English lessons

1) A little kid started following us through the narrow streets one night as we were walking home to our riad. He was asking us for change, alternately in Arabic and French. He eventually became frustrated with my condescending smile and my repeated "No...no money, sorry..." and blurted out an emphatic "fuck you man!!" before running away. Jacqueline and I glanced at each other and laughed--there was something tentative about the way he said it, like he had just learned it and didn't really trust that it would work, or that he was even saying it right.

2) Another night, we were walking through the outdoor food stalls in the Djemaa el Fna; one of the young-ish menu-wielding vendors called out to us: "try our food it's finger licking good!!" We giggled but kept walking. Seeing our reaction he launched into every bit of English he could conjure: "Seeyoulateralligator!! Afterawhilecrocodile!! "Iscreamyouscreamweallscreamforicecream!! Dingoes ate my baby!!!" At that last one we completely cracked up, and had to ask him: "Where did you LEARN that!!??" He said he had an older sister who lived in Melbourne.