I came bounding down the office stairs, flitted across the foyer and into the office. And stopped short. I cocked my head and thought, “white person?” I wasn’t sure what had conjured the thought so I backtracked to the office door and leaned back just enough to get a glimpse of the foyer. There was a man. The thought registered, “not Indian arms.” They were possibly tan enough, but the muscle toning was somehow different. And so I leaned out the door yet again. He was looking at a chart on a wall. Only visitors would do that. Specifically, only non local visitors. I was so curious! Who was he? Why was he here? I’d heard something about UNDP earlier, was I about to encounter a real, live UNDP person?! What was his story!
On my way back upstairs I passed him and shyly averted eye contact. I had no clue how to interact with him! From the safety of upstairs, I watched his path around the office to see where he was going and who he was talking to. As I passed him again a few minutes later and he gestured a smile, I very shyly quickly smiled back and melted back into the office.
What’s most funny about all this is that my behavior pretty much exactly matched the reaction of a shy child here when they encounter me, the white person. They’ll hide behind a door and peak out only the tiniest bit, and when you try to smile at them, they cover their faces and sink back farther behind the door, but you know the instant you turn away, they are catching every glimpse of you they can. I’d become so accustomed to being around Indians while at work, that the presence of a white person in the office completely threw me off!
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