Aydana had just finished ringing up my thousand Rubles or so
of souvenir purchases. Armed with a
friendly smile, fluent English, and a just-aggressive-enough brand of
salesmanship, she had managed to up-sell me on a bunch of tchotchkes I didn’t
need. But then, I figured that if you’re
going to get up-sold, it might as well be done at the hands of a pretty, young
Kyrgyz girl, right?
As we wrapped up our transaction, I asked if it would be OK
if I took a photo. Ayadana replied that
it would be no problem, and backed up, out of the shot.
The field of view, a generic souvenir store, half-full with
stragglers from an Asian bus tour, was decidedly uninspiring. I turned back to Aydana.
“How about a photo with you in it?”
A raised eyebrow. A
split second of feigned shyness. And
suddenly, the situation took a turn.
Glasses off. Hair
smoothed, and gathered, tossed over a single shoulder. A partial turn towards the camera. Arms crossed.
Just a hint of a half smile.
Smiling myself now, I took the photo.
Lowering my camera, I nodded my thanks and moved to leave,
but my new Kyrgyz friend wasn’t about to let me get away without some quality
control. Cutting me off, she peered over
my arm to get a look at the photo.
Rejected.
Taking me by the arm, she took me further into the store,
setting up in front of a wall of amber jewelry. Feeling better about her backdrop, Aydana
struck the exact same (apparently well-practiced) pose.
Take two.
Another QC check, this time a pass.
Girls in Russia do love to take a pretty picture.
