for money.

Speaking of all-day conversations, there have been times where the conversation has gotten to be pretty long. There are some people who do indeed take the time to greet me with a "Buenas, amigo" (Hello, friend) and shake my hand. After some small talk about where I'm from and what I do, their financial troubles come up. People explain to me that they were just in the hospital and have to pay the bill and have no money (like this one guy who has shown me the same cut on his leg on four separate occasions over the first few months of being here). Or that they're not from Port and their mother is sick in their village, and this person has no money to get back home to their sick mom. Or some people, like my "good friend" Jonas Benedicto, tell me about how they used to live in the States and have a lot of gringo friends and just need a little money to get back on their feet in order to finish school. Jonas likes to hug, too. But out of concern for my personal safety, handshakes are more appropriate.

Then there's the incredibly awkward situation where it's someone closer to me asking for me to lend them money. My host brothers in Granada, a teacher at Escuela Maureen, one of our neighbors...all have asked me outright if I could lend them considerable amounts of money. This affects my interactions with other people who may or may not be asking for money. Some people have "confided" in me about how much they're struggling at home, how they are scrambling to get food for their family or are concerned about making it until the next paycheck. This is where all the begging affects me. Without asking me straight up if I can lend them money, I get the sense that they're hoping I'll volunteer to support them in some way. And I'm sure some people aren't necessarily looking for me to help them and just consider it a topic of conversation between friends, but the reality is that my experience has conditioned me to think they're asking for money.

Usually people are pretty understanding when I give them the explanation that I'm not allowed to be exchanging money with people. I explain how I'm on a fixed budget and that I can neither earn extra money (i.e. by giving English classes, which would produce a haul) nor can I give money away. I've given this explanation to a number of people that have stopped me in the street, and they express their appreciation for me taking the time to listen to them and to explain to them just why I am not going to give them money. Actually, when those conversations happen, the people walk away in a pretty chipper mood.

I try to be as patient with these interactions as I can. It can be more difficult when I have somewhere to be, but I at least try to take a minute to acknowledge their existence. On rare occasions, people just want to talk to the gringo and say Hi, and those conversations go much more smoothly. I guess it all comes with the privilege of being white.