So I began walking sideways and stalking people as one would China zone map stalk a timid animal. When fairly close to some women I greeted them in Tajik and China zone map held out a brightly coloured postcard to show them.
Their faces were a study of fear versus curiosity, so going a bit closer I put the card on the ground and went back to a safe distance. One woman wavered then came and took the card back to the group.
With the second picture I didn’t let go until near enough to hand it to them, and explained to them that it was a photo of my parents. I think the importance of this picture is that suddenly you are no longer just a foreign devil, you are also a person with a mother and father, like anyone else.
