Without a doubt, the easiest way to flatter me while traveling is to mistake me for a local, and be sincere about it. I am sure many have an alterior motive, anything to strike up a conversation and get me to look at their goods. But when they insist, when they tell me that I look like their brother Mohammed or Hamed, when they speak Arabic and get upset that I can't answer back, then it at least feels sincere. Never do I feel more accomplished than when I can conduct an entire transaction in another language without the vendor being none the wiser. Given my heritage, I can blend in quite easily in most countries in Europe and the Middle East (with the exception of Eastern Europe and Scandinavian countries of course), and I make
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