Duck59
Guru
- Joined
- 23 Apr 2015
- Local time
- 11:26 PM
- Messages
- 3,149
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
- Website
- duckholiday.com
When I lived in Eritrea, there was always a bit of excitement if anyone among the volunteers of various organisations discovered some kind of food or drink that we didn't usually see. On one occasion, I was strolling around the capital, Asmara, when I spotted some celery in a small shop. Thrilled with the find, I duly purchased a bunch.
What I failed to realise was that this would cause me a few problems at the airport (the place where I lived was accessible only by a 70-minute flight or by a three or four-day bus ride). The woman who searched my bags at security had plainly never seen celery in her life. When she asked me what it was, I couldn't think of the Italian name for celery (a lot of fruit and veg there is known by the Italian word for it) and eventually, I said, "Salata." I plucked off a stick and had a quick chomp on it to show it wasn't some sort of poison or weird drug. She gave me a rather pitying smile and let me board the plane with my acquisition.
What I failed to realise was that this would cause me a few problems at the airport (the place where I lived was accessible only by a 70-minute flight or by a three or four-day bus ride). The woman who searched my bags at security had plainly never seen celery in her life. When she asked me what it was, I couldn't think of the Italian name for celery (a lot of fruit and veg there is known by the Italian word for it) and eventually, I said, "Salata." I plucked off a stick and had a quick chomp on it to show it wasn't some sort of poison or weird drug. She gave me a rather pitying smile and let me board the plane with my acquisition.